1
00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:37,940
Twenty-third meeting of the Kerry Town Council at this time, I'll recognize Mayor Pro Tembush for our ceremonial opening.

2
00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:40,560
Thank you, Mayor. Please join me in the pledge of allegiance.

3
00:01:43,320 --> 00:01:44,120
I pledge of allegiance.

4
00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:10,760
We're at item three on the agenda. We have received a request from staff to add the item amendment to the meeting schedule to tonight's consent agenda.

5
00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:14,200
Is there a motion to adopt the agenda as amended?

6
00:02:15,340 --> 00:02:19,860
Second, second, second, second, second discussion, I'll unfavorably say aye.

7
00:02:19,860 --> 00:02:20,280
Aye.

8
00:02:20,380 --> 00:02:20,420
Aye.

9
00:02:20,420 --> 00:02:26,780
The opposed motion carries unanimously, which takes us to recognitions, reports and presentations.

10
00:02:27,620 --> 00:02:33,300
Our first presentation is PRCR Month Proclamation, and I'll recognize Council Member

11
00:02:33,300 --> 00:02:37,180
Banzel to present the Proclamation and invite her honoured guest to join her.

12
00:02:49,550 --> 00:02:51,310
Thank you, Sarah, for joining today.

13
00:02:51,490 --> 00:02:56,270
You're the chair of the PRCR Board, and doing an incredible job in keeping guys

14
00:02:56,270 --> 00:03:03,330
on track. Thank you so much for that. So today I will recognize July 236 as Parks and Recreation

15
00:03:03,330 --> 00:03:10,290
Month in Care, you're not Carolina. Whereas, carey parks, recreation and cultural resources

16
00:03:10,290 --> 00:03:18,190
enriches the lives of residents by providing high-quality parks, programs, facilities, cultural experiences

17
00:03:18,190 --> 00:03:23,990
and recreational opportunities that foster health, wellness, connection and belonging.

18
00:03:23,990 --> 00:03:26,810
And we do join me.

19
00:03:29,510 --> 00:03:37,250
Whereas carries nationally recognized parks and recreation systems, serves people of all

20
00:03:37,250 --> 00:03:46,270
ages, abilities, and interests, creating welcoming spaces where residents and visitors can

21
00:03:46,270 --> 00:03:57,730
play, learn, gather, celebrate and build community and various parks, trails, greenways,

22
00:03:58,350 --> 00:04:08,810
natural areas, arts and recreation programs, contribute to the environmental, social and economic

23
00:04:08,810 --> 00:04:17,350
vitality of carry, while supporting healthy lifestyles and enhancing quality of life.

24
00:04:18,230 --> 00:04:26,270
And whereas the town of carry is committed to thoughtfully planning for the future by expanding

25
00:04:26,270 --> 00:04:34,850
access to parts and recreation, promoting environmental stewardship and embracing innovation

26
00:04:34,850 --> 00:04:43,110
And ensuring these resources continue to meet the evolving need of our growing community.

27
00:04:44,350 --> 00:04:54,330
And whereas, care recognizes the dedicated professionals, volunteers, partners, and community members,

28
00:04:54,750 --> 00:05:01,890
whose contributions help make careless parks, and recreation system, one of the nation's finest

29
00:05:01,890 --> 00:05:06,110
and strengthen our community every day.

30
00:05:06,530 --> 00:05:13,030
Now, therefore, I consult members Rika Bansal on behalf of the Carey Mayor and Council,

31
00:05:13,690 --> 00:05:21,290
do hereby proclaim July 26th as Park and Recreation Month in Carey, and I encourage all

32
00:05:21,290 --> 00:05:26,650
residents to discover new experiences, connect with nature and one another.

33
00:05:26,650 --> 00:05:35,630
Support our parks and programs and celebrate the many ways our parks, recreation and cultural resources help our community thrive.

34
00:05:36,090 --> 00:05:39,090
Brooklyn, there is 23rd day of July, 2026.

35
00:05:49,350 --> 00:05:53,350
Thank you Councilwoman Banzel and thank you Mayor and other Council members.

36
00:05:54,090 --> 00:06:04,270
We certainly appreciate all of the resources, the time, the effort that Kerry puts into our parks, recreation, and cultural resources division.

37
00:06:04,270 --> 00:06:15,150
The town of Carrey, the citizens that live throughout the town of Carrey, thoroughly enjoy all kinds of activities in our town.

38
00:06:15,510 --> 00:06:30,570
Whether it be our seniors at a hot dog, hoodown, over at Bond Park, or whether it be toddlers taking a parent and child art class from Miss Lisa at the Carrey Arts Center, which I did many times.

39
00:06:30,570 --> 00:06:39,690
or if it might be folks taking dance classes or attending a concert or going to an event that

40
00:06:39,690 --> 00:06:45,230
might be happening such as the Chinese Lantern Festival at Kokebuth.

41
00:06:45,770 --> 00:06:54,050
The town of Carrie is rich in experiences for our citizens and it's because of this that

42
00:06:54,050 --> 00:07:00,250
Carrie is so nationally recognized as a wonderful place to live and there's no other place

43
00:07:00,250 --> 00:07:08,150
I would rather raise my family and have my parents join me now after they've retired and moved here.

44
00:07:08,670 --> 00:07:12,750
This is the place to live. I absolutely love it.

45
00:07:13,090 --> 00:07:17,410
And I thank you for investing in the power of play.

46
00:07:18,570 --> 00:07:27,190
You see play sort of goes as a theme through everything that we do in parks recreation and cultural resources.

47
00:07:27,190 --> 00:07:34,750
It's healing for our community, so I do want to encourage folks to get out to our parks,

48
00:07:35,050 --> 00:07:42,490
our greenways, our paths, our trails, take a class, try something new, go to a concert, come

49
00:07:42,490 --> 00:07:49,870
to the 50th Annual Lazy Days Festival taking place just one month from now on August 22nd

50
00:07:50,570 --> 00:07:59,530
23rd. And again, thank you for making carry what it is by having such a robust parks recreation

51
00:07:59,530 --> 00:08:02,250
and cultural resources division. Thank you.

52
00:08:02,270 --> 00:08:02,910
Thank you.

53
00:08:08,930 --> 00:08:12,050
Our second presentation is the sister city's

54
00:08:12,050 --> 00:08:16,670
proclamation and I'll recognize Council Member Craig to present this proclamation and invite

55
00:08:16,670 --> 00:08:18,950
her honoured guests to join her at the podium.

56
00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:28,560
What did you say?

57
00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:35,380
So yes, I am council member Michelle Craig and I am honored to be the council liaison for

58
00:08:35,380 --> 00:08:41,020
Kerry sister cities and tonight we have a proclamation recognizing sister cities international

59
00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:43,080
day.

60
00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:50,620
Whereas in 2026 sister cities international is celebrating 70 years of global citizen and civic

61
00:08:50,620 --> 00:08:55,940
diplomatic action and helping support a future where the world cities, communities and

62
00:08:55,940 --> 00:09:00,720
citizens can come together on coming ground, whereas sister city's international

63
00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:05,180
days of fitting occasion to commemorate the significant impact that the

64
00:09:05,180 --> 00:09:10,640
organization has made in building bridges across nations cities and communities

65
00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:16,460
across the globe in order to create and sustain world peace. Whereas sister city's

66
00:09:16,460 --> 00:09:20,640
international was founded as president, President John initiative by President

67
00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:27,600
Dwight Diaz and Howard on September 11, 1956 at the White House Conference on Citizen Diplomacy

68
00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:32,640
to create more community-led global relationships so that people of different cultures

69
00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:37,180
could appreciate their differences and build partnerships that would lessen the chance

70
00:09:37,180 --> 00:09:45,280
of new national conflicts. Whereas Sister City's International Currently has 400 U.S. members

71
00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:50,760
cities, counties and states that include relationships with more than 1800 communities

72
00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:54,580
in 140 countries, spanning six continents.

73
00:09:55,840 --> 00:10:00,260
Whereas Carrie North Carolina is proud to be a driving part of the global network with

74
00:10:00,260 --> 00:10:07,080
sister city partnerships spanning the globe and the following cities and countries like

75
00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:10,500
to K France, Markham, Canada, Ben Dornham, Turkey,

76
00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:13,800
Chintu, Taiwan, and County, New Zealand.

77
00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:17,400
Whereas countless city, county, and state governments

78
00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:18,900
and their leaders have been involved

79
00:10:18,900 --> 00:10:21,820
in global relationships due to sister city's

80
00:10:21,820 --> 00:10:25,220
international and whereas these relationships include

81
00:10:25,220 --> 00:10:28,960
educational, economic, cultural, municipal,

82
00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:31,760
and humanitarian assistance exchange programs

83
00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:34,480
that are mutually beneficial to each community.

84
00:10:35,300 --> 00:10:41,140
Whereas, Sister City's International Day is a call to action for Americans and citizens of

85
00:10:41,140 --> 00:10:45,820
the world to come together to celebrate the importance of communities, continued commitment

86
00:10:45,820 --> 00:10:51,240
to people, people to people exchanges, and show how powerful humanity can be when we

87
00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:56,120
unite to promote peace, progress, and prosperity for a better world.

88
00:10:56,740 --> 00:11:02,060
Now therefore I counsel member Michelle Craig on behalf of the Carrie Mayer and Council

89
00:11:02,060 --> 00:11:04,780
to your hereby recognize July 23rd,

90
00:11:05,940 --> 00:11:09,780
2026 at Sister City's International Day in Carey

91
00:11:09,780 --> 00:11:12,340
and encourage all residents to celebrate this day

92
00:11:12,340 --> 00:11:16,180
as a milestone for oral peace, proclaim this 23rd day

93
00:11:16,180 --> 00:11:17,900
of July, 2026,

94
00:11:20,950 --> 00:11:20,950
and

95
00:11:30,330 --> 00:11:34,890
we have a Kenna King and we have

96
00:11:34,890 --> 00:11:39,940
me hall-inch that are coming to the extent they are hard for the

97
00:11:39,940 --> 00:11:42,740
proclamations. We're all awarded by our

98
00:11:42,740 --> 00:11:43,860
Madam Speaker,

99
00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:56,880
I'm the Vice President of Carey Sister Cities.

100
00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:01,220
Our President Pamela Huff is currently in DC at the 7th Anniversary event where she will

101
00:12:01,220 --> 00:12:03,020
be joining the National Board of Directors.

102
00:12:03,820 --> 00:12:07,860
On behalf of the organization, thank you to the town and the mayor for this promotion

103
00:12:07,860 --> 00:12:09,120
for your continued support.

104
00:12:11,140 --> 00:12:16,880
For those who don't know, Carrie Sister Cities is the local chapter of Sister Cities International

105
00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:23,480
We organize cultural events and exchanges based around our sister cities in France, Canada, Turkey, Taiwan, and Ireland.

106
00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:30,860
In a time of increased political attention in xenophobia, creating international connections and celebrating our shared humanity is more important than ever.

107
00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:33,840
These programs create meaningful impact on our community,

108
00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:40,260
from creating educational opportunities for our youth to generating tourism and economic opportunities for our businesses.

109
00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:43,000
I encourage everyone to come out to one of our events.

110
00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:47,620
Grilled out a barbecue picnic and learn about French local government or come to our stage at

111
00:12:47,620 --> 00:12:49,840
lazy days to watch the Taiwanese cooking demonstration.

112
00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:53,180
It's amazing that things you learn in people you meet when you get involved.

113
00:12:53,620 --> 00:12:56,540
I look forward to our continuing work with the town and thank you again for your support.

114
00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:11,700
Our third recognition is for the attendees of the Carey Public Service Academy who are joining us this evening.

115
00:13:12,580 --> 00:13:20,880
The Carey Public Service Academy was created to help high school students learn how local government works while inspiring them

116
00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:24,980
to explore careers in public service and community leadership.

117
00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:31,860
At the opportunity today to speak with this outstanding group and I was genuinely impressed

118
00:13:31,860 --> 00:13:37,800
by their thoughtful questions they ask and their enthusiasm for serving their community.

119
00:13:38,500 --> 00:13:43,320
Also know that many of our council members look forward to celebrating with them at their

120
00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:45,000
graduation on Friday.

121
00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:55,700
The students represent a bright future for Kerry and I'm excited to see the impact they will have on our community in the years ahead.

122
00:13:56,240 --> 00:14:03,960
We are honored to have them with us tonight, and I would ask that the students of the Kerry Public Service Academy please stand and be recognized.

123
00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:19,520
Thank you.

124
00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:26,760
We now move to the fourth item, which is the interim town managers update and I'll recognize Mr. Overton.

125
00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:33,800
Thank you, Mayor. I want to take a moment to update our residents on the two work sessions we've had this prior to tonight's regular meeting.

126
00:14:34,380 --> 00:14:43,780
As a reminder, work sessions are live streamed and recorded and available in the town's YouTube channel as well as carry TV 11 for those of you that do not have the cable TV.

127
00:14:43,780 --> 00:14:49,240
Early, earlier tonight, staff provided an update on several utility items, including work

128
00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:54,240
on a new utility billing system, longstanding year-round water conservation efforts in

129
00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:56,200
our wastewater study with Holly Springs.

130
00:14:56,620 --> 00:14:59,620
We also talked about transit in particular, the bus rapid.

