Name as it appears on the ballot: Steve Friedman
Age: 52
Party affiliation: Democrat
Campaign website: www.carrborosteve.com
Occupation and employer: Marketing, Mutual Drug
Years lived in Carrboro: 15
1) In 300 words or less, please give us—and our readers—your elevator pitch: Why are you running? Why should voters entrust you with this position? What are your priorities, and what would you want to see the Board of Aldermen do differently or better over the course of your term?
I am running for Carrboro Alderman because I believe that Carrboro is a great place to live and has an opportunity to serve as a model for other small towns that are looking to make a difference on a broader stage. Though politics at the national level may receive more attention, in our country more meaningful politics is local.
I am a 15-year resident of Carrboro and have seen the town go through significant growth and yet maintain its unique sense of place. My background is one of business, growth, and analytics and will bring a new perspective to the CBOA. My goal is that voters will elect me to not only represent their interests in our town but to advocate for their interests with larger bodies, including the General Assembly in Raleigh whose members’ views do not often align with ours.
My top three priorities are as follows:
Create a plan for communicating to, and engaging with all of the residents of Carrboro to create a more involved, active, and ultimately knowledgeable citizenship. The CBOA must represent the views of the residents and endeavor to work strongly to solicit ideas from a broader more inclusive range of our citizens.
Create a sustainable business model for Carrboro that grows the diversity of the businesses in town to create a stronger, more sustainable economy. We must broaden our tax base to ensure the ongoing viability of the businesses in our town and lessen the tax burden on our residents.
Make good on the town’s ideals including that of broad inclusivity, by increasing the amount of affordable housing that our town offers. Our inventory of affordable housing can be increased through two levers; advocating for an increase in wages to provide employees who work here the opportunity to afford housing, and identifying and responsibly developing available land.
2) Given the direction of Carrboro government, would you say things are on the right course? If not, for what specific changes will you advocate if elected?
I have lived in Carrboro for over 15 years and respect the work and dedication of the CBOA. I would bring pragmatic business skills and experience to the CBOA that are unique among CBOA incumbents and candidates and would complement the experience and skills of other Alderman.
I entered the race because I saw the important issues that the CBOA was courageously addressing and believe I can apply my skills and experience so that we can move forward together. For example, our focus on affordable housing is crucially important. I understand that raising the property tax to help pay for some of these initiatives is important. However, relying solely on property tax rate hikes is not sustainable. Carrboro already has one of the highest tax rates in the state, which partially contributes to making local housing unaffordable. I would use my position as Alderman to advocate for growing the tax base through diversification of our business community to fund affordable housing initiatives.
I would also advocate that the town continue to focus on the issues of climate change, transportation, and accessibility to our government. These issues are interrelated and I believe we can work together, communicate more transparently, and work on a roadmap to continue to be one of the most desirable towns in the Triangle.
Carrboro, like most towns in our area, is faced with the issue of growth. However, that growth is the slowest we have seen in over 50 years according to the most recent statistics released by the Chamber of Commerce last month. We have an opportunity to plan and establish the future of Carrboro. Developing a long term plan for Carrboro would allow our leaders to manage based on the considered input from our residents, advisory boards, and partners. I believe the future of Carrboro does not lie in maintaining our status quo but instead embracing what the town can become. As the town moves forward with developing a new comprehensive plan, I will work to ensure that it is inclusive not only of the services and development issues that are needed but also of the diverse community of people who share our values and that we proudly include among our neighbors.
3) What are three of the most pressing issues the town currently faces? How would you propose to address them? Please be specific.
As outlined above, I think our three most pressing issues are:
Developing a true engagement plan for our town to engage our citizens.
Growing our business tax base.
Providing greater affordable housing options for our residents.
