The Raleigh mayoral election will take place on Oct. 5, 2021, and while that may seem ages away, it really isn’t. There have already been a few declarations of candidacy for mayor, one of them being Terrance Ruth — a current education consultant and researcher here at NC State.
Ruth earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Oglethorpe University, his master’s degree in education leadership from Nova Southeastern University and his Ph.D. in public affairs from the University of Central Florida. Ruth worked as a teacher and principal in Wake County Public Schools and now works at NC State within the school of social work. In his free time, Ruth also serves as the executive director of the Justice Love Foundation.
Like his political opponent Mary-Ann Baldwin, Ruth also belongs to the Democratic Party. They also both advocate for housing accessibility as part of their political platform; however, Ruth and Baldwin are not very similar.
While Ruth claims he is not entering the race because of the current mayor, but rather to increase public trust in the government, Ruth does state that there are many actions taken by Mayor Baldwin that he disagrees with. One of the biggest disagreements is the removal of community advisory councils. Ruth claims that the lack of input allowed from the community toward this decision is a large contribution to why there is such a lack of public trust in the government. Increased transparency from government officials is necessary in order to create a better community; luckily, it seems that Ruth plans on rectifying this as quickly as possible.
When discussing his upcoming campaign for election, Ruth said, “I want to restore active citizen engagement, so we can find common purpose. I want to work with all of our residents to create a stronger, more inclusive and prosperous Raleigh.” This claim is clearly validated by his platform, as he advocates for better representation of the citizens of Raleigh, which would provide for better citizen engagement if people feel they are actually being represented.
Ruth has also been very involved in the Raleigh community through his involvement with organizations, including Red Hat, IBM, Raleigh Little Theatre, NAACP, A.J. Fletcher Foundation, United Way, John Rex Endowment and many others. Through this involvement, Ruth has led an effort to establish a faith-based affordable housing coalition in Raleigh; worked to develop a model to measure, improve and address systemic community concerns with the JUST-US Campaign; and helped to build the Justice Love Foundation, which increases resources for community leaders.
While it is always a lot easier said than done, it appears that Ruth has legitimate, influential plans for the great city of Raleigh, North Carolina. His work history provides nothing less than exceptional experience, and his current work at NC State provides a unique connection to students here in Raleigh. Ruth’s close proximity to college students allows a stronger connection between government officials and the college community they help to represent. This connection will allow Ruth to better advocate for students like us, something we do not see often in politics.
So, while the election for Raleigh City Council may seem far away, I encourage all residents of Raleigh to keep in tune with the potential candidates for mayor, amongst others. Has the current Raleigh mayor, Mary-Ann Baldwin, done something for you during your time in Raleigh? If not, it may be time to look elsewhere — hopefully to the candidacy of Terrance Ruth.