131
00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:06,120
Crancett system, as well as our multimodal center project in the downtown circulator route.

132
00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:14,000
Tuesday night, we received our monthly revenue report, and spent the rest of the meeting pretty much focused on council parties, council initiated items,

133
00:15:14,780 --> 00:15:21,240
and process options for addressing some of the recommendations in the Womble Bond Dickinson report, which is next on tonight's agenda.

134
00:15:21,580 --> 00:15:24,020
So I'll stop talking here and turn it back over to you, Mayor.

135
00:15:24,020 --> 00:15:30,760
Thank you, Mr. Overton. And a great segue to our fifth and final item is the presentation

136
00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:37,260
of the Kerry Town Council Special Commission report by Wammel Bonn, Dickinson, and First

137
00:15:37,260 --> 00:15:40,980
I'd like to recognize our town attorney, Lisa Glover, to introduce the item.

138
00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:46,880
Thank you, Mayor. It's my pleasure to introduce John Cook of Wammel Bonn Dickinson. John

139
00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:51,340
has worked with many North Carolina local governments and their governing boards throughout

140
00:15:51,340 --> 00:15:55,300
his career and has a deep understanding of local government operations.

141
00:15:56,300 --> 00:16:00,900
Womble Bond Dickinson has completed its comprehensive review and investigation of the town

142
00:16:00,900 --> 00:16:05,380
initiated after the resignation of the former town manager and John is here to present

143
00:16:05,380 --> 00:16:10,420
the findings. This review was commissioned by Council to develop a fuller understanding of

144
00:16:10,420 --> 00:16:14,000
what occurred and identify the changes needed to strengthen the organization.

145
00:16:14,860 --> 00:16:19,380
Its recommendations provide Council and staff with a clear framework for improving accountability,

146
00:16:19,380 --> 00:16:23,760
oversight and workplace governance. And with that, I'll turn it over to John.

147
00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:31,840
Thank you, Lisa. Good evening. Mayor, and members of the Council. I'm John Cook.

148
00:16:32,760 --> 00:16:37,320
And I'm here on behalf of Wumblebond Dickinson. Thank you for the opportunity first

149
00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:44,410
to be able to share the key aspects of our report that you commissioned us to do to look into

150
00:16:44,410 --> 00:16:54,030
three aspects of town operations. I have about 10 slides, give you a preview of that, and the

151
00:16:54,030 --> 00:17:01,530
slides will discuss fourth principle matters. What we were asked to examine, how we

152
00:17:01,530 --> 00:17:09,690
approach the work, what we found, and most importantly, perhaps, what we recommend the town council

153
00:17:09,690 --> 00:17:15,810
to consider going forward. If you have questions doing the presentation, feel free to interrupt

154
00:17:15,810 --> 00:17:18,990
me, you don't need to hold your questions to the end.

155
00:17:24,150 --> 00:17:25,950
This slide is an overview of our

156
00:17:25,950 --> 00:17:31,990
assignment and I'm going to be pretty quick going through it. You ask us to do an independent

157
00:17:33,370 --> 00:17:41,050
evaluation and report and you did not know that the town staff, influence our conclusions,

158
00:17:41,050 --> 00:17:43,650
or our analysis.

159
00:17:44,870 --> 00:17:51,090
You challenged us to look at three aspects of talent, government, first procurement

160
00:17:51,090 --> 00:17:57,950
card, transactions and reimbursements, which simply are the talent credit card, transactions

161
00:17:58,370 --> 00:17:59,710
and reimbursements.

162
00:18:00,370 --> 00:18:06,670
The financial reporting of information to the talent council and the workplace environment.

163
00:18:06,670 --> 00:18:15,030
You specifically designated an examination period from July 1, 2021, which is the beginning of

164
00:18:15,030 --> 00:18:22,750
your fiscal year for that year, to November 20, 2025, when you place the former

165
00:18:22,750 --> 00:18:25,230
town manager on administrative leave.

166
00:18:26,450 --> 00:18:32,290
You challenged us not only to investigate facts, but to come up with recommendations.

167
00:18:32,290 --> 00:18:38,490
The investigation of facts or the easy part, the recommendations of the hard part.

168
00:18:42,860 --> 00:18:49,140
This slide again simply tells you what our scope review and investigate to worry approach

169
00:18:49,140 --> 00:18:49,920
was.

170
00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:52,280
There's four points on here.

171
00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:59,100
Number one, we did not duplicate the efforts of any state agencies, but we cooperated

172
00:18:59,100 --> 00:19:02,540
with all state agencies that were looking at similar matters.

173
00:19:02,540 --> 00:19:11,720
We did what lawyers do. We investigate gather facts. Then we look at rules and then we draw

174
00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:18,980
conclusions whether those rules were applied to those particular transactions and events

175
00:19:18,980 --> 00:19:25,980
appropriately and is intended. Our information we gather from multiple resources.

176
00:19:25,980 --> 00:19:33,780
offices, we are documents, we retain a private accounting firm to help us sort through the

177
00:19:33,780 --> 00:19:41,720
P-Cart transactions, which involve 28 different people who were designated to look at those

178
00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:42,600
transactions.

179
00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:51,780
We gather information from both current employees and former employees, and because there

180
00:19:51,780 --> 00:19:59,320
There were no surveys of employees during the examination time or really for the last 10 years.

181
00:20:00,100 --> 00:20:07,380
We looked at a post-examination survey of the employees conducted in the first half of

182
00:20:07,380 --> 00:20:14,120
2026 to give us an indication of what the workplace environment might have been during the

183
00:20:14,120 --> 00:20:15,520
examination period.

184
00:20:18,730 --> 00:20:23,490
So as I said, we did what lawyers do and we came up with some findings and conclusions.

185
00:20:23,490 --> 00:20:26,230
and they're pretty straightforward.

186
00:20:27,190 --> 00:20:32,210
We looked at many, many P-Card transactions and reimbursements.

187
00:20:33,330 --> 00:20:39,310
With the use of this forvice, which is an international accounting firm in there for

188
00:20:39,310 --> 00:20:46,510
insect team, they quickly identified those transactions that they felt were most suited

189
00:20:46,510 --> 00:20:48,430
for further consideration.

190
00:20:48,430 --> 00:20:52,570
And those transactions we've laid it to Mr. Stiegels' transactions.

191
00:20:53,390 --> 00:20:57,870
And the reasons they were selected was because they were generally the larger transactions

192
00:20:57,870 --> 00:21:02,230
that were handled during the P card transactions.

193
00:21:02,650 --> 00:21:08,710
But they also sorted that information into categories that were kind of interesting.

194
00:21:09,610 --> 00:21:17,390
First they sorted those categories in which Mr. Stiegels used the P card to charge

195
00:21:17,390 --> 00:21:21,490
of expenditures on weekends.

196
00:21:22,810 --> 00:21:26,550
Second one that they looked at was those P card transactions,

197
00:21:26,550 --> 00:21:29,430
so which he did not provide a receipt.

198
00:21:30,570 --> 00:21:34,170
And third, they focused on P card transactions

199
00:21:34,170 --> 00:21:38,230
that were where goods were delivered to his home

200
00:21:38,230 --> 00:21:40,590
and not to town hall.

201
00:21:41,610 --> 00:21:45,470
And those were the things that stood out in their mind

202
00:21:45,470 --> 00:21:48,250
things that require further examination.

203
00:21:50,210 --> 00:21:54,530
Finding those facts led to simply looking at your policies.

204
00:21:55,750 --> 00:22:05,010
Your policies and rules and regulations, which are captured in standard procedures adopted by town managers,

205
00:22:06,470 --> 00:22:11,530
Told the staff how to process P-car transactions.

206
00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:20,480
Those rules and regulations were adopted by town managers prior to Mr. Stegel.

207
00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:24,440
Mr. Stegel did not update those rules and policies.

208
00:22:25,540 --> 00:22:30,320
And in looking at those rules and policies, it is our conclusion that they were sufficient

209
00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:35,020
to give the staff opportunity to require,

210
00:22:35,300 --> 00:22:37,580
for the documentation from Mr. Stegel,

211
00:22:38,500 --> 00:22:42,960
to require receipts, to question transactions,

212
00:22:43,700 --> 00:22:48,200
to audit those transactions, and to decline to pay them.

213
00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:52,120
So we concluded that was an operational failure.

214
00:22:52,900 --> 00:22:55,640
By operational failure, we simply mean,

215
00:22:55,820 --> 00:22:58,460
there were rules in place that in our judgment

216
00:22:58,460 --> 00:23:07,600
were not applied as intended. And so that rule failed. We also turned into the financial

217
00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:13,280
reporting aspect of it. There were two things that were pretty clear in the facts. First

218
00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:19,440
of all that you had adopted a fund balance policy that that fund balance policy was violated

219
00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:27,000
in fiscal year 2023 and Mr. Stegel had misstated that had had not been violated to you.

220
00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:29,780
That is an operational failure.

221
00:23:31,020 --> 00:23:38,800
Secondly, the town council had already adopted a policy regarding an internment audit and

222
00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:40,000
audit function.

223
00:23:40,860 --> 00:23:48,340
In town hall and when Mr. Stigel came to town, there was an internal auditor on staff.

224
00:23:48,660 --> 00:23:55,360
Mr. Stigel eliminated that position and there really wasn't a position designated to handle

225
00:23:55,360 --> 00:24:02,340
this internal audit function that was required by your policy. Your policy also requires that

226
00:24:02,340 --> 00:24:08,500
you have the chance to ask this person who is to do these audits to go and look at very

227
00:24:08,500 --> 00:24:16,140
aspects of town government and it just wasn't there. So that's another operational failure.

228
00:24:16,860 --> 00:24:24,520
And furthermore, just looking at it broadly, Mr. Stegle managed the channels that were reporting

229
00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:30,740
financial information to you. And key financial information in our judgment was not reported

230
00:24:30,740 --> 00:24:37,060
to you. Obviously that's a judgment call. You can't report everything, but what are the key things?

231
00:24:37,380 --> 00:24:43,520
We think budget changes, real property purchases, tuition payments, those things should have

232
00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:51,220
been reported to the full council in a timely and complete and accurate fashion. So there were

233
00:24:52,540 --> 00:24:56,580
with regards to workplace work, workplace environment.

234
00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:04,200
This is the hardest one for us to investigate because there were no surveys during this period of time

235
00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:09,100
because workplace environment always is a matter of perspective.

236
00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:14,860
And so we gathered the best information we could.

237
00:25:14,860 --> 00:25:24,660
We focused, in part, on the survey conducted in 2026, after all of these matters came out.

238
00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:30,420
And that in that survey, there are three things that stood out in our mind.

239
00:25:31,120 --> 00:25:41,000
First, 44% of current surveys agree or disagree somewhat that decisions are driven by organizational priorities and professional judgment.

240
00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:46,320
This kind of echoed in some of the information we had gathered from others.

241
00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:54,900
But also in that report, a very large majority of those employees are fulfilled by their job.

242
00:25:55,100 --> 00:25:57,040
They enjoy serving the public.

243
00:25:57,320 --> 00:26:00,240
They appreciate being good public servants.

244
00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:05,000
And they enjoy a good relationship with their direct supervisory.

245
00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:16,260
from former employees, some of who left the town happily and some who left the town less than happy.

246
00:26:18,450 --> 00:26:24,290
We just gathered a general view that things were not fully transparent.

247
00:26:24,990 --> 00:26:28,070
There were people who questioned the fairness of the decisions,

248
00:26:29,030 --> 00:26:36,810
and there were some people who believed that the decisions were made based upon Mr. Seagull's favoritism of particular individuals.

249
00:26:36,810 --> 00:26:45,740
The information that we found was at Mr. Stigel continued to report to the council that the workplace environment was great.

250
00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:50,140
We, as lawyers, don't know how you do that if you don't have a survey.

251
00:26:52,160 --> 00:27:01,040
But regardless, it the best that information was either partially true and not completely accurate.

252
00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:09,080
So we suggest that the weight of the evidence here is that the town's policies that you adopt,

253
00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:18,340
which require fairness in employment, decisions and practices, were not fully adhered to.

254
00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:22,640
You require merit-based decisions from employees.

255
00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:27,340
That does not seem to have been true always.

256
00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:31,020
This was another operational failure.

257
00:27:32,420 --> 00:27:34,620
That was the easy part of the report.

258
00:27:35,260 --> 00:27:37,060
That's what we do as long as all the time.

259
00:27:37,180 --> 00:27:41,480
Go find facts, look at the law and conclude what happened.

260
00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:43,780
But you ask us to do more than that.

261
00:27:43,780 --> 00:27:45,480
You ask us to look for recommendations.

262
00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:48,100
And when you look at recommendations,

263
00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:53,580
you have to figure out what's the cause.

264
00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:56,540
See, if you don't know the cause,

265
00:27:56,840 --> 00:27:59,360
then your recommendations don't fit the problem.

266
00:27:59,360 --> 00:28:07,420
And you can look at these individual operational phase and say, well, they're just individual instances.

267
00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:21,100
But in all of these operational failures, Mr. Stegel played a role directly indirectly or somehow contributed to these operational failures.

268
00:28:21,740 --> 00:28:27,760
That led us to a really interesting question, and that was, well, if it was just Mr.

