Orange County Board of Commissioners

Orange County Board of Commissioners

Name as it appears on the ballot:Sally Greene

Campaign website:

Phone number: 919-260-4077

Email:

Years lived in Orange County: 30

Dear candidates: In addition to asking you to fill out this questionnaire, the INDYwould also like to invite you to submit a video in which you can state your case directly to voters. We would like these videos to answer one broad question: Why should voters elect you instead of your opponent(s)? We ask that this video be shot with a cell phone or something similarly lo-fi—no need for high production values—and be kept to three minutes or less. We will post these videos on our website along with this questionnaire, as well as to our social media channels. In short, we want to give our readers as many opportunities as possible to fully evaluate your candidacies. Please send the video file along with the completed questionnaire to . Thank you.

1. In your view, what are the three most pressing issues facing Orange County? If elected, what will you do to address these issues?

A.Affordable housing. The national housing crisis is having a very real effect on Orange County. According to information from the Orange County Affordable Housing Coalition, rental costs rose by 16 percent from 2009 to 2015. There is an estimated market gap of almost 5,000 units affordable to households living in Orange County and earning less than $20,000. Of the people earning below 80 percent of the area median income, 13,163 households are paying more than 30 percent of their income for housing. A problem that is just beginning to show effects, although it was predicted for years, is the displacement of residents of mobile home parks. These and other alarming statistics and trends confirm the need for greater and more intentional action from the County: the $5 million housing bond that voters authorized in 2016 is already half committed.

Specific goals I would like to work on:

• Following up on the county's set-aside of $2 million for land-banking for alternatives for people displaced from mobile home parks. Current efforts involve collaboration with Empowerment, Inc. and the use of Family Success Alliance Navigators as liaisons and translators for people whose homes are at risk. There will be more of these dilemmas with the county's mobile home parks. It's important to bear down on this work and get it right.

• County hiring of a housing coordinator--much needed for when people need to identify specific low-income housing availabilities but don't know where to turn.

• Stronger collaboration between county and municipalities and private partners on housing efforts.I would engage broadly with county nonprofit housing providers and other stakeholders to encourage strategic partnerships, including major federal tax-credit projects. I would want to explore the possibilities of the County's donation of land for housing.

To these efforts I would bring 13 years of experience in achieving results in affordable housing. I led the initiative for the Town to enact an inclusionary zoning ordinance, expanding the requirements for for-profit developers to provide affordable homes. With regard to housing more broadly, as a result of a task force that I chaired in 2013, the town carved out a penny of the existing tax rate to dedicate to affordable housing and in other ways increased the level of investment in housing; established a housing advisory board; hired staff with experience in housing development and finance to focus on affordable housing; and adopted an affordable rental housing strategy, the first step of which was to partner with DHIC, of Raleigh, to produce 149 units of affordable rental housing for low-income and very low-income families under the federal low-income housing tax credit program.

B.School funding. Orange County's two school systems are facing a kind of perfect storm. (1) The state's average per-pupil spending on K-12 public schools has declined in constant dollars, since the recession, from a high of $6,422 in 2007-08 to $5,810 for 2015-16, a decrease of almost 10 percent (DPI data). This money goes to salary and benefits, textbooks, transportation, classroom services, lunches, and other non-instructional support services, leaving gaps across all those areas. (2) A recently passed law mandating reductions in class size for grades K-3 seems impossible to implement. While the idea is attractive as a matter of policy (although restoring funding for teachers' aides, according to teachers I've listened to, would be the better solution), implementation will require many additional teachers and unworkable increases in classroom space. For the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, it would require an additional 44 classrooms, and there is no physical way to accommodate that at present. (3) Locally, the Orange County Schools and CHCCS are facing a backlog of capital expenditures to catch up on deferred maintenance of school facilities. Combined, the districts have identified $300 million in capital needs. (4) Local legislative authority for school impact fees was revoked, which deepened the gap in unmet capital needs by $3 million.

In 2016, Orange County voters approved a referendum for $120 million in bond funding for the school districts' capital investments. Seventy-two million went to CHCCS and the balance to OC Schools. This amount is obviously not enough, and yet it will most likely result in a tax increase this year. Complicating the expenditure of the bond money is the fact that the costs that CHCCS had estimated for doing two projects--extensive renovation of Chapel Hill High, and the creation of a central pre-K program and other improvements at Lincoln Center--came in higher than expected. They have decided to put the Lincoln Center on hold for now, so that need remains unmet.

