Name: Jane Harrison
Age: 41
Party affiliation: Democrat
Campaign website: janeforraleigh.com
Occupation & employer: Environmental Economist, NC State University
Years lived in the area: 12
1. Given the direction of Raleigh’s government, would you say things are on the right course? If not, what specific changes will you advocate for if elected?
We are on the right track but we are facing headwinds on affordability and the ability to pay for Raleigh’s growth. The City needs to increase its staff including personnel in public safety and planning and ensure new developments contribute to our infrastructure.
2. If you are a candidate for a district seat, please identify your priorities for your district. If you are an at-large candidate or running for mayor, please identify the three most pressing issues the city faces.
My priorities from day 1 have been community engagement, affordable housing and the environment.
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?
“For five years, I organized with the Friends of Athens Drive Community Library to lobby Wake Commissioners to keep our library in its socioeconomically diverse neighborhood, and in Raleigh. I helped keep the Library in southwest Raleigh when it easily could have moved to another town. I worked with a local property owner to secure land and supported my neighbors so that our City has the amenities it needs as we grow.
I also led Raleigh’s effort on Leaf Out, a master plan for tree planting and preservation citywide. Neighbors in District D came to me with concerns about losing our tree canopy. In response, I brought the issue to City Council’s Housing & Environment Committee which I chair. From there, our Parks, Recreation and Greenway advisory board took the baton working with the Parks Department to come up with a goal of 24,000 new trees to be planted by 2032 (Raleigh’s 240th anniversary). I made sure the plan was funded in our budget, and planting begins this month.”
4. Raleigh voters will have the option to support a $101.5 million housing bond and a $101.5 million transportation bond this fall. Do you support the bonds? Why or why not?
The income needed to purchase a home in Raleigh doubled from 2020 to 2022. Only half of our City streets have sidewalks. We have progress to make on affordable housing and transportation infrastructure – Raleigh’s bonds are critical to help us get there. The bonds do not raise our taxes, and rather, ask for authorization from residents to continue key investments like building affordable housing and improving public transit.
5. 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 2025. How would you like Raleigh to address climate resilience, particularly flooding?
We need to protect our vulnerable creeks, tree canopy, homes, and people susceptible to flooding. We don’t allow building in the floodplain and I reject development proposals that would cause downstream flooding. There is a new USGS study which shows Raleigh’s unstable stream banks and waterways that are at special risk. We need to incorporate new data in our planning to ensure residents and property are out of harm’s way.
6. After a decade of planning, Raleigh scrapped a proposal for the Six Forks Road widening project for bike and pedestrian lanes that would have been financed by transportation bonds that voters had already approved. In southeast Raleigh, construction on Phase 1 of the city’s Bus Rapid Transit system was delayed two years after the city initially failed to attract a bidder. How can city leaders ensure Raleigh keeps its commitments to voters and taxpayers and keeps projects on track from planning through construction, as well as within their budgets?
We adjusted phasing for transportation projects to avoid future project delays and cancellations like Six Forks Rd. For example, with the 2026 transportation bond we will only fund construction if designs are complete. Past projects that were too large in scope caused cost overruns given their long design and construction timelines. Bus Rapid Transit is another large undertaking which has required process improvements to be successful. We divided up the New Bern corridor into multiple smaller projects to successfully get bids and begin construction.
7. Last fall, Customs and Border Protection agents carried out immigration enforcement operations in Raleigh with no official warning to elected officials or the public. At the same time the Trump administration is working to ramp up deportations and curtail visas, while the legislature has passed laws requiring cooperation with ICE. What do you think Raleigh officials can or should do to ensure safe, welcoming communities for immigrants in light of these policies?
City Council works closely with RPD to ensure they are not working with ICE or sharing resident data with federal agents. Raleigh is home to people from all over the world and I see each neighbor with inherent worth, no matter where you’re from.
After federal agents came to Raleigh, I met with organizations that serve vulnerable communities to hear what is on their mind, and how I can best serve them. They asked for funding for basic necessities as many community members were forced to stay home and avoid work and regular activities. In response, City Council increased our council contingency budget to provide additional monies to small non-profit organizations who serve residents in need.
I’ll continue to be vocal about how deportations are impacting the City. We’re losing valuable members of our community who do critical work in the construction trades, landscaping, technology, and other sectors. Families are being split apart – households often have mixed immigration status with parents at risk while the kids are U.S. citizens. We must vote for new leaders nationwide to change federal policy.
8. Many local municipalities, including Cary, Durham, and Apex, have introduced moratoriums on new data centers in order to study their impacts and develop regulatory policies. Should Raleigh consider a data center moratorium like its neighbors or should it continue to evaluate proposals for data center projects that require the city’s approval on a case by case basis?