269
00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:33,160
Stegel, and it never could happen again, and Mr. Stegel is no longer a cow.

270
00:28:33,220 --> 00:28:38,580
Man, and Jared, well, we don't need to make any recommendations, because it's all been fixed.

271
00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:47,580
This led us to looking at something that's different than what lawyers typically do.

272
00:28:47,580 --> 00:28:53,940
we looked at the structure of the council manager form of government and in doing that,

273
00:28:55,460 --> 00:29:01,760
we concluded that there's a vulnerability in the structure. It's very important to say that every

274
00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:11,680
human structure has vulnerabilities because humans are involved. It doesn't say the structures

275
00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:19,040
defective or it can't be fixed. It's just a vulnerability and a vulnerability usually arises

276
00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:26,370
from a trade-off. A trade-off is where you've made a particular decision to cure a one thing

277
00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:34,420
by creating something else and that is exactly what happened with the Council Manager for my

278
00:29:34,420 --> 00:29:34,860
government.

279
00:29:38,100 --> 00:29:41,260
So turning to the destructural vulnerability slide,

280
00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:46,080
what we found, and this is

281
00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:55,400
we found by surveying academic literature across the country, is it we found that the Council

282
00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:59,840
major form of government originated in the early 20th century.

283
00:30:00,140 --> 00:30:18,700
He was designed to cure a particular problem. The particular problem that they were concerned about was that elected officials were using their position to control operations and employment decisions for their personal or political gain.

284
00:30:18,700 --> 00:30:25,900
That was the problem. These reformers were trying to solve with the council manager form of government.

285
00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:31,200
So what the what the form of government does is it walls you off.

286
00:30:31,420 --> 00:30:37,640
It's intentional. It walls you all from day to day operation employment decisions.

287
00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:45,160
That actually is a great comfort if you're ever on the other side of the wall as an employee, by the way, and I've been there.

288
00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:52,680
But that's the system, and so, well, once you wall all of the elected body, who's going to do it?

289
00:30:52,820 --> 00:30:54,180
Who's going to run the place?

290
00:30:55,100 --> 00:31:00,960
Well, they had a great confidence in their professional, non-partisan manager.

291
00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:11,340
And they invested, they invested, they invested greater authority and discretion in that official to run the government.

292
00:31:11,340 --> 00:31:16,380
And at that time they thought running the government was kind of like running a clock, you know?

293
00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:20,360
You just put in rules and it all go very smoothly.

294
00:31:22,360 --> 00:31:26,100
Over the years people have realized that there are some issues with that.

295
00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:37,640
The fact of that, and this is what the literature says, is that there's a partnership between the elected body and the town manager.

296
00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:44,760
And as a partnership, it builds this notion that you have trust.

297
00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:52,120
You expect the manager to bring everything that would be important for your decision-making

298
00:31:52,120 --> 00:31:57,400
and your supervision of the manager because only you have authority to supervise the manager

299
00:31:57,400 --> 00:31:59,560
to you as your trusted partner.

300
00:32:01,230 --> 00:32:08,770
The problem in the system is that as long as that is the trusted partner manager,

301
00:32:10,830 --> 00:32:11,030
functions

302
00:32:11,030 --> 00:32:17,210
that way, then you will have the information to help make the right policy decisions and

303
00:32:17,210 --> 00:32:19,670
supervise the manager appropriately.

304
00:32:20,990 --> 00:32:28,150
But here, many of the questionable matters related to Mr. Stegels' own personal actions,

305
00:32:28,150 --> 00:32:34,930
And he had management and control over the reporting channels of information to the talent council.

306
00:32:36,890 --> 00:32:38,330
That's the vulnerability.

307
00:32:39,770 --> 00:32:42,530
That's what needs be fixed in our judgment.

308
00:32:43,570 --> 00:32:50,510
And that which leads us to the recommendations that we are making tonight, or in our report, actually.

309
00:32:53,770 --> 00:32:54,950
So,

310
00:32:57,100 --> 00:33:04,740
our recommendations, themes or three-fold, one is transparency and oversight, financial

311
00:33:04,740 --> 00:33:08,840
accountability, workplace culture and governance.

312
00:33:09,660 --> 00:33:17,360
I'm just going to hit on one of these because it really is a principle assumption that

313
00:33:17,360 --> 00:33:21,660
we made, presumption we made in selecting recommendations.

314
00:33:23,580 --> 00:33:30,080
We think transparency in government is critical for effective and efficient government operations.

315
00:33:31,140 --> 00:33:40,840
If there had been increased transparency in these situations, these operational failures would have come to your attention quicker,

316
00:33:41,500 --> 00:33:45,700
and you've been able to deal with them in a more efficient way.

317
00:33:45,700 --> 00:34:00,940
We think transparency also addresses the two things that need to be strengthened, which we need to strengthen safeguards and we need to strengthen reporting channels of financial information to you.

318
00:34:01,380 --> 00:34:05,900
We favor transparency over rules if it's a tie.

319
00:34:10,410 --> 00:34:22,830
So with regards to transparency and oversight in the P card reimbursements, the first two recommendations are good examples of transparency.

320
00:34:23,810 --> 00:34:39,830
We think if you just publish the P card and reimbursements quarterly for the manager, the direct reports to the manager and the department heads, you will have a self regulating effect.

321
00:34:39,830 --> 00:34:44,490
If you know it's going to be public, you will always be reminded that you need to be a good steward.

322
00:34:45,190 --> 00:34:50,590
So instead of saying, you can't do something, encourage better behavior.

323
00:34:52,290 --> 00:34:56,390
Same thing with publishing travel, lodging meals and education expenditures.

324
00:34:57,370 --> 00:35:09,450
These are always going to be hot buttons. People always going to wonder whether that travel was better than it needed to be.

325
00:35:09,450 --> 00:35:13,310
the Council. Third, and here to the state, are all

326
00:35:13,310 --> 00:35:19,210
charged recommendations. Those are good ideas. Then, finally, because these

327
00:35:19,210 --> 00:35:26,670
P-Core transaction rules had not been updated regularly. We think you should

328
00:35:26,670 --> 00:35:31,730
require the manager to review and update those regulations every three years.

329
00:35:35,690 --> 00:35:36,430
These

330
00:35:36,430 --> 00:35:43,570
expenditures occur have changed so much over time that you really do need to update the policy

331
00:35:43,570 --> 00:35:52,410
every so often. With regards to the financial accountability, again, we're a big fan of written

332
00:35:52,410 --> 00:36:00,050
notice and information provided to the council that is mandated not relying on the good faith

333
00:36:00,050 --> 00:36:05,710
of the manager but to require the manager and in all of these matters you could have people

334
00:36:05,710 --> 00:36:08,710
signed certifications to this information, right?

335
00:36:08,710 --> 00:36:14,290
If you worry that you need more than one person, you know, indicating it's correct.

336
00:36:14,950 --> 00:36:21,090
But require written notice to the council before any appropriations out of fund balances are made.

337
00:36:21,950 --> 00:36:27,090
Mandate reporting discretionary budget changes at the next regular council meeting.

338
00:36:27,370 --> 00:36:29,890
And on that point I'd say think about it.

339
00:36:30,070 --> 00:36:33,930
Your most powerful financial tool is your adopted budget.

340
00:36:34,850 --> 00:36:39,150
There are very few things staff can change that you would adopt.

341
00:36:39,450 --> 00:36:40,030
Think about it.

342
00:36:40,030 --> 00:36:40,550
You adopt the law.

343
00:36:40,770 --> 00:36:41,650
They can't change it.

344
00:36:41,730 --> 00:36:43,110
Only you can change it.

345
00:36:43,370 --> 00:36:48,970
But they have to have some flexibility here to amend and change the budget.

346
00:36:49,350 --> 00:36:54,150
But you should be on notice of all of them and have a chance to play a role in that.

347
00:36:54,150 --> 00:36:59,790
require the answer notice of real estate purchases exceeding $300,000.

348
00:37:00,710 --> 00:37:04,010
Again, real estate purchases are hot buttons.

349
00:37:04,950 --> 00:37:09,750
Everybody has an opinion what a piece of property is, and they're usually not the same.

350
00:37:12,130 --> 00:37:16,190
So real estate purchases also typically involve local residents.

351
00:37:16,750 --> 00:37:19,070
So it's good for you to have that information.

352
00:37:19,070 --> 00:37:27,110
Re-instate the town auditor position, which you have already done in your budget, study

353
00:37:27,110 --> 00:37:32,290
best practices in budget development, review technology for seizures.

354
00:37:34,910 --> 00:37:43,770
This brings us to the workplace culture and governance, and we have 21 recommendations,

355
00:37:43,770 --> 00:37:52,230
which is quite a handful, but of the ones that we think are most important and probably most

356
00:37:52,230 --> 00:37:56,990
difficult and the ones that the State Auditor did not make any recommendations on, we

357
00:37:56,990 --> 00:38:00,030
think workplace culture and governance are important.

358
00:38:02,610 --> 00:38:05,770
Engage it outside consultant for an annual review

359
00:38:05,770 --> 00:38:11,450
for the annual performance review of the manager, and we actually said the town attorney

360
00:38:11,450 --> 00:38:13,510
and clerics, so everybody was treated fairly.

361
00:38:14,610 --> 00:38:18,930
The current system is that you are using human resources

362
00:38:18,930 --> 00:38:22,090
department, but the human, and that saves money.

363
00:38:22,670 --> 00:38:25,290
It saves money, but the human resources department

364
00:38:25,290 --> 00:38:27,050
is supervised by the manager.

365
00:38:27,570 --> 00:38:29,750
It puts them in an impossible position.

366
00:38:30,170 --> 00:38:33,030
And I'll also say, if you're a staff person

367
00:38:33,030 --> 00:38:37,590
who has information, you think you needed to know,

368
00:38:38,490 --> 00:38:41,210
they would be very reluctant to report it to human resources,

369
00:38:41,210 --> 00:38:46,030
because they know human resources answers to the manager, excuse me.

370
00:38:47,670 --> 00:38:49,230
So, this is one of those examples.

371
00:38:49,470 --> 00:38:52,510
We don't like many of them that cause a little extra money.

372
00:38:53,210 --> 00:38:58,270
In bed, a code of ethics, in your contracts, and have an annual certification.

373
00:38:58,690 --> 00:38:59,850
There is a code of ethics.

374
00:39:00,090 --> 00:39:02,630
All professionals need to be reminded.

375
00:39:02,890 --> 00:39:08,610
We all are reminded, almost annually, of our ethical responsibility.

376
00:39:09,630 --> 00:39:13,330
It's nothing unusual about this, but the reminder is helpful.

377
00:39:14,110 --> 00:39:23,350
A men the personnel ordinance to take out the language it says that the manager is the final authority for all activities of an all employees.

378
00:39:24,090 --> 00:39:30,590
One could read that to say, regardless of the rules, he gets direct or she gets direct.

379
00:39:30,590 --> 00:39:33,210
staff to do what they want to do.

380
00:39:33,490 --> 00:39:36,550
That is not part of the Council Manager form of government.

381
00:39:36,590 --> 00:39:38,770
That gives a more thoroughly than title.

382
00:39:40,190 --> 00:39:42,690
Restore standard personnel best practices.

383
00:39:43,030 --> 00:39:45,970
Exit interviews were eliminated by Mr. Stegel.

384
00:39:47,050 --> 00:39:51,030
In the all open job postings formal interview processes

385
00:39:51,030 --> 00:39:52,830
objective bonus systems.

386
00:39:53,470 --> 00:39:56,930
Adopt the whistleblower protection policy.

387
00:39:57,510 --> 00:40:00,570
Against retaliation, I believe that might be on your agenda

388
00:40:00,570 --> 00:40:01,730
Tonight,

389
00:40:04,210 --> 00:40:10,870
require written notice and justification for the change of addition of positions,

390
00:40:11,330 --> 00:40:17,470
change of positions, and elimination of positions, and the repurposing of positions.

391
00:40:18,210 --> 00:40:24,030
To direct the town manager to review the size of the town manager's office,

392
00:40:24,610 --> 00:40:29,390
it became much larger under Mr. Stigel than by historic standards.

393
00:40:30,710 --> 00:40:39,630
Mandate regular confidential employees surveys, at least every three years, so you have the data from the whole organization.

394
00:40:39,630 --> 00:40:46,010
evaluate the cost of anages and disadvantages of a confidential employee tip line.

395
00:40:46,990 --> 00:40:51,250
evaluate the cost of anages and disadvantages of using the organizational

396
00:40:51,250 --> 00:40:57,710
obliques program for employees. It is used by some organizations and they like that.

397
00:40:57,710 --> 00:41:03,090
It gives employees a safe place to bring up conflicts and try to resolve them.

398
00:41:03,090 --> 00:41:06,770
Then develop a menu of employee engagement initiatives

399
00:41:06,770 --> 00:41:09,370
share with employees for feedback,

400
00:41:09,610 --> 00:41:12,090
strengthen the relationships among employees' departments,

401
00:41:13,010 --> 00:41:14,610
and the manager's office.

402
00:41:16,150 --> 00:41:20,410
This brings me as I know you're happy to know my last slide.

403
00:41:22,050 --> 00:41:25,810
But this may be the most important slide of all.

