Full name: Matt Kopac
Party affiliation: Democrat
Campaign website: www.mattfordurham.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 member of the Durham City Council?
Hi, I’m Matt – a proud husband, father, son, and long-time Durham resident with deep roots in this community. My parents taught me to work for peace and fight for justice, shaping my career in service. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, I learned to listen deeply and support grassroots community development. Advocating for federal affordable housing taught me how to develop policy and navigate complex systems. As a sustainability professional today, I help organizations develop long-term strategies and make progress on emissions reductions, waste reduction, and human rights. As a Durham Planning Commissioner, I’ve faced tough choices balancing growth with community and environmental needs. As Chair of the Environmental Affairs Board, I helped residents spur local government action, including the city’s Carbon Neutrality and Renewable Energy Plan. And I’ve also been a leading advocate for living wages and sustainable growth in Durham.
We are a community at a crossroads. Too many people are struggling, being pushed out, and finding it hard to live here. Trump and MAGA’s attacks are cutting vital programs and targeting immigrants and the diversity that makes Durham strong. We face climate threats like extreme heat and disasters like Tropical Storm Chantal. Yet, Durham is a city that looks out for one another. I believe in our city government and our community’s resilience and compassion, even as times get more difficult.
I believe now is the time for us to come together to build the Durham we all deserve. I’m running for City Council because I am a bridge builder who listens, cares, and fights for real solutions to help us realize that future. I’m running so we can work together to promote affordability, prevent displacement, invest in climate resilience, and keep each other safe. If we work together, we can make Durham a city that truly works for everyone.
2) What would your priorities be as a member of the city council? Please identify three of the most pressing issues Durham currently faces and how you believe the city should address them.
Three of the most pressing issues Durham currently faces are the affordability crisis, our need for a healthy, resilient environment, and the safety of our neighbors.
To address affordability, I believe the city should start by fighting displacement through tenant protections, home repair and eviction diversion programs. We should expand long-term affordable housing through public-private partnerships on city land and through partners like community land trusts. We should provide the flexibility to allow more small-scale incremental development to promote affordable and missing middle housing. We should push for living wages, promote economic mobility, and support Black-owned businesses. We should maintain and expand free and accessible transportation – including buses, walking, and biking infrastructure.
For a healthy, resilient environment, I believe the city should safeguard our urban growth boundary and sensitive environmental areas from encroaching development. We should advance green infrastructure to address flooding on people’s properties, expand the urban tree canopy and parks in neighborhoods vulnerable to heat and flooding. We should promote energy affordability, renewable energy, and waste reduction. And we should grow workforce development programs connecting residents to green jobs.
To address safety, I believe the city should promote a broader notion of public safety. We should expand HEART’s compassionate response program to 24/7, and find the right balance with policing to respond to serious violent crimes and increase response times to 911 calls. We should address the root causes of violence. We should fight for safer streets and better protections for pedestrians and cyclists. And we should welcome and protect our immigrant and LGBTQ+ neighbors.
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.
I believe the city unanimously passing the FY 2025-2026 budget with fare-free buses, critical investments in infrastructure, an expanded HEART program, and higher pay for city workers was a win and should be celebrated. We need to find ways to increase and diversify our revenue over time so we can avoid raising taxes and burdening our residents with low- and fixed-incomes, but I still believe the budget was a good result for the city.
In contrast, I believe the city council’s overly complex criteria for redeveloping 505 Main Street has doomed the project. After more than seven years, residents remain unhoused, costs have risen, and the site is an eyesore. While it’s important to advocate for our values broadly across projects in Durham, we cannot expect one project to meet all our goals. The council’s combined requests for high levels of affordable housing, public ownership of the land, preservation of the building, and signature design have made the project non-viable. As a result, there is very little developer appetite to work with the city. At some point, our ambitions must intersect with the reality of what it takes to get a project done.
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?
Trump and the North Carolina legislature attacks on our immigrant neighbors and our diversity is a moral outrage. If there was ever a time to fight together, it is now. To protect our family, friends and fellow residents, I will start by reaffirming Durham’s existing stance: city police do not enforce federal immigration law, and local agencies should not ask about immigration status unless required by law. We must allow immigrant residents to access city services without fear.
In response to these attacks, I will push the city to strengthen its work with nonprofits and legal aid groups to educate immigrant residents and their supporters about their rights. This includes enforcement requiring valid judicial warrants to enter homes, workplaces, or support organizations like churches. I also want to explore safe zones to protect kids in schools. I will support efforts to promote Fourth Amendment Workplaces to shield workers from illegal ICE raids or detentions without warrants. I will actively show up at courthouses and other sites to protect against ICE raids, ready to put my body on the line. Finally, I will partner with our state legislative delegation to fight for legal protections for immigrant workers and families.
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?
To address egregious federal funding cuts and national economic policies, we must be intentional about managing expenses, increasing revenue, and good fiscal management.
