Name as it appears on the ballot: Rebecca Harvard Barnes
Age: 51
Party affiliation: Non partisan
Campaign website: rebeccaharvardbarnes.com
Occupation & employer: Minister, Mt. Bethel Presbyterian Church
Years lived in Durham: 41
1) Given the direction of Durham government, would you say things are on the right course? If not, for what specific changes will you advocate if elected?
I believe that the City of Durham government has been doing an AMAZING job!! Things are definitely heading on the right course and I attribute that to current leadership and the 1000’s of employees and volunteers who work tirelessly to help move us in such a positive direction. I have so much pride in Durham for its forward thinking, progressive ideals and I sincerely believe that my vision of us as Beloved Community is completely attainable. We simply need thoughtful, collaborative and pointed leadership to continue us on the trajectory to that end and to help motivate every citizen of Durham to do their part in making it the greatest city in the country to live!
2) Please identify the three most pressing issues you believe the city faces and how you believe the city should address them.
1) Environment and Climate control issues–continuing Mayor Steve Schewels Green New Durham initiative and moving our city toward policy that incorporates every aspect of our city’s development. Partnerships with Duke Energy to utilize renewable energy sources for as many municipal entities as possible and developments wanting to come into Durham. Increasing the goals of city wide energy consumption and providing citizens with incentives to also decrease their personal carbon footprint (by utilizing foot, bike and public transit more to decrease immisions)
2) Public safety–now that the search for a new chief of police is nearing its end, we will be ready to roll up our sleeves and continue the work of building a comprehensive public safety system for all of Durham’s residents. The city will need to continue to support the DPD through allocations to the new Department of Community Safety in particular the Crisis Intervention Team. Continued focus on catching and prosecuting the most violent of perpetrators on our streets and helping communities heal from the ripple effects of violent crimes by allowing our police to focus on the things that they are specifically and specially trained to handle. Safety in schools is an important issue and so continued collaboration with the DPS school board in regards to programs they have to ensure student safety should continue to be a priority. The city will want to attract and retain the best police force that can help us accomplish these ideals and so an increase in wages, training and support for our police officers will be a priority.
3) Affordable housing – we will never be able to realize Durham a Beloved Community if we continue to have people in Durham living on the streets, in transitional housing or in unsafe and unaffordable housing options. Approaching all of Durham’s big problems through the lens of understanding that many of the root issues are based in poverty brings us back to the realization that safe, affordable housing is one of the primary needs that every individual has. Durham will need to continue to do all it can to address this important issue. Smart, thoughtful planning utilizing inclusionary zoning and the city’s own affordable housing investment plan has set us on a positive trajectory but policy doesn’t move as fast as development so we have got to act with urgency on this important issue.
3) What in your record as a public official or other experience demonstrates your ability to be effective as a member of the city council and as an advocate for the issues that you believe are important?
Although I have no practical political or governance experience, yet, I will bring to the position of Mayor of Durham a unique quality of leadership and skills that will help lead Durham toward a collaborative and equitable continuation of becoming the best city it can be. My skill sets, gleaned from years in ministry, nonprofit work, advocacy, mental health work and education, fall under the purview of counselor, mediator, educator, planner, budgeter, community builder, motivator, listener, advocate and social justice pursuer. I believe that I can help unify Durham and bring people together who have likely never paid much attention to local municipal governance despite the fact that it is, literally, a primary factor in their daily living. Engagement of each Durham resident is crucial in regards to the root issues of many of our city’s biggest challenges; environmental sustainability, community safety, public education, housing, workforce development, food insecurity and mass transit. In order for Durham to stay on course of its Roadmap to Sustainability, everyone must get involved at some level. I believe I can help create a culture where everyone will want to become a more engaged citizen of our city that is being governed with public resources. The City has done excellent work laying a foundation for this type of knowledge and engagement, I believe we need a strong unifier at this point in Durham’s history and I believe I am the person for the job.