First, our town is too small for the residents not to know what is going on or be closely engaged with the work that the government is doing on their behalf. To be fair, we are hampered by the fact that we don’t have a newspaper or news source dedicated to our area the way that other metropolitan areas do, so the burden of communication falls on the town’s government to proactively reach the residents. The fact that we haven’t been effective in doing this has led to our residents feeling like they are being left out of the process. The town is very effective in putting out yard signs to let us know when our trash or recycling pick up is moving because of a holiday, but is less forthcoming when there are issues of significant consequence to our neighborhoods that are being discussed in Town Hall. Providing consistent communication on a regular basis will help to address this.
My solution for addressing this is to lean on my work in communicating to a defined community (my day job is working with 550+ independent pharmacies in the Southeast) with disparate interests, yet all with the same common goal and broadly the same engagement level. To do this we can segment our residents by communication method (e.g. phone/email/text/mail), then by geography, and then finally by interest (e.g. climate change, transportation, events) where we can provide timely and accurate communication to the residents using their preferred method. This is accomplished using existing software and once established, is easy to maintain and does not place a significant burden on town staff to execute.
Second, our main businesses today are restaurants, small shops, and arts and entertainment venues which is what drives patronage in our town. Recently, two well-established places in Carrboro, Crossties BBQ, and Milltown closed their doors, which was a loss for our community and is hopefully not a bellwether of things to come. In order to ensure a vibrant future for Carrboro’s business, we must look to create a diverse business environment which includes women-owned and minority businesses, as well as a broad range of businesses to create a strong ecosystem. When we bring in a small to mid-sized technology or professional services company, those employees then eat in our restaurants, purchase goods from our stores, and patronize other businesses to support their lifestyle (e.g. bike repair, dry cleaning, grocery shopping). This creates a sustainable business base for Carrboro that is not reliant on any one industry.
Additionally, this effort enables two other positive outcomes. We will reduce the traffic that we see every morning as over 9,000 Carrboro residents leave town to work elsewhere. This will cut down on car miles and carbon emissions. We also create positions that pay enough so that the employees of these businesses can afford to live in our community. People will truly be able to live where they work.
My solution for addressing this is two-fold. First, developing a business incubator in town that enables small businesses to start and grow in Carrboro. The resources needed for this effort are relatively limited, and I point to efforts in Durham (American Underground) and Chapel Hill (LaUNCh) as models that we can use to direct our work. The second is an increase in our economic development efforts where we actively recruit existing businesses from nearby communities to establish or move their presence to our town. In addition to people leaving Carrboro every day to go to work, there are thousands who pass Carrboro on their way to work in other places. In a time when businesses are looking for a competitive edge in retaining talent, Carrboro provides the kind of atmosphere that is attractive to workers who want to get out of traditional work environments and have a vibrant downtown to enjoy.
Third, I want to focus on more affordable housing options, especially for those people that work in service to the town (e.g. police, public works) but cannot afford to live here. There are a number of commissions, coalitions, advisory boards, and concerned citizens working on this issue which is appropriate. I will address my take on solutions in question #5.
4) What prior experience makes you qualified for and passionate about the Board of Alderman and its duties? What made you seek this position?
I am seeking this position to bring my experience as a longtime resident who raised a family, put children through the school system (K-12) and has supported and run small businesses to bring a perspective to the CBOA that we don’t currently have. I have held leadership positions in a number of organizations where I had to create consensus and offer real solutions to move a process and projects forward. I received my MBA from Kenan Flagler and have a basis in strong financial management and would be an asset to the CBOA in helping to ensure that we are responsible stewards of our revenues and expenses.
I also was a member of the first Citizens Academy that was run by the town where I was exposed to the different elements that the town is responsible for from our fire department to parks and recreation to our public works. I realized that this type of citizen engagement is rare and I want to take the ideas and insight I gained from this program and translate it into broader initiatives for the town. In my current leadership position, I am a member of our Oversight Committee which is tasked with taking a critical look at all of our processes and providing recommendations and solutions for how we can do things better for our organization.