On expenses, we must make choices carefully, prioritizing investments that serve our most vulnerable residents and projects that can meet the test of strong community benefits and good financial stewardship. There is more we can do on revenue. Durham has the advantage that people want to live here. We must minimize housing pressures, while we bring in more tax revenue to support services. Thoughtful, compact growth – building homes and businesses where infrastructure already exists – allows us to stretch dollars further. Supporting local, incremental housing and commercial development also keeps more wealth in Durham. Durham is also a destination, and with smart, strategic investments in economic development – for example through arts, culture, sports, and parks – Durham can capture more revenue from residents and visitors alike.
We also need to ensure fairness in taxation. A 2023 DataworksNC report suggests Durham’s multi-million-dollar commercial properties and apartment complexes are underassessed by about $3 billion, resulting in $30 million a year in lost revenue – the equivalent tax burden of more than 10,000 average Durham homeowners. Our city must also assess the contributions of large tax-exempt institutions. Duke, for example, partners with Durham in many ways, including important work by the Durham Community Affairs team on housing and community health. Since tax exempt institutions reap significant benefits from cities like Durham, the city should carefully assess what Duke contributes now, what it would owe if taxed fully, and how that compares with other leading universities.
Finally, good fiscal management is essential. I am encouraged by steps from our new city manager to reorganize our local government, but we must closely review all budgets with community input guiding how these public dollars are spent.
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?
Climate change is an urgent reality for Durham, with extreme heat and flooding disproportionately hurting marginalized communities. Durham must work with communities to design adaptation efforts and to integrate climate action into annual budgeting, land use planning, and economic development.
First, I will focus on decarbonizing city operations and advocate for the rapid implementation of Durham’s Carbon Neutrality and Renewable Energy Plan, which I helped champion. I’ll push for more energy savings (which further decouple Durham from fossil fuels) and expanded renewable power investments – like a solar bond, which can also save the city money over time.
Second, protecting residents from flooding and heat is critical. While climate change affects us all, it is our most marginalized residents who are hurt first and worst. To support our communities, I will promote stormwater infrastructure and nature-based solutions like native trees and green spaces, especially in our urban heat islands like Hayti, which due to historic disinvestment can be nine degrees hotter than other parts of the city. I also want to explore more cooling centers beyond libraries as part of our resilience efforts, as we have more hot days that extend into hot nights.
Land use reform is perhaps Durham’s biggest climate tool. The Unified Development Ordinance rewrite offers a chance to integrate climate-forward strategies to curb sprawl, protect natural areas, and promote walkable, mixed-use, transit-friendly neighborhoods with equitable access to parks, shade, and clean air. This involves more good urbanism with more density while protecting our neighborhood character.
Finally, I’ll collaborate with the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, Durham Next, Durham Tech, and other institutions, to embed climate strategies into economic planning, while creating local green jobs that boost economic mobility for youth and working residents.
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?
To me, sustainable growth and development means growing in a way that supports the livelihoods of our residents, the health of our environment, and the strength of our local economy and city finances. For me, this touches on land use, infrastructure, and economic development.
On land use, sustainable growth and development means protecting our urban growth boundary – the geographic limit to which our Comprehensive Plan says we will grow in or to protect our water supply and forests at the edges of our community. It means prioritizing land use reforms and zoning changes that promote more sustainable urban living. This includes the idea of a 15-minute city, where all residents can access everything they need within a 15-minute walk or bike from their home. On infrastructure, sustainability means taking advantage of the existing infrastructure we have – roads, water, sewer – to the greatest degree possible. It means a healthy, native tree canopy, and abundant and safe parks. It means better transit to connect us between home, work, play, and each other. And it means promoting energy efficiency, a transition to renewable energy, and reducing waste in the way that we grow. All these initiatives promote healthy, connected communities, while lowering carbon emissions.
In terms of municipalities to learn from, Cincinnati is about our size with similar population demographics and has one of the country’s best walkability and bikeability scores, as well as greater housing affordability. The city balances neighborhood character with greater flexibility around housing development. And I would point to Rotterdam as one of my favorite cities for economic development. The city has centered its economic growth on the energy transition and circular economy strategies to reduce raw material usage in the city’s initiatives and through private industry.
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?
To reinvigorate downtown, Durham needs more people and better places for them to spend their time and money. Yes, we see hundreds of new housing units, but it is not responsive to local demand, which is why we are seeing such high vacancies. Instead, we need more housing that people need and want closer to downtown, including more affordable and accessible units.
We also need more people downtown during the daytime – not just morning and evening – to visit our restaurants and shops. This means more businesses and other employers (like the city) with workers onsite. Finding ways to bring down tenancy costs would help our small businesses. Next, we shouldn’t discourage people from coming downtown, and we should look to Raleigh lower parking rates and its pilot of two hours of free parking in city-owned parking decks. American Tobacco does something similar, and Durham should explore piloting this in more locations.
Finally, we should invest in more places people want to visit. This means more beautiful parks and green spaces – like completing the South Ellerbe Constructed Wetland on Trinity Avenue and transitioning the old Durham Athletic Park into a historic park that offers more green space for our growing population. It means more public art that inspires and delights us. And I’d like to see Durham invest in a multi-sports center, to offer residents more opportunities to come together, connect and compete.