4) What’s the best or most important thing the city council has done in the past year? Alternatively, name a decision you believe the council got wrong or an issue you believe the city should have handled differently. Please explain your answer.
The past 17 months have been unprecedented. The Covid 19 pandemic has forever changed the lives, in one way or another of every citizen of Durham. Like in the past when our community has been faced with challenges, we have shown each other that when our neighbors are in need, we are absolutely able to respond appropriately. Also the past year has seen the rise of the much needed work toward racial equity. I am proud of our city for it’s work in partnership with the Racial Equity Task Force and believe that continuing to address all of the multifaceted jobs of city government through the lens of race equity is the best way forward.
5) The city has seen an uptick in gun homicides since 2018, including recent tragic deaths of children. Gun violence is obviously a multifaceted problem with no simple solution. But, in your view, what can or should the city be doing to stem the tide of violence that it isn’t doing now?
Gun violence is a horror that we have to continue to work tirelessly to address. I would encourage the state and the federal government to lift restrictions on municipalities to allow for us to get the guns to the best of our ability; however in light of the deep rooted issues around this the city must continue to think creatively and act with urgency. There is a program that the city is considering that is able to help police detect where guns have been fired in Durham called Shotspotter. As mayor I would support the trial of this type of technology to help us narrow down the search for the most violent of crimes committed in Durham.
6) Do you support transferring 15 positions from the Durham Police Department to the newly created Community Safety Department for its new pilot programs?
YES. How should the city further grow the Community Safety Department if the pilot programs are successful? I often think about the use of bond money to help create a safer community. If we were able to increase the needs of the police force and add to the CSD substantially we may begin to see real difference in the way Durham is able to manage it’s public safety issues.
7) Given the influx of people and money Durham has seen in recent years, and recent plans for Google and Apple to open offices in the area, gentrification has become a major concern in East Durham but also in other neighborhoods close to downtown. In what ways can or should the city intervene?
There are many ways in which the city can be involved in supporting current low income homeowners such as collaboration with the county to create grant programs and work to assist with the state’s property tax relief programs. Also, in these areas the city can work with developers, through development agreements that encourage them to go above and beyond the ordinances placed upon them. The need for more housing stock in Durham can also be a way in which the city offers assistance to these areas, utilizing creative and innovative options, like focus areas, expanding housing lots and creating accessory dwelling units to name a few.
8) How should the city address housing for people who currently make less than the $15/hour minimum wage? How can the city ensure more people make the current living wage?
The city can put incentives, good or punitive depending, on employers in Durham who are not paying at minimum, a living wage in Durham. With the building of more affordable housing in Durham thanks to the affordable housing bond monies, there will be more than 15,000 people housed in the near future. We need to do more of this kind of work.
9) What are the city’s most pressing transit needs? How should the city expand bus services to reach more riders?
I the city can continue to offer free fares for Durham residents beyond the 2022 deadline, that would help our bus services reach more riders. Also, collaboration with the FTA and other municipalities in NC will help Durham’s Transit plan As part of my climate control campaign a big push in my mind for the city’s transit needs is more money and more effort going into the Go Durham Bus Project launched in the spring of 2021. Regional transit is vital for our growing community and work force and also partnership with the Metropolitan Planning Organization in bringing to Durham, with assistance from Federal funding a commuter rail system and more pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure to our city.
10) How should the council improve transit infrastructure for cyclists, who aren’t protected from traffic by physical barriers and don’t always have options for coordinated bike lanes?
With the Safe and Healthy streets campaign there have been great strides made toward the transit equity campaign. Continuing the work of building more bike lanes, sidewalks, curbs, paving streets and repairing bridges all will help with this type of protection.
11) How do you think the city’s policy of Expanding Housing Choices will work to increase density in Durham’s urban core? Will the policy work to create more mixed-income communities? Should it work this way? What more could be done to add density or relieve pressures on home values?