I support a moratorium on data centers in Raleigh. We need to take a pause to ensure our protocols are robust to fully vet impacts to neighbors – noise, heat and vibration, water supply, and electricity prices, for example. City Council decides rezoning and annexation requests for data centers, but if a property owner already has the appropriate zoning, they also need a special use permit from the City’s Board of Adjustment. I want to ensure that the public fully understands the permit process and that the City makes the public and City Council aware of permit cases so that we can weigh in as needed.
9. Last year, the Raleigh Police Department came under scrutiny for its handling of the investigation into the crash that killed Tyrone Mason. Additionally, a former senior officer was fired in May 2025; it was later revealed that the officer conducted illegal searches. How do you think the city should work to build trust between residents and RPD and what role do you think the council should have in overseeing the culture of the police department?
City Council’s Police Advisory Board works to build trust between residents and RPD, and evaluates policy to provide recommendations back to City Council for improvement. The PAB are our resident “watchdogs” who help ensure accountability and transparency. City Council members also regularly meet with Chief Boyce and other RPD leaders to discuss key issues. I do ride-alongs with individual officers to better understand public safety issues and get on-the-ground perspective about police operations.
10. How should the city of Raleigh address homelessness encampments? Have city initiatives such as the Bringing Neighbors Home pilot program been successful in your view? What more should the city do to address unsheltered homelessness?
Raleigh is a leader in North Carolina for addressing homelessness through increased housing supply and securing stable housing for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness. Our Bringing Neighbors Home program provided rental vouchers to people living in a homeless camp in Dix Park, and after two years, 90% of those individuals are still housed. Wake County has followed Raleigh’s lead with an effort to provide rental housing to 400 individuals over the next 18 months. We need to pass Raleigh’s affordable housing bond to ensure funding is available to achieve this goal.
11. As the city adds to its housing stock, how should it continue to address affordability? Do you have ideas on ways the city can work with housing developers or property owners to keep housing affordable for residents?
The City’s missing middle policies have increased the types of housing permitted, incentivizing the constructions of thousands of more homes since the policies were enacted five years ago. One of our best tools to ensure affordable housing for lower income residents is buying/banking land to create income-restricted housing and keeping it affordable into perpetuity. For example, the City bought the DMV site on New Bern Avenue to develop affordable housing. We also provide existing City land and gap financing to non-profit affordable housing builders like DHIC, CASA, and the Raleigh Area Land Trust.
In rezoning cases, I ask developers to mitigate the loss of naturally occurring affordable housing with income restricted units onsite, a contribution to the City’s affordable housing fund, and/or relocation assistance. For example I worked on a rezoning case on Hillsborough St near NC State’s campus where 5% of new rental units were committed to be affordable at 60% AMI for 20 years. We will have up to 21 affordable units in that private, market-rate development.
12. Raleigh’s CACs have been fully restored, and the city has introduced civic assemblies for paid community outreach, among other measures. What more could or should the city do to engage and inform residents?
We need more voices and a diverse mix of residents providing input back to City officials. While City resources have been made available to CACs, many CACs still need new leadership and capacity to be sustainable. The City has several leadership training programs – Neighborhood College, Planning Academy, Community Police Academy, for example – in which participants should be made aware of CACs and the opportunity to serve in a leadership role like a City board or commission. I host a monthly District D Neighborhood Alliance meeting and strive to attend meetings with residents wherever they are.
13. How should the city address public safety downtown, including around the central bus station and Moore Square Park and in Glenwood South?
We need to increase our officer count to respond to criminal activity but ultimately we need a societal shift for people who are engaging in anti-social and violent behavior. People who are struggling to find their way are more likely to do crime. Our country’s social safety net is threadbare. If we don’t make substantial changes at the federal and state levels to improve public education and career pathways and support those dealing with health, substance disorder, and other challenges, we will continue to have unsafe conditions in our communities.
Through environmental design, the City also has an opportunity to disrupt criminal activity and unhealthy behaviors. The density of bars in Glenwood South creates an environment where drinking and intoxication can get out of hand. Through zoning, the City can make adjustments to hours of operation and residential vs. retail for example. The types of establishments in a place affect who we attract downtown. We need a greater mix of opportunities in Glenwood South.
As for Moore Square bus station, we should limit points of entry to create a more controlled environment and provide fewer places for illegal behavior to take place. Moore Square Park is also safer when more people visit. I support City-programmed events and connections to neighbors like Marbles Kids Museum with new playground equipment at the Park.
14. If there are other issues you want to discuss, please do so here.
