Durham County Board of Commissioners: Michelle Burton

Name as it appears on the ballot:  Michelle Burton

Age: 53

Party affiliation:  Democrat

Campaign website: michellefordurham.com

Occupation & employer: School Librarian/Educator, Durham Public Schools

1) In your view, what are the most important issues currently facing Durham County? If elected, what would be your top three priorities?

1. Funding  Public Education
2. Affordable Housing
3. Livable Wages for Durham County Residents

2) Durham Public Schools has been roiled by issues relating to salary increases for about 1,300 classified staff members. What is the county’s role in ensuring these staff members are paid according to their work experience and to the recommendations of a 2023 pay study commissioned by DPS? How can the county work more closely with the school board to ensure a situation like this doesn’t occur again?

During the 2022-2023 I served as president of the Durham Association of Educators (DAE) while the salary study was commissioned. DAE leadership and rank-and-file members were very hopeful that the salary study would finally eliminate pay inequities and increase overall pay for classified employees. Many DPS classified staff are some of the lowest paid in the district, a large number making a minimum of $17.00 an hour. Many of the elected officials in the NCGA have abandoned their responsibility of providing a sound, basic education to all North Carolina’s children, instead funneling money into private school vouchers and charter schools. Because of this, the cost of funding public school workers’ salaries has fallen more on local county governments. This is one of the reasons why I decided to run for Durham County Commissioner because more educators’ and public school workers’ lived experience needs to be heard in these spaces to help develop policies and focus on priorities that affect students and public school workers.

Knowing that the state is abandoning its responsibility for funding public education, the county government must work closely with DPS leadership and administrators to ensure that public school workers are paid livable wages so they can live and thrive in the county where they work. The goal should be that the minimum salary of DPS employees should be in line with what county employees receive, which is $19.22 an hour, looking at the county pay scale for comparable job descriptions, and seeing where there can be alignment in salaries. There should be ongoing discussions about budget and wages. School board members and County Commissioners should receive quarterly reports of the status of the school system budget, if this is not happening now. There needs to be continued collaboration between the DPS finance department and the county finance department to make sure the numbers are in alignment. I also fully support school based employees having a seat at the table, recommended by the current Durham Association of Educators (DAE) leadership, so there is more input from DPS public school employees about budget decisions and to ensure nothing like this happens again. If elected to the Durham County Commission, I will use what influence I have to advocate at the state level for the funding that our public schools are owed, because we still need to push the NCGA to live up to its responsibility of providing a sound basic education to all of North Carolina’s children. All of the funding responsibility for public schools should not fall on the counties.

3) Voters passed a $423.5 million school construction bond in 2022, but due to rising construction costs, that money is running out quickly. Should Durham put another education bond before voters? What is the most sustainable way to address new construction and renovation of existing school facilities as Durham continues to grow?

During my tenure as the Durham Association of Educators president, our leadership team pushed for the bond to be on the ballot in 2022. When I was president of DAE, I visited several DPS schools to talk to members and I can honestly say many school buildings are in poor condition. Several are over 50 years old. HVAC systems are failing. Roofs are leaking. There are mold issues.  Some buildings are functionally obsolete due to their age and are not conducive to 21st-century learning.  There should have been a bond on the ballot in 2018 and I was glad one was on the ballot in 2022. As residents of Durham County, we must lobby our state legislators to place a statewide bond on the ballot to fix school buildings across the state and in Durham.  Because of the cost overruns of the new DSA, many schools in Black communities that were slated for repair with the 2022 bond will not receive much-needed repairs. This is an equity issue and if elected to the County Commission, I would support a bond being on the ballot in two or three years. Students deserve to go to school in functional, up-to-date buildings. Also, the DPS ten-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) needs to be fully funded, and a commitment from the County Government that the amounts will be updated as the cost of building supplies and labor go up.

4) Although it owns a significant amount of property in Durham and has a $12 billion endowment, Duke for the most part doesn’t pay taxes to the city or county. Some private universities, such as Yale, contribute millions of dollars to the towns in which they are located. Should county (and city) leaders consider asking Duke to contribute payments to the city/county for housing or other initiatives in lieu of paying taxes?

Duke University is an integral part of Durham County. It is the largest employer in Durham County and the third largest employer in North Carolina. Because Duke is such an essential part of our community and Duke has an interest in Durham County being a thriving community because many of their workers (around 20,000) and students live here, it will be important that they are seen as partners in creating a Durham where all residents live their best lives. I want to applaud Duke for raising their minimum wage from $17.00 to $18.00 beginning July 1, 2024, and hopefully, they will continue to raise worker wages in the foreseeable future.  If elected to the Durham County Commission, I look forward to partnering with Duke University leaders in the Office of Durham and Community Affairs to create solutions to make Durham a great place to live for all of our residents.

5) What is your vision for growth and development throughout Durham? How can the county balance growth while also ensuring gentrification doesn’t push long-term residents out? 

