Charles Mann
During the 2019 race for Spartanburg Public Works Commission, I worked on the Horace Littlejohn re-election campaign. Mr. Littlejohn won the election with just over 2700 votes. In that city-wide vote just under 5000 voters casted their votes. While I was happy Mr. Littlejohn won, I was dismayed by the low voter turnout. Along with my co-founding member, Maclyn Humphrey, we took a look at past elections in Spartanburg. Once again, to our dismay, voter turnout since 2008 to 2016 had severely declined. Non-white voting in 2008 was 75% of registered voters. In 2016, Non-white voters dropped to 47% of registered voters.
It became clear to me that our communities can not effectively have a positive impact on public policy with low voter turnout.
As a result, in 2020, we launched the Upstate Action Alliance. This non-profit was created to focus on voter education, voter registration, and voter turnout. We have been working diligently to increase voting in 27 targeted precincts (there are 98 in Spartanburg county) by a measurable 10 percent.
“Elections Matter.”
Now retired, I bring with me a vast background from an adventurous career. I spent over 13 years in television news. My roles range from a local TV reporter at WLOS TV in Asheville to an Assistant News Director in Charlotte to a Satellite Coordinator in Boston, to a Managing Editor in Baltimore. Following that I managed video production companies in Baltimore and Washington, DC. Then I went into Sports broadcasting working with the Washington professional basketball and hockey teams. That then led to management roles in event management with Fannie Mae and The World Bank. After consulting for a while, I had a successful career government contracting as a project manager and business development executive for nearly 30 years. During that time, I was a key member of the strategic planning process, focusing on how companies grow their revenue in a contracting environment. This not only focused on revenue, but the requirements of infrastructure to support growth.
Spartanburg is also my home. After being away for nearly 45 years, I returned home in 2015 with a key goal to “give back” to my community.
In addition to Upstate Action Alliance, I am engaged in the following civic activities:
Chairman – BloomUpstate Board of Directors
Vice Chairman – ReGenesis Healthcare Board of Directors
Board Member – Spartanburg League of Women Voters
Board Member – Partners for Active Living
President – Carver All Class Reunion
President – Carver Class of 1969