Raleigh City Council, At-Large: Joshua Bradley

Name: Joshua Damon Bradley

Age: 51

Party affiliation: Green

Campaign website: https://bradleyforraleighworkers.com

Occupation and employer: Hotel Accounting Manager, Summit Hospitality Group, Ltd

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

I decided to run to fight for a seat for the working class on the Raleigh City Council because I feel that for far too long, the council has catered to the needs of wealthy developers and donors who do not represent the people. I want to ensure that working class and low-income communities are represented on the council during rezonings, budget development, and so on. The city has the ability to invest funding into community needs, such as low-income housing and transit. The council can also pass resolutions to protect access to reproductive health clinics and protect LGBTQIA+ residents. Knowing the powerful changes that can be made at the local level, I am running on a platform with five main policy goals: housing justice, racial justice and equity, worker’s rights, non-discrimination and community inclusion, and environmental justice.

2. If you are a candidate for a district seat, please identify your priorities for your district. If you are an at-large candidate, please identify the three most pressing issues the city faces. 

Issue One: Increasing the supply of low-income housing. 

The availability of housing affordable to workers in Raleigh will help ensure that the city can still be functional. Low cost housing will also help prevent people from being pushed out of the city. As Raleigh is one of the fastest growing cities in the country, a focus on development in the luxury or market rate tiers will not have a “trickle down” effect on housing affordability, leaving low-income families and residents behind. The city must leverage the funding and resources available to it to address this housing crisis.

Issue Two: Raising the wages of city workers and improving their working conditions.

Raising the wages of all city workers is necessary to ensure Raleigh has the workers it needs to provide services that help the city run. This should also put positive pressure on wages in the area overall. We support UE-150, our city workers union, as we know that workers are stronger when they can organize together to ensure they work in safe conditions for good wages.

Issue Three: Increasing access to public transit and keep it free at the point of use

Public transit needs to be expanded, even at the expense of automobile traffic, to help the city meet its climate goals. This includes conducting ridership assessments of bus routes to determine which areas of the city are underserved, collaborating with other municipalities to construct commuter rail that supplements transit in each respective municipality, and increasing the number of protected bike lanes throughout the city

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?  An effective member of the city council is one that represents the will of the electorate. This means not being compromised by campaign donations, depending on networks of politically connected friends for policy development, or seeking office as a stepping stone to greater personal wealth. The people I share community with and advocate for are low-income and working class people, with whom my experiences and policy goals most closely align. For the last several years, I have developed connections to and relationships with local organizers, activists, and communities. My policy goals are informed by the needs of the people who have been tackling these issues firsthand- whether that be housing, policing, or worker pay. Implementing these policies is a matter of political will, and my role on the council will be to advocate for working people and engage with the community to implement those solutions. 

4. Many Raleigh leaders publicly committed to supporting a future affordable housing bond before the 2024 city council election and again this summer. Do you agree that a future affordable housing bond referendum should go before voters? Please explain your position. If you support a future affordable housing bond, when should it appear on ballots and in what (estimated) amount? What else can the city do to make sure Raleigh housing is affordable for current and future residents? 

I definitely believe that a future affordable housing bond should go before voters. It should go on the ballots no later than 2028 for at least another 80 million dollars. This money should be to build housing for people who make under 50% of the area median income, with a portion going to people who are unhoused. The city needs to prioritize housing for the working class and the poor. Cities should be focused on helping their people and should not be run like businesses.

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. How would you like Raleigh to address climate resilience, particularly flooding? 

Raleigh needs to make sure that climate resilience is a priority. It needs to make sure any new development does not increase climate insecurity. The city should generally not zone for new development in the flood plain or close to our water supply. Environmental impact studies should be used to ensure all rezoning and development contribute to climate resilience, not harm it. 

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?   

City leaders should keep up with developments with projects financed through bonds and keep the people of the city informed of their progress and any complications that arise. they should make sure that they only push for bond referendums that they are sure will be completed on time and within budget. In short, they should only promise what they are sure that they can provide.

7. Recently, 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? 

The city government should take a strong stand against this new wave of fascism and bigotry. The city council needs to do all it can in this modern era of fascism and white supremacy to protect all of the residents of the city. ICE actions in the city should be monitored and reported. Any ICE agent that kidnaps a person without a warrant should be arrested. It is the obligation of the city and its law enforcement to ensure that no one is denied civil rights and feels safe and secure. 

8. GoRaleigh’s bus operators, who are officially employed by international transit system operator RATPDev USA, have brought complaints about difficult and unsafe working conditions to the city council on numerous occasions in the past year. Besides working with the Raleigh Police Department on more patrolling and safety at bus terminals, what could the city be doing to make the bus operators’ jobs safer and more manageable?  

I think fully funding an alternative crisis response unit could send trained professionals to help people experiencing crises on the bus line. Often, the city buses are the only way for people that are unhoused to get shelter from the elements. Working diligently of providing housing and services to the people most in need will solve a large part of the problem.

9. This year, the Raleigh Police Department has come under scrutiny for its handling of the investigation into the crash that killed Tyrone Mason. Additionally, a former senior officer was fired in May; 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?

I think the training for police should de-emphasize weapons training and emphasize de-escalation. I think having a more robust and more powerful police accountability board would do some good in building trust. I also think that a majority of officers should be unarmed. A very small subset, who are well trained and very well vetted, could carry weapons for situations that called for them. The police should not cooperate with ICE.

10. Over the last year, Raleigh rolled out a crisis call diversion line and a care navigation team under the CARES umbrella. Those programs join the preexisting ACORNS unit within the police department as part of the city’s tool kit for responding to mental health, substance use, or homelessness concerns. Are you satisfied with the rollout of Raleigh CARES? Where do you want to see more investment or additional services? Should Raleigh consider creating a mobile crisis response team separate from the police department?

I think that the crisis call diversion line and care navigation team are a good step forward. The mobile crisis unit that is separate from the Police department is crucial to the success of the program over all and should immediately be funded. People in crisis tend to have less success when their first contact is with the police. The police are not adequately trained for crisis response and have often resorted to violence or deadly force when dealing with people in crisis. This alternative response team could also help with issues eluded to by the bus drivers, rather than the police.

11. Raleigh’s Citizen Advisory Councils 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?  

The city should put resources into community engagement in the parts of the city whose CACs went under without city support. I think a program of organizing neighborhoods should be a priority in the city. The neighborhood orgs could be used to get people involved in the CACs and be the basis of rebuilding CACs that were lost when the city council defunded them.

12. If there are other issues you want to discuss, please do so here. 

There are several, but I will mention one. I think municipal elections should be publicly funded. Each candidate should should submit a platform, resume, and statement of beliefs and priorities. These should be distributed with the water bills, at public libraries, and mailed to every resident of the city. Elections should be a contest of ideas, not a contest of who can raise the most money from the developers and the wealthy elite. If the playing field was level and everyone had equal access to the attention of the voters, the city council would truly be representative of the will of the voters, rather than the will of the developers and wealthy donors.