Scott Andrews For New Bern Mayor
1. Please tell us a little about yourself (Include: Family, Education, Work Experience, Church, How long you have lived in New Bern, If you relocated to New Bern what made you decide to make it your home, If your a lifetime resident, tell us what made you stay.)
I’m a New Bern boy through and through! I was born into the arms of Buster and Gena Andrews on January 27, 1989 at Craven Regional Medical Center. My parents have been living in the same house in Oakview (Brice’s Creek) since the day I was born and I’m SO glad they chose New Bern to call home to raise myself and my INCREDIBLE sister, Leslie.
My parents are two of the most amazing individuals on the planet and if you ask around town, you’ll hear the same thing from a wide array of people with different ethnicities, backgrounds, and beliefs. One of the most important things my parents taught me was to be accepting and loving to every person you meet in life, and I plan to highlight the importance of that value throughout my campaign for Mayor.
My Mom, Gena, grew up in Jacksonville, NC, went off to Atlantic Christian College (what is now Barton College) and moved to New Bern to start her career as a teacher for preschool deaf children, which would lead to a 32-year teaching journey, ending as a Kindergarten teacher. My Dad, Buster, grew up in Trenton, NC, went to Lenoir Community College and worked for 40 years in Chemical Agriculture (supplying fertilizer and support for farmers across Eastern NC). Then one night at Taylor’s Night Club (what is now Mickey Milligans) they were introduced through a mutual friend, which eventually led to my Dad pulling my Mom onto the dance floor to show off his Carolina Shag skills...the rest is history!
My parents are both lovers, they are both givers, they are both servants of the lord as well as their community. My sister and I have always been the same way, because we learned from the best, which includes more people than just my parents, it includes all of the amazing people in their lives. Regardless of if it was a fellow church member at Temple Baptist, co-workers, or lifelong friends, my parents ALWAYS surrounded themselves with other amazing people. Nothing could have prepared me more for this role than to have grown up in the household and community that I grew up in...right here in New Bern. Not a day went by that it wasn’t full of love, attention and support, which is exactly what this town needs right now and I’m here to make that happen.
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Also need to give proper acknowledgement to my Sister, Leslie, since we are on the topic of love, attention and support, because she has been my backbone and the one who comes to my rescue in so many different scenarios, and I truly don’t know where I would be without her. She will give her last dollar to a complete stranger in need and I’m constantly watching her go above and beyond for her friends and family. It’s inspiring, my family inspires me SO MUCH with the way they treat people and address problems. I want to bring forth that love, support, and inspiration to this entire city.
As for my work experience, I’ve done so many different things throughout my professional career and though some were short lived and others long lived, each stop along the way has equipped me with a specific tool that gives me the confidence I have to be able to get the job done as New Bern Mayor. My work career began during the summer of my 7th grade year. My Dad got me a job putting in tobacco on a farm in Trenton. I did that for a few summers and then started working at The Strike Zone bowling alley through college. When I graduated college, I began working at WCTI 12 as a News Producer. My first weekend on the job was during Hurricane Irene, where I am proud to say I played a pivotal role in getting all of the necessary information out to the citizens of New Bern. Working as a Producer really opened my eyes to what was going on in our city, both from the citizens point of view - and that of elected officials. After working in television for over a year and a half, I decided to use some of the marketing and communication techniques from WCTI to try and help out a start-up company called Beer Army. I was the 3rd employee hired in the company and eventually moved up to the Public Affairs Officer role and was also the lead sales officer in charge of growing business in three states. Beer Army gave me the tools to understand what it takes to be an entrepreneur, so I left Beer Army in 2015 and Co-Founded New Bern’s first food delivery service, Table Takeout. In less than 18 months, we grew Table Takeout from an idea in our head to delivering for over 100 restaurants in three different cities (New Bern, Greenville and Jacksonville). Table Takeout was eventually sold to a larger food delivery business out of San Diego and in the meantime, I began working at Lenoir Community College Foundation as their Fundraising & Event Coordinator. In my first year, I raised more scholarship money than anyone who had previously held the position. The last industry I’ve been working in is Marketing & Advertising, which is what brought me back to New Bern after being the Marketing Director at Raleigh Brewing Company from 2018-2022. I am currently the Marketing Director at Zannis Plastic Surgery and Rinnova Spa & Wellness Center and I also own and operate my own marketing company, Viral Vox Marketing.
