Meet the Candidates: City Council Ward 3

Meet the Candidates: City Council Ward 3

The four finalists seeking to fill Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams’ vacant Ward 3 City Council seat got to make their case for the position on Jan. 8.

Williams and other members of the board interviewed the candidates, gauging – among other things – their mindset when it comes to economic development, battling poverty, and promoting affordable housing.

Amanda Borer

Amanda Borer

Amanda Borer, administrative director for neurosciences at Duke University Health System, told Mayor Williams that her ideal city would include more green spaces for parks and recreation that would give children options to avoid outcomes leading to gun violence.

She would also want to invest in long-term public health solutions, childhood education, and social supports, and “listen to people in the community experiencing the violence to make sure they have a way to feel safe.”

She told council members that she was inspired by the example set by the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

She acknowledged that the city must grow revenue, but “raising taxes is something to look at really carefully,” and only raise them when that need is high.

Council Member Javiera Caballero asked a question of all four candidates that was inspired by one asked by Charlie Reece during his tenure on the board: What’s one zoning issue from the past two years that Borer agreed with the Council’s decision and what’s another that she did not?

Borer noted that she wasn’t too familiar with zoning issues from the past two years.

Chelsea Cook

Chelsea Cook

Chelsea Cook, attorney with Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Durham Eviction Diversion Program, told council members that she wants to see a community “where everybody has the opportunity to thrive.”

She would be willing to raise taxes for safe and affordable housing. “If you can’t have that, it’s hard to have much else,” she said.

Cook described gentrification as problematic when it comes to pushing people out of neighborhoods where families have lived for generations, but “we can’t consider it good or bad” because it can bring revitalization.

She would focus on low-income housing tax credits, funding for rental assistance, and services to mitigate homelessness.

Shelia Huggins

Shelia Huggins

Shelia Huggins, a Durham attorney with previous municipal government experience who also has run in the past for City Council (including a 2017 run for Ward 3), said she wants to make certain that residents aren’t just self-sufficient, but thriving.

She told the council that people need good jobs, stable families, and good homes.

“There is no home that’s affordable if I can’t find a job and don’t have an income,” Huggins said. She said that she would prefer actual affordable housing units promised by developers rather than them paying donations as an alternative.

She cited the Braggtown Industrial Park as a project approved by the council that she can agree with, because it took an underused property and created possibilities for manufacturing, healthcare, and high-tech jobs.

“This is the direction we need to be going,” Huggins said.

On the other hand, she expressed concerns about the future development of The Streets at Southpoint, which is set to include 200 hotel rooms and office space. She wished it could’ve included affordable housing options.

“How do we continue to expand this in a way that meets the needs of the market, so we don’t have something that looks like the demise of Cary Towne Center?” she said.

Chastain Swain

Chastain Swain

Chastain Swain, law and policy advisor for the State of North Carolina, had a 5-year plan to move to the mountains with his husband and their dog.

But now he says his love for Durham is keeping them in the Bull City.

He considers gentrification “a massive challenge” for Durham that goes back generations, like the construction of the Durham Freeway cutting off downtown from the Hayti community.

“Those things were intentional and created seismic shifts,” he said. He noted that gentrification is cultural, and that the city should invest in supporting cultural backgrounds as well as protecting homes and businesses that help define cultural identities.

He cited the city of Toronto’s efforts to develop small-scale affordable housing projects as “nimble and creative” methods that Durham could emulate.

The City Council will convene on Tuesday, Jan. 16, at 9:30 a.m. to announce their choice to fill the seat. The new council member then would be sworn in at that night’s meeting.

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