404
00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:31,680
First, in terms of a path forward, affirm the foundation.

405
00:41:31,680 --> 00:41:39,860
Here it is financially strong. Despite all of these operational failures that we found,

406
00:41:40,820 --> 00:41:48,240
the town remains financially strong. It's rated by all bond agencies with AAA ratings

407
00:41:48,240 --> 00:41:56,440
for its general obligations, bonds, its revenue bonds for water and sewer, and it gathers

408
00:41:56,440 --> 00:42:04,720
National Recognition all the time I was listening to the Parks and Recreation presentation and that was just another example.

409
00:42:05,320 --> 00:42:08,240
The town is financially capable.

410
00:42:09,400 --> 00:42:17,440
You have employees who are committed to serving the public. I can tell you how important that is. I'm sure you know.

411
00:42:19,160 --> 00:42:25,500
These findings do not define you, but they are an opportunity to make town better.

412
00:42:26,600 --> 00:42:30,160
Enhanced the Council manage for a model as we've talked about.

413
00:42:31,480 --> 00:42:35,680
Too much authority, discretion, and control, concentrated, and single

414
00:42:35,680 --> 00:42:41,080
office without adequate safeguards and reporting channels

415
00:42:41,080 --> 00:42:44,560
creates a vulnerability and a problem.

416
00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:52,240
Act promptly on low-cost recommendations, we try to find some low-cost recommendations

417
00:42:52,240 --> 00:42:54,360
like just publishing information.

418
00:42:55,380 --> 00:43:01,960
Even if they don't work, they haven't cost you much, but they are kind of experiment to see

419
00:43:01,960 --> 00:43:03,620
whether that's hopeful or not.

420
00:43:04,360 --> 00:43:13,180
And then for those things, they're going to take more time developing deliberate plan that

421
00:43:13,180 --> 00:43:17,880
requires further study, and then you can just check them off, and I know you're working on

422
00:43:17,880 --> 00:43:18,140
that.

423
00:43:18,140 --> 00:43:21,860
And then finally, rebuild confidence through transparency.

424
00:43:22,640 --> 00:43:25,460
Respond in a measured, lawful, and forward-looker manner.

425
00:43:26,140 --> 00:43:29,440
The council's response to these findings and our view

426
00:43:29,440 --> 00:43:34,620
is itself an opportunity for the town to demonstrate its commitment

427
00:43:34,620 --> 00:43:36,660
to transparency and accountability.

428
00:43:38,180 --> 00:43:39,620
And none of you ask me questions.

429
00:43:40,420 --> 00:43:43,180
So I guess it was a pretty, it worked pretty well.

430
00:43:44,500 --> 00:43:46,600
I am here if you have any further questions.

431
00:43:46,600 --> 00:43:48,240
questions for council.

432
00:43:50,500 --> 00:43:54,780
I have a question. If you would mind, first of all thank you so much for that,

433
00:43:54,940 --> 00:44:04,820
Mr. Kameen. When this all came to light, we were angry, we were upset and it's been helpful

434
00:44:04,820 --> 00:44:11,980
as we tried to work through a plan, a short-term plan. It's helped me significantly to know that

435
00:44:11,980 --> 00:44:16,940
we would be able to develop a long-term plan based off of the findings that you would bring to us

436
00:44:16,940 --> 00:44:19,240
and the office of the state auditor.

437
00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:23,440
And, you know, without that sort of short-term long-term approach,

438
00:44:23,900 --> 00:44:26,620
I don't know that this would have been a manageable situation.

439
00:44:27,120 --> 00:44:28,460
That's just, that's how I see it.

440
00:44:28,500 --> 00:44:31,700
So I just want to thank you for for this and how thorough it was.

441
00:44:32,820 --> 00:44:37,500
One thing I want to clarify for me and for those that are obviously paying

442
00:44:37,500 --> 00:44:42,020
a lot of attention of the 24 million in P card purchases,

443
00:44:42,220 --> 00:44:46,380
for example, that were, well, I believe that's the last two years

444
00:44:46,380 --> 00:44:52,260
of peacard purchases. That's what that total was. That's been very widely reported and widely

445
00:44:52,260 --> 00:44:59,940
discussed. Can you give us an idea of what percentage of those peacard purchases?

446
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:13,640
We're not problematic or on the reverse of that, what percentage seem to be or proof to be questionable or inappropriate.

447
00:45:15,460 --> 00:45:21,320
So you put your finger on a really important fact analysis and gathering.

448
00:45:21,320 --> 00:45:31,540
So, the four of us, accounting firm, had all 24,000, right, and you use, you use analytics.

449
00:45:33,540 --> 00:45:34,480
24 million.

450
00:45:35,680 --> 00:45:36,340
You said thousand.

451
00:45:36,840 --> 00:45:37,120
Sorry.

452
00:45:37,360 --> 00:45:37,980
You said thousand.

453
00:45:38,120 --> 00:45:39,380
It was million, but we knew a German.

454
00:45:39,700 --> 00:45:41,200
All right.

455
00:45:43,040 --> 00:45:43,700
My apologies.

456
00:45:45,420 --> 00:45:48,680
So they had this large number of transactions to look at.

457
00:45:48,780 --> 00:45:50,840
They used analytics and their judgment.

458
00:45:50,840 --> 00:46:02,300
and going through that many of those transactions are $10, $15, $20 and they're all over the organization.

459
00:46:04,740 --> 00:46:12,520
It's not worth once effort to go and try to dig into $10, $15, $20 transactions.

460
00:46:15,840 --> 00:46:19,760
Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please.

461
00:46:20,160 --> 00:46:21,460
Ladies and gentlemen, please.

462
00:46:24,480 --> 00:46:28,840
So, they use the analytics to focus in on the larger transaction.

463
00:46:30,740 --> 00:46:37,700
Most of those in many of those were Mr. Stegels, either his personal transactions,

464
00:46:37,700 --> 00:46:43,020
transactions, he had other people submit on his behalf or transaction they encouraged.

465
00:46:43,020 --> 00:46:55,650
Then they looked at Mr. Steakle's transactions themselves and those numbers are in our report and they focused in on the three things I talked about.

466
00:46:55,950 --> 00:46:59,850
You don't have a receipt. You need to have a receipt under the system.

467
00:47:01,070 --> 00:47:09,250
You are ordering lots of material and goods on weekends from Amazon.

468
00:47:10,210 --> 00:47:21,290
You are having a number of those good deliver to your home instead of to your to town hall.

469
00:47:22,650 --> 00:47:29,490
Keep in mind that Mr. Stigol has not shared any information with us. He's not shared any justification.

470
00:47:30,970 --> 00:47:35,670
In part because it's been publicly announced that somebody is looking at him,

471
00:47:35,670 --> 00:47:39,790
law enforcement is looking at him. So he's out of lawyer. He's not going to share any information,

472
00:47:40,470 --> 00:47:48,570
but they, upon the information we have, we would say those are enough red flags for staff

473
00:47:48,570 --> 00:47:58,530
with the existing policy to say, no receipt. We're not going to process it. On weekends,

474
00:47:58,530 --> 00:48:07,150
explain it to us. On deliver to your house, explain it to us. None of that seemed to have

475
00:48:07,150 --> 00:48:12,690
occurred. It seemed to be that they just processed it because it was the town manager's

476
00:48:13,470 --> 00:48:16,190
expenditures. Thank you. That's helpful.

477
00:48:18,600 --> 00:48:23,520
Ladies and gentlemen, please please, ladies and gentlemen,

478
00:48:23,520 --> 00:48:29,160
please. Please. Other questions from Councilman.

479
00:48:31,420 --> 00:48:35,180
Also I have a question when mentioned just now

480
00:48:35,180 --> 00:48:42,640
about the misuse of P cars. So all the recommendation to change already in your recommendation, right?

481
00:48:43,440 --> 00:48:53,220
So all the actions we need to make already in place. Yes. Right. You're in the entire report is online.

482
00:48:53,220 --> 00:49:01,680
My entire report, our entire report, it wasn't just me, I want to be clear about that, and our entire report is online.

483
00:49:02,340 --> 00:49:10,240
And it has the details that I've tried to skim through in terms of numbers and things.

484
00:49:10,660 --> 00:49:15,360
I want to thank you for presenting some of the options for the Council recommendations.

485
00:49:15,360 --> 00:49:20,580
I want to kind of ask our interim time manager Russ.

486
00:49:21,340 --> 00:49:25,680
I believe we do have a dashboard where we have shared all of this now.

487
00:49:26,140 --> 00:49:30,740
So it's going to be tracked for competition on that dashboard with an ETA

488
00:49:30,740 --> 00:49:33,380
and different milestones. Is that correct, Russ?

489
00:49:33,380 --> 00:49:34,800
Yes, that's correct. Yes.

490
00:49:34,800 --> 00:49:35,780
So everyone can follow.

491
00:49:36,860 --> 00:49:41,460
It's these recommendations plus the ones from the state auditor,

492
00:49:41,460 --> 00:49:47,740
plus the ones that came directly from the council members, is, am I saying it?

493
00:49:47,760 --> 00:49:49,600
Jerry Zachard and Mamble Bonne tickets.

494
00:49:49,920 --> 00:49:51,200
Okay, great, thanks.

495
00:49:52,340 --> 00:49:53,580
Other thoughts and questions?

496
00:49:54,300 --> 00:49:56,920
Also, I want to add that,

497
00:49:57,160 --> 00:50:00,940
where as council together,

498
00:50:01,160 --> 00:50:04,620
we want to see not only the recommendations to be completed,

499
00:50:04,780 --> 00:50:06,120
but we can do more.

500
00:50:06,120 --> 00:50:08,700
and under the interim term manager, Russ,

501
00:50:08,800 --> 00:50:13,640
over to his leadership, I don't see anything related

502
00:50:13,640 --> 00:50:16,320
to Russ, and that's giving me confidence.

503
00:50:17,000 --> 00:50:20,320
We can change, and we can make a lot of changes

504
00:50:20,320 --> 00:50:23,880
in a short term, in long term, and continue to do that.

505
00:50:24,500 --> 00:50:26,920
And I feel, thank you, John, and thank you all

506
00:50:26,920 --> 00:50:28,600
the efforts of our residents.

507
00:50:28,960 --> 00:50:30,740
You have the right to say anything.

508
00:50:30,740 --> 00:50:38,420
or we are the one going to change and use your actions and the first action is online moving

509
00:50:38,420 --> 00:50:46,970
forward dashboard include everything if anyone has any question in a specific question we can answer

510
00:50:48,740 --> 00:50:57,080
thank you thank you other questions comments I have a comment I'd like to share as well

511
00:50:57,080 --> 00:51:14,320
If everybody's questions have been answered, and this isn't, this isn't on the substance of what you were saying necessarily, but I do want to share that, you know, we've discussed at great length that there have been significant operational failures.

512
00:51:15,080 --> 00:51:21,300
P card transactions, fund balance policy, the internal audit function.

513
00:51:22,120 --> 00:51:25,620
I was quite angry about that when I found out that that role had been removed.

514
00:51:26,800 --> 00:51:32,080
And I said this the other day, I was doing sort of an impromptu interview,

515
00:51:32,240 --> 00:51:38,820
but I understand that you say you have to say something seven times to make sure the message gets across.

516
00:51:38,820 --> 00:51:41,580
So I'm just going to continue to repeat myself.

517
00:51:42,160 --> 00:51:44,180
We've got a lot of policies in place.

518
00:51:44,720 --> 00:51:47,500
They were in a lot of circumstances, violated.

519
00:51:48,800 --> 00:51:51,180
And what I see is one of our biggest problems here,

520
00:51:51,340 --> 00:51:54,620
is we have a lot of policy, we do need some more.

521
00:51:54,720 --> 00:51:55,700
We need some updates.

522
00:51:56,500 --> 00:51:57,760
But policy can be ignored.

523
00:51:58,720 --> 00:52:01,140
I shared, yes, or Tuesday night,

524
00:52:01,540 --> 00:52:04,280
we need to see the behaviors coupled with that policy.

525
00:52:05,120 --> 00:52:07,940
And then I'd like the way you put it, Mr. Cook,

526
00:52:07,940 --> 00:52:09,580
we need to have that transparency.

527
00:52:10,340 --> 00:52:13,700
So what we need is to be able to point somewhere

528
00:52:13,700 --> 00:52:16,840
and say anybody that wants to see it can see it,

529
00:52:17,160 --> 00:52:19,980
because I think what happened here was these operational failures

530
00:52:19,980 --> 00:52:24,860
where they were able to happen and happen for far too long

531
00:52:24,860 --> 00:52:26,600
because there was no sunshine.

532
00:52:27,900 --> 00:52:31,480
So I really hear you on the transparency part of that.

533
00:52:31,820 --> 00:52:33,760
A lot of times when we talk about transparency,

534
00:52:34,120 --> 00:52:36,980
we treated as though as long as we as a council

535
00:52:36,980 --> 00:52:43,040
or leadership, as long as we, you know, say things into a microphone that we're being transparent.

