What do you think of town government?

(This is the seventh week of questions to the town board candidates about local issues.

** What are your opinions or views on the current Wake Forest town government from the town manager and town board through all of the town departments, including the police department and the fire department?

** What have you heard from town residents about town government?

** What changes do you think need to be made? For example, should the public hearings about rezoning and master plans be held on one date and the planning board’s vote about that be held at a different date?

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Election Day for the November Wake Forest municipal elections is Nov. 5 with polls open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. There is no early voting for Wake Forest elections, and you do not have to show an ID to vote in this election.

If you are not registered to vote, you cannot vote in this election because the registration deadline was last Friday, Oct. 11. You can still register to vote in upcoming elections by going to www.wakegov.com, choosing Board of Elections on the first page and Register to Vote on the second. While there you can learn all the other locations in Wake County where you can register.

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If you were unable to attend the Candidates Forum sponsored by the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, Oct. 22, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Renaissance Centre or not able to watch it live on Channel 10, you can still see and hear all the candidates. Beginning Friday, Oct. 25, the unedited forum will be rebroadcast daily through Election Day on WFTV 10 at noon and 6 p.m. The 2019 Candidates’ Forum is the only forum that will be aired this year on WFTV 10.

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Adam Wright

I am running because I feel that the board can do better. I do think we have some wonderful board members that are not running this election. However, they need some likeminded individuals seated with them. Our town police department does a fabulous job keeping us safe and has helped keep Wake Forest named one of the safest cities in North Carolina. Our fire department also does an outstanding job. They have a low response time and can keep fires contained to the room they started a majority of the time.

Since I have started my campaign, between my volunteers and me, we have knocked on over 1,500 doors. I have also attended several meet and greets, and there has been one consistent theme that I hear from the residents – people are upset at how the town development has unfolded and the lack of transparency in the process. It seems that every time they turn around a new area has been rezoned for dense growth in the most congested areas of our town. The residents are also upset that no matter how much they speak out these developments keep springing up. Another concern I hear often is that we do not do a great job at creating jobs in the city.

I want more transparency in our rezoning process. Our city has a great app. It has a lot of great info on it. I know it also can do push notifications. The app has info about public notices accessible on it. However, I would like to see the ability to “opt-in” when new public notices are posting and the meetings scheduled.

I would like the public to have the opportunity to comment before the board taking a vote on any new development. Many residents were caught off guard when the new development was being voted on behind Harris Teeter. They showed up to voice their displeasure with the development but were turned away from being able to do so. This policy makes citizens feel like the fix is in and their voice doesn’t matter. We should value their input and be willing to listen at ALL times.

Greg Bartholomew

I’m very impressed with the financial state of the town. Wake Forest is in the secure, capable, and professional hands of our staff. No complaints from me. Good job town officials! Seeing our police on the streets, and our fire engines rushing to render aid, makes me proud.

I’ve only experienced one night of citizen displeasure. That was the August vote on the Heritage Apartment complex. Certainly a heated night for all involved.

In addition, residents face constant traffic congestion at Forestville Road and Rogers Road. Got to fix that. Also, residents in Pineview Estates on South Main Street have complained numerous times about rain water run-off from a new town home complex next door. I hope they can get a satisfactory resolution from the town leaders. As of this point in time, they have not.

I suggest the following changes regarding rezoning notifications:

• Bigger rezoning signs on property
• Vivid, highly noticeable color for signs
• Increasing 100 feet notification radius to 250 feet
• If no frontage is on a heavily traveled road, then a rezoning sign with an arrow pointing to the subject property should be placed
• Notify nearby Home Owners Associations of intended rezoning changes

Look, I’m here for change.  Our voters will decide if I’m right or wrong.

In order to have change, it’s not always a requirement that something be wrong. But sometimes you need to polish the car a little harder to get that special shine. We all want the shiniest car in the neighborhood. Just looking at it in a stronger light gives you a different perspective. The same with town government. Sometimes you need some hard polishing to get a new perspective and a brighter shine.

Jim Dyer

Wake Forest is a great place to live!  Our town has been recognized and awarded many prestigious titles in recent news articles. For example, “Wake Forest is a great place to retire” and “Wake Forest is a safe place to live.” We need to give credit to those that are serving and making things happen here. Our town manager was chosen from a large field of applicants because of his background experience and expertise as a town manager. He is very approachable and I like him. I view our current town board as hard working, conscientious and under-appreciated. They are often expected to resolve issues that they have little or no control over. When they ask questions for explanation they are criticized. When they are silent and listen they are criticized. Our expectations should be high, but commissioners cannot be experts in every detailed area of the town business. Commissioners most rely on the town administration and volunteer advisory boards for input. Our mayor has served us well for several terms. She continues to be re-elected because many in Wake Forest think she is “Wonder Women.”  I am a fan!