The OC schools face a special challenge from the number of students electing to attend charter schools. School districts are required by law to transmit funds to charter schools for students who reside in the district but attend a charter school. Orange County has historically made up a significant portionof the difference, although this is not required by law. The number of students that leave for charters is much greater in the OC Schools district than in CHCCS. The amount of money Orange County has paid to the OC system to replace monies lost to charter schools has gone from $1.9 million in 2015-16 to $2.75 million in 2017-18. OC administrators will ask commissioners to budget for $3.2 million for charter students for the upcoming year, based on their projection of the number of students for which they will need to reimburse charter schools in 2019. It is notable that the county has historically funded on actual charter students from the previous year rather than the number projected for the upcoming school year. For OC Schools this would create an estimated $500,000 shortfall. Once the county sets the per pupil amount for schools, they cannot return and ask for more within the same budget year, which means the school district must come up with money from somewhere else, such as program adjustment, personnel reductions, or their own fund balance.

These are serious challenges. As the proud parent of a child who benefited from the county’s investment, I’m strongly committed to the success of our public schools and will work very closely with commissioner colleagues and school board members to fund both systems to the fullest practicable extent. I will work particularly to achieve the following goals:

• A long-range plan for systematically addressing the backlog of facility maintenance expenses.
• Prioritizing safety improvements at our most vulnerable schools.
• Ensuring the continuation of funding for school resource officers as well as nurses, mental health resources, and other social support.
• Lobbying the General Assembly to promote passage of the Public School Building Bond Act, HB866/SB 542, during the upcoming short sessionto get a statewide school construction bond referendum on the ballot in 2018.If approved by the voters, this legislation will provide $1.9 billion for public school facility grants across all 100 counties. As currently drafted, the legislation would direct $11,992,004 to Orange County.

Additionally, I'm hopeful that plans, even limited ones, can be re-engaged to launch CHCCS' combined pre-K program. I would be interested in exploring whether a combined pre-K program for the two districts was feasible. Recognizing that there are logistical problems, especially transportation, that may make this solution unworkable, I think it's at least worth a discussion.

The budget impact of the charter schools, particularly in OC, looms as a continuing problem. I would support the OC system's request that they be allowed to base their budget on their own projections.

And there are other ways to approach improving the situation of the schools:

(1) Through providing more housing affordable to teachers. Housing advocates who stepped forward to argue for a housing bond in 2016 (a $5 million bond referendum was passed) drew the essential connection between teacher attraction/retention and affordable housing. Both districts report difficulties in attracting and retaining teachers:Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools reported an attrition rate of 14.22 percent and Orange County Schools 13.74 percent--while the state average is 9 percent. The high cost of housing is a barrier.

I would like to pursue an idea that has been mentioned as a possibility, of partnering with State Employees Credit Unionto provide housing for teachers. SECU this past fall opened a 24-unit apartment complex for teacher housing in Buncombe County, following similar initiatives in Hertford, Dare, and Hoke counties, and a recently announced one in Durham County.

(2) Through making more money available by growing the tax base through economic development.

C.Economic development. In 2016, the balance of residential to non-residential tax base was 80 percent to 20 percent.I would work on shifting that balance away from residential by focusing on three areas:

(1)Traditional industry. Orange County lags behind in having readily available sites for businesses looking to locate in our region. Because the county didn't have a great concentration of factories in the 20th century, it is not left with empty facilities that can easily be repurposed. Thus, it can and does miss out when a business prospect finds a site more easily adaptable to its purposes in a neighboring county.

Orange County does, however, have two economic development zones on either end of the county, and a third one bordering Hillsborough. Morinaga, the Japanese candy factory in the Buckhorn EDD, is a success story. The county needs to do more to make more such success stories possible. It can do this by improving site readiness.One problem is that the land is in fragmented ownership. The county should work with willing buyers to assemble land in the EDDs. Zoning is another issue. Some of the EDD areas are zoned for residential development; subdivisions are possible as a use of right. The county should consider prezoning areas in the EDDs to commercial or mixed-use, to signal the kind of development that it wants to attract.

(2)The local agricultural economy. Recent decades have seen big changes in this sector. Farmers who once grew traditional crops, like tobacco, have had to respond to economic changes and find alternative products to grow: and they have.The demand for goods produced using sustainable practices has resulted in an increase in locally produced, environmentally sustainable items.The direct-to-consumer market for farm products has grown from $26,000 in 1997 to over $1.4 million in 2012, and it is still growing. Anyone who visits any of the county's many farmer's markets, or gone on one of the spring farm tours, has an appreciation for the richness and depth of this industry.

The county supports the growth of this sector through the Breeze Farm and the Piedmont Food and Agricultural Processing Center, and through grants and loans and other support. But there is a limit to what it can offer by way of infrastructure support, and as a result, many businesses that start out here end up somewhere else.

The County should consider creating a light industrial food campus as a way to keep more of these businesses in the county. For example, Weaver Street Market is launching a new store in Raleigh. Its Food House in Hillsborough will need to expand, but there is not room enough in the current location. A relocated and larger Food House could be the anchor tenant for this new campus.

