Full name: Anjanée Bell
Party affiliation: Democrat
Campaign website: www.BellForDurham.com
1) In 300 words or less, please give our readers your elevator pitch: Why are you running? Why should voters entrust you with this position? What prior experience will make you an effective mayor?
I am running to restore vision and renew courage in Durham. Our city is full of promise, but many neighbors feel priced out, left out, or unsafe. We are moving fast, but not always fair. My job is to lead a city where growth lifts legacy, opportunity is built with people—not over them—and every neighborhood is climate-ready and age-friendly.
Voters should trust me because I lead with clarity, accountability, and a steady hand. I will govern through Durham is H.O.P.E.—Housing & Healing, Opportunity & Ownership, People’s Safety & People’s Trust, and Environment & Education. That means: preserve and repair existing homes while strengthening renter protections and opening paths to ownership; cut red tape for small businesses and the arts; coordinate safety with de-escalation, crisis response, and community violence intervention; and build climate-ready blocks with shade, stormwater fixes, and accessible parks and trails. I will publish a citywide accountability dashboard so residents can track commitments, budgets, and results.
My experience fits the work. I am an educator, entrepreneur, and grants leader who turns ideas into execution and builds coalitions that deliver. I grew up in a home of public service. My father, former Durham mayor William V. “Bill” Bell, modeled disciplined, people-first leadership. His legacy grounds me, and my leadership is my own—rooted in listening, focused on solutions, and measured by results. We will partner with neighbors, labor, NCCU, Durham Tech, Duke, faith leaders, and responsible builders who share these standards.
Durham is not a plan B. It is home. I will bring people together, insist on fairness, and deliver the work to build a better Durham—for everyone.
2) What would your priorities be as mayor? Please identify three of the most pressing issues Durham currently faces and how you believe the city should address them.
My governing agenda is Durham is H.O.P.E.—Housing & Healing, Opportunity & Ownership, People’s Safety & People’s Trust, and Environment & Education. For this questionnaire, I’m highlighting three immediate priorities:
Housing & Healing. Protect people from displacement while adding homes. Commit to no net loss of deeply affordable units; preserve older, naturally affordable homes; support land trusts, co-ops, and rent-to-own; require right-to-return where City support is involved; and fund home repairs and accessibility upgrades so elders can age in place. I welcome responsible development—predictable, high-quality, climate-ready, and accountable.
People’s Safety & People’s Trust. Co-produce safety with residents and law enforcement. Expand community violence intervention and HEART (civilian crisis response) integrated with 911/988; fully staff Police/Fire/EMS with de-escalation, early-intervention systems, and transparent standards; strengthen community policing; and launch Senior Safe Passage (better lighting, crossings, and fraud-prevention outreach).
Environment & Education. Make neighborhoods climate-ready: more trees and shade, stronger stormwater, cooler streets, flood-safe design, and lead-safe parks. Build age-friendly streets (benches, lighting, curb ramps, longer crosswalk times) and align land use, transit, and housing stability with Durham Public Schools.
Note: Opportunity & Ownership runs through how we deliver these priorities—cutting red tape for small businesses (via a Downtown Green Lane express permit desk), opening local hiring and apprenticeship pipelines, and helping Durham residents start and grow enterprises that anchor them here.
3) What’s the best or most important thing the Durham City Council has done in the past year? Additionally, name a decision you believe the city should have handled differently. Please explain your answers.
Best action. Expanding eviction diversion and legal mediation (late-2023 to 2025) kept families housed. It protects children, keeps workers near jobs, and costs less than shelter or emergency response. I will scale prevention-first policy.
Handled differently. In Hayti’s Heritage Square process, the developer withdrew after presenting—before residents could speak. I would have denied the withdrawal, heard the public, and taken a vote. Going forward: if an application changes after the Planning Commission vote, send it back for a focused, time-certain review, and require a plain-language statement when Council departs from the Commission. Clear rules, full hearing, transparent votes.
4) President Trump is working to ramp up deportations and curtail visas. At the same time, the state legislature has passed laws requiring cooperation with ICE. What do you think Durham officials can or should do to ensure safe, welcoming communities for immigrants in light of these policies?
Keep Durham safe and welcoming within the law. Focus Durham Police Department on local public safety, not civil immigration enforcement; require judicial warrants for any cooperation not clearly mandated; and keep a firewall between City services and immigration status. Expand legal defense, U- and T-visa certifications where appropriate, language access, know-your-rights education, and trusted navigators. With the Sheriff, DA, courts, and schools, reduce courthouse arrests and protect due process so families—including elders and mixed-status households—can access services without fear.
