Name as it appears on the ballot: Christina Jones 

Age: 37

Party affiliation: Democrat

Campaign website: ChristinaForRaleigh.com

Occupation & employer: Substitute Teacher – WCPSS

Years lived in Raleigh: 12

1. Given the direction of Raleigh government, would you say things are on the right course? If not, what specific changes will you advocate for if elected? 

No, this Council has shown they are not interested in hearing from the Community about important issues facing the city, like the Affordable Housing Crisis, Gentrification of our neighborhoods, or Community Engagement initiatives.

2. If you are a candidate for a district seat, please identify your priorities for your district. If you are an at-large or mayoral candidate, please identify the three most pressing issues the city faces.  

Everything boils down to Community Engagement.  As leaders, we are here to amplify resident voices, but if we don’t give them opportunities to be heard, how are we addressing their concerns?  Transit concerns are also important for our area because we are the connection between Raleigh and Durham, as well as RTP.  Lastly, Affordable Housing and how we include everyone in the growth of our city.

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?

I am the current and longest serving Chairperson for the Raleigh Citizens Advisory Council.  Established over 40 years ago, we are the conduit of information between residents and their government.  Since we were defunded, I have committed to learning everything I can about how the city operates by joining the Parks Board and serving on all 4 committees, and speaking at City Council Public Comments every two weeks since January of 2021.  

4. U.S. metros are grappling with a housing shortage, especially a shortage of affordable housing. Raleigh is no different. Many believe that the best way to address this crisis is via dense infill development along public transportation corridors. Do you share this vision for Raleigh’s growth? Please explain.  

No.  Infill along public transportation corridors that impacts existing neighborhoods must be discussed with residents for their input.  Missing Middle 2.0 takes away residential zoning by right while also taking away the opportunity for discussion with current residents.  

5. In 2020, Raleigh citizens voted in favor of an $80 million affordable housing bond to assist with acquiring land and building near transit corridors, preserving existing inventory, down payment and homeowner repairs assistance, low-income housing tax credit financing, and more. The city also created a goal of adding 5,700 affordable units over 10 years and is on track to meet that goal. But it’s estimated that Raleigh has a deficit of some 20,000 units currently, and it’s clear much more work is needed. Should the city bring another affordable housing bond before voters? Why or why not? If yes, when, how much should the city ask for, and what should the bond fund?

No, I don’t think a new bond is a good idea.  Adding an additional bond is another tax on residents while we are giving tax breaks, in the form of TIGs, to big developers.  The city must prioritize affordable housing through growing our community land trust and setting an expectation of cooperation with future developers to include a variety of income levels in new developments.

5. In neighborhoods across the city, ranch homes and other modest, more affordable single-family homes are being torn down and replaced with large (also single-family) McMansions that don’t provide more density. Does the city have any authority to regulate such teardowns? Should it regulate such teardowns and redevelopment?

Density alone does not provide any additional affordable housing.  It is important to restore the residential rezoning process in order to bring residents, property owners, and developers together to work towards solutions that can help the community grow together.

6. One way Raleigh’s city council has attempted to address the city’s housing shortage is by allowing for more flexible housing options such as duplexes, triplexes, and quadraplexes in all neighborhoods in the city, eliminating certain zoning protections, and allowing apartments for zones along bus routes. Do you support this move to bring missing middle housing to the city and do you think it will be an effective policy for managing the city’s growth?

No.  There is currently no regulation on the affordability of these changes and will result in increased property taxes.  There was also no public input from the affected areas of this text change.  Residents deserve an opportunity to weigh in on these changes before they go into effect.

7. Raleigh’s city council has directed city staff to gather data on absentee investors who are buying up properties in the city. Would you support measures to limit investors from buying up homes as other U.S. cities are considering doing or further regulating whole house short-term rentals that some argue are detracting from the supply of homes available for full-time residents?

Yes.  Vacant homes do not help with our housing crisis.

8. What role should the city play in ensuring that the longtime residents of rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods in Southeast Raleigh and other areas of the city can continue to afford to live in those neighborhoods?

Raleigh currently has programs that are aimed to assist residents stay in their homes, but the problem is that not enough people know about them or how to apply for the assistance.  We need to prioritize funding these types of programs so that residents are able to stay in their homes.

9. Public servants including police officers, firefighters, and teachers can’t afford to live in the city where they work. As a result, Raleigh loses good officers and teachers to other municipalities and is grappling with a current shortage of around 60 firefighters and more than 100 police officers. What can Raleigh leaders do to attract and retain the best officers and other public servants?

In regards to Firefighters and Police officers, the amount of people leaving the city for better wages and benefits needs to be a wake up call.  City leaders’ biggest job is to protect the safety of its residents and we are running short staffed in both departments, which will eventually lead to a dangerous outcome if not remedied.  We need to invest in our people and ensure that their position is valued in order to prevent them from seeking employment in neighboring municipalities.