It would take a significant amount of time to go through each of the twelve town departments. We are fortunate to have excellent leadership in our department heads. Many of our departments have been recognized and received prestigious awards for their work. Our parks and recreation and finance are two good examples. Our communications department does a wonderful job keeping the community informed and promoting events like the memorial flag raising to honor one of our deceased veterans.

The downtown development and economic development have great leadership and work tirelessly to promote our community. Our human resources department recruits, hires and trains great town employees. Our inspections department seems to receive some type of grief from every builder and developer because the department is conscientiously doing their job.

The planning department has a well-educated and trained staff. Like the inspections department, they receive more than their share of complaints from the community about specific types of growth and locations of growth. We want them to manage the pain in a rapidly growing community. They are given the impossible task of pleasing everyone.

We see our public works out in the community everyday taking care of business. We certainly need to acknowledge the behind the scenes work to provide our community electricity.  The police department has seen significant growth over the last 15 years. We have citizens that complain when they enforce the speed limits and others that complain when the speed limits are not enforced. Thank you, police department for keeping our town a safe place to live.

Recently, Wake Forest decided to integrate our fire department into town employees. This is going to cost our tax payers more. That decision was based on research that showed clear advantages to the town and the firefighters. We need to take care of those that take care of us.  We are going to need  professional fire fighters as our community grows.

I could not begin to articulate the wonderful things the information technology department does for Wake Forest. They put us on the map through numerous forms of communications , training  and “exchange of spatial or geographic information support.” These people are smart and creative.  We can thank them for getting all the departments working in concert to make our town function.

It’s difficult not to use superlatives to describe all the Wake Forest departments and the service they provide to our town! I started using individual names at first. I went back and removed names in order to give the entire departments credit and not just to individuals that I personally knew.

We have experienced explosive growth in Wake Forest in the last 15 years. We have so many new residents from other states that have lived here under five years. As I walked some of the newer neighborhoods, I found most had registered to vote, but did not know much about the candidates or our town government. This is often reflected in the low voter turnout at the polls at non-presidential election cycles. The residents that voiced an opinion wanted to know primarily what our plans are about growth and traffic. Many of our long term residents and newer ones want to close our doors to growth. Nothing short of a moratorium on building permits is going to stop growth.

Residents that live in single family homes next to or very close to planned apartments complexes are very displeased (maybe angry is a better adjective) at our town government.

Newly elected town commissioners must have a steep and rapid learning curve to be effective and efficient in their job. That’s why all the positions are not filled simultaneously. They need to work together even when they disagree to move our community forward.  Each commissioner brings his or her own gifts, talents and view-points to the table for decision making. They need to make decisions that reflect our community values and do not detract from our quality of live. Some decisions are certainly going to be controversial.  Some decisions will be difficult, but fortunately, they are not life or death decisions.

Public hearings about rezoning and master plans and the planning board’s vote about that specific item at times should be on postponed to another date for particularly controversial issues. This may allow are parties to compromise or defend a decision that will have long term consequences.

Heather Holding

Through my 20+ years of Wake Forest community involvement, I’ve interacted and gotten to know Town of Wake Forest staff and our first responders. While I don’t know each and every one of them, the many who I do know are professional, knowledgeable and competent in their roles. They care about Wake Forest as much as I do. As a town commissioner, I look forward to rolling up my sleeves and working with them to make our community better for ALL citizens.

As for the first responders—they are my personal heroes because they put themselves into situations no one else will. They help keep our community safe and healthy and for them I am grateful.

What have I heard from town residents about Town government? What I’m hearing right now from town residents is more about the elected officials and their responses to the citizens’ issues. That’s the focus right now.

From my perspective concerning changes to Town government, I’m not aware of any drastic changes that need to be considered. As commissioner, I’ll seek input from my constituents about any issues that should be addressed.

Anne Reeve

Wake Forest is extremely fortunate to have a high caliber of staff. The Town Manager, Kip Padgett, is great in his management of all aspects of Town government. Each department head answers directly to him. Because of his abilities to see the larger picture, he is on top of any situation that arises. Assistant to the Town Manager Candace Davis has been a valuable assist, from grant writing to overseeing projects. Our staff is award winning and have been recognized nationally.

For instance, the police department is nationally certified, indicating the highest recognition in the country. This recognition was an effort by Chief Leonard and other officers to insure the highest quality of responsibility and responses to the citizens. Our police officers are truly dedicated to the safety of the citizens of Wake Forest. They are also very involved the community, participating each year in a variety of community outreach programs.

The Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts department led by Ruben Wall is also nationally recognized, achieving this designation through programs and dedication to the youth of the town. The Renaissance Centre brings a wonderful diversity of programs to all the citizens of the community.

Finance Director, Aileen Staples runs a “tight ship” with the town’s budget and expenditures. Wake Forest is a AAA rated community. Our ratio to debt is far below what is allowed by the Local Government Commission. Customer Service is a high priority.