536
00:52:43,580 --> 00:52:49,560
But what I believe is true transparency to get us out of this mess is to really make sure

537
00:52:49,560 --> 00:52:56,800
that information is public at every turn, and so I would support any and all ideas that anybody

538
00:52:56,800 --> 00:53:05,520
has to be able to do that, and what we really need is teeth, and I think that's not necessarily

539
00:53:06,080 --> 00:53:11,420
dangling punishment over anybody's heads. I don't think that modifies behavior, but I do believe

540
00:53:11,420 --> 00:53:17,420
the teeth when it comes to enforcing these policies is going to be that level of transparency,

541
00:53:17,420 --> 00:53:24,180
and I think it's absolutely critical. And in the spirit of transparency, I'll repeat again,

542
00:53:24,200 --> 00:53:29,220
you know, what I said into news cameras on Tuesday, it would be inappropriate for me to sit here

543
00:53:29,220 --> 00:53:31,380
and say, you know, I don't have any culpability.

544
00:53:32,880 --> 00:53:37,780
It is, you know, I am part of the machine of failure here.

545
00:53:38,160 --> 00:53:41,080
And, you know, as an individual, as a council member,

546
00:53:41,280 --> 00:53:44,200
that represents everybody here in carry,

547
00:53:44,660 --> 00:53:48,160
you know, wasn't good enough to say that that wasn't an appropriate,

548
00:53:48,180 --> 00:53:53,060
I'm not gonna participate in that or take that thing

549
00:53:53,060 --> 00:53:54,380
or go on that trip.

550
00:53:54,620 --> 00:53:58,100
What I needed to do was shout from the rooftops,

551
00:53:58,100 --> 00:54:03,000
stop my feet and make up a really big deal. And I failed to do that. I can tell you going forward,

552
00:54:04,140 --> 00:54:08,620
you definitely have a council full of people here that are going to stop their feet and

553
00:54:08,620 --> 00:54:09,600
shout from the rooftops.

554
00:54:15,930 --> 00:54:22,190
And it's also my job to sit here and take the heat. So that's what

555
00:54:22,190 --> 00:54:29,570
I'll continue to do, but I just want to share that. Any other questions, comments from council?

556
00:54:30,410 --> 00:54:31,810
Thank you, Ms. Cook.

557
00:54:32,030 --> 00:54:32,450
Thank you.

558
00:54:32,670 --> 00:54:35,610
We'll now move to our next item.

559
00:54:35,970 --> 00:54:36,830
Public speaks out.

560
00:54:36,950 --> 00:54:39,690
We've included instructions for speaking at this forum.

561
00:54:40,250 --> 00:54:41,750
Online and on the printed agenda.

562
00:54:42,010 --> 00:54:45,250
There were three opportunities to participate in public speaks out.

563
00:54:45,630 --> 00:54:49,750
Through written comments by calling in or by attending here in person tonight.

564
00:54:50,290 --> 00:54:56,010
And if you are here in person, I would like to ask you to take seats to the right if you can.

565
00:54:56,010 --> 00:55:03,630
Otherwise, please line up as your name is called, and the next speaker is called, that will help things move along quicker.

566
00:55:04,310 --> 00:55:09,750
Public speaks out, speakers have three minutes each, where there are comments and may speak on any town related topic.

567
00:55:10,210 --> 00:55:14,810
As long as it's not a public hearing, there's a three-minute time limit that will be enforced.

568
00:55:15,070 --> 00:55:20,230
We have a timer on the podium, starts off with a green light when it turns yellow.

569
00:55:20,430 --> 00:55:23,870
You have 30 seconds remaining and when it's expired, it will flash red.

570
00:55:23,870 --> 00:55:29,230
At that point, not to be rude, but to be fair to all of our speakers, I will interrupt you and let

571
00:55:29,230 --> 00:55:31,110
you know that your time is expired.

572
00:55:32,210 --> 00:55:37,470
I would ask speakers be respectful and there are comments and direct those comments to the

573
00:55:37,470 --> 00:55:42,730
entire council and not to an individual, but also ask that everyone in the audience please

574
00:55:42,730 --> 00:55:46,930
understand that this is the business meeting and respect that this is the business meeting,

575
00:55:47,430 --> 00:55:52,090
do not applaud, make remarks from your seats, use props to do anything else that made

576
00:55:52,090 --> 00:55:57,790
from the meeting. So now is a time for public speaks out and I'll call on the clerk to share

577
00:55:57,790 --> 00:56:03,050
the number of written comments and call on any registered speakers. We have no

578
00:56:03,050 --> 00:56:08,690
calling speakers six written comments and 11 in-person registered speakers. Our first

579
00:56:08,690 --> 00:56:12,050
speaker is Nancy K. Fallabamari and Syria.

580
00:56:22,710 --> 00:56:24,750
Sadly I'm not a public speaker so you

581
00:56:24,750 --> 00:56:29,830
just have to move to your left please. You'll have to bear with me. I apologize in advance.

582
00:56:31,720 --> 00:56:37,420
So, good evening, my name is Nancy Jordan K and I live at 105 Ash from Court.

583
00:56:37,900 --> 00:56:42,880
I want you to know that I love the town of Perry and I'm excited about the mixed-used housing.

584
00:56:43,140 --> 00:56:50,340
Being created under the Imagine Carry Plan, using public and private financing.

585
00:56:52,260 --> 00:56:54,060
I'm here for Amberwood, yes I am.

586
00:56:54,180 --> 00:56:56,080
That's a public hearing, you'll get more time.

587
00:56:56,100 --> 00:56:57,980
Wait, wait, okay, so you can do so much.

588
00:56:58,800 --> 00:56:59,460
You're okay.

589
00:56:59,460 --> 00:57:02,220
Okay, I bought myself some time.

590
00:57:02,600 --> 00:57:04,040
Okay, so you'll be all new back.

591
00:57:04,420 --> 00:57:05,640
Okay, okay.

592
00:57:05,720 --> 00:57:08,380
So please, please, please.

593
00:57:11,010 --> 00:57:14,710
All right, our next register speaker is Marie and Sarah.

594
00:57:16,050 --> 00:57:18,190
Followed by Rob Jones.

595
00:57:21,030 --> 00:57:21,330
Good evening.

596
00:57:21,410 --> 00:57:22,930
My name is Marie and Sarah.

597
00:57:23,190 --> 00:57:25,550
I live at 407 Clearport Drive, Carrie.

598
00:57:26,210 --> 00:57:29,010
I have lived here for approximately 20 years.

599
00:57:29,290 --> 00:57:31,530
I'm an attorney for approximately 40.

600
00:57:31,530 --> 00:57:37,170
and I've worked for 20 years in local government, and want to thank the town of Kerry

601
00:57:37,170 --> 00:57:45,590
employees, not the ones that went to the 4,164 dollar dinner, not the ones that have been

602
00:57:45,590 --> 00:57:49,090
eating lunch every day on its planet Earth.

603
00:57:49,350 --> 00:57:55,470
I want to thank the employees that make this and frontline workers that make it a good place

604
00:57:55,470 --> 00:57:56,030
to live.

605
00:57:56,030 --> 00:58:01,230
The State Auditors report said it was a culture of hostility and difference to leadership.

606
00:58:01,790 --> 00:58:05,870
He reported that multiple employees spoke of having observed something they thought they

607
00:58:05,870 --> 00:58:09,170
should report, but they had no one to report it to.

608
00:58:09,550 --> 00:58:14,210
Of carries, 189 policies only 15 apply to employees.

609
00:58:14,730 --> 00:58:18,330
One EEO statement mentions reporting to complain to the town manager.

610
00:58:18,710 --> 00:58:20,950
How did that work out for carrying employees?

611
00:58:20,950 --> 00:58:27,290
There is no policy addressing harassment, anti-retelliation, whistle-floor protection, or among

612
00:58:27,290 --> 00:58:31,890
the policies recommended by the state, but I want to add one more, a grievance process.

613
00:58:32,510 --> 00:58:36,730
All of our neighbors, City of Raleigh, City of Durham, County of Durham, County of

614
00:58:36,730 --> 00:58:39,450
Wheat that you sit in, have a grievance process.

615
00:58:39,890 --> 00:58:40,870
You can cure it tonight.

616
00:58:41,070 --> 00:58:48,210
Womble recommended an obmuzzment, name outside council to hear grievances that can be investigated.

617
00:58:48,210 --> 00:58:52,370
If they are the direct reports, you can send those to outside Council.

618
00:58:52,790 --> 00:58:57,590
I hope you adopt all of the recommendations of the State Auditor and the Womble Report,

619
00:58:57,990 --> 00:59:04,190
including where in the Womble Report recommended examining the structure of the manager's

620
00:59:04,190 --> 00:59:07,790
office, which was, quote, expanded in size and reach.

621
00:59:07,850 --> 00:59:14,810
Put another way and overstaffed, top-heavy, division, or another extravagance.

622
00:59:14,810 --> 00:59:21,990
The culture of extravagance revealed in the State Auditors' report has brought widespread public

623
00:59:21,990 --> 00:59:28,970
disgrace to the town and to the Democratic Party that I am proud member of.

624
00:59:29,290 --> 00:59:35,370
That I have volunteered many, many years in these 20 years and I wish, and I call upon

625
00:59:35,370 --> 00:59:43,010
the legislature, would respond by passing a local act to allow a recall election.

626
00:59:43,010 --> 00:59:44,710
24,

627
00:59:52,320 --> 00:59:59,360
2021, 2025, we're complicit by accepting expensive dinners, car service.

628
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:10,600
Tribal, tuition, revenge, sunglasses, and so much more, all of which contradicts the most recent faint ignorance

629
01:00:10,600 --> 01:00:19,780
of excesses by, as reported by the State Audit. I do not agree with Republicans very often,

630
01:00:20,140 --> 01:00:27,780
but the State Auditor nailed it. I'm sorry to inform you your time is expired. That's right. Thank you so much.

631
01:00:37,580 --> 01:00:41,800
Our next speaker is Rob Jones, followed by Sharon and Tobias.

632
01:00:55,090 --> 01:00:58,250
Our next speaker is Rob Jones, followed by Sharon Tobias.

633
01:00:59,730 --> 01:01:00,930
For Rob Jones here,

634
01:01:03,850 --> 01:01:05,130
go to the next speaker, please.

635
01:01:05,530 --> 01:01:06,430
Sharon Tobias?

636
01:01:13,640 --> 01:01:16,580
Well, that's the tough act to follow, but I'm going to try.

637
01:01:17,540 --> 01:01:19,840
I have my notes, but I think I'm going to table it.

638
01:01:20,120 --> 01:01:22,060
I went down the rabbit hole of the p-card,

639
01:01:22,460 --> 01:01:24,160
and probably the most oversight right now

640
01:01:24,160 --> 01:01:26,860
I can find is the three minutes on the limit, too.

641
01:01:28,800 --> 01:01:34,880
Anyhow, with all due respect about the Womble Report, as somebody who is face in science,

642
01:01:35,100 --> 01:01:39,880
research, and evidence-based practice, when you limit what you ask for, you get back what

643
01:01:39,880 --> 01:01:41,080
you're looking for.

644
01:01:41,720 --> 01:01:49,620
So when you limit to 28 employees, you didn't find the $750 Lugano's chart on a Sunday.

645
01:01:49,620 --> 01:01:52,460
You didn't find the Pinehurst Brewery.

646
01:01:53,000 --> 01:01:57,060
You didn't see almost 800,000 worth of Amazon charges.

647
01:01:58,500 --> 01:02:00,220
What's the job?

648
01:02:01,520 --> 01:02:02,440
Hey, not nervous.

649
01:02:05,320 --> 01:02:07,060
But how do you control that?

650
01:02:07,200 --> 01:02:10,680
Is it P card's link to personal Amazon account?

651
01:02:11,620 --> 01:02:14,460
How do you know what the town bought stays in the town?

652
01:02:14,460 --> 01:02:20,620
How do you know the $120,000 spent in Michaels stayed in the town?

653
01:02:21,320 --> 01:02:27,620
How do you know $700,000 spent multiple times at Lowe's stayed in the town?

654
01:02:28,000 --> 01:02:31,260
It's not the way a P card system is designed to work.

655
01:02:32,060 --> 01:02:36,980
You've got split charging on multiple purchases at a printer.

656
01:02:37,340 --> 01:02:38,280
I'm sorry I'm so nervous.

657
01:02:39,500 --> 01:02:52,480
To the tune of $8,000 for four purchases, I can just post the question, but most likely was that hiding some sort of non-compete where you didn't put it out for competitive bidding.

658
01:02:53,720 --> 01:02:56,420
How do you control and leverage your buying power?

659
01:02:57,220 --> 01:03:06,660
55 P cards went dark when Sean's ego stepped down, but with all due respect, you only get what

660
01:03:06,660 --> 01:03:11,060
you want to find unless you go into it with an open mind and say, I'm best to get all

661
01:03:11,060 --> 01:03:11,780
the P cards.

662
01:03:12,620 --> 01:03:18,380
And that's why I had a table my notes when I heard there was no concerning other transactions.

663
01:03:19,180 --> 01:03:23,600
What about the Venmo to a person, to the tune of $9,000?

664
01:03:25,580 --> 01:03:29,420
That means somebody's P card linked to their personal Venmo.

665
01:03:30,700 --> 01:03:35,040
There's a lot more work to do because your taxpayers can't continue to shoulder the burden.

