Conversation with the Candidates with ABC11


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Conversation with the Candidates with ABC11 Eyewitness News Tisha Powell October 10, 2017 | 1:00pm Thank You To Our Gold Sponsor:

Tom Stevens Hillsborough Board of Commissioners Mayor

1. We all want everything – parks, affordable housing, lower taxes and fees, conversion to renewable energy, a hotel etc., but the fact is that resources are limited and the needs list continues to grow. If we commit to one thing, that will likely necessitate the elimination or deferment of something else. This leads to a two-pronged question: what are your top (two or three) priorities for investments in the community, and what items on the bigger wish list would be expendable or could be deferred to achieve those priorities more quickly? My top priority is to invest in proper facilities so town staff can properly serve the citizens of Hillsborough. This has been deferred for several years now because of budget restraints, but we’re reaching the point we can delay this no longer. This investment includes renovating the medical building to provide offices and more adequate meeting space than the town barn, as well as a desperately needed new police and fire station (at the site of the empty furniture company). This, can also spur some landscaping at the historic town hall property to create a quiet park, and expanded pedestrian connectivity north to Highway 70 - all in all creating a town hall campus that is an historic destination in which citizens can take pride as well as provide a proper facility for town business. This work will also require us to ramp up a community planning effort for downtown commercial opportunities created by the move, and complete the fire station south of town in Waterstone. Continued progress on affordable housing, moving toward clean energy, connectivity, the rail station, and well as taking care of existing infrastructure and parks is built into our ongoing budget. We will probably have to defer aspirational projects, such as a ped/bike bridge over I-85.

2. On the Colonial Inn, how much should the town be willing to invest in helping restore the Colonial Inn should the current owner find a buyer or if the Town ultimately proceeds with an eminent domain action? Cash? Resources? Incentives? Public dollars should not provide the main funding for the former Colonial Inn renovation; however, a small amount of public support might be critical to bridge private investment so preservation is more likely to be successful. Based on a solid plan, it might be wise for the town to offer some incentives for a private investor (such as tax relief for a limited time) or some direct support for a public-private partnership, provided there is an ultimate net benefit for taxpayers. 3. What are the steps to take to reduce taxes, what specifically would you cut from the budget and what specific actions would you take? Combined city and county taxes are indeed high for property owners. At the same time, several important needs for town government to serve citizens are going unfunded (as outlined in the town multi-year financial plan). As often expressed by the town manager, out budget priorities are first to cover mandated services and safety needs; second to take care of what we have (i.e. the town’s infrastructure); and then as possible strategically invest in projects that provide long-term benefits for citizens (such as Riverwalk or the Nash St sidewalk); all while minimizing the impact of tax rates on citizens. We should continue to follow this philosophy. Town staff deserve kudos for year after year doing more and more with tighter and tighter budgets. In the twelve years I have been mayor, property taxes have only been raised on one occasion, in 2012, in response to a crisis shortfall of revenue due to the economy and sales tax reapportionment (following the 2010 census the % of population dropped relative to Chapel Hill and Carrboro, lowering our share of sales tax revenue). The tax raise was required to avoid deferring our ongoing plan of repaving 5% of streets every year. Hillsborough is one of the few local governments with a multi-year budget, a very readable document, available to anyone on the town’s website. 4. Hillsborough implemented a Strategic Growth Plan about 10 years ago. What specifically about this plan has worked well and should continue? Is there anything specifically where the Town should change direction? What are your ideas for preserving Hillsborough’s small-town character as we face continued development pressures. Our strategic growth plan emphasizes keeping a town character by steering development toward walkable communities near existing highways rather than

sprawling into the countryside. It also calls for connectivity within and between all parts of town, and encourages a variety of housing stock in ‘town-like’ patterns integrated with commercial, employment, and recreational opportunities, rather than suburban enclaves. All parts of town - the historic district, west, north, east, south, and central (between Eno river and I-85) - are staged as distinctive places to live, work, and play with both residential and commercial sections. Hillsborough’s strategic growth plan is serving us well. Perspective is important. We will certainly have growing pains with a quick bump in population in the next five-ten years, but long-term and compared to other Triangle communities, Hillsborough’s growth is modest and slow. By 2050 it’s expected there will be little room for new growth in Hillsborough (because of limits to water/sewer capacity) so sticking to our plan will give us in future decades a wide diversity of housing choices, in a town-like infrastructure, preserving the landmarks that give us a sense of place, with a variety of transportation options. Attention to good planning for a town-like built environment is essential, but town character - our charm - is deeply influenced by the attitudes of people who live here. To keep what makes Hillsborough special, as leaders we need to encourage civic involvement, pride of our town, community celebrations, and a welcoming attitude for all. People who love this town will take care of it and foster a charming welcome. 5. Everyone is in favor of affordable housing and recognizes the need, but we’ve heard very few concrete proposals about how the Town can help accomplish the goals of building new affordable housing and maintaining/repairing the existing affordable housing stock against the backdrop of rising property values for those on fixed or low incomes who want to remain in their homes. What is the Town’s role, and can we devote more monetary and staff resources to address it? Contrary to what the question suggests, for its small size Hillsborough has a remarkable number of affordable housing efforts, including subsidized rental units (Gateway, Coachwood, Hampton Pointe, Eno Haven, with CASA planned at Collins Ridge), and over 50 homes built by Habitat for Humanity (with senior townhomes on the way in Waterstone), and non-profit groups providing repairs and up-fit to existing homes. The town’s role is primarily as a partner to various organizations that are working to provide affordable housing, but is not directly a provider of either housing or services. (Given the small size of the town and town staff, there are no staff whose primary job is addressing affordable housing issues).