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3. What made you decide to run for Mayor of New Bern?
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It’s honestly not one specific thing that made me want to run for Mayor. As a local guy who grew up here, went to school here, goes to church here, played and coached sports here, I have had the opportunity to meet and build strong relationships with SO MANY people of all different ages, races, religious beliefs, financial status, and political beliefs, however, I’ve always been able to get along with ALL of them by looking past whatever differences we may have and seeing them as a human being first. After doing that for my entire life here, I found that people wanted to stop and talk with me, they wanted to call me to see how I was doing, they genuinely cared about me because of the way I treated them. I eventually picked up the nickname “The Underground Mayor of New Bern” and that is something that has always been in the back of my mind. I was never in the right place to be able to serve this community, but now, I’m so excited to be in a place and have the opportunity to take what I’ve been doing underground to the streets of New Bern.
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4. What do you think is the biggest issue currently for the City of New Bern?
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I think the biggest issue for the City of New Bern is the lack of connection, communication and collaboration between people. As I mentioned above, God has given me a gift to be able to navigate those three things to get people to work together who may not see eye to eye.
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We have so many problems that need to be addressed and a solution needs to be figured out for each of them, but that can’t happen until we work out our PROCESS for fixing problems. We may not be able to fix every problem, but we can make sure we are doing our research, talking with people to get feedback, brainstorming ideas, and all of that takes lots of communication, connection and collaboration, which is what I want to focus on as the Mayor of New Bern.
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6. What is your favorite thing about living in New Bern?
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This is an IMPOSSIBLE question to answer, because there are so many things about this town that make it so unique. I would have to start with the people that call this town home. If you have lived in New Bern for any period of time, you have a sense of pride driving over the bridge looking over at that beautiful New Bern skyline, I know I do. That pride translates into an incredible sense of community and willingness to help, and I’m feeling that right now as people are reaching out to me in support of my campaign. I’m also a HUGE New Bern history nerd because it’s so unique. Just like the timeless homes and buildings are still all around us, connecting our present to the past that helped shape the town into what it is today. Lastly, I can’t leave out the breathtaking landscape. There is something about growing up around water, there’s a sense of energy and life that flows in our rivers, and I can feel it when I actually take the time to stop and appreciate it. ESPECIALLY while looking at one of those beautiful New Bern sunsets over those rivers.
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7. What do you think makes you the best candidate for Mayor of New Bern?
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I’m the best candidate for Mayor of New Bern because I lead with LOVE. That’s the first thing I want people to feel when they meet me, because that breaks down walls, it opens up room for communication, connection and compromise. I feel very strongly that New Bern needs someone who can focus efforts on bringing this town back together to work as one team so that we can learn together, laugh together, cry together, lose together, win together and doing it all with love. In addition to that main focus, I’m also very proud of my diverse professional experience and I think I’m equipped with incredible tools that I use to help this town in every way possible. I understand people. I’m a marketing professional, I’ve made a living relying on the fact that I’m very talented at being able to connect with a vast number of different people, with different backgrounds, who have different interests, of different ages, with different beliefs, and I’ve done it through numerous communication channels, while delivering specific information to the most people in the shortest amount of time, so that I can deliver maximum results at the lowest cost with the least amount of effort. I can do this. I know how to do this. I’m capable of this. I’m built for this. And most importantly, I want this, for the entire City of New Bern. I owe it to this city. This city gave me everything, and this is the only way I know how to give it all back. I’m serious, this town and the people in it mean everything to me.
Lastly, I know the business owners and I am one myself, I know the people in charge of many of the non-profits and I’ve worked in the non-profit world myself, I know the service industry workers and I’ve worked in the service industry myself, I know the teachers, preachers, first responders, politicians and even some of the homeless population. I know the people of this town, on an organic level that is deep rooted in love. I’ve never been more serious or focused on anything in my life. This isn’t about gaining the title of Mayor, this is about changing lives and having an impact, a positive impact, on this incredible City that we call home.
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8. How can voters contact you or learn more about you?
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Email: Scott@NewBernMayor.com
Website: www.scottandrewsformayor.com
Facebook: Scott Andrews for New Bern Mayor
Instagram: @TheNewBernMayor
Snapchat: @TheNewBernMayor
X(Twitter): @TheNewBernMayor
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