I truly believe that now, more than any time during my lifetime, becoming engaged in politics is the duty of all of our citizens and that everyone needs to take a more active role in ensuring that the poor discourse that we have now is abated. Whatever someone’s skill set is from community organizing (e.g. engaging citizens around just causes), technical (e.g. bringing expert opinions to advisory boards), or just plain wanting to do better for their community (e.g. organizing a cleanup or coaching a youth sports team), I am adamant in taking up that mantle to use my skills to help move Carrboro forward in a just and sustainable way.
5) As with most places in the Triangle, Carrboro is grappling with issues related to affordable housing. How would you like to see the town approach affordability issues over the next few years? What do you believe the town is doing right? What could it do better?
I recognize this is one of the most critical issues we face and we need to continue to seek creative options. Zoning options, working with nonprofits and developers to create a variety of housing options at all price points for our residents, homeowners, renters, single families, and the elderly. By working directly with all stakeholders, both for-profit and not-for-profit, we can continue to put this issue at the top of our list to meet the needs of our population. We can build on the foundation that created the Affordable Housing Task Force and Plan.
I believe Carrboro can look to reduce restrictions on housing density, encourage mixed-use design, and encourage options such as the tiny homes. We need flexibility recognizing that our student population will continue to seek affordable rentals. We need to encourage building new homes, a variety of options and price points. We cannot let working families be outpriced for rentals and new construction. I would continue to work with Home Trust and other nonprofits to consider creating other options to address the needs of our most at-risk families.
I am also a big proponent of a living wage for our town. This effort will go a long way toward helping people live where they work and providing them the means to be able to afford to live in our town. This is not only an effort that should be undertaken by the businesses in our town, but also by the town itself. I have spoken with a number of policemen and public works employees who would like to be a part of the community that they serve, and we should provide support for those who work in our town to be able to live here.
In addition to creative ways to increase the supply of affordable small houses, when we look at the population of Carrboro, the largest increase in population are people in their 60’s who want to age in place in Carrboro. Rents are high in Carrboro and we need to increase the number of rentals that are permanently affordable in areas with access to public transit for individuals and families who are earning less than 60% of the average median income.
Carrboro can be a testing ground for good ideas that have not yet come to fruition in our neighborhoods like co-housing. We need to work to keep Carrboro affordable and welcoming to newcomers. Above all, we must preserve the uniqueness of Carrboro, the character of our community as we welcome a growing population. Carrboro knows there is no one answer to the affordable housing need. The strongest response for us is to embrace innovation and collaboration and assemble opportunities to address this growing need.
6) In what ways should Carrboro work on growing its tax base?
First of all, we need to take a good look at our current rate of taxes and realistically project where we need to be in the next five to ten years. This is a growing and popular area for students, families, and the elderly. It is a livable community and our tax rate reflects an array of services we are proud to provide to our citizens. We need to always remember that our taxpayers are also paying county taxes and school district fees, and while the taxes may go to many different entities, the pockets they come out of are the same.
A key part of my platform is that we should be growing our tax base by increasing the business community in our town. We need to consider more opportunities to grow our small businesses and a good portion of this idea is captured in my response to question three. The overall goal of this, in addition to providing a vibrant downtown, is to keep Carrboro open, diverse and affordable. I would contend we don’t need to cut critical programs and services when looking for efficiencies, but we can look to creative financing options rather than a strategy that would continue to increase taxes on the residents.
As with any community, taxes are a reflection of the quality of life, but today affordability is critical. In the years to come, we will be developing new housing, new nonprofit and cultural space and will continue to support a wide array of cultural events and festivals. Our ability to do this must be done in a fiscally responsible way and growing our business tax base provides us the ability to do just that.
7) The town is considering implementing a paid parking system downtown. Do you think this is a wise option? What do you think is the best course of action for the town’s parking issues? Should the town hire a consultant?
Our town has hired consultants to advise on the paid parking issue so I would not want to comment until their findings are in and we can make decisions based on the data. There are valid arguments to be made on both sides of the issue in terms of revenue generation, assigning a value to the real estate needed for parking, impact on business and enforcement of the ordinance. These will all need to be weighed once the report is complete.