All communities that are economically thriving are also struggling with enormous disparity of incomes, rising valuations, and equity for those on fixed incomes. We should continue (and should expand efforts) to incorporate affordable housing into our overall planning, to advocate and encourage partners working on affordability, and making strategic investments (for example, contributing to water-sewer infrastructure for a Habitat neighborhood) to ensure there are places that remain affordable long term in our community. 6. It’s common to hear complaints about traffic in town. How much of a problem is this, and what specifically is the Town doing, or should be doing, to address traffic issues? Traffic is a matter of perspective. Any response about traffic must consider three realities. 1.) Geography - going north-south, there are a limited number of ways to cross the interstates and river (so bottlenecks can be mitigated, but will be difficult to eliminate). 2.) Increasing population - the population in the region is rapidly increasing, traffic will grow to fill current and future capacity (efforts that address traffic flow or add capacity will tend to be invisible as traffic increases). 3.) There’s no one silver bullet - there is plenty that can be done to mitigate traffic congestion, but there is no single “fix” that will dramatically reduce traffic congestion. Efforts to mitigate traffic congestion fall into two categories, enhancing the road network and encouraging alternative means of transportation. Examples of road projects in process or on the horizon for road connectors include connecting Orange Grove Rd to US70-A, connecting Mayo Street to Eno Mountain Rd, widening of S. Churton for additional lanes (and bike lanes and sidewalks), as well improvements to the interstates. Examples of alternatives include enhancing pedestrian and bike mobility (our connectivity plan), supporting public transportation (such as the circulator route), and seeking an Amtrak station. The Strategic Growth Plan was crafted with mitigating traffic impact as one of the two major themes (the other is water/sewer capacity), recognizing that approving mixed-use communities (such as Collins Ridge) would create far less traffic strain than the alternative of suburban developments sprawling into the countryside. 7. Elected officials are expected to be community leaders. Give us an example of past community leadership and what specifically can the community expect from you in the future?

Decades of experience as a professional facilitator has proven to be valuable in board meetings, helping town commissioners and staff synthesize different perspectives, make thoughtful decisions, and find practical solutions to problems. That said, it’s critical to recognize we cannot “problem solve” our way to make a community people care about and love. This is where attitude and leadership make a difference. To build a sense of community, it’s critical to find, acknowledge, encourage, and promote the things that are already going well in our town and then build on those things. Especially for the role of mayor, this entails being present and positive. Whether it’s a ribbon cutting, a scout meeting, a school reading, a parade or march, meeting of visiting officials, a civic-club fundraiser, a ground-breaking, an award ceremony, the presence of the mayor lends importance, recognition, and energy for people in the community to build on what’s going well. I spend hours each week in this capacity, and people can expect me to continue to do so with the same positive energy. 8. Especially following last year’s election, there has been a lot of attention on race relations, racism, white supremacy, immigration policy (especially as applied to particular nationalities and religions). How do you see this manifested locally, and as an elected official specifically how would you address these issues on the local level? We can’t watch what happens in Ferguson or Charlottesville and not wonder how our community would handle a similar situation, or what could we do to prevent it. We’ve seen these issues manifest in our community, for example the effort that led to the banning of the confederate flag in our schools, or the palpable fear in our Hispanic neighborhoods following pronouncements at the federal level. Through a long struggle for civil rights, America has established laws that address some of racism’s most egregious forms, but there’s still so much to be done to address the ways racism manifests in our community. I believe those of us who are public officials must go the extra mile to make Hillsborough a welcoming community for everyone, and should look carefully at our policies and procedures through a lens of inclusion and equity. While this is a topic large enough for book length comments, in the interest of space I want to mention two things specifically: As historic Hillsborough, we have an opportunity to look at these issues through our local history. Specifically, in the coming year we have the celebration of Elizabeth Keckley’s 200th birthday, as well as the restoration of the replica Occaneechi village. Even though some of our history is painful, it’s time to claim and tell the story of all people who are part of our community.

Second, there is no group of folks more on the front lines of dealing with these issues than our police force. Kudos to our chief and officers who are committed, with the full backing of myself as mayor and the town board, to transforming into a model of community policing. This began long before the events of Ferguson, and our police have been diligent in implementing policies and training regarding use of force, deescalation, body cameras, etc., in addition to the incredible community outreach you see publicly and in social media. #HillsboroughRocks. A wish I have for America is to restore our rightful motto: E pluribus unum (Out of many, one). At the local level, I am committed to leadership fostering a community that lives by this motto. 9. When President Trump pulled the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, many city and local governments (including Hillsborough) made public commitments to work to address climate on the local level. Why do you think this is important (or not) and how can local government make a difference? I am distressed the Trump administration has failed to acknowledge the reality of climate change and rejected the Paris accords, and I have joined mayors and officials across the country who believe we must work toward mitigating climate change impacts in our respective communities. Town government has long fostered good environmental stewardship in our everyday operations, evident in our mission and balanced scorecard, in employee attitudes (such as the award-winning suggestion to replace a truck with a tricycle), in in our development ordinances, is hosting pollinator gardens in our parks, in creating a storm water utility, in our state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant. I fully support, along with the rest of the town board, our recent resolution committing us to clean energy by 2050. I believe that these efforts in the long run are also economically sound, as well as simply being the right thing to do. 10.The Chamber is of course interested in business and economic development. What specific actions or strategies regarding economic development would you like to see continued, and what would you like to see different? Are there regulations that you feel impede the opportunity for growth? The town retains a very healthy 40/60 commercial to residential tax base ratio, and is home to several of Orange County’s largest private employers (Soccer.com, PHE, Summit Engineering) as well as a growing number of small businesses. We have robust trades program in our public schools and a community college. We have seen home grown businesses flourish, and new businesses move to town and become part of the community fabric (e.g., we have Yep Roc offering a free concert in two weeks).

Tourism is growing, as well as arts and sports related enterprises, which add not only to our economy but to the quality of life for folks who live here. There is still lots of room to grow, particularly to add hotels and shopping, which is actively being encouraged. All that’s to say, we should continue the path of good planning (with our Strategic Growth plan, Future Land Use Plans, UDO, etc.) to integrate our business and employment sectors into the fabric of our community.

Cindy Talisman Hillsborough Board of Commissioners Mayoral Candidate

1. We all want everything – parks, affordable housing, lower taxes and fees, conversion to renewable energy, a hotel etc., but the fact is that resources are limited and the needs list continues to grow. If we commit to one thing, that will likely necessitate the elimination or deferment of something else. This leads to a two-pronged question: what are your top (two or three) priorities for investments in the community, and what items on the bigger wish list would be expendable or could be deferred to achieve those priorities more quickly? Yes, everyone would like to see their goals and dreams materialize for the town but there are limited resources and limited space. My top 2 goals would be:

A playground that caters to our handicap citizens. They require special needs and this would be a low-cost investment and would bring much joy to individuals and families. My other goal would be to entice more diverse businesses to offset the tax burden of the homeowners.

