Foxx Gets Down To Business Before Taking Mayor's Office

Mayor-elect Anthony Foxx was running as hard Thursday as he did in the final days of the campaign.

With his impressive win behind him, he's now answering questions about his priorities as mayor of Charlotte.

He began Thursday morning with an appearance on Eyewitness News Daybreak, where he talked about how important the banking industry is for Charlotte and how he's already reaching out to Bank of America about keeping its corporate headquarters in the Queen City.

• RAW VIDEO: Charlotte Mayor-Elect Sits Down For Exclusive Interview With Channel 9

As he said during his campaign and victory speech Tuesday night, transportation is high on his list.

But he said nothing trumps his No. 1 priority, which is growing jobs in Charlotte.

“There are a lot of families that are hurting, a lot of businesses that are hurting. Even though we are seeing signs of recovery, I know that we haven’t seen an employment recovery. There are too many people out of work,” Foxx said.

When Eyewitness News talked to Foxx again Thursday afternoon outside his Elizabeth Avenue campaign office, he said his biggest task before taking office Dec. 7 is to assemble a bipartisan team to help him go through the city's budget line by line looking for savings.

“We don't have the time to waste. We’ve got a lot of good work to be done. It's got to start happening very fast,” he said.

What Foxx won't be doing is hiring a lot of people, as many people might expect. The city manager hires the mayor's four-person staff that works on the top floor of the government center.

So Foxx is concentrating on what he can do, and that's finding ways to keep the promises he made during the campaign.

“I'm going to be watching carefully. I can promise you one thing; I'm not going to increase the bottom line to taxpayers,” he said.

Foxx said he has already had calls from the White House and even spoke with President Barack Obama. He said a lot of that conversation focused on Bank of America and the situation with its headquarters, but also about how important the entire financial services industry is to Charlotte’s economy.

Foxx said election night reminded him of a wedding. The party is exciting, but then the real work begins.

Previous Stories: November 5, 2009: Charlotte Mayor-Elect Anthony Foxx Sits Down For Exclusive Interview With Channel 9 November 5, 2009: Charlotte Mayor McCrory Congratulates Foxx; Says Job's Not Over Yet November 4, 2009: With Foxx Elected Mayor, Charlotte Power In Democrats' Hands November 4, 2009: Anthony Foxx Is Charlotte's New Mayor