Durham is considered one of the best places to live in the country and is ranked high on many lists for its livability. Recently, the Raleigh/Durham area was ranked #3 on the US News and World Report’s Best Places to Live for 2023-2024.  Because Durham is seen as a great place to live, people are moving here in large numbers and they will continue to move here.  It is great that people want to live in Durham, but we have to figure out how we as a community manage growth and not unintentionally push out long-term residents. If elected as a County Commissioner, I am committed to:

• Continuing and increasing the Income Property Tax Relief Fund
• Working with the elected leaders of the Durham City Council to continue the funding of the Down Payment Assistance Program so first-time homebuyers can purchase homes.
• Looking for any available county-owned land to build affordable housing for frontline workers (educators, police officers, etc.) so they can make their home in Durham County

Housing and homeownership are also a matter of income and how much workers make. Many African Americans and people of color work in occupations where the earnings are low which is due to racial biases, lack of educational opportunities, and lack of generational wealth. According to the Durham Neighborhood Compass, the median household income for Whites in Durham County is around $80,000. For African Americans, it is $44,000. If elected to the Durham County Commission, I will find solutions to raise worker wages, specifically for African Americans and people of color through jobs, educational programs, etc. There has to be a focus on raising worker wages, particularly for African Americans, so they can afford a home and build generational wealth.

Community engagement needs to be a continued priority when decisions are made around affordable housing and the design of neighborhoods. The Comprehensive Plan that was passed in October 2023 had significant input from Durham residents and efforts like this need to continue to ensure that Durham County is a place for everyone. 

6) What should the county government be doing to further housing affordability? What additional steps can the county take to assist those living in substandard public housing? What should the county be doing to support people who are not in control of their own housing (including renters, the unhoused, and those whose homes are owned by banks) as costs of living skyrocket?

To continue housing affordability, the county should offer down payment assistance programs for residents to purchase their own homes.  The county should also look for county-owned land to build affordable housing for service and frontline workers. One option to assist residents who are not in control of their own housing would be to invest more in Permanent Supportive Housing  (PSH) like the purchase of Carver Creek Apartments back in 2023. This site will provide housing to unhoused residents and much-needed services such as mental and physical health care. 

7) What do you envision as the future of mass transit in Durham? What initiatives would you like to support? What do you believe to be a viable next step?

Mass transit is greatly needed for Durham and the Research Triangle Park region. I am in favor of bringing Bus Rapid Transit to Durham, particularly since the federal government will not fund commuter rail. I am looking forward to reading the FY24 Work Program that will identify opportunities to implement BRT in Durham County.

I would also like to see the following concerning mass transit:

1. There should be more service routes, particularly in South Eastern and Northern Durham Co.
2. All bus stops should have benches and shelters, sidewalks, and other amenities to keep people safe.
3. Buses should come every 15 minutes so patrons are not waiting outside long in unpleasant conditions. 
4. There should be more bus service in the evenings and weekends.
5. Adding more electric buses to the existing fleet to cut down on carbon emissions.

8) What can the county do to address violent crime? What are the preventative steps the county can or should take with regard to mental health? What programs are in place elsewhere in the country that you would like to see implemented here?

To address violent crime will require a multi-faceted approach because it is such a complex problem. We must make sure that residents have employment that pays livable wages. We must make sure residents have stable and affordable housing.  For our children, we must make sure we are funding after-school programs such as the Community Education with DPS and mentoring initiatives such as My Brother’s Keeper. We need to continue the Gun Buyback Program that was initiated by the Durham County Sheriff’s Office in 2022.  I would also like to see the HEART program (Holistic, Empathetic, Assistance, Response Teams) implemented at the county level so we are addressing residents who are suffering from a mental health crisis versus sending sheriff’s deputies to de-escalate situations where law enforcement is not needed. Finally, if elected to the county commission, I would support continued funding of Bull City United, the violence interrupter program, through the Department of Community Intervention and Support Service.  Bull City United has a proven track record of stopping violence in targeted communities and needs continued support to address gun violence before it happens.

9) Economic inequality rose significantly in Durham County over the past decade. How can county commissioners address this problem and ensure the county’s prosperity is more equitable going forward?

One in seven Durham County residents live in poverty and this is unacceptable. If elected to the county commission, I will work with other commissioners to ensure that we are regularly raising the salaries of Durham County Government employees and Durham Public School employees. To be able to live in Durham County, a first-year teacher needs to make at least $50,000 per year and I am committed to raising the teacher salary supplement to get to this level. I also strongly believe that DPS-classified staff salaries should be closely aligned to the Durham County Government pay scale. We also need to require that businesses that receive business incentives from the county pay livable wages. 

Economic equality and lifting people out of poverty also requires investment in post-secondary education and other program initiatives. We must create workforce development programs for our youth and create pipelines for apprenticeships. The B.U.L.L.S initiative that is done through Made in Durham is a program that partners young people to training, and certification programs in the life sciences. Also if I am elected, I will work with other commissioners to continue funding the Durham Tech Promise program to ensure high school graduates can affordably access post-secondary education.

10) Are there any issues not included in this questionnaire that you would like to address?

If elected to the Durham County Commission I would want to focus on how we can help bring up reading proficiency for our students. This responsibility has been left primarily with the public school system, but I envision this wouldbe a community-wide effort for non-profits assisting our schools with reading tutors and these non-profits receiving some funding assistance from Durham County Government.  I also want the county to focus on increasing slots for pre-k so our youngest residents are ready for kindergarten and they are on track to be proficient in reading by the end of third grade.

Comment on this story at [email protected].