Something on the back burner to work towards would be to find investors and or grants to remodel the 2 empty motels that are already exist in Hillsborough. They are retro, historic and should be restored before they to become relics of the past like the Inn. 2. On the Colonial Inn, how much should the town be willing to invest in helping restore the Colonial Inn should the current owner find a buyer or if the Town ultimately proceeds with an eminent domain action? Cash? Resources? Incentives?

No tax monies should be spent on the Inn at all. The current owner is in progress of trying to sell it. It’s his property and I am not in favor at all of eminent domain on any privately-owned dwelling. 3. What are the steps to take to reduce taxes, what specifically would you cut from the budget and what specific actions would you take? Strategize budget revenue on guaranteed income and strategize expense items from the budget that can be eliminated or reduced. For example-We live in a town surrounded by 3 excellent universities why not use their resources to our benefit? Why should we pay consultants for our tiny town that cost more than they contribute? 4. Hillsborough implemented a Strategic Growth Plan about 10 years ago. What specifically about this plan has worked well and should continue? Is there anything specifically where the Town should change direction? What are your ideas for preserving Hillsborough’s small-town character as we face continued development pressures. According the current Strategy Map the Valued goals have not been met and, in actuality, they have gone in the opposite direction of the goals they implemented. IN my opinion, and of many others, the current board and mayor have lead Hillsborough away from its “small town nature and sense of community.”

We need to sit down as a community, not just the board, in a town hall meeting setting and get ideas and solutions of the tax payers wishes. 5. Everyone is in favor of affordable housing and recognizes the need, but we’ve heard very few concrete proposals about how the Town can help accomplish the goals of building new affordable housing and maintaining/repairing the existing affordable housing stock against the backdrop of rising property values for those on fixed or low incomes who want to remain in their homes. What is the Town’s role, and can we devote more monetary and staff resources to address it? The current board and mayor run on needing affordable housing but all the approved developments are $300,00 and above-where is the affordable part? Affordable housing is a great idea, and a typical campaign promise but it never materializes. With OC being one of the highest, if not the highest, property tax rates in the state how can we be affordable? Property taxes and HOA dues, which most developments

have, are not negotiable-they must be paid and paid in full. The current mayor and board have had a minimum of 14 years to create affordable housing-where is it?

We need to find an investor that will build a small community of affordable homes $125-175,000 range for those that are starting out, make minimum wage or a bit above, or young families starting out. It has been done and done well as I live in one. We don’t need to spend more money on staff or money to achieve this –we just need to find the right investor/developer, this will keep the living and earning in the same location while keeping the tax dollars in the same location. I’m also against the re zoning of West Hillsborough for “West End Heights”, again $300,00 plus homes and displaced families for nothing affordable. The current developers need to revert from $300,000 and above to the $125-175,000. Seriously what are you all thinking? 6. It’s common to hear complaints about traffic in town. How much of a problem is this, and what specifically is the Town doing, or should be doing, to address traffic issues? Traffic is a colossal problem and the town needs to revisit the bypass idea. Get it back into motion as it has been previously vetoed. 7. Elected officials are expected to be community leaders. Give us an example of past community leadership and what specifically can the community expect from you in the future? I’ve been on my current HOA as a President and a board member continually since I’ve lived my affordable home to help my community sustain economic sustainability. I am also one of the founders of the Charter School movement in NC. I am the female mayor candidate looking to listen to what the people think and want. 8. Especially following last year’s election, there has been a lot of attention on race relations, racism, white supremacy, immigration policy (especially as applied to particular nationalities and religions). How do you see this manifested locally, and as an elected official specifically how would you address these issues on the local level? I am for protecting American citizens, and following the federal and state laws of the United States of America. 9. When President Trump pulled the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, many city and local governments (including Hillsborough) made public commitments to work to address climate on the local level. Why do you think this is important (or not) and how can local government make a difference?

I support the President and his actions on a local and federal level and local government can make a difference by supporting our President and federal laws. 10.The Chamber is of course interested in business and economic development. What specific actions or strategies regarding economic development would you like to see continued, and what would you like to see different? Are there regulations that you feel impede the opportunity for growth? The regulations of building houses and impending businesses depress the opportunity for your local growth. We need reduction of regulations that hinder our business economic growth. By doing this it will keep more local dollars local and more investment within the local community.

Kathleen Ferguson Hillsborough Board of Commissioners Mayor Pro Tem

1. We all want everything – parks, affordable housing, lower taxes and fees, conversion to renewable energy, a hotel etc., but the fact is that resources are limited and the needs list continues to grow. If we commit to one thing, that will likely necessitate the elimination or deferment of something else. This leads to a two-pronged question: what are your top (two or three) priorities for investments in the community, and what items on the bigger wish list would be expendable or could be deferred to achieve those priorities more quickly? I continue to support Hillsborough’s budget and resource allocation priorities which are to fulfill safety and mandated requirements, maintain current assets, invest wisely for our future, and to minimize taxpayer burden when possible. For the upcoming budget cycle, my top priorities are to ensure proper staffing sufficient to deliver the services required to support our residents with high quality. Proper staffing impacts our ability to serve the public, keep the roads clear, brush picked up, water lines in good repair, public spaces and buildings maintained, permitting and processes running smoothly, systems up and running, and to keep equipment in good working order. Our current budget priorities required deferment of several positions needed to support current and future service delivery, especially with several current town staff nearing retirement. These positions include finance, facilities, utilities and billing, and administrative positions needed to ensure effective debt management, maintenance, public works service, and cross-departmental administrative support. Without these positions filled, remaining staff will be unable to fulfill their responsibilities effectively or to train replacements for retiring staff. Equally important is to ensure that HPD has the resources needed to successfully recruit, retain, and maintain current training for full staffing. I have and will continue to advocate for our first responders. We are fortunate to have a respected HPD chief and force and want to ensure that Hillsborough remains their professional home. Police staffing continues to be highly competitive, and HPD is not yet up to full staffing. With the approved growth, we will need to increase our patrol capability, which requires a minimum of four positions. Additionally, our need for a diverse

