Don Scarborough files for at-large seat on High Point City Council

Don Scarborough became the first candidate to file for election to High Point City Council at noon today. Scarborough, who lives in Emerywood, is running for one of two at-large seats on the nonpartisan city council.

The 68-year-old Scarborough retired in May after 17 years at High Point University. During his tenure, he served in several vice presidential roles: administration, institutional advancement, community relations and, most recently, as planned giving officer.

“The roles I’ve had at High Point have really gotten me an opportunity to get to know the city at just about every level,” Scarborough said. “I’ve gotten to know the leaders of the city of High Point [because] some of them are on our board of trustees or board of visitors.”

He and his two sons, Patrick and Ryan, moved to High Point after the death of his late wife.

“High Point’s been a very important city for me and my family,” he said. “I want to pay back the city for all that it’s done for me. I want to help the people who I know in all different sides of the city. I’m interested in helping to ensure High Point is a wonderful place to live and work, and that we can all be comfortable here together and have fun together.”

Scarborough has served on the Citizen’s Committee for Nonviolence for several years.

“It’s a group of folks that support the police department,” Scarborough said. “We try, through leadership and studies that we conduct with help from people from the outside, to evaluate where we are and procedures that we need to take to move forward.”

Scarborough said reducing violence in High Point is high on his list of priorities if elected.

“I think my role in that would be to re-enter some of those [low-income] areas and find out what they need,” Scarborough said. “It’s easy for me to say, ‘We need to do this, that and the other’ but it may not be what these communities want to do. Our role is to be the ear and help them implement the things that can help them to live a better life.”

He added that city leaders must be proactive and not rely on police officers to solve community issues.

“I think I’m known throughout the community, and I think people trust me,” Scarborough said. “I want to live up to that trust that people have put in me and I want to step forward, not as a member of the university but as a member of this community, to help solve problems.”