Name as it appears on the ballot: Megan Patton

Age: 36 

Party affiliation: Nonpartisan 

Campaign website: pattonforraleigh.com 

Occupation & employer: Customer Service Associate at Spoonflower 

Years lived in Raleigh: 8 

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

Raleigh is a great city — vibrant, growing, and full of opportunity. In my two years on the City Council, we’ve made important strides toward making homes more affordable, reducing our impact on the climate, and improving safety in our communities. For all of our progress, however, we still have more work to do. 

Housing is a human right, and it’s the foundation of strong, healthy communities. With Raleigh projected to grow to 600,000 people in the next decade, we need to make sure we have enough affordable housing for everyone. I’m committed to doing what it takes to make sure no one is priced out of Raleigh. 

Beyond housing, climate change is here, and what we do now will shape our childrens’ futures. Raleigh’s Community Climate Action Plan is a good start — aiming to reduce emissions by 80% by 2050 — but we can’t wait until then. I will keep pushing for stronger public transit options and more protection for our green spaces. We owe it to future generations to act now. 

And finally, Raleigh must continue to be a place where people love to work: competitive wages, benefits, and safe working conditions aren’t luxuries, they’re necessities. I’ve already fought to raise pay for city workers and others (like our taxi drivers), but there is more opportunity for improvement on this. 

If I’m fortunate enough to continue representing District B, I’ll keep fighting for a Raleigh that’s affordable, sustainable, and a place where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

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. 

I’m running for re-election to continue representing District B. My priorities in the district are similar to my priorities for the rest of the city – sustainability and affordable housing – though, I’ve got one extra. I would love to give Triangle Town Center a boost. Triangle Town Center has so much potential to become reactivated for a mix of uses. It’ll take a lot of work with the property owners and managers, but I’m committed to finding ways to make Triangle Town Center more vibrant! 

This dovetails perfectly with my goal to move the North BRT (bus rapid transit) project along faster. The current Route 1 competes for highest ridership in the city. I actually use it to get downtown and the bus is always packed. District B residents deserve fast, reliable public transit from a convenient park and ride. 

Tree canopy protection is another priority out here in the district. Out here at the edges of our city, we still have forested lots and farmland. I’ve worked with developers on rezoning cases to save more trees than the required amount and I will continue to do so. Preserving the existing trees we’ve got out here in our beautiful district is critically important, not only for aesthetics but for air quality and stormwater control. 

Like everywhere else in the city, we need more affordable housing in District B. I’ve worked hard to secure affordable units through rezoning and city incentives, and we’ve invested millions in projects from senior housing to homeownership opportunities. In the next five years, we’ll add 1,000 new affordable units along the New Bern corridor. I’m also excited to implement the Direct Voucher program to help our most vulnerable neighbors. Moving forward, eviction prevention will be a key focus — we know the best way to end homelessness is to stop it before it starts. 

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? 

Serving Raleigh residents has been the honor of a lifetime. My experience on the City Council, working across ideologies and finding compromise that brings meaningful change, has prepared me to continue delivering results. 

As a former teacher, I understand public employees’ needs and strive to create workplaces that value and invest in them. My past work in customer service has honed my problem-solving skills, helping me connect with people and resolve issues efficiently. 

As a mom, I’m personally invested in building a Raleigh that serves future generations — and as a daughter, making sure my parents have a place to age comfortably isn’t just a campaign slogan. I’m committed to expanding affordable housing, advancing climate justice, and ensuring residents know local government is on their side. I look forward to earning the opportunity to continue shaping our city.

4. In 2021, the Raleigh City Council enacted a missing middle policy to allow for the construction of new, diverse types of housing across the city. More than 2,000 newly allowed units have been added to the city’s housing stock under the policy, yet there has been pushback from residents, including lawsuits. Do you support Raleigh’s missing middle housing policy as is, or do you think it needs amending? If you feel it needs to be changed, please explain. 

Raleigh’s Missing Middle ordinance has made strides in increasing housing availability, but we must ensure that the Frequent Transit Development Option — designed to promote affordable housing without government subsidies — achieves its potential. 

Now, three years in, it’s time to review and refine the ordinance. We’ve heard from residents near Missing Middle developments who have valuable ideas for improvements, and builders have indicated that some provisions have led them to pursue rezoning instead of using the by-right option. It is unfortunate that we haven’t been able to do deep policy work on this ordinance due to litigation. I’m certainly ready to work on it! By the time of this publication, we should have begun a text change process to adjust the ordinance to be responsive to feedback we’ve gotten from throughout the community. 