force grows. Although HPD continues to have a strong community policing ethic and has been proactively engaging with our Latino and African American communities, the need for continued communication and collaboration will continue to increase. Whether for existing or for new officers, continual training and upskilling is important to ensure that the entire force is current with best practices and is operationallyready 24/7. A second priority is to pursue continuation of our rental assistance fund, contribute to the adoption of a landlord incentive fund as envisioned by the Partnership to End Homelessness, as well as to explore the viability and adoption of a home repair fund that can be administered by one of our local non-profits. Thirdly, I am looking to ensure that we can fulfill on our capital improvement planning, including the Exchange Club Park Lease, which will preserve and improve an important amenity that has and will continue to contribute to Hillsborough’s quality of life and character. 2. On the Colonial Inn, how much should the town be willing to invest in helping restore the Colonial Inn should the current owner find a buyer or if the Town ultimately proceeds with an eminent domain action? Cash? Resources? Incentives? While I believe that the Town has and should continue to support preservation of the former Colonial Inn, the best possible solution is for it to be purchased by a buyer willing and able to invest the needed funds to restore the building properly so that it once again contributes to the character of the Town. While I continue to believe that taxpayers should not bear the burden of rescue and restoration, I believe that in order to preserve the property, it may be necessary for the Town to invest in purchasing it should the current owner fail to find a buyer within the agreed time frame. In such a case, I will continue advocating that the Town quickly turn the property over to a public-private partnership and recoup our purchase price so that those funds can be redirected towards other public use. 3. What are the steps to take to reduce taxes, what specifically would you cut from the budget and what specific actions would you take? We are fortunate to have avoided a tax increase for the past five years and were able to adjust the rate down to maintain revenue neutrality. However, even if our population were to remain stable as it is today, the cost of delivering and maintaining public safety, public spaces, planning, public works, utilities, engineering, finance and billing, and Town operations will continue to rise. Therefore, keeping our current assets in good working order by ensuring maintenance in our infrastructure and capacity is critical for avoiding future balloon expenses caused by deferred maintenance. Equally important will be maintaining our 60%/40% residential/commercial tax ratio, which requires that we retain our existing local business base, encourage locally grown new businesses, recruit new businesses, and

provide a healthy business climate for these businesses to operate in. To this end, we should continue to work with current and new business owners to keep them informed of the requirements and help them identify existing and developable locations. We should maintain good relationships with our businesses to ensure that the services provided by the Town support customer access and business operations. And, we should continue working with local business owners, county economic development staff, and state economic development resources to position Hillsborough favorably for site selection. We should continue to re-evaluate our existing incentive policy so that it remains relevant and attractive to potential businesses. And, we should be willing to change it, if it is not market-acceptable. 4. Hillsborough implemented a Strategic Growth Plan about 10 years ago. What specifically about this plan has worked well and should continue? Is there anything specifically where the Town should change direction? What are your ideas for preserving Hillsborough’s small-town character as we face continued development pressures. For the most part, the Strategic Growth Plan has been a success. I continue to be proud that Hillsborough limits growth to water capacity and limits growth to within our established services boundaries. The growth that is occurring is as planned, with the bulk of growth concentrated south of the Eno, which reduces traffic impact downtown. Additionally, any future residential growth will be limited to small infill development. While our growth strategy will impact affordability by limiting overall housing supply within Town limits, I believe that our strategy of turning away development opportunities proposed for the outer edges of Town helps preserve our small-town character, prevents sprawl, and reduces the cost of service delivery by keeping routes and sites contained.

Much of our small town character relates to our small Town feel (our Town footprint remains compact); connectivity (which continues to grow), the preservation of our historic properties (which we continue to value); the flourishing of our arts community (which continues to grow); the health and preservation of the Eno, our public spaces, and parks (which continue to flourish and improve); our Town values (which continue to embrace and support inclusion of a diverse population from all walks of life, a healthy environment, and prosperity for all); our vibrant business community (which continues to be the most diverse in the county and which continues to generate 40% of tax revenue). These characteristics are valued and are considered with each vote I cast.

5. Everyone is in favor of affordable housing and recognizes the need, but we’ve heard very few concrete proposals about how the Town can help accomplish the goals of building new affordable housing and maintaining/repairing the existing affordable housing stock against the backdrop of rising property values for those on fixed or low incomes who want to remain in their homes. What is the Town’s role, and can we devote more monetary and staff resources to address it? I am proud that Hillsborough has achieved more affordable housing progress over the past four years than ever. We approved the first rental assistance fund for residents needing help. This $5000 fund is administered by Community Empowerment Fund and is modeled after similar funds set up by Carrboro and Chapel Hill. We approved 88 new affordable rental units that will be developed by CASA, who has a long, successful track record in building and maintaining healthy viable properties for veterans, the disabled, and folks whose limited income make them ineligible for other housing. We worked with Community Home Trust and Habitat to transfer two acres of land designated for affordable housing in Waterstone and approved 24 new senior affordable homes that will be developed by Habitat. We also are supporting Habitat with redevelopment Odie Street by committing to paving the street and when requested by Habitat, committing to accept their request for annexation, which will bring sorely needed garbage pick-up improvements and ongoing street maintenance. I also believe that accepting the request to bring in a mobile home park into Town limits to reduce water rates was a wise decision that reduces the residents’ overall cost of housing. In total, this activity will result in 104 new affordable units in addition to the annual Habitat builds occurring in Fairview. For the future, I will continue advocating that the Town invest in more effort to get the word out to residents who would be most likely to benefit from it. Additionally, I would like the Town to continue collaborating with the county and other municipalities to create a landlord incentive fund. This fund which is being advocated by the Partnership to End Homelessness, provides incentives to landlords to accept VA and Housing Choice vouchers by allowing these landlords to be reimbursed up to a set limit any costs incurred to repair damages left by tenants. This fund has been successful in other jurisdictions in preventing loss of affordable rental property, and can play an important role in slowing the loss of affordable rental housing in Town. Although future development patterns limit opportunities for inclusionary zoning, the Town still can impact affordability by requiring payments in lieu from developers applying to develop infill properties to be used to maintain these funds as well as to support future property rehabilitation or purchases of by one of our existing affordable housing organizations. 6. It’s common to hear complaints about traffic in town. How much of a problem is this, and what specifically is the Town doing, or should be doing, to address traffic issues?