To help us do all this, I’d like to see more partnership with Discover Durham, our tourist agency. A 2024 state law has reallocated much of Durham’s occupancy tax to Discover Durham, leaving the city with a 33% reduction in occupancy tax revenues, and Discover Durham with a much larger budget. An important way to support tourism is through investment in more and better places to visit.
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?
To support our homeless population, the city needs to think holistically about needs for shelter and housing. And more than ever, the city will need to rely on non-profit partners and philanthropy, as well as close partnership with Durham County.
First, our homeless neighbors fundamentally do not have enough safe places to go. The city should start by providing a day shelter with expanded capacity. Despite the important work of Urban Ministries, we have a long shelter wait list, and those who are sheltered cannot stay during the day. Durham also needs more permanent supportive housing for people who face barriers to maintaining stable housing, like the Carver Creek Apartments for our seniors who were at risk of eviction. (Durham County, a separate local government body, has a plan to offer day services like showers and laundry, which is also sorely needed.)
Taking a longer-term view, while providing shelter and services is necessary, research shows that – outside of a small group of residents who face real barriers to permanent housing – homelessness is largely a housing issue. Cities with the lowest rates of homelessness build enough affordable and accessible homes, while those with the highest rates of homelessness tend to have the most barriers to new housing. If Durham wants not just to manage homelessness but to reduce it, new housing that meets local demand must be part of the solution.
With the federal government bringing pressure to focus on treatment instead of housing, along with significant impending funding cuts, we are also going to have to get more creative. This includes identifying less expensive non-congregate housing options. In response, Durham could consider nimble solutions like pallet villages – like Greensboro’s Doorway Project – to provide dignified housing and services for chronically unhoused residents or folks working toward permanent housing.
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?
Durham needs a comprehensive housing and affordability strategy that serves our residents. First, we must keep people in their homes – through tenant protections, funding eviction diversion and legal aid, repairs, grants to low-income homeowners for taxes, and energy-efficiency improvements. But these interventions alone aren’t enough. We need more deeply affordable housing and real pathways to economic mobility so people can afford to stay. Building on Forever Home Durham, we must use public land and public-private partnerships – such as moving forward with 505 Main Street – and keep supporting community land trusts and nonprofit developers. Negotiating income-restricted units through rezonings is necessary, but it’s just one tactic, not a full strategy.
Even with all these efforts, local housing needs will continue, and costs will rise due to demand. With limited public money, we can’t build our way out – 25,000 new affordable units would cost Durham over $800 million, mostly from local taxes. If we only use tax dollars for affordable housing, most lower-income residents will still be at the mercy of the market driven by outside capital, federal policy, and local zoning.
What Durham needs is more locally-responsive, small-scale development – not more luxury high-rises. Let’s decide the types of affordable and missing middle housing we want, make permitting easier, train residents to build, and expand the Affordable Housing Loan Fund and the ADU pilot with our community finance partners. Let’s widen these programs to cover even more types of missing middle housing, easing displacement pressures in our marginalized neighborhoods. While these homes may not be affordable for everyone, especially those below a living wage, they help stabilize prices rather than driving them up like luxury developments do. These are the homes people want in Durham, and we can do a lot of good without spending $800 million.
Finally, affordability requires transit: Bus Rapid Transit, free bus service, and expanded bike and pedestrian infrastructure – all connecting residents to where we live, work, and play.
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?
While unconscionable national and state gun laws harm our city and hamstring our ability to respond to gun violence, I believe the city is making progress, and there is more we can do. In the short term, the city must work with the county and school system to promote gun safety and remove guns from our streets. We must partner with our non-profit community to offer youth programs and recreation – and expand access for families who cannot afford afterschool, weekend, or summer programming.
We must find the right balance between HEART and police response through collaboration between the Office of Community Safety, the Police Department, and residents. When I listen to the community and people most affected by violence, I hear different opinions about what makes them feel safe. Expanding HEART to 24/7 will reduce unnecessary law enforcement in low-level issues and can ease police workload, letting them focus on the most critical issues requiring an armed response. With the right resource levels and appropriate call-routing, we can increase 911 response times and provide the right support depending on the circumstances. In the long term, Durham must tackle root causes of violence like economic and housing insecurity and racial injustice. And we must continue the fight alongside our state legislative delegation to advocate for common sense gun legislation.
In addition to addressing violent crime, there are other important aspects of public safety. This includes creating safer streets for pedestrians and cyclists and protecting our immigrant and LGBTQ+ neighbors from attacks.
12) If there are other issues you want to discuss, please do so here.
Through my work in public policy, politics, business, and activism, I’ve been fortunate enough to witness good governance in action – and seen the barriers to it. While the thing I know best in life is that I have a lot to learn, I have nonetheless gained some perspective. I’ve learned that words are easy, but solving problems is hard. I’ve learned that strong values are essential, but delivering real world solutions typically requires cooperation among people with different perspectives. I’ve learned – particularly at the local level – nothing can take the place of relationship building, good faith discussion, and waking up every day trying to be a little bit better than we were the day before. I hope I get the chance to bring my experience and my love for this community to the city council.
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