The implementation of the unified development ordinance and the notion of EHC’s and accessory dwelling units has created a great deal of interest within the community. These initiatives, along with many other tactics to relieve the housing shortage, will help with the demand for supply within the housing market in Durham.
12) New census data shows that 19 percent of Durham’s Black residents live under the poverty line, while about 7 percent of whites and a third of Hispanic residents do. A 2020 Racial Equity Task Force report found growing wealth disparities between Black and white residents that were compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. How (if it all) do you think the city should use the report’s findings to make the city a more equitable one for all residents?
The work of the Racial Equity Task Force has resulted in the proposed creation of a city and county wide commission to continue the work toward establishing more economic and racial equity in Durham. The need for a comprehensive plan for development, equity and inclusion is necessary in working toward decreasing the wealth disparities in Durham.
13) The city council established a Durham Workers’ Rights Commission in 2019. What do you feel it has achieved so far? What should its role and focus be, and how should it achieve its goals? Has the city supported it adequately?
The commission is working on holding local employers and elected officials accountable in regards to workers rights and was instrumental in working with the City to support a workers bill of rights.
14) What is the city doing currently to ensure environmental sustainability in new construction? What more could it be doing?
Incentives for more green spaces and energy efficiency as part of the zoning requirements.
15) If there are other issues you would like to discuss, please do so here.
My name is Rebecca Harvard Barnes and I am honored to be among an amazing group of incredible human beings also running for Mayor of Durham. There is a wealth of knowledge, dedication, commitment and caring among this group of people. I am running for Mayor of Durham…at this juncture, to be a part of the conversation, to add, yet another voice to the discussions about how to best lead our city into the future and to encourage, through example, our younger citizens to get involved in civic life! My vision for Durham is simple…to be Beloved Community. Those of you who know me, know that I have dedicated my entire adult life working with young people, stewarding them toward helping us all make the world a better place to live. As a Student life Instructor at the School of Science and Math, as the Minister to youth and their families at First Presbyterian Church, as the Youth United and Community Relations Manager with Habitat for Humanity, as a longtime volunteer in our community and supporter of local municipal governance and faith leadership in Durham and now, at Mt. Bethel Presbyterian Church as their Christian Educator….. I stand here today because everyone’s voice needs to be heard, equity and inclusion needs to be extended to and nurtured among all members of our community. I’m here today, not because I delude myself in thinking that I am the best person to be sitting in the Mayors seat of our Durham City Council meetings after November but to be a conduit to as many people as I can to let them know what is currently happening in the city of Durham, what needs to happen in the city of Durham and what each individual of our community’s personal engagement can look like!! It’s time to start….. ● To be like Laura who organizes her peers to stand up and advocate for the State and Federal government to mandate GUN control so she’s not afraid in school of potential gun violence ● To be like Marcia who cares for the families of the victims of gun violence ● To be like Maryn who outwardly speaks to the equal rights of everyone in our LGBTQ+ community ● and to Betsy and Tom who are screaming at the top of their lungs for policy makers to mandate emission control so that we don’t kill our planet, and ourselves ● To be like the North Street Neighborhood community who share their homes with people who have disabilities. ● To be like the Geezers who are religiously building affordable housing in Durham with Habitat for Humanity ● To be like Heather who dedicates her free time to the Big Brother, Big Sister of the Triangle ● To be like Keyanna who, against all odds recently got her first paying job at Frankie’s fun park because she is trying to set herself up for success ● To be like each of you…doing your part as a citizen of Durham…. We all have to start now it’s time to #dosomething I urge you to get out and vote! Because it will be together that we tackle the comprehensive plans that our municipal government has been working on in attempts to keep Durham one of the best places in the entire state of North Carolina to live!!! Why not get everyone you know to come out on October 5 and vote their conscience….why not come out again on November 2 and vote for the leaders of the community you live in….. Why not do something today!? #together4durham
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