A hard truth is that we cannot build our way out of traffic. Although the population of Hillsborough has increased only by 300 over the past four years, growth throughout the region has substantially generated and will continue to contribute more traffic traveling Highway 70, Churton, and feeder roads. Moreover, no matter how many road improvements are implemented, traffic like water, will quickly fill these improvements to capacity. Even so, I believe that the Town has done everything in its power to alleviate traffic wherever possible and will continue to work with DOT and the county to explore how we can mitigate the traffic burden further. Because of the Town’s open communication and good relationship with DOT, the successive improvements to Downtown, such as with the addition of unloading zones, bus zones, re-laning, and retimed lights has reduced bottlenecks. The opening of Waterstone drive has provided a southern bypass that easily moves traffic between South Churton and 86. The Strategic Growth Plan has limited northern growth; thereby removing traffic from downtown. Other tools available to the Town for traffic mitigation include bike/pedestrian options and public transportation improvements. To this end, the Town has continued to improve and advance its connectivity plan and worked with DOT to include Hillsborough projects on the state Transportation Improvement Plan. We have succeeded in having several projects either funded or on the list for potential funding. These projects include our train station, Orange Grove extension, and Churton Street widening and sidewalk installation. We also have plans for realigning Mayo Street and have a right-of-way for a future pedestrian bridge over 85 connecting Collins Ridge with Beckett’s Ridge. Last, but not least, we continue to pursue improvements with bus and connector service. 7. Elected officials are expected to be community leaders. Give us an example of past community leadership and what specifically can the community expect from you in the future? I initially sought to serve the Town based on my commitment to neighborhood representation, affordable housing, economic development, and regional collaboration. I have had the opportunity to demonstrate leadership in each of these areas, and my commitment to these issues remains high. Over the past four years, I have been a fierce advocate for our neighborhoods and have maintained my participation in community watch and neighborhood events. One of my proudest accomplishments was helping Fairview Community Watch obtain additional funding for their summer park monitoring program. Not only were they able to achieve full funding but with help from our County Commissioners, the program was adopted by the Orange County Parks and Rec department. I also have been the voice for affordable housing on our Board and the voice of Hillsborough affordable housing when working with the county and sister jurisdictions, affordable housing providers, and housing services advocates. I am proud of driving adoption of our rental

assistance fund and increasing the number of affordable housing units in town, and I will continue to advocate for safe, healthy housing that is affordable for people of all income levels. I also will continue to advocate for our businesses and do what I can to help with retention and recruitment. An example of this commitment was when I was able to help one of our local stores return to full operation when their airconditioning quit working in the heat of summer. After hearing from neighbors that the store had gone without air, I went in and spoke with the sales staff. I also reached out to the District Manager and was able to share the important role the store played in providing access to staple goods for a many of our residents with limited transportation options. Although it was a Saturday, I was able to reach him, and by 8:00am on Monday, the store had air and was able to serve their customers. Shortly thereafter, the store manager informed me that a secondary result was that instead of proceeding with the plan to close the store within months, the district had committed to maintaining the store for at least another two to three years. A final example of community leadership relates to my commitment to regional collaboration. I am fortunate to have the honor of representing Hillsborough on the Triangle J Council of Governments as well as representing Hillsborough and the Triangle Region at the state level in collaboration with the state Association of Regional Councils of Government. In this latter capacity, I recently had the opportunity to connect the Mayor of Princeton, who is working with sweet potato farmers in Johnston County with the Piedmont Food and Ag Processing Center (PFAP). I will continue to advocate for our Town, our residents, and our businesses while looking for opportunities to collaborate, share, and learn from other jurisdictions. 8. Especially following last year’s election, there has been a lot of attention on race relations, racism, white supremacy, immigration policy (especially as applied to particular nationalities and religions). How do you see this manifested locally, and as an elected official specifically how would you address these issues on the local level? We are fortunate to live in a Town where social and racial justice are highly valued. With that said, the composition of attendees to our Town events and members of governance boards still do not reflect the diversity of our population, which is something I, my fellow elected officials, and Town staff continually seek to remedy. To this end, I continue to actively work with our African-American and Latino communities, participate in and encourage fellow residents to attend and support their events, and share the opportunities available to them provided through board membership. In addition, I and several fellow elected officials have participated in racial equity training to be more effective in recognizing when a policy, strategy, or action considered by the Town is likely to create or exacerbate inequity. Given the roles that volunteer advisory board members and Town staff serve for our Town and

citizens, I would like to see this insightful training to be attended by more of these groups.

Having attended numerous community conversations, I am acutely aware of the stark fear many of the residents in our Latino community have when leaving their homes to take their children to school or to go to work. While the Town cannot impact federal immigration policy, we can help residents understand what laws apply, what services are available, and what options they have. We also can facilitate community conversations that foster collaboration and reduce misinformation. And we can continue to work with our county and state colleagues. 9. When President Trump pulled the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, many city and local governments (including Hillsborough) made public commitments to work to address climate on the local level. Why do you think this is important (or not) and how can local government make a difference? Clean water, air, and soil are fundamental to public health and safety. Additionally, climate change, with its impact on weather-driven public health and safety events cannot be ignored. Moreover, with fossil fuels being a finite resource and requiring extraction, processing, and combustion processes that negatively impact public health in a variety of ways, I believe it is in the public interest to pursue alternative energy sources. This not only supports public health and environmental sustainability, it also supports the cleantech sector, which is one of the many large economic clusters already in our region. Over 100 cleantech businesses call the Triangle home, and by pursuing clean energy goals, Hillsborough is better positioned to support the growth of these jobs locally.