666
01:03:36,640 --> 01:03:37,180
We

667
01:03:43,380 --> 01:03:48,300
can't, you know, you, good question and I wish I could remember more of the totals.

668
01:03:48,380 --> 01:03:51,900
Do you realize you have a $32,000 transaction to gift cards?

669
01:03:54,480 --> 01:03:56,260
Who's, who's got the log?

670
01:03:56,260 --> 01:04:01,160
But my point being is your problem transcends 28 people.

671
01:04:01,980 --> 01:04:05,940
There's people out there using Amazon Cards that that's my Yankee accent.

672
01:04:06,480 --> 01:04:08,740
Cards that you can't track.

673
01:04:09,340 --> 01:04:10,180
Where are the receipts?

674
01:04:10,460 --> 01:04:14,140
I've requested the receipts for Pinehurst Brewery because it's the same

675
01:04:14,140 --> 01:04:16,500
Peacard on Saturdays.

676
01:04:16,700 --> 01:04:17,760
Do you owe shoes?

677
01:04:18,140 --> 01:04:21,000
$8,000 food purchase at lazy days.

678
01:04:21,700 --> 01:04:22,640
Done at the food trucks.

679
01:04:22,640 --> 01:04:24,100
Thank you.

680
01:04:24,100 --> 01:04:24,340
Sorry.

681
01:04:24,720 --> 01:04:25,960
All right.

682
01:04:36,950 --> 01:04:41,230
Our next speaker is Michael Anderson, followed by Linda Shaw.

683
01:04:59,120 --> 01:05:01,500
Mayor, council members, dancing queens.

684
01:05:02,360 --> 01:05:03,540
My name is Michael Anderson.

685
01:05:04,860 --> 01:05:09,540
I have a great county resident, a local small business owner, tax professional, and an enrolled

686
01:05:09,540 --> 01:05:10,000
agent.

687
01:05:10,560 --> 01:05:12,240
I'm not just speaking from a self here tonight.

688
01:05:12,680 --> 01:05:16,300
I am representing the dozens of hardworking taxpayers who trust me with their tax

689
01:05:16,300 --> 01:05:20,280
term preparation, planning, and representing them before federal, state, and local taxing

690
01:05:20,280 --> 01:05:20,680
authorities.

691
01:05:21,260 --> 01:05:25,660
Every single day, I sit across my desk from clients and advise them that they must follow

692
01:05:25,660 --> 01:05:27,500
the rules, pay their fair share of taxes.

693
01:05:28,080 --> 01:05:30,080
And frankly, you all are making me look like an idiot.

694
01:05:31,480 --> 01:05:35,140
I tell my clients to scrape together their tax payments just for you to take their harder

695
01:05:35,140 --> 01:05:39,520
money and blow up because you're too lazy to entitle their two incompetent to do your jobs.

696
01:05:42,440 --> 01:05:43,780
Let's talk about your priorities.

697
01:05:43,780 --> 01:05:50,220
You jacked up property taxes on my clients by 5% and then had a galt of push for another 11% hike

698
01:05:50,860 --> 01:05:55,220
Meanwhile, you sit back and collect an $800 monthly car allowance for a part-time gig

699
01:05:55,760 --> 01:06:00,760
Tax payers are essentially paying for your car to drive around town. You are actively failing to manage

700
01:06:01,340 --> 01:06:07,660
Throw in your $2,400 annual cell phone and internet allowances and it's no wonder you were completely clueless at the town's emergency

701
01:06:07,660 --> 01:06:13,040
Reserves had tank below mandatory minimums. You are too busy cashing your own checks to look at the balance sheet

702
01:06:13,040 --> 01:06:18,020
You expect us to believe you are just helpless victims misled by a mastermind town manager,

703
01:06:18,200 --> 01:06:19,140
it's pathetic.

704
01:06:20,460 --> 01:06:25,120
The auditor's report proves you were not victims, you are willfully ignorant and ableers.

705
01:06:27,850 --> 01:06:33,750
The report explicitly states you deliberately delegated financial matters away, so you wouldn't have to deal with them.

706
01:06:34,050 --> 01:06:39,290
Under this government, you are an elected body. You set the policies, you're supposed to see the operations.

707
01:06:39,290 --> 01:06:46,190
You can be bothered to oversee the budget, but you definitely found time to spend over $121,000

708
01:06:46,190 --> 01:06:51,690
on video production at your Wilmington retreat, including a $34,000 documentary about your

709
01:06:51,690 --> 01:06:54,530
own choreographed Dancing Queen Dance Video.

710
01:06:55,770 --> 01:07:00,370
Let's not forget the $37,000 of public money, quietly siphoned off, to pay for a sitting

711
01:07:00,370 --> 01:07:01,910
council member's graduation.

712
01:07:02,950 --> 01:07:06,870
You tell the town you didn't know what was happening, give us a break.

713
01:07:06,870 --> 01:07:10,070
You just didn't care as long as you got your paycheck.

714
01:07:11,030 --> 01:07:12,370
Playing dumb is not a defense.

715
01:07:12,730 --> 01:07:14,790
It is confession of gross incompetence.

716
01:07:15,330 --> 01:07:16,930
You abandon your fiduciary duty,

717
01:07:17,230 --> 01:07:18,810
because acting as a mindless rubber stamp

718
01:07:18,810 --> 01:07:21,570
was easier than doing the work you were elected to do.

719
01:07:21,930 --> 01:07:22,950
Stop passing the book.

720
01:07:23,550 --> 01:07:26,750
If you're disgraced a public service in this town,

721
01:07:27,330 --> 01:07:29,030
if you like the spine to read a budget

722
01:07:29,030 --> 01:07:30,290
and protect this town,

723
01:07:30,630 --> 01:07:32,910
or if you are in that dancing queen video,

724
01:07:33,310 --> 01:07:34,330
resign immediately.

725
01:07:38,460 --> 01:07:44,240
otherwise my clients and I will gladly throw you out at the ballot box. Thank you.

726
01:07:44,820 --> 01:07:46,700
Thank you. Our

727
01:07:51,820 --> 01:07:59,240
next speaker is Linda Shaw. Our next speaker is Linda Shaw.

728
01:07:59,600 --> 01:08:00,960
Follow my Andrew Hoss.

729
01:08:06,620 --> 01:08:13,460
Okay, we'll go to Andrew. I'm sorry. Linda is for the Amber Woods.

730
01:08:13,460 --> 01:08:18,020
will move her to that list and our next speaker's Andrew Hawes followed that Elliot Tartiff.

731
01:08:24,240 --> 01:08:29,640
Dear members of the town council and citizens of Kerry. My name is Andrew Hawes. Last month

732
01:08:29,640 --> 01:08:35,000
I stood here and used this public forum in a way that dishonored you. The purpose of this meeting

733
01:08:35,000 --> 01:08:41,220
and the convictions I claim should shape my life. I also spoke in a way that was deeply disrespectful

734
01:08:41,220 --> 01:08:46,520
to many in our immigrant and Hispanic communities. For that, I'm sincerely sorry.

735
01:08:47,720 --> 01:08:52,480
You provided this forum so the citizens can contribute to the good of our community, instead

736
01:08:52,480 --> 01:08:56,920
of doing that, I used my time in a way that created confusion, division, and hurt.

737
01:08:57,980 --> 01:09:01,980
I misused both the opportunity and the trust that comes with speaking before this council,

738
01:09:02,820 --> 01:09:03,440
and I apologize.

739
01:09:05,380 --> 01:09:10,500
In a misguided attempt to express support for law enforcement officers, I chose to read

740
01:09:10,500 --> 01:09:12,200
the script of a satirical video.

741
01:09:12,200 --> 01:09:17,440
I wanted to communicate one message, but instead communicated something very different.

742
01:09:18,600 --> 01:09:23,100
By words contributed to rhetoric that many understandably heard as racist and demeaning.

743
01:09:23,780 --> 01:09:29,200
While I did not write them, those were the words I chose to speak publicly, and I take

744
01:09:29,200 --> 01:09:31,100
full responsibility for them.

745
01:09:31,520 --> 01:09:34,800
I acted without wisdom, without counsel, and without prayer.

746
01:09:36,020 --> 01:09:41,620
Looking back, I see how pride convinced me that being provocative would accomplish something

747
01:09:41,620 --> 01:09:48,000
good instead of revealed poor judgment and caused real harm. As a Christian, I know Jesus

748
01:09:48,000 --> 01:09:52,900
commands us to love our neighbors. This concludes speaking about every person with dignity and

749
01:09:52,900 --> 01:09:59,600
honor because each person bears the image of God. My words failed to reflect that calling. They

750
01:09:59,600 --> 01:10:03,600
reflected frustration instead of love and they produced a vision where I should have sought

751
01:10:03,600 --> 01:10:09,460
understanding and peace. I'm deeply grieved that I have had to confront the painful reality

752
01:10:09,460 --> 01:10:16,580
What I said was not to reflect the man that I want to be or the Lord I profess to follow and that realization has been humbling

753
01:10:17,380 --> 01:10:19,320
I apologize to this council

754
01:10:20,240 --> 01:10:31,920
To the immigrant and Hispanic communities to my church to my family to the ministry where I used to serve and my co-workers to my friends and to anyone who was hurt or disappointed by what I said

755
01:10:31,920 --> 01:10:33,620
I cannot undo my words

756
01:10:34,280 --> 01:10:36,320
I cannot erase the hurt they caused

757
01:10:36,320 --> 01:10:43,100
I can only acknowledge my failure, ask for your forgiveness, and commit myself to speaking with greater

758
01:10:43,100 --> 01:10:45,440
humility, wisdom, and love in the future.

759
01:10:46,920 --> 01:10:49,300
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to return today.

760
01:10:50,320 --> 01:10:55,340
I remain grateful to live in a country where we have freedom to speak, and where we also

761
01:10:55,340 --> 01:10:59,020
have the responsibility to own our words when we fail.

762
01:11:00,120 --> 01:11:01,000
Thank you for your time.

763
01:11:01,580 --> 01:11:02,960
May God bless the town of Kerry.

764
01:11:10,000 --> 01:11:15,060
Our next speaker is Elliot Tartof, followed by Evan Krockett.

765
01:11:21,180 --> 01:11:24,100
Before I begin, I'd like to say I'm right at three minutes, so please.

766
01:11:26,020 --> 01:11:30,620
Members of the Town Council, Mr. Overton, Mr. Mayor, could see you peacefully with you and yours.

767
01:11:31,280 --> 01:11:34,560
My name is Elliot Tartof, carry residents since 2014.

768
01:11:35,380 --> 01:11:39,900
My thoughts are rising out of the published reports of recent weeks or two of illuminists to put into three minutes,

769
01:11:40,080 --> 01:11:42,880
which is why I've provided them to you on the written record.

770
01:11:43,900 --> 01:11:50,840
Disassembling the sanitary language of your response and getting down to the dirty truth, it wasn't just systems that failed to prevent this.

771
01:11:51,100 --> 01:11:58,560
Laws did. People did. You did. My trust in government has been broken now at the local level too.

772
01:11:59,080 --> 01:12:04,620
Holistic changes discussed in the dashboard and not are needed to restore it. Here's two.

773
01:12:05,380 --> 01:12:11,780
First, the town manager town council model of government has been rightfully scrutinized, but state law,

774
01:12:11,780 --> 01:12:18,940
Section 1060A of the General Statutes, specifically stipulates this structure for all local governments.

775
01:12:19,740 --> 01:12:28,940
If we have seen here in elsewhere, this model embues to much power unto a person who is accountable to few and unaccountable to many.

776
01:12:29,640 --> 01:12:40,180
If Mr. Boliek were to perform the same rigorous review he did here unto all other local governments across the state, not one excluded, how many more carries would he find?

777
01:12:40,180 --> 01:12:46,320
This model excludes the weight of the townspeople in its two vulnerable to corruption, and

778
01:12:46,320 --> 01:12:50,420
Joan Street must reform, section 1-60A accordingly.

779
01:12:51,400 --> 01:12:56,760
I have written my representatives urging them to do exactly this, this email is attached to

780
01:12:56,760 --> 01:12:57,560
my written comments.

781
01:12:58,560 --> 01:13:03,800
Second, this is a town of nearly 200,000 people, staffed by hundreds, all charged with

782
01:13:03,800 --> 01:13:05,620
prosecuting the town's annual budget.

783
01:13:05,620 --> 01:13:09,500
Now, over $570 million annually in rising,

784
01:13:09,500 --> 01:13:11,200
same as our property taxes,

785
01:13:11,900 --> 01:13:16,320
but overseen by a dayist of part-time elected leaders.

786
01:13:17,360 --> 01:13:20,580
While this is the rule, not the exception I ask you,

787
01:13:20,860 --> 01:13:22,880
with these events have been nipped in the bud

788
01:13:22,880 --> 01:13:25,100
if you had a regular presence in town hall.

789
01:13:25,720 --> 01:13:28,940
As it was, the genesis of these revelations

790
01:13:28,940 --> 01:13:31,820
came from staff abandoning the chain of command

791
01:13:31,820 --> 01:13:33,480
to demand your audience.

792
01:13:33,480 --> 01:13:41,260
The business of this large dynamic town commands its elected leaders to have a full-time commitment to the same.

