Candidate Biography (submitted by campaign):

I'm 35 years old, married, with one son.  I grew up in Montreat and Black Mountain, near Asheville, and then moved around the world a couple times after my father rejoined the Army.  Once I graduated from high school, I started college at a small school in Louisiana, and then moved to Raleigh to attend NC State. My career has been entirely in Information Technology, with stints at Merisel, Red Hat, IBM, Parata, and GameVee, an internet video startup.  I'm currently employed as a test engineer at Web Performance, Inc., where we do website performance testing.  I've lived in Durham for eight years, and before I moved to Durham I lived in Raleigh for seven years.  I'm a Christian and attend Blacknall Presbyterian Church.  My interests include global politics, history, economics, and shooting.  My wife and I support Compassion International and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.  I own several cats, a red Yamaha scooter, and more books than I care to count.

You can read more about my history and interests on my campaign website:

http://electmattdrew.org

Candidate Statement:

I've only been politically active for the last couple of years, and this is my first run for office.  Before that I was generally apathetic about politics, although I took my responsibility to vote seriously and kept up with the news.  We have, and I have, become all too willing to surrender our responsibilities to others, and along with them our freedoms -- not because we should, but because it is convenient, easy, and comfortable.  This is leading us down a path where the unspeakable and the unconscionable has become commonplace, and I'm no longer willing to go along quietly.  I believe that it is time to take up that responsibility again.

By far, the most important issue facing Durham is the handling of our water supply.  Three times in the last ten years we have come within weeks of being out of water.  Our method of dealing with drought has been to wait and hope it goes away.  What actions we have taken have been too little, too slow, and mostly ineffective.  This must change, and we must take responsibility and deal with this problem before it becomes catastrophic.