In addition, unlike higher levels of government, local governments. cannot ignore or defer responsiveness when weather-induced events impact, reduce, or eliminate the ability to deliver basic utilities and services. Although Hillsborough has not been impacted by a disaster along the scale of Katrina, Harvey, or Irma, Town services have been impacted by weather-induced events, and we can expect to be impacted in the future. For example, over the ten years that Gold Park has been open to the public, every instance of flooding damage has occurred over the past 12 months. Therefore, it is in the Town’s best interest to do everything it can to avoid contributing to resource contamination and loss, to reduce as much negative impact on public health as possible, and to reduce the risk of contributing to climate change. By consciously adopting a culture that seeks out products, services, and practices that reduce or eliminate carbon emissions, we can increase demand for clean energy

while reducing demand for fossil fuels. While, the purchasing power of a single small Town like Hillsborough is limited, the purchasing power of many towns and cities together is measurable. Equally important, by committing to clean energy policies and practices, local government purchasing, practices, and processes can serve as an example for the private sector and for its residents. 10.The Chamber is of course interested in business and economic development. What specific actions or strategies regarding economic development would you like to see continued, and what would you like to see different? Are there regulations that you feel impede the opportunity for growth? I continue to be passionate about the redevelopment of the 70 corridor, the attraction of commercial enterprises to Waterstone, the preservation of our small business clusters, and continued vibrancy of our downtown merchants. With the train station coming, I also look to see the development of a vibrant commercial cluster easily accessible to Collins Ridge residents, and I would like to see an additional hotel and grocery store and the addition of professional and light industrial employers. I am proud that Hillsborough had the foresight to adopt an economic development incentive policy, which has kept the Town from being eliminated by site selectors. I am also proud that we were able to hire an economic development planner, who has increased Hillsborough’s capacity to work with economic development professionals and businesses. Both are necessary to ensure that we maintain a 60%/40% residential/commercial tax ratio. Lastly, as I continue to believe that our interstate frontage continues to be one of the most valuable assets within Town, and I continue to support investing in water and sewer infrastructure south of I-40 and north of the rural buffer is a wise investment in additional employment, light industrial, and commercial development. From a policy perspective, I believe the Town is on the right track. I continue to hear from businesses, developers, and economic development professionals that our policies are business-friendly, that our staff is great to work with, that our processes are not onerous, and that Hillsborough is a good town to do business in. Our greatest challenge, however, continues to be the lack of rooftops and the lack of available commercial space. While our Strategic Growth plan addresses the rooftops, we will need to rely on the private sector to develop the latter. Therefore, only thing I would change if it were in my personal power to do so would be to have specific examples of where fire inspection/enforcement was more onerous than sister jurisdictions so that we can explore how that service are can be improved.

Jenn Weaver Hillsborough Board of Commissioners Commissioner

11.We all want everything – parks, affordable housing, lower taxes and fees, conversion to renewable energy, a hotel etc., but the fact is that resources are limited and the needs list continues to grow. If we commit to one thing, that will likely necessitate the elimination or deferment of something else. This leads to a two-pronged question: what are your top (two or three) priorities for investments in the community, and what items on the bigger wish list would be expendable or could be deferred to achieve those priorities more quickly? Top priorities - Take care of what we’ve got, including our infrastructure, planned reservoir expansion, planned street improvements, get water/sewer billing working well for community, integrating new developments into community/town operations, public safety. - New facilities for office and meeting space on Corbin St – these have been put off already to accommodate unforeseen expenses or increased costs, but our staff are working practically on top of each other, and our meeting space is not publicfriendly, as anyone who has ever tried to see the whole board around the poles knows. - Creation of Clean Energy task force to start long-term planning for conversion of town operations to 100% clean energy by 2050. What is expendable? None of these. One thing I have learned in my time on the town board is that in a town of this small scale, where we are committed to covering the costs of our operations and water/sewer utility in an honest and comprehensive way, everything feels urgent, because there is so much to do to run a town well and keep Hillsborough a nice place to live. But with our limited tax base there is very little “walking around money”, as the saying goes. To give an idea, a new garbage truck is going to cost the same whether you are the city of Raleigh or the town of Hillsborough, but it takes a much bigger bite out of the latter’s budget. In addition,

we have an extremely qualified and experienced staff who can look at our spending needs (and desires) in a comprehensive way and determine how and whether different priorities are possible with the variety of budgeting and financing tools at our disposal. The board is responsible for setting the broad array of preferred spending priorities, then the manager and his staff figure out how/when/if they are possible during the budgeting process, then the board has to cull things and reprioritize again. It is always a process. Generally speaking, our priorities should always match up well with the Strategy Map. 12.On the Colonial Inn, how much should the town be willing to invest in helping restore the Colonial Inn should the current owner find a buyer or if the Town ultimately proceeds with an eminent domain action? Cash? Resources? Incentives? It is my hope that the owners of the Inn will be successful in selling the inn on the open market before the deadline this next spring. For the first time, the Inn is actually listed on the market. For the first time, there is a deadline by which they must sell. I hope they are able to, because it is not ideal for the town of Hillsborough to be purchasing historic inns. That said, the Inn is a community asset that needs to be preserved, if possible. In the event we do come to eminent domain proceedings I would support – as I have from the beginning – some initial cash purchasing funds if we can agree on a price and if we have assurances from other interested parties that our investment will be recouped. I would be in favor of considering tax abatements or other incentives as well, but all this would have to be within reason as part of a bigger package. The Inn needs to be saved, but the town has an obligation to use taxpayer dollars with care and reason. The only way to save the Inn without a simple sale on the open market is via a public private partnership. 13.What are the steps to take to reduce taxes, what specifically would you cut from the budget and what specific actions would you take? Any decision to cut or raise taxes must happen through our public budget process. I will not pretend that lowering municipal taxes is a viable option in the near future, in my view. Every year that I have been on the board when we are handed the draft budget to read in preparation for the budget retreat, I find myself asking “How do we get through another year without raising taxes?” There is no “fat” to trim, and we are trying to stretch our staff’s capacity as much as we can (without breaking it, or asking the unreasonable) before we start seeing some of the revenue come in from some of the newer developments. Scale is always an issue for a town this small (and scale will remain an issue whether we grow to 8,000 or 12,000), because costs continue to rise but our size limits the revenue available to make up for those cost increases. It is much more realistic that if we intend to maintain the level of service

that makes Hillsborough such a nice place to live, we will have to raise taxes, not lower them. 14.Hillsborough implemented a Strategic Growth Plan about 10 years ago. What specifically about this plan has worked well and should continue? Is there anything specifically where the Town should change direction? What are your ideas for preserving Hillsborough’s small-town character as we face continued development pressures. What has worked well about the SGP is that most of our residential growth is at the south end of town, closer to the major road arteries, but within our service boundary. I can’t speak for pre-2013, but during my tenure there have been several developers who have approached the board wanting to put in housing on the north side of town, out of water sewer boundary. We have turned those down because this board stands by the plan and does not want to encourage sprawl, which will only worsen traffic and traffic emissions and make the delivery of town services less efficient.