(3)The arts economy. A $130 million arts economy supports some 5,000 full-time equivalent jobs and generates $12.5 million in local and state government revenue. This is a significant industry that is poised for growth. But it too needs infrastructure support in the form of galleries and performing arts space.

Both the agricultural and arts sectors reflect the unique talents and values of Orange County residents. Both of them support our robust tourism economy. I'd like to consider working with the private sector to create a destinationvenue that showcases the distinctiveness of Orange County--the intersection of the arts, agriculture, and local history.

2. What in your record as a public official or other experience demonstrates your ability to be effective on the Orange County Board of Commissioners? (This might include career or community service; be specific about its relevance to this office.)

During 13 years of service to the people of Chapel Hill, I gained significant experience directly relevant to the role of county commissioner. I have demonstrated an ability to shape policy within the structure of a municipal government organization and to work effectively with other local governments, including the county.

My early work on homelessness took the form of a countywide, multijurisdictional initiative. Launching the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness involved me directly in the workings of county government. It was through this work, in fact, that I began to see how important the impact of the various county human services functions is not only for those who are struggling, but to sustaining the health and livelihoods of us all.

I was especially struck by the intersection of homelessness and reentry from prison.Among the accomplishments led while on the Town Council were revising the rules for public housing to make the fact of having a criminal record no longer absolutely prohibitive of getting a home. We also "banned the box" in Town Hall, and more, so that not only is there no box to check indicating that the person has a criminal record; the person's record is not even to be considered unless they are a finalist for the position.

I came to see where there are gaps, particularly in the areas of mental health treatment. (An ongoing problem since the state's move to privatize mental health services, beginning in 2001.) My service on the steering committee of the Drug and Family Treatment Courts--one of the many areas in which Orange County has led the way--introduced me to the concept of alternatives to punishment. These experiences shaped my understanding that the county's role in supporting people's ability to lead their best lives is a holistic one: certain social determinants of health exert powerful influences over the course of a life. These include inadequate housing, food insecurity, deep poverty and joblessness, and having a parent who is incarcerated. All of these are problems for which county government should be able to make a difference, and these are areas in which my passion combined with my experience would fuel my effectiveness in extending the reach of this work.

My track record of results in affordable housing, outlined in 1.A. above, will serve as a strong basis for achieving similar results at the county level. Additional accomplishments that demonstrate an ability to be effective as a county commissioner:

• Economic development: Participation as a Council member in creation of a new process for considering the grant of incentives to attract targeted business opportunities. The Wegman's that is coming to Chapel Hill is the first result. The town and county agreed to contribute up to $4 million – or $2 million each – to the company over its first five years. The incentives offer (not a cash gift but an agreement to forego collecting property tax) is contingent on the company's meeting specific targets for new jobs and increases in sales and property tax revenue. This background will be helpful in carefully thinking through the county's further use of incentives to attract or retain key businesses.

• Successful advocacy for major changes in Chapel Hill's 40-year-old personnel ordinance: The ordinance was revised to increase clarity, consistency, and equity. New conflict resolution procedures were instituted to replace a process that was lengthy, confusing, and unduly adversarial. Results two years in: more mediated resolutions that create a better work environment; more employee participation in skill upgrade training; enhanced employee access to helpful professional resources; strong supervisor training and accountability; fewer serious disciplinary actions.This work will serve as a background for an understanding of county personnel issues and potentially improving the environment for county workers.

• Public art: Changing the conversation about the place and function of art within the community: Transforming the Public Art program to a Cultural Arts program, with an emphasis on the arts as a tool of grassroots individual empowerment and community engagement, as well as an economic driver. This work aligns with the work of the Orange County Arts Commission to make art an engaging presence throughout our communities.

• Public history and historic preservation: Led a committee that recommends transforming the old Chapel Hill Town Hall into a community-engaged museum. This process is ongoing, and there the county has been participating in the discussions. Additionally, led efforts to place the old Chapel Hill Library under historic preservation easement; this is relevant to county discussions about listing the Schley Grange and potentially other properties on the National Register.

• Environmental advocacy: Work on environmental issues, first with the Morgan Creek Valley Alliance and later directly on Town conservation initiatives, involved working with county environmental officers and an understanding of the county's conservation objectives.

• Orange County Food Council: I represented Chapel Hill on this new body while I was on the Town Council, and I remain involved. The Council's mission is "to grow and support a community-driven food system in the Orange County region of North Carolina through building strategic partnerships across all sectors, identifying issues, advocating for policies, and coordinating action to ensure access to nutritious foods for all, promote sustainable agriculture, increase economic development, and advance social justice."

3. If you are challenging an incumbent, what decisions has the incumbent made that you most disagree with? If you are an incumbent, what in your voting record and experience do you believe entitles you to another term?