793
01:13:41,680 --> 01:13:49,840
This means making carries elected leaders full-time employees of this town, and with a regular presence in town hall.

794
01:13:50,340 --> 01:13:53,340
Work posture begets culture, and it starts with you.

795
01:13:53,340 --> 01:13:59,680
12 minute response times the botch trolley car purchase books and document a theater of self-indulgence.

796
01:14:00,340 --> 01:14:06,140
These are part and parcel to your records for which there will be accountability and judgment come election day.

797
01:14:06,460 --> 01:14:10,660
But are also broader indictments on the part-time nature of this arrangement.

798
01:14:11,660 --> 01:14:13,820
Time is the only true fix.

799
01:14:14,240 --> 01:14:15,220
Thank you for yours.

800
01:14:16,500 --> 01:14:16,780
All right.

801
01:14:20,240 --> 01:14:22,640
Our next speaker is Evan Crocket.

802
01:14:22,640 --> 01:14:24,040
Follow by Hainaf Williams.

803
01:14:36,070 --> 01:14:36,370
Good evening.

804
01:14:36,590 --> 01:14:37,630
My name is Evan Crochet.

805
01:14:37,970 --> 01:14:42,670
I'm a carry resident and owner of by Crochet Media Lab, a local video production company.

806
01:14:43,370 --> 01:14:47,570
A Facebook post I made recently led to great conversations with council members, and I think

807
01:14:47,570 --> 01:14:51,470
council members Craig and Cone Johnson were taking the time to share their insight on my post.

808
01:14:52,170 --> 01:14:56,350
I'm standing here today to talk about restoring public trust after the state auditor's report

809
01:14:56,350 --> 01:14:58,390
as a release to my expertise in video production.

810
01:14:58,990 --> 01:14:59,970
The absurdity of those findings.

811
01:15:07,260 --> 01:15:21,680
I can't believe I just said that. Tax payers should have never foot the bill for an eGoField project like that. A half hour video like that proves a culture of self-importance has taken root in upper management and in the town's leadership.

812
01:15:21,680 --> 01:15:28,000
But top administrators living in privilege while overworked residents and staff, suffer in silence

813
01:15:28,000 --> 01:15:30,660
and unaffordable, increasingly unaffordable town.

814
01:15:31,480 --> 01:15:37,880
As a documentarian, I know what video production costs, in time and resources, watching

815
01:15:37,880 --> 01:15:42,700
leadership both on camera about taking time out of their workday, from their jobs shows

816
01:15:42,700 --> 01:15:45,780
me just how disconnected they are from people like me.

817
01:15:46,400 --> 01:15:52,180
It is truly an unbelievable display of government waste, and everyone involved should be ashamed

818
01:15:52,180 --> 01:15:56,140
and embarrassed that a high-level production was wasted on this venture.

819
01:15:56,880 --> 01:16:00,940
The former town manager was shown the door several months ago, but look who's still

820
01:16:00,940 --> 01:16:03,880
in their roles, even though they were heavily featured in the documentary.

821
01:16:04,800 --> 01:16:11,860
All of these people, several of these people, earned well over $200,000 a year.

822
01:16:11,860 --> 01:16:17,020
There is a glaring double standard if a worker making Wake County's average of $70,000

823
01:16:17,020 --> 01:16:20,900
committed these ethics violations and breaches that be fired on the spot.

824
01:16:23,190 --> 01:16:27,050
My question is very simple, who else knew about the cost?

825
01:16:27,530 --> 01:16:32,550
$35,000 is six months of wages for the average resident, spent on 30 minutes of vanity,

826
01:16:33,010 --> 01:16:37,610
whether through active participation or willful ignorance, failing to ask where that money

827
01:16:37,610 --> 01:16:41,890
went isn't a last lapse in judgment, it's total negligence of duty.

828
01:16:41,890 --> 01:16:48,410
When people who are hired as legal, financial, strategy, and HR, guardrails participate in

829
01:16:48,410 --> 01:16:52,170
this nonsense, it's like referees putting on jerseys to play for the team.

830
01:16:52,550 --> 01:16:54,270
There's nobody left to enforce the rules.

831
01:16:54,790 --> 01:16:58,250
Anyone complicit should do the right thing and resign from their roles.

832
01:16:59,590 --> 01:17:07,260
And I welcome the ongoing criminal investigation, and I hope the truth prevails.

833
01:17:08,140 --> 01:17:09,400
And I'm not here just to scold.

834
01:17:09,760 --> 01:17:11,620
We need to re-allocate this marketing budget.

835
01:17:11,620 --> 01:17:15,700
to establish something I'm calling the carry community storytelling initiative.

836
01:17:16,380 --> 01:17:19,860
Just as live streaming council meetings yields a massive return on trust,

837
01:17:20,360 --> 01:17:24,180
building an infrastructure for local storytelling is the logical way to spend

838
01:17:24,180 --> 01:17:28,220
marketing dollars in the town of carry. Instead of handing out unmonitored credit cards

839
01:17:28,220 --> 01:17:35,380
with zero oversight, let's create a quarterly application process for local media LLCs to compete for roles

840
01:17:35,380 --> 01:17:38,980
like this, pair of creators with high school classes for youth mentorship.

841
01:17:38,980 --> 01:17:42,240
and point that production back to our town, thank you.

842
01:17:42,360 --> 01:17:43,580
Thank you for your time.

843
01:17:49,610 --> 01:17:51,150
Our speaker is Henna F William.

844
01:18:02,280 --> 01:18:02,700
Good evening.

845
01:18:03,000 --> 01:18:04,020
Mayor town, counsel.

846
01:18:04,080 --> 01:18:04,860
Madam Clerk,

847
01:18:09,270 --> 01:18:12,910
I am profoundly disappointed

848
01:18:14,530 --> 01:18:18,030
at what I have engaged in this

849
01:18:18,930 --> 01:18:19,550
council.

850
01:18:20,850 --> 01:18:23,070
And I have given my advice privately.

851
01:18:23,970 --> 01:18:28,470
Which recently has one ignored and much of what you are

852
01:18:28,470 --> 01:18:41,630
witnessing tonight, I forewarned you about and I gave steps in how to mitigate some of what you see the night, but this is what your hand has called for.

853
01:18:43,340 --> 01:18:57,680
I adamantly object to the myth being propagated that the substance of the investigation can be placed entirely on the former town manager.

854
01:18:57,680 --> 01:18:58,500
It

855
01:19:02,590 --> 01:19:11,350
is very truthful that he must answer for his own conduct, but placing all responsibility

856
01:19:12,190 --> 01:19:18,370
or one former employee would be a broad leap of Olympic proportions.

857
01:19:22,100 --> 01:19:27,800
We should call him King Sean, because he had unilaterally authority that I had never seen

858
01:19:27,800 --> 01:19:28,800
before the mayor.

859
01:19:29,880 --> 01:19:32,620
You have been in office for 20 years.

860
01:19:33,640 --> 01:19:41,640
It is not only not only an insult to these great residents of this incredible town, but only

861
01:19:41,640 --> 01:19:49,000
yourself to say that you can be in office with that much experience and allow something like

862
01:19:49,000 --> 01:19:49,860
that to take place.

863
01:19:50,720 --> 01:19:57,580
The practical reality is that the report identifies challenges, operational dynamics,

864
01:19:58,360 --> 01:20:04,420
insufficient performance metrics, limited council oversight, and also what I want to

865
01:20:04,420 --> 01:20:14,560
mention is this conference Tuesday, it was a tragic lack of humility within a

866
01:20:14,560 --> 01:20:19,940
system that allowed these circumstances to continue. The auditor, and I think we

867
01:20:19,940 --> 01:20:25,240
all need to applaud him, that was an unbelievable, and I am in research science too,

868
01:20:25,240 --> 01:20:32,980
the detail to that investigation needs to be admired and committed,

869
01:20:36,160 --> 01:20:40,360
specifically when he mentioned this council,

870
01:20:40,780 --> 01:20:44,860
this is the quote from that report, the investigation,

871
01:20:45,260 --> 01:20:48,080
enabled this approach and allowed it to continue.

872
01:20:49,620 --> 01:20:52,040
That was in the report of the state auditor,

873
01:20:52,040 --> 01:20:58,880
To my expectation, the town must now focus on building out the oversight function, which was mentioned,

874
01:20:59,400 --> 01:21:09,720
established additional safeguards against waste and retaliation and ensuring that no official may act unilaterally outside clearly defined parameters.

875
01:21:10,080 --> 01:21:20,880
I respectfully request a specifically scheduled town hall-style meeting where residents may confer directly with the mayor and council

876
01:21:20,880 --> 01:21:26,140
receive substantive answers and evaluate the town's corrective mandate

877
01:21:26,140 --> 01:21:30,340
before public confidence continues on a downward trajectory.

878
01:21:31,200 --> 01:21:31,860
Thank you.

879
01:21:38,580 --> 01:21:39,820
That's all our rest your speakers.

880
01:21:40,060 --> 01:21:41,880
How much time's left in public speaks out?

881
01:21:41,900 --> 01:21:44,620
We started at 724 and we were currently at 715.

882
01:21:45,140 --> 01:21:47,200
If you would like to speak at public speaks out,

883
01:21:47,220 --> 01:21:48,100
now's your opportunity.

884
01:21:49,800 --> 01:21:54,460
Please, I would ask that you line up to the right there.

885
01:21:54,460 --> 01:21:57,120
When you come to the podium, please give your name.

886
01:21:58,580 --> 01:22:00,340
Hi, I'm Mark Zumbak.

887
01:22:00,360 --> 01:22:03,300
I'm a carry residence since 1967.

888
01:22:06,080 --> 01:22:09,500
I want reiterate a lot of the things that have been said already,

889
01:22:09,840 --> 01:22:14,160
but I do want to make a comment about moving forward.

890
01:22:14,420 --> 01:22:19,620
And that is what I see as one of the biggest problems with Mr. Sequel

891
01:22:19,620 --> 01:22:29,820
is that he was a superstar, and the council was blinded by a rainmaker and a superstar,

892
01:22:30,180 --> 01:22:35,440
and they turned a whole lot over him, and I just really want to caution we not do that moving

893
01:22:35,440 --> 01:22:41,660
forward. Look within the town, we don't need to go outside and find some flashy person who

894
01:22:41,660 --> 01:22:48,860
showed up in the media and bring them in and hand over the keys to them. And then the other

895
01:22:48,860 --> 01:22:57,260
point I wanted to make is of the findings, I think the most horrifying finding is that the surveys

896
01:22:57,260 --> 01:23:00,540
of town employees were stopped ten years ago.

897
01:23:01,340 --> 01:23:06,420
And I mean, every place I've ever worked, that's an annual, annual must do.

898
01:23:07,280 --> 01:23:13,880
And it's not just been a culture of privilege in the town, but it's been a culture of bullying.

899
01:23:14,460 --> 01:23:17,120
And I know that, and I'm not an employee.

900
01:23:17,120 --> 01:23:25,360
And I know if you were not kissing Sean's ham, if you were not his psychophant, you were on the

901
01:23:25,360 --> 01:23:33,460
out and it's ugly, it's really, really ugly and I just really want to encourage, I want

902
01:23:33,460 --> 01:23:41,600
to add one more thing, town council, implement a policy of taking employee to lunch every Friday.

903
01:23:41,600 --> 01:23:44,920
You know, I mean, they don't see you guys.

904
01:23:45,960 --> 01:23:51,140
I've talked with several town employees who said the last mayor they saw walks through

905
01:23:51,140 --> 01:23:53,340
the halls was Glen Lane.

906
01:23:55,500 --> 01:24:02,500
So you're not making yourselves known in the town halls here, and it shows.

907
01:24:03,040 --> 01:24:04,060
Thank you.

908
01:24:17,760 --> 01:24:20,020
Good evening, Mayor Weinbrecht and members of the council.

909
01:24:20,460 --> 01:24:23,480
My name is Todd McGee and I'm a 22-year resident of Kerry.

910
01:24:23,480 --> 01:24:27,780
Like many, I am concerned about what has happened in the last year in our town government.

911
01:24:28,400 --> 01:24:32,660
Those concerns grew when the State Auditor's report came out and revealed widespread

912
01:24:32,660 --> 01:24:36,540
problems that go much further than an out-of-control town manager.

913
01:24:37,220 --> 01:24:42,400
I am here tonight because I fear the town council will try to use Sean Stegel as a convenient

914
01:24:42,400 --> 01:24:48,400
scapegoat and not address some of the issues I would like to draw your attention to.

915
01:24:49,060 --> 01:24:52,200
First is the sheer number of town employees who have P cards.

916
01:24:52,200 --> 01:24:54,920
Second is the lack's oversight of these cards.

917
01:24:55,700 --> 01:24:59,980
Third is the gross misuse of these cards by employees who should know better.

918
01:25:00,500 --> 01:25:02,840
I have no doubt Shawn said a terrible example,

919
01:25:03,340 --> 01:25:06,140
but that doesn't excuse those who followed his lead.

920
01:25:06,680 --> 01:25:10,180
Apparently, many employees were, and perhaps still are,

921
01:25:10,620 --> 01:25:14,080
convinced town peak cards are their personal get-a-lunch free card.