One of the challenges with this approach is that most of the economic activity has been downtown and points south, leaving the north side of town really needing some economic development. With the purchase of and planned development into a restaurant and brewery of the Gates property off highway 70, there are signs some much needed economic love will be coming to that part of town also. That said, a revitalization of the 70 corridor will not come without risks, the primary one being the possible gentrification of the Fairview community. Revitalization almost always brings gentrification, without some other sort of intervention. I worry about that a lot. It is about balance, thoughtfulness, and communicating effectively with the neighborhood. 15.Everyone is in favor of affordable housing and recognizes the need, but we’ve heard very few concrete proposals about how the Town can help accomplish the goals of building new affordable housing and maintaining/repairing the existing affordable housing stock against the backdrop of rising property values for those on fixed or low incomes who want to remain in their homes. What is the Town’s role, and can we devote more monetary and staff resources to address it?

(Disclaimer: at times in my answer I use the term “affordable housing” to mean the federal definition such that qualifies people for vouchers, other times just to mean housing that is within reach for middle-lower income earners.)

There are some powerful economic reasons for the affordable housing problem that communities all across the state and country are experiencing (to greater and lesser degree, depending on the size and desirability of the town/city). Wages have remained largely stagnant for all but the highest income earners, while housing prices have continued to rise. This is unsustainable. In addition, there is a housing shortage in almost every place where people want to live. Closer to home, almost all of the Section 8 housing available are in Hillsborough, because landlords in Chapel Hill and Carrboro decided it was more lucrative to rent out to students. I welcome Section 8 housing and residents in our community – I’d be happy for more – but this just illustrates the tremendous need for more units. Our waiting lists are far too long. Resources at the federal level have dried up and show no signs of changing any time soon. On the positive front, the Partnership to End Homelessness is working on a new program that will encourage more landlords to accept housing vouchers that sounds very promising.

The power of the state legislature over local governments plays a powerful role in stymieing affordable housing. By our state constitution, local governments are not allowed any powers other than those explicitly granted by the legislature. We could, for example, raise taxes on EVERY property owner and indicate we would budget that for affordable housing, but we could not impose a special “affordable housing” tax that was restricted to our highest income earners or property owners. We cannot tell developers how much to sell their houses for, or what they must look like (though we do have some design guidelines, the state has sought to weaken these as well). This past session, the legislature outlawed the practice of Orange County charging impact fees on new development to help us fund needs heightened by population gains, such as schools.

What we can do/have done: - I recently wrote an op-ed with members of several other elected bodies in this area calling for local governments to join together to tell the state to stop frustrating the efforts of local governments to make our communities more

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livable, welcoming, and affordable. I do believe that there is power in numbers and we should stand up against this intrusion. Don’t allow a critical housing shortage to manifest. Some growth is inevitable, so we should manage where it goes and what kind, as best we can. If we say no to all new growth, housing prices will rise even more, and our lower and middle income residents will be displaced. I hope to avoid a situation where people are tearing down older, modest homes to build big new ones in their place, as we have seen in some of our neighboring towns. Encourage infill development, when and where appropriate, when the projects are good ones (can only be decided on case by case basis). As in Collins Ridge, encourage more dense development, of a variety of housing types (apartments, condos, single family). Ask bigger developers to include affordable housing in their projects or as payment in lieu. This is how we are getting the 88 affordable units for veterans in Collins Ridge, the new Habitat project for the aging in Waterstone, and we are using PIL funds from Forrest Ridge to help folks with rental deposits via Empowerment Inc. Allow accessory units – we passed this ordinance this year. I do not know that the units themselves will be especially affordable units per say (we shall see), but allowing these to be built may provide the needed extra income to allow people to stay in their homes who are under the tax pressures of living in Orange County. Individual neighborhoods could consider whether they want Neighborhood Conservation Overlays. It takes a lot of organizing and agreement of at least a majority of property owners, but it’s a special zoning overlay that can place limits on height, setbacks, etc to help preserve neighborhood character. This would need to be a bottom-up (from the neighborhood), not top-down (from the board) effort. I know we have numerous businesses and developers who love Hillsborough, care about the community, and do a lot of good service in the community. I would love to see an innovative project or partnership where some of those dedicated resources to an affordable housing initiative.

16.It’s common to hear complaints about traffic in town. How much of a problem is this, and what specifically is the Town doing, or should be doing, to address traffic issues? Most of the traffic in Hillsborough is people driving through Hillsborough to points north, so in all honesty, I do not see traffic getting any better in the long term unless people suddenly stop needing to drive south and east of Hillsborough to work. Or, more ideally, until we get more people out of their cars. That is why planning, zoning, and walkability are so important. We also need to keep pushing for expanded bus service – that takes time, but look how far we’ve come in the past 5 years or so! I