5) Federal funding cuts this year have hit the Triangle particularly hard, from canceled grants to layoffs, and local government officials are having to make difficult decisions about what to fund and how. What are your ideas for how the city can prioritize competing funding needs, close funding gaps, and balance the financial burden on residents?
Protect basics first. Fund Police/Fire/EMS, HEART, sanitation, transit frequency, stormwater, and lead-safe parks. Move to a $25/hour wage floor with healthcare for all city workers; retention saves money.
Spend smarter before taxing more. Expand what works; fix or sunset what doesn’t. Share purchasing with the County, use energy-savings contracts, modernize fleet, and tighten risk management.
Fix it first. Prioritize streets, stormwater, and facilities; align safety and housing work on the same corridors; require independent cost checks on big projects.
Grow fair revenue. Modest fees for short-term rentals and vacant/blighted properties; recover costs for high-impact street closures and large events; demand-based pricing in City decks (not neighborhood meters), with merchant validation and worker passes; publish a two-year fee calendar.
Bring in dollars. A small grants strike team for competitive state/federal funds; keep shovel-ready projects on deck.
Keep people working. A Jobs & Services Compact with major employers (Duke, Duke Health, NCCU, Durham Tech) for early layoff alerts, paid apprenticeships, upskilling, shift-worker transit, and local procurement.
Show the math. Plain-language budget and a citywide accountability dashboard.
6) As climate change leads to more intense rainfall, communities are at greater risk of inland flooding, such as the historic floods in parts of the Triangle caused by Tropical Storm Chantal in July. How would you like Durham to address climate resilience, particularly flooding?
Green the grid and keep water where it belongs. Add trees and shade; retrofit streets with rain-gardens, permeable surfaces, and curb upgrades; independently verify stormwater systems work; build and repair with flood-safe materials. Expand voluntary buyouts and restore floodplains as parks. Inspect and maintain drains proactively. Treat park safety as core infrastructure: test citywide for lead and other hazards, publish results, and fix worst-first. Share a public flood/heat map and plan solutions with residents—including cooling centers, senior wellness checks, and shade near senior housing.
7) Describe what sustainable growth and development mean to you. Additionally, what is another municipality you believe has made smart decisions related to growth and development that could be similarly implemented in Durham?
Sustainable growth means more homes and more equity at the same time. I am pro-housing and pro-development done right: focus height and intensity on transit corridors and downtown edges with clear step-downs to neighborhoods; use predictable, by-right rules that let good projects move quickly; reserve Council leverage on very large cases to secure community benefits; deliver no net loss, right-to-return, and preservation of older affordable homes; reuse buildings first; and make streets and ground floors age-friendly (benches, ramps, good lighting, longer crosswalks).
Model: Arlington, Virginia: corridor-based, transit-oriented growth; predictable step-downs; strong street-level design and everyday services. Durham can adapt that discipline and pair any added height with deep, durable affordability and anti-displacement funds.
8) Downtown Durham continues to see growth, with large commercial developments and hundreds of new housing units, yet businesses say they’re still suffering. How would you reinvigorate this major business district?
Affordable storefronts. Launch Affordable Commercial so upper-floor value helps subsidize below-market ground-floor rents for local shops, artists, and food startups; use master leases and small fit-out grants.
Streets that invite discovery. Pilot Open Streets—regular car-free evenings/weekends with music, markets, and pop-ups—plus quick shade, benches, lighting, and wayfinding.
Arts + small business at the center. A Downtown Arts & Makers Partnership (with Discover Durham) for year-round programming, buskers, gallery storefronts, and small-venue support.
Fix parking pain—make decks work for people.
- City decks: First 2 hours free by day and free evenings (consistent hours).
- Workers: No-cost passes for evening/overnight shifts—service workers should not pay to work.
- Real-time space info, better wayfinding, brighter lighting, escorts on peak nights, and clear walking paths.
- Curb: 15–30 minute pick-up zones and shared loading; protect ADA access.
- Neighborhoods: No new residential meters; use Residential Parking Districts with guest passes.
Put parking dollars to work. A Proven Good Fund: clean-and-safe teams, lighting, sidewalk fixes, small-tenant grants, secure bike parking, and transit—tracked on a dashboard.
Cut friction. One-stop Downtown Green Lane—an express, one-stop small-business permit desk with firm deadlines and evening/weekend inspections—for signage, build-outs, patios/parklets, and events.
Reconnect the grid. Finish the loop conversion; add safer crossings and bike links; make it easy to park once and walk—with ADA-reliable elevators and ramps.
Measure and adjust. A full parking/access evaluation and a public downtown vitality dashboard (vacancy, foot traffic, dwell time, openings/closures).