Human Relations Director Virginia Jones has embraced the many programs that her staff is involved in – like supporting health fairs for employees and the community.

Planning has an outstanding staff of professions who know and understand how to work with individuals who bring projects for review. A new director has recently joined the staff.

Economic Developer Jason Cannon has brought some great projects for the advancement of the town, and continues to work on amazing future projects.

Administration is awesome. We have the best town clerk, Deeda Harris. She not only works diligently for the town, but also has to be very responsive to the citizens. Cathi Pop stays on top of activities of administration.

Bill Crabtree, public information officer, is amazing. His ability to get information (good and bad) to the public in a timely matter. Anna Bolton, Bess Martinson, and Amanda Cochrane bring their own unique specialties to the town.

Downtown Development Director Lisa Hayes and her staff are responsibility for all of the wonderful events that take place in Downtown Wake Forest. Friday Night on White is one of the most popular events for the Town. Along with many other responsibilities related to advancing the Town.

Public Works Director Magda Holloway oversees the many aspects of engineering, urban forestry, yard waste collections, tree trimming, environmental engineer, electric systems. Wake Forest Power recently moved to a new operations facility to better enhance their abilities to maintain the services to the citizen. Betty Pearce has moved to the new location with new duties. There are so many wonderful staff members and I can’t name them all. I apologize to each for not capturing your name in this article, but THANK YOU for all you do for the town.

Wake Forest Fire Department is not yet part of the Town of Wake Forest. The transition from a non-profit to a town Department is in the works and should be completed by July 1, 2020. However, I can assure the citizens that the Firefighters who staff the five fire stations are the BEST! They are dedicated to their profession, constantly taking classes to enhance their abilities. They work on their physical training as well. Chief Ron Early encourages innovation among the firefighters. Allowing them to bring fore, new ideas to enhance the department. He also encourages them to achieve advanced degrees and training on a routine basis. Wake Forest is grateful that this group of wonderful firefighters have decided to be a part of our Town. They will be valuable assets.

I never hear any negative comments from citizens about the Town staff, unless they have an issue that they think was not handled to their liking.

I think it would be a disaster to make the changes mentioned. It is important, especially with quasi-judicial hearings that the planning board act on the projects presented. To delay the vote has the potential to create situations that are unforeseen. A quasi-judicial hearing is the same as a court hearing. Testimony must be acted on within the confines of the evidence presented. Not delayed. I believe that by postponing a decision would create confusion with members of the planning board, applicants and planning staff.

Chad Sary

Wake Forest is a very desirable place to live. It’s evident by the population growth we have experienced. The town government has certainly played a part in that. Are they perfect, absolutely not, but I know that they constantly are monitoring other communities from around the state to be sure that they are using best practices. The downtown is thriving, the Town is financially stable, our crime rate is low and the recreational opportunities presented to our citizens gets better every year. No matter what line of work you are in, there is always room to get better.

A few things I have heard from residents is that there may be a disconnect in how the development process works, confusion of what authority Town officials actually have and a desire to be better informed. To address these concerns, the town may need to re-evaluate the public notification process and perhaps create different types of land use/zoning/development related outreach programs.

Sean Sullivan

I believe the current town government has been doing a great job and understands the challenges of a fast growing population. The town has been very lucky to have highly knowledgeable and qualified town managers with our current Town Manager Kip Padgett and the previous Town Manager Mark Williams. We also have a very robust communications department led by Bill Crabtree.

I offer my full support to our police department and welcome the staff at the fire department as future employees of the town. A big ‘thank you’ to the public safety staff of Wake Forest! I also want to thank the ever present and constant town staff who continue to do a great job not only during snowstorms, hurricanes, floods and short term power outages but each and every day as well. Getting the streets cleared and the town’s power back up and running in a short period of time is greatly appreciated.

It’s only human nature that people don’t often say much about our town government except to complain. Conversations with residents usually revolve around traffic, taxes, crowded schools, and too much development. I have heard from a number of residents they feel their concerns are not taken seriously when presented to the town board.  Another issue involves permit inspections taking far too long. It’s not all negative though.  Vivian Jones receives kudos from residents for her role as town mayor.

General government expenses are the highest property tax charged by the town; perhaps there is room for adjustment here. A feasibility study was done to look at the fire department merger and really good information came from that study. An efficiency study might need to be done to review our town bureaucracy to be sure the town is being both efficient and effective.

I support the idea of extending the time between public hearings, planning board discussions, and final votes. I personally prefer the time to visualize and walk any property that is up for rezoning and annexation. Online conversations and comments would continue until planning board meetings. All too often residents hear about issues after the fact, so anything the town can do to ensure residents are afforded the opportunity be involved and educated about issues can go a long way to build trust.

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