think it may be worth exploring idea of a by-pass again – if for no other reason than for us to have an honest discussion as a community (again) about whether there is a place for such a road to go we can live with. That would have to go through the county, not town jurisdiction, which makes for a tricky ask of the County Commissioners. The town needs to stay focused on getting our roads as walkable and bikeable as possible, to keep and make things smooth and safe for our pedestrians so that we can have more of them. The DOT improvements to S Churton and the 85 interchange will help, but not eliminate some of the congestion there. 17.Elected officials are expected to be community leaders. Give us an example of past community leadership and what specifically can the community expect from you in the future? When the Orange County museum asked the board, as the owners of the building, to take down the old “Confederate Memorial Library” lettering from the face of the building, I believe it is fair to say that I was the lead voice for taking down the lettering. I spoke out in the multiple board meetings we had to consider the request about the legacy of these nods to confederacy, be they signage or statues in town squares, as symbols of the assertion of white supremacy and Jim Crow. Part of being a leader is having a moral core – a center of issues and beliefs that you will not waiver from, even at the risk of making people angry or losing one’s status. For me, the legacy of slavery as manifested in systemic white supremacy is one of those core issues. This community can expect that I will continue to operate from my core values – committed to listening and being open to new and different ideas – but operating from that center. 18.Especially following last year’s election, there has been a lot of attention on race relations, racism, white supremacy, immigration policy (especially as applied to particular nationalities and religions). How do you see this manifested locally, and as an elected official specifically how would you address these issues on the local level? How many pages do I have? There are libraries of books written on the subject of white supremacy – not the overt kind, but the kind that is inherent to all of our institutions and systems, was created by the legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, and very deliberate government policy choices, and takes conscious dismantling. This is something I have studied for a long time and would be happy to discuss at length with anyone - person or group. It is too much to write about here, but it is reflected in our largely segregated neighborhoods, racial achievement gap in our schools, mass incarceration of Black men, racial wealth gap, predominantly white elected officials,

predominantly white business leaders, board members of non-profits, the Town’s volunteer boards, the list goes on.

But since last year’s election, it is like the Band-Aid was ripped off. The veneer of civility that said “it’s not okay to be publicly racist” has been removed, revealing some ugliness that was there all along, and that Black people have been saying was there all along, for a long time. I have heard numerous first-hand accounts of this manifesting in our public schools – to children and teachers in our district and nearby districts as well. There are white nationalists and supremacists openly marching in the streets. We have a Latino community that is terrified that a suddenly openly hostile federal government may be coming for them or their loved ones at any moment. I deeply, deeply have appreciated our police chief’s enormous efforts to communicate with our immigrant community, create better communication so that they know the HPD is there to help them, regardless of status. Chief Hampton has spent multiple evenings when he was technically off to be with his family, patiently answering questions and trying to help people.

Racial inequity is insidious and very difficult to remedy, but it is very much worth the effort to try. Personally, in addition to many years of reading and learning on the topic, I have taken Level I and Level II of the Racial Equity Institute’s racial equity training that Organizing Against Racism has been urging all elected officials in Orange County to take. I have in turn consistently urged my colleagues to attend the training because I found it so valuable, and urged the board’s support of staff attending the training as well. Some of them have, though I am not sure how many. At our last budget retreat I suggested that we change the language of our strategy map to more explicitly include equity as a core value in the town’s work (this was supported broadly by the board, and as I recall, others also came to the meeting with that in mind).

In the town’s hiring practices, several years ago we “banned the box” asking applicants to report whether they had ever been convicted of a crime, and our HR staff has been studying how to make our hiring practices more equitable so that our staff may have a stronger chance of better reflecting our community. The board and staff have long been aware of how poorly our volunteer boards reflect the racial composition of our community, and have worked hard on outreach. We haven’t had notable improvement on that front yet, and I think it is something we just have to

remain persistent about over the long-term and keep rethinking how we might do it better. This is so important to have a diversity of voices and experiences at the table, and for building the leadership pipeline as our elected members typically gain experience and understanding of town operations by serving on one or more of our volunteer boards.

Whatever we are doing, it is probably not enough, but we just have to keep pushing forward, making mistakes, learning, and improving. 19.When President Trump pulled the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, many city and local governments (including Hillsborough) made public commitments to work to address climate on the local level. Why do you think this is important (or not) and how can local government make a difference? Climate change and its ill-effects comprise a national emergency. The science is clear that climate change is human-caused, and that it is humans that must take steps to keep it from getting worse. This problem is so immense that frankly, it should be addressed at the national level as the emergency it is. Unfortunately, the federal government is willfully abdicating that role and in fact is making every effort to free up corporations to worsen climate change without consequence. This is why local government MUST step in, as best we can.

It is a moral imperative for every elected official to do what we can to mitigate climate change, as we are those bound to keep our communities safe and viable. I am enormously proud of the recent resolution put forth by Commissioner Ferguson and myself (urged to do so by a Hillsborough resident) to convert to using 100% clean energy by 2050. I was thrilled, but not surprised, that the resolution passed unanimously. Though we do not yet know how we will get there, and it will take some time to figure it out, having that vision is critical as both a goal-setting measure and showing leadership to our state and local community that this is serious business and we intend to act. One of the first questions people have is “How much will it cost to do this?” That is, of course, an important consideration we will have to contend with, but I also challenge people to consider what it will cost NOT to convert to clean energy.

The other parts of the initiative approved by our board with resolution were: start the process/discussion of changing our ordinance to allow solar panels on streetfacing roofs in the Historic District (currently prohibited); create a task force to consider the best approach to making this conversion; change the language of our strategy map to reflect this commitment to clean energy more explicitly; to have the breadth of this effort evaluated by a class at UNC using a social equity tool (people of color and lower-income people are the hardest hit by the effects of climate change). 20.The Chamber is of course interested in business and economic development. What specific actions or strategies regarding economic development would you like to see continued, and what would you like to see different? Are there regulations that you feel impede the opportunity for growth? The best economic development strategy is to keep Hillsborough a great community where people want to live. It is vibrant and welcoming, has great community spaces for being outside, and has good schools. That’s the kind of place where business want to locate. I also think the town needs to continue reaching out to the businesses we already have, staying in communication with them, finding out what they need so that they stay here. I am not a fan of tax incentives, but I understand that we are in a bind - if every community around us is offering them, we can’t very well avoid doing so (this is why “claw back” provisions are so critical). I don’t like them, but I can live with them (within reason). I do not have any one particular regulation that I see impeding growth, but I appreciate that it is not unusual for our staff to discover via trial and error or happy accident that some part of the ordinance isn’t working for businesses the way we meant it to, so we change it via a text amendment so that it makes more sense or functions as intended. In addition, there have been several times when we’ve implemented something new, with the understanding that things are not set in stone – we can change it again if it’s not working. Changes like that should be done judiciously so that residents and businesspeople know the parameters are consistent, but one of the good things about being small is being nimble.