9) The City of Durham is realigning its homelessness services. What can or should the city be doing to support this growing population, especially in light of recent changes to state law governing encampments and financial pressures on service providers?
Lead with housing, coordination, and dignity—while following state law. Add permanent supportive housing (including motel conversions), rapid rehousing, and deeply affordable units tied to services. Keep coordinated entry open and simple; fund low-barrier shelter and day services (storage, showers, mail, navigation). When encampments must close, offer services-rich placements first. Prevent homelessness with eviction diversion, utility help, reentry housing, senior-focused prevention and repairs, and publish results (exits to housing, time homeless, returns).
10) According to the Triangle Community Foundation, there’s a mismatch between the price point of housing units available in Durham and what Durham renters can afford, amounting to a nearly 25,000-unit deficit for low-income renters. What can the city do to ensure Durham housing is affordable for current and future residents?
Preserve first. Commit to no net loss of deeply affordable homes; create a fund to buy and repair older affordable properties (NOAH); and give tenants and mission-driven buyers first-look rights.
Produce deeply affordable homes. Renew housing bonds; use public land with long-term ground leases; support DHA and nonprofit builders; layer financing to reach 30–60% AMI and below.
More ways to own and rent. Support community land trusts, limited-equity co-ops, rent-to-own, ADUs, and multigenerational options.
Build in the right places. Gentle density near transit, schools, and jobs; include accessible and family-sized units.
Align fees and speed. Scale fees to unit size/income; fast-track projects with deep affordability and climate-ready design.
Tie value to value. When rezonings add big value, require enforceable benefits—deeper affordability, small-business space, and green improvements.
Stability for those most at risk. State law bars local rent control. I will bring our delegation and Council together to sponsor a local-option, targeted rent-stabilization bill for low-income and senior renters. Meanwhile: cap rents in City-funded/owned units, expand senior tax relief and repairs, and strengthen eviction diversion.
11) For some residents, gun violence remains a persistent issue even though shootings and other violent crimes are currently down from last year. How would you rate the progress the city has made and what are your ideas for improving public safety?
Progress is mixed: numbers are down in some areas, but too many families still feel unsafe. Safety is shared work. Policy must reflect community voices and law enforcement together, and community policing is vital.
Co-produce safety. Micro-Community Safety Plans for each patrol beat; quarterly beat walks and problem-solving sessions; track follow-through on a public dashboard.
Community policing, every day. Stable beat assignments; more foot and bike patrols at key hours; time for problem-solving and relationship-building; language-accessible engagement with youth and elders.
Prevent and interrupt. Expand community violence intervention, hospital programs, credible messengers, and focused deterrence paired with services.
Staff and standards. Fully staff Police, 911, Fire, and EMS; modern equipment; de-escalation and early-intervention systems; transparent discipline; officer wellness.
Right responder, right call. Grow HEART toward 24/7 as data supports; integrate with 988 and mobile crisis so clinical calls get clinical care.
Safer places. Light, clean, and connect high-injury corridors; youth jobs and evening programs; Senior Safe Passage near clinics, grocery stores, and parks.
Guns. Safe-storage campaigns, trafficking investigations, and strong tracing with state and federal partners.
12) If there are other issues you want to discuss, please do so here.
If you are worried about rising rent, a leaking roof, flooding after storms, a bus that never comes, a permit that drags on, or a 911 call that waits too long—your expectations are not too high. Durham can meet them. We will build with every generation—from children to grandparents—and never erase our elders.
I will lead with a Standard of Care the public can see: clear service targets for safety, housing stability, stormwater and streets, small-business openings, and neighborhood upkeep—tracked on a citywide dashboard. I will hold open office hours in neighborhoods, publish plain-language briefings before major votes, and require equity reviews and no net loss where the City invests. Basics come first; promises match budgets and deadlines.
First 100 days: launch the dashboard (v1) and quarterly updates; pilot a one-stop Downtown Green Lane—an express, one-stop small-business permit desk with firm deadlines and evening/weekend inspections—and fast-track projects with deep affordability and climate-ready design; start two Fix-It Corridors for lighting, crossings, traffic calming, and stormwater; sign an NCCU–Durham Tech–Duke workforce compact for hiring pipelines and paid apprenticeships; and run Clear the Decks 90—finish or re-scope stalled promises and publish a Promises Ledger, with special focus on park safety, lead remediation, and senior-center upgrades.
If you are ready for a city that measures what matters, tells the truth about tradeoffs, and invites you into the work, I ask for your vote. We are moving fast; we must also move fair—so we build a better Durham—for everyone.
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