Implementing a regular feedback loop and making necessary policy adjustments will help us better meet community needs and enhance the effectiveness of our housing strategy. 

5. Raleigh has many funds, programs, and partnerships in place aimed at addressing affordable housing, but still has a deficit of some 23,000 affordable units. What more can the city do to secure affordable housing, and what more can it do to ensure that low-income residents don’t face displacement? 

In Raleigh, there’s a broad spectrum of needs, from folks who are unhoused to folks who just need a little support to access homeownership and generational wealth. To address the ongoing housing crisis, we have to use every legally available tool in the toolbox. I generally think about three prongs in this work: supply, subsidy and stabilization. 

On one hand, Raleigh’s residents deserve stability when it comes to taxes, especially for working families who are already stretching every dollar, and I think this is one way we can address the challenge people are facing when it comes to rising costs. We can’t continue to burden folks with unpredictable, ad-hoc tax increases that make it hard to plan for the future. One of my top priorities for the next term on the Raleigh City Council is to push for a steady-state approach to budgeting. By providing more predictability in our approach to property tax, we can work toward more predictable cost for homeowners and help prevent displacement. 

In addition to our programs for subsidized rental units, homebuyer assistance and home rehabilitation, our next frontier is eviction prevention. It is both cheaper and less traumatic to prevent somebody’s homelessness than to address it afterwards — we can do this by placing on-demand, low cost or free legal services right in the justice center for tenants to access in the event they find themselves facing housing court.

Making homeownership possible and preventing displacement aren’t easy tasks, but it’s what people deserve. 

6. The recent resignation of GoTriangle’s CEO raises questions about the future of the county and regional transit strategy. How do you see the future of transit in Raleigh when it comes to Bus Rapid Transit, microtransit, and commuter and regional rail projects? 

Raleigh’s transportation future is full of potential, and we have a real opportunity to make it more accessible, sustainable, and connected. Expanding Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and other high frequency routes, making public transportation affordable, and improving walkability are all critical steps forward, but we can’t stop there. 

First- and last-mile connections need to be a priority. If we want more people to choose the bus, we have to make it as convenient as possible to get them closer to their destination. The easier we make it for folks to access public transit, the more likely we are to see choice riders hop on board. If each of us replaces just one car trip per week with public transit, we can make a real impact on climate change and build a more active, sustainable future. 

We also need to continue enhancing greenway connectivity, so our greenways serve as transportation corridors, not just recreation. This would provide safer options for cyclists, giving them alternatives to major roads, while we also expand protected bike lanes. 

Raleigh residents deserve safe, multimodal transportation options, and while we’ve made progress, there’s still much more to do. Let’s keep pushing for a future where everyone has reliable, affordable, and green options to get around our city. 

7. A common complaint from residents is that the city council doesn’t do enough public engagement, with the plan to relocate Red Hat Amphitheater being one recent example. Do you agree with this assessment? If so, what more should the city government and council do to engage residents with city business? 

I hear and understand the concerns of folks who feel the city council doesn’t do enough to engage the public. 

The City of Raleigh and individual council members (including myself) are active on social media, in email newsletters, at community events, and through Citizens Advisory Councils (CACs) and other public forums. But if these methods aren’t resonating, I ask myself: what would work better? Where are we falling short? 

My goal is to ensure we’re sharing the right information at the right time and in ways that truly connect with our residents. I believe in the work we do, but I’m also committed to evolving our approach to make sure we’re getting it right for our constituents. Raleigh residents should always feel that their voice matters, because it does, and their buy-in is essential. 

There is also a spectrum of engagement, from informing folks to asking them to guide the decision. I know residents are rightfully frustrated with the process surrounding the closure of

South Street, and that engagement centered around informing rather than collaborating. I am reflecting on ways to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again while also acknowledging that the expansion of the convention center and moving of the amphitheater are just City projects over which we have complete for control. Because of the particular funds used — tourism tax — we didn’t have a full range of options available to us, but moving forward we should seek to better engage stakeholders in the process. I value residents’ voices, and every missed opportunity presents an option for the council to improve. 

8. Downtown Raleigh has had a rough five years following the COVID pandemic with the transition to working from home and business owners reporting an increase in crime and other issues. Many see keeping Red Hat Amphitheater downtown as a positive step; what else does the city need to do to help downtown with its recovery and plan for its future? 

While my district doesn’t touch any part of downtown, I understand that my constituents work and play all over Raleigh. Downtown also contributes substantially to our tax base, which then gets applied to city services that benefit my residents. Which is all to say, the rising tide of a thriving downtown lifts all boats! 