10. Do you support the city council’s decision to eliminate parking minimums for developers? Why or why not?

No.  I understand that the goal is to encourage more people to walk and use public transit, but our current public transit does not offer the accessibility needed to get people where they want to go, outside of downtown.  Before we eliminate parking minimums, we should have a viable alternate option.

11. In 2019, Raleigh’s city council voted to eliminate citizen advisory councils (CACs) without public notice or input. Do you feel this was the right decision? Do you support bringing back CACs? What do you think the council is doing right or wrong when it comes to community engagement post-CACs? Could you describe your vision for community engagement in Raleigh?

No, this was not the right decision, and the fact that they did it without notice to the public shows that their intent was to silence us.  I am in full support of bringing back CACs to work with the new Community Engagement Department.  Council is speaking out of both sides of their mouths because on one hand they say that CACs didn’t include enough people, but on the other hand, they create a board of only 16 members and 15 Community Connectors to take on the monumental task of engaging with all residents.  I believe there is a middle ground in which we combine both ideas.  Monthly meetings provide a consistent place for discussion, which allow for education from the city and a platform for residents to be heard.

12. Following shooting deaths of Raleigh residents by RPD officers, the city council established a civilian-staffed police review board in 2020 that had no official power and fell apart soon after two of its members resigned. The council also established the ACORNS unit to address mental health crises, but data shows the unit rarely assists on calls related to suicides and involuntary mental health commitments, leaving most of those calls to police officers. Do you feel that the council has done enough, in partnership with the police chief, to reform the police force and address officer violence? Would you support cutting the department’s $124.5 million police budget?

I do not believe that this council has done enough.  In speaking with members from the Police Advisory Board, it is my understanding that they still feel like they are not part of the discussion.  Partnership and communication between council, RPD, and the Police Advisory Board in regards to officer violence will be a priority for me on council.  I would not support cutting the department’s budget without a thorough review of it with City Staff and the Police Department.

13. Raleigh has made strides on transit in the last several years. Bus fare is free and construction of new Bus Rapid Transit routes is underway, bike lanes are expanding to areas across the city, and commuter rail will eventually connect Raleigh to Durham and Johnston Counties. Is the city doing a good job of managing its current transit systems, encouraging residents to use them, and planning for more future transit and connectivity? Should the city be investing more on bike, pedestrian, and other transit infrastructure?

Raleigh needs to do more to help connect residents to their everyday needs such as school, doctor appointments, and shopping through mass transit.  An idea that could be explored is an implementation of Micro-transit offerings.  This service is available in many other cities across the country and could offer an alternative, for those living outside the beltline, to traditional bus service in which some trips take 2 hours to get across town.  At the same time, we cannot ignore the shortage of bus operators throughout the city due to low wages.  In order to grow a sustainable and healthy transit system, we have to be willing to pay our workers what they are worth to provide the necessary service.

14. Downtown Raleigh has struggled to rebound following the COVID-19 pandemic with foot traffic still down and many storefronts and offices sitting vacant. The council has implemented a new social district to try to bring people downtown again. What more could or should the city council do to revitalize the urban core?

Code enforcement and land banking are some tools that can help revitalize Raleigh’s urban core.  The new social district may prove to be a great way to bring people downtown for entertainment purposes, but we also need to bring small businesses back.  For many reasons, including Covid-19, the work-from-home trend looks like it is here to stay.  It is vital for the city to work together with small business owners,  urban planning experts, and developers to come up with creative solutions to help increase foot traffic downtown.   

15. Do you support Raleigh’s $275 million parks bond on the ballot this fall? Why or why not?

No.  As a member of the Parks Board for 2 years, I feel I have a unique perspective on this issue.  One of my concerns is the fact that Dix Park is the only park in the system with its own separate board.  Due to this, we did not know what the final allotment in the bond would be until May of 2022, but we submitted our recommendations in March of 2021.  The lack of conversation with the board from both council and Dix Conservancy gives me pause because there are many details that weren’t discussed until this summer, yet we have had two years to come together.  Council also gave Plaza and Play $12 million from reserve funding last December IN ADDITION to what they were to receive in the bond.  When city staff was asked to reduce the bond amount by $21 million, Plaza and Play didn’t lose any funding even though they had already received city money.  There are no guarantees that the DHHS building will not be sold for future housing and I am concerned that it will be developed into luxury housing which will further raise property taxes in an area of town that has already dealt with heavy gentrification.  There is a lot of good in this bond, but I believe the final product prioritizes one of our newest parks instead of focusing on the inequities that exist across our current Parks system.