Young Government Association Launches

Smedes York, a former mayor of Raleigh and owner of Cameron Village, was the first to speak. With his executive history he gave advice about leadership, saying, “a leader sets the goals.” He advised, “instead of catching people doing something wrong, catch them doing something right.”

The second speaker was Zack Medford, a community leader and owner of multiple bars in downtown Raleigh. Medford focused primarily on learning by doing. He spoke about how when he began, he knew very little about how to run a business, much less a bar. “The only way to do something is to jump off that cliff,” Medford said. 

City council member Bonner Gaylord focused on the importance of involvement in local government. “The city council has more impact on your lives than any other governmental body,” Gaylord said. He explained the importance of the city council in determining how Raleigh grows. The tremendous growth of the city at 63 people per day, a figure Gaylord quoted from the Triangle Business Journal, has prompted many new and important decisions to be made regarding infrastructure and quality of life.

Zack Medford