The work we’ve already done to enhance safety, such as adding more security, improving lighting, and adding color to the streets and sidewalks, is a solid start. But we need to do more than that. Office work may never fully return to pre-pandemic levels, and that’s why we should be thinking creatively about how to repurpose vacant office spaces. Imagine downtown offices transformed into spaces for educational programs, libraries, commissary kitchens for our growing food truck community, or even indoor hydroponic farms. These kinds of innovative uses could bring new life to downtown while serving the broader community. 

We also need to get as much residential downtown as possible. This means housing for people across the income spectrum – downtown living should just be for wealthy folks. We need to continue to find ways to build affordable housing like is being done at Moore Square, so that folks can be close to jobs, transit, and amenities. 

9. Since 2012, the City of Raleigh has paid more than $4 million in settlements to 47 individuals, families, and estates related to RPD officer’s use of excessive force and other unconstitutional interactions. What are your thoughts on the current culture at RPD? For what changes would you advocate to improve the culture of policing in Raleigh, if any? 

Under Chief Patterson’s leadership, I’ve seen a real commitment to building the skills that officers need to meaningfully connect with our community, like language training for officers. I also appreciate the work of our community officers who collaborate with neighborhoods to create safer environments. These efforts are about more than just policing, they’re about partnering with communities to build safety and trust from the ground up. But there’s still much work to be done.

Use of excessive force is never acceptable. Our residents deserve a city in which they trust police to make them safer, not cause harm. We need staff leadership to permeate a culture that excessive force will not be tolerated and back their words with action. I also think we can do more with our Police Advisory Board to make sure we’re receiving policy guidance from them that will improve outcomes for Raleigh residents. 

RPD’s high turnover rate means we have officers who aren’t building the deep, trusting relationships that are essential to effective, community-centered policing. Without those connections, they’re stuck being reactionary instead of proactive. Add to that our growing city and the fact that officers are often stationed across town when they’re called to incidents and they’re in a tough spot — responding after the fact, rather than preventing issues before they escalate. We need to prioritize stable staffing and building the kind of police-community partnerships that keep everyone safer. 

We need to keep pushing forward with initiatives like Alternative Response Units and civilian crash investigators to take some tasks off police officers’ plates. By lightening their load, we can reduce burnout, improve community safety, and help dedicated officers stay in their jobs longer, ultimately delivering better service to all Raleigh residents. 

10. Some municipalities, such as Durham, have seen success with crisis response units that deploy trained workers to respond to non-violent behavioral health and quality of life calls for service. Should Raleigh consider such a crisis response program that’s NOT housed in the police department? 

I believe in taking a comprehensive approach to public safety and making the most of our limited city resources. We need to reimagine how we respond to non-violent emergencies and shift that work to unarmed, trained officials wherever possible. 

I proudly support the Alternative Response Team and Civilian Traffic Investigators. In our Fiscal Year 2025 budget, we funded three out of four components of the Alternative Response Team — but we’re not done yet. When we receive our sales tax revenue and any budget surplus in the fall, I’ll push hard to make sure we allocate funding for the fourth component: the community response team. This program would be independent from RPD. 

By the start of next year, we expect the crisis call diversion line and support network to be up and running, bringing real, community-focused solutions to public safety. 

11. The next city council will transition from two-year to four-year terms with staggered elections. What other changes, if any, should the city council make to how voters elect its members? Should any additional changes be put to voters in a referendum or should the council make those decisions? 

I voted against the move to four-year staggered terms being made by council action. Here’s why: public trust in government is already fragile, and decisions like this should be in the hands of the voters. While I do believe four-year terms can lead to stronger governance by providing more continuity, I wanted voters to make that call themselves.

That said, now that we have this system in place, I’m hopeful it will help reduce the influence of big money in elections. When candidates are running every two years, the pressure to fundraise constantly can push them toward big donors. But with less frequent elections, there may be more room for grassroots candidates to step forward. 

I do think it is time to consider full time council members. Currently the role is part-time and most council members work a day-job. This pushes our meeting prep and constituent services to nights and weekends. Full time council members would be able to respond to constituent services with more flexibility and more quickly. While it is less true for this current council, we’ve seen that the part time pay, incentives folks with other supplemental income – either from retirement or personal wealth. If we want city council to represent our diverse community, making this a full time position with full time pay is a step toward that. 

If we’re serious about restoring public trust, I believe any future changes to how we elect our leaders should go directly to the voters through a referendum. That’s how we make Government more accountable and build a system that truly reflects the will of the people.