Michelle Burton, a career educator and former president of the Durham Association of Educators, was born in Chicago to a family with strong union ties – her grandfather was in the Brotherhood of the Sleeping Car Porters, the nation’s first all-Black union – and leadership in racial and social justice.

Burton, 53, is taking what she’s learned from her work as a teacher and the experiences of her relatives and seeking to apply them to a new role on the Durham Board of County Commissioners.

Southpoint Access asked Burton to answer some questions for our readers. The same invitation has been extended to other candidates for County Commission. We will publish their responses as soon as possible after they are received.

Why are you running to serve on the Durham County Commission?

Michelle Burton: As a veteran educator with 30 years of experience, and serving as the former president of the Durham Association of Educators (DAE), I felt there was a serious void of educators and public school workers in political spaces, where funding decisions were made regarding our classrooms and pay. I also saw that a lot of our student’s learning difficulties came from issues they were dealing with outside of the classroom, such as income inequality, mental health issues, lack of housing, food insecurities, etc. I realized that to create change at the macro level I needed to run for public office. Running for Durham County Commissioner would allow me to focus on a broad set of issues from public schools to public health to create the necessary positive changes for Durham County residents.

What are your strategies for addressing community safety and reducing crime in Durham County?

Michelle Burton listed the following initiatives:

1. Improve the job market and figure out how to increase worker wages.

2. Continue to fund Bull City United, the violence interrupter program.

3. Continue to fund the Reentry Services Program through the Justice Services Department

4. Continue to fund the Sheriff’s Community Oriented Policing Effort (SCOPE).

How do you plan to support economic growth and job creation within the county?

Michelle Burton: I will work with Durham Technical Community College leaders to offer programming and apprenticeships to incoming students so they are career-ready, such as the partnership with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). I will work with other commissioners so we can make the necessary investments in our public school system so our youngest Durham County residents will be college and career-ready. I will support nonprofits that assist small business owners with building successful businesses and organizations such as Made in Durham which works with a variety of for-profit and nonprofit community partners to create a more equitable and effective education-to-career pipeline.

How would you improve transportation and infrastructure, including road maintenance and public transportation systems?

Michelle Burton: Many of the roads in Durham County are maintained by the City of Durham or the State of North Carolina, therefore the responsibility of road maintenance does not fall under Durham County Government responsibilities.

Concerning transit, I am very excited by the Durham County Transit Plan. I would like to see Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) come to Durham County because it is an option that will likely be funded by the federal government, unlike commuter rail. We also need to add more buses to the fleet that we have now so that buses will come every fifteen minutes instead of thirty. We need to make public transit a more viable option for our residents so we are less dependent on automobiles.

What do you consider the most critical challenges faced by Durham County?

Michelle Burton’s areas of concern include:

1.Lack of Affordable Housing

2.Public Education

3. Income Inequality

4. Protecting Rural Areas from Overdevelopment

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