One idea that has been discussed which I think bears further investigation is flexible or dynamic pricing that uses a load model to provide free parking in times of low utilization and paid parking when there is greater demand. We could also allow two hours of free parking to ensure that those Carrboro residents who need or choose to drive to their downtown are not unfairly burdened. Carrboro citizens who do not live downtown should not have to pay to shop,dine and play downtown.
8) In your view, how can the town improve public transit, especially in terms of serving lower-income residents? How can bike lanes be made safer and more efficient?
As we look to improve public transit and making it more accessible for all of our residents there are a couple of things that the CBOA is moving forward that I support including ensuring seven-day-a-week service, expanding routes, and identifying underserved areas. These are good initiatives to help drive more ridership. Additionally, we should look to engage two additional groups of residents; ones who are unaware of the connectivity that our transit service provides and ones who don’t consider public transit as their first option.
Carrboro is fortunate to have an active biking community and the Carrboro Bike Coalition should be used in an advisory role to help develop the future of Carrboro cyclists. In addition, the CBOA is in the final stages of putting for the Carrboro Bike Plan which will act as a guide for the town. The plan will identify recommendations for bicycle lanes and shared-lane markings, greenway trails and shared-use paths, as well as bicycle-related programs and policies. The CBOA is taking this issue very seriously and we should follow the recommendations of the plan.
9) Carrboro has traditionally struggled to attract businesses run by people of color. Why do you believe that is? How can the town work to attract minority-owned businesses?
The problem of minority entrepreneurship is not solely a Carrboro issue. Rather it is part of a larger systemic issue that has kept minorities from being able to access investment capital, resources, and the underlying fact that entrepreneurship and business ownership requires that the founder have the means to support themselves while they are building a business that in the beginning runs at negative cash flow. This is often the case for minorities and has kept them from establishing businesses and building wealth at a much lower rate than their counterparts.
In order to break this cycle, Carrboro can take the lead and actively promote a diverse business climate. As a longtime small business person, I have worked with many independent drug stores who are in the midst of the challenges of health care reform, small businesses without ready access to capital, and startups who need mentorship and guidance to launch their ventures. By using the same models of encouragement and growth strategies, I want to make sure we are dedicated to promoting opportunities to minority business owners.
We need to work in collaboration with our local financial institutions and our governmental agencies to open doors for minority business persons. We can work with our nearby community colleges and nonprofits like RSVP to mentor and grow our workforce. We should help take advantage of the many programs of our local Chamber to assist our citizens with great business ideas. Together, I am confident that our town can work hand in hand with women and minority owned businesses to make Carrboro a place where they can thrive.
10) If there are other issues you want to discuss, please do so here.
At its core, the role of government is to provide a framework for its citizens to flourish. It is imperative that as community leaders we model and reflect inclusion, social justice, and equal rights. It's not easy, but it is imperative that we try as we are not elected to push forward our own agendas but rather to engage and incorporate the will of the people.
Our town is vibrant because of all of those who have chosen to live and work here. I want to encourage more involvement, more transparency, and proactive outreach. I want our citizens to access information about the programs they enjoy and the projects that may impact their communities to become actively engaged in our town. I will know we are there when we have more people running for the CBOA, more people attending and presenting at meetings, a waiting list to get on Advisory Boards, and well-informed citizenship. Thomas Jefferson said that “We do not have a government by the majority. We have a government of the majority that participates.” That is truly the most important role of a local officeholder—to work hand in hand with other members of the community, to build and maintain a great quality of life, and to ensure a better life for all.
We are living at a time like I have never seen before in my lifetime where there is an impulse to find fault in someone other than ourselves. This has led to a fractured country and a strain on our democracy. There is less trust in our government, our elected officials, our free press, and quite frankly in facts that we previously held to be true. Carrboro has an opportunity by engaging the population to ensure that this mindset of hate and divisiveness and remains out of our town, that we maintain a regular dialogue through print, electronic, and in-person means. This is the Carrboro I would like to see as we move forward together.
