Richard Anderson knows Kannapolis. He grew up in the Centerview neighborhood, has served as the town’s mayor, served on the City Council on and off since 1991 and his house is right across the street from A.L. Brown High School.
He first got interested in politics when he father took him to Cabarrus County Democrat Party meetings when he was 16 years old.
“I’ve always been interested in politics, but I ran for council when the city got into a squabble over sidewalks,” Anderson said.
Anderson has been on the council through some of Kannapolis’ most troubling and promising times: The decline of Fieldcrest-Cannon Mills and the textile industry in the region, the Pillowtex buyout and bankruptcy in 2003 and the announcement of the North Carolina Research Campus in 2005.
He wasn’t going to run again because of health problems in the past two years.
“I said I wasn’t going to run again because of my health problems,” Anderson said. “But both my wife and I are on the road to recovery and with the research campus coming, with my experience and knowledge of Kannapolis, hopefully I can assist in that.”
He said Kannapolis is going through a “transformation.” “I still have plenty of energy,” Anderson said. “With what is coming, I think continuity on the board is important.”
-Ben McNeely