922
01:25:14,520 --> 01:25:17,640
The auditor's report noted many trips to Sessou,

923
01:25:17,820 --> 01:25:20,500
academy street bistro, and craft public house.

924
01:25:20,500 --> 01:25:26,480
Favourite locations for town employees are the pecking plume restaurant and scratch kitchen in taproom.

925
01:25:27,020 --> 01:25:32,500
Both revisited 128 times over the two years covered by the auditor's report.

926
01:25:33,080 --> 01:25:41,480
In other words, 11 times a month, the tax paying citizens of carry provided a free lunch room employees at either of those two restaurants.

927
01:25:41,960 --> 01:25:48,680
This is unacceptable. The town of carry's P card policy states, items and or services to be purchased

928
01:25:48,680 --> 01:25:51,460
are for the official use of the town of Kerry.

929
01:25:51,980 --> 01:25:57,880
I would like to know how paying for employee meals at upscale eating establishments can be considered an official use.

930
01:25:58,520 --> 01:26:02,460
If you look at the AutoCers report, Card 529 belonged to Stegel.

931
01:26:03,000 --> 01:26:07,660
In the two years, he racked up almost $3,000 in non-travel-related meals.

932
01:26:08,100 --> 01:26:09,760
However, he was not the worst defender.

933
01:26:09,760 --> 01:26:18,520
Card 614 racked up almost $6,000 and local dining expenses with 72 different visits that

934
01:26:18,520 --> 01:26:19,420
three per month.

935
01:26:20,060 --> 01:26:24,620
The charges are often for more than $100, meaning at least three or four employees rent

936
01:26:24,620 --> 01:26:25,360
on this.

937
01:26:25,640 --> 01:26:27,780
Many speakers here are expressing their shock and anger.

938
01:26:28,320 --> 01:26:31,120
I share those sentiments, but I am not here just to vent.

939
01:26:31,460 --> 01:26:33,100
I am here to ask you to take two actions.

940
01:26:33,620 --> 01:26:39,160
First, adopt a policy banning any employee from paying for any meal with the town peak

941
01:26:39,160 --> 01:26:44,820
effect of immediately. Second, I ask you to review the local dining expenses found on these

942
01:26:44,820 --> 01:26:51,160
pecards, back to January 1st, 2021, and require employees to reimburse the town for these

943
01:26:51,160 --> 01:26:54,080
calls, unless they can provide

944
01:26:57,440 --> 01:27:01,760
documentation to prove their served at public purpose. Taxed

945
01:27:01,760 --> 01:27:06,880
dollars are not a luxury to spend on personal vanity projects like videos or books or for

946
01:27:06,880 --> 01:27:11,580
extravagances like limousines and luxury sweets. Nor are they to be used to pay for employees

947
01:27:11,580 --> 01:27:16,620
dining habits. There seems to be a sense of entitlement amongst some staff, and on behalf

948
01:27:16,620 --> 01:27:20,200
of Kerry's tax paying citizens, I ask you to help correct this behavior.

949
01:27:20,660 --> 01:27:21,460
Thank you.

950
01:27:39,370 --> 01:27:45,110
Good evening, Town Council. My name is Mark Stolenman. I'm a Kerry taxpayer and a resident

951
01:27:45,110 --> 01:27:46,350
in downtown Kerry.

952
01:27:48,750 --> 01:27:54,690
I'm recently retired as a 30-year North Carolina Certify Public Accountant.

953
01:27:54,690 --> 01:28:00,610
and also sat in your chairs for 10 years in the town of Morrisville recently.

954
01:28:01,990 --> 01:28:07,230
You know, in the old days, when town folks who really upset, they'd come to town hall with torches

955
01:28:07,230 --> 01:28:14,130
and pitchforks. I'm coming forward with something a lot more scary. That's my

956
01:28:14,130 --> 01:28:16,370
tax bill. I just received an antenna carry.

957
01:28:21,160 --> 01:28:24,320
I think most people accept taxes as a way of life.

958
01:28:24,320 --> 01:28:30,440
They accept paying them every year, but they should really be focused on the three-piece

959
01:28:30,440 --> 01:28:37,160
of municipal government, planning, parks and wreck, public safety, and public works.

960
01:28:37,760 --> 01:28:41,840
Outside of that, you should really question what your money's being spent on.

961
01:28:42,820 --> 01:28:50,400
You know, it's not okay to buy Ray Banson glasses, $200 state dinners, banana fostered desserts,

962
01:28:50,400 --> 01:28:54,040
and gourmet popcorn on our dime.

963
01:28:55,460 --> 01:28:59,280
It's not okay to have the taxpayers fund your graduate tuition.

964
01:29:05,340 --> 01:29:09,320
It's not okay to spend a million dollars plus on unsealable land

965
01:29:09,320 --> 01:29:13,560
because it's your favorite apartment developer who's selling it.

966
01:29:14,680 --> 01:29:20,780
It's not okay to fund an egotistical book about how great your town manager is

967
01:29:20,780 --> 01:29:24,600
and it's a blueprint for how to miss spend millions of dollars.

968
01:29:24,600 --> 01:29:38,220
It's also not OK to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a dancing queen video, and especially not OK to spend more money on a video on how you made the video of dancing queens.

969
01:29:39,420 --> 01:29:41,140
This is merely the tip of the iceberg.

970
01:29:41,820 --> 01:29:47,500
I think if you go back enough years, you're going to find that the abuse was in the tens of millions of dollars.

971
01:29:48,040 --> 01:29:54,460
If you think this is okay, I think you should rethink your public service career.

972
01:29:57,710 --> 01:29:59,790
Just think of the money that you could have spent.

973
01:30:00,000 --> 01:30:06,440
On raises for your police and fire. Think about the tax rates that you could load if you had not spent this money.

974
01:30:08,300 --> 01:30:16,300
The town manager did not do this on his own. There are a lot of town leaders and staff leaders that let this happen.

975
01:30:18,540 --> 01:30:29,580
Sadly, there have been no formal apologies, only toned tax increases, one council member said recently I regret that I didn't ask harder questions.

976
01:30:30,080 --> 01:30:42,760
These are not hard questions. This is common sense. A tough question is, why haven't we seen more retirements and firearms and regulations? Please do a better job with our tax dollars.

977
01:30:42,760 --> 01:30:47,760
I'm retired and on a fixed income and I can't pay for any more of this nonsense.

978
01:30:48,600 --> 01:30:48,970
Thank you.

979
01:31:06,180 --> 01:31:07,260
Good evening Mayor and Council.

980
01:31:07,340 --> 01:31:08,200
I'm Renee Miller.

981
01:31:12,490 --> 01:31:18,250
And unfortunately I have been ill the past month, but I did have an opportunity to review

982
01:31:18,250 --> 01:31:21,010
some of the auditor's report.

983
01:31:21,690 --> 01:31:27,630
And one item in particular jumped out at me, one that you have particularly benefited from.

984
01:31:27,630 --> 01:31:33,190
And that is the $800 to dollars a month that you receive in car allowance.

985
01:31:34,250 --> 01:31:41,530
That equals at the current rates, 1,055 miles we are paying for you to drive.

986
01:31:43,960 --> 01:31:51,980
In one case it means 1,758 trips to town hall for one of the council members.

987
01:31:52,840 --> 01:32:03,180
I believe that for three months you should log your miles just like any other employee would and those

988
01:32:03,180 --> 01:32:09,280
locks should be publicly posted and then averaged to reset this amount to something that's more

989
01:32:09,280 --> 01:32:09,720
reasonable.

990
01:32:10,980 --> 01:32:11,900
Thank you.

991
01:32:15,380 --> 01:32:17,020
How much time do we have left?

992
01:32:17,440 --> 01:32:19,580
We are 8 o'clock so 24 minutes.

993
01:32:19,580 --> 01:32:25,280
If you'd like to speak of public speaks out, we, how about a bunch of four, now is your opportunity.

994
01:32:26,420 --> 01:32:28,200
Anyone else from public speaks out?

995
01:32:31,940 --> 01:32:35,040
Just is any topic that's not a public hearing?

996
01:32:36,820 --> 01:32:38,560
Yes, Amber Wood is a public hearing.

997
01:32:39,860 --> 01:32:40,740
Anyone else?

998
01:32:44,160 --> 01:32:46,860
Okay, we'll close public speaks out.

999
01:32:47,480 --> 01:32:54,660
We'll move to the consent agenda, which is item four, if you're following along for the benefit of people watching our meeting,

1000
01:32:54,660 --> 01:33:02,780
Streaming I will take a moment to review our consent agenda items one vote approves these items on the consent agenda

1001
01:33:02,780 --> 01:33:04,460
We have approval of minutes

1002
01:33:04,460 --> 01:33:10,310
Resolution approving act 41 amendment to Chatham Carey joint land use plan

1003
01:33:11,180 --> 01:33:16,360
Resolution calling for public hearing for 25 a.o. 9 Jacob's Creek

1004
01:33:16,360 --> 01:33:20,750
Bit award for the swift creek pump station electrical improvement project

1005
01:33:20,750 --> 01:33:28,190
Request for referral for further consideration from planning and zoning board.

1006
01:33:28,710 --> 01:33:36,490
Update policy 143 rules and procedures for the town council.

1007
01:33:37,030 --> 01:33:46,230
Salesforce licensee purchase for fiscal year 2027 and approval of an amendment to the meeting schedule.

1008
01:33:46,230 --> 01:33:51,370
would council members like to pull any of these items for discussion, if not, I would entertain

1009
01:33:51,370 --> 01:33:53,830
a motion to approve the consent agenda.

1010
01:33:54,570 --> 01:33:55,170
So moved.

1011
01:33:56,190 --> 01:33:57,990
There's a motion and a second discussion.

1012
01:33:58,510 --> 01:33:59,690
All of a favor please say aye.

1013
01:33:59,690 --> 01:34:00,070
Aye.

1014
01:34:00,270 --> 01:34:04,770
Any opposed motion carries unanimously, and that takes us to public hearings.

1015
01:34:05,370 --> 01:34:05,790
Same rules.

1016
01:34:06,230 --> 01:34:11,470
Public hearings that apply for public speaks out except speakers will now have five minutes

1017
01:34:11,470 --> 01:34:12,830
each for their comments.

1018
01:34:12,830 --> 01:34:20,790
Our first and second item will be presented together, 26A04, which is 719 Pittered Sears Road

1019
01:34:20,790 --> 01:34:27,970
annexation, and 26R-104, which is 719 Pittered Sears Road Resoning.

1020
01:34:28,630 --> 01:34:34,310
Principal planning, principal planner Rachel Smith will introduce the item and council will

1021
01:34:34,310 --> 01:34:36,330
not take action on this item tonight.

1022
01:34:36,550 --> 01:34:41,090
It will be referred to our planning and zoning board for their review and recommendation

1023
01:34:41,090 --> 01:34:44,930
and return to Council in a few months is Smith.

1024
01:34:46,050 --> 01:34:47,870
Thank you. Good evening council.

1025
01:34:48,770 --> 01:34:52,510
This is a public hearing on a request to annex and apply initial

1026
01:34:52,510 --> 01:34:57,730
carries on to approximately 5.9 acres at 719 Pittered Sears Road.

1027
01:34:59,390 --> 01:35:02,230
The property is not in carries extra territorial jurisdiction,

1028
01:35:02,810 --> 01:35:06,310
so concurrent annexation of the property is required with the rezoning.

1029
01:35:06,950 --> 01:35:13,810
Staff recommends that action on the proposed annexation, 26A-04, be deferred until the

1030
01:35:13,810 --> 01:35:16,270
rezoning returns to Council for final decision.

1031
01:35:18,680 --> 01:35:23,820
The site is located in Chattam County on the south side of Pittered Sears Road, approximately

1032
01:35:23,820 --> 01:35:26,740
a quarter mile east of the American tobacco trail.

1033
01:35:27,780 --> 01:35:33,180
The site is west of the Carolina Preserve at Amberly Neighborhood, and is north and east

1034
01:35:33,180 --> 01:35:35,800
of property owned by the Army Corps of Engineers.

1035
01:35:38,680 --> 01:35:42,480
Carey's GIS does not indicate stream buffer is located on the site.

1036
01:35:43,280 --> 01:35:48,060
Field determination of such features is required at the time of development plan review.

1037
01:35:51,250 --> 01:35:54,550
The street site trail was recently constructed along the site's front-inch

1038
01:35:54,550 --> 01:35:57,350
on Peter's Road as part of a capital project.

1039
01:36:00,290 --> 01:36:05,230
Peter's Road is identified as a two-lane collector on Carey's plan to roadway wits map.

1040
01:36:08,090 --> 01:36:12,870
The site is currently within Chattam County and is zoned to Chattam County residential one.

1041
01:36:14,380 --> 01:36:21,720
And the applicant proposes an initial carry zoning of residential 12 conditional use, or R12CU.

1042
01:36:24,650 --> 01:36:29,610
The zoning conditions include limiting the development to a maximum of 11 detached dwellings.

1043
01:36:30,730 --> 01:36:36,350
Every home will have at least a two-car garage wired for 60 amps to support EV charging,

1044
01:36:37,410 --> 01:36:42,770
and the developer will dedicate right away and improve Pittered Sears Road to all applicable standards.

1045
01:36:42,770 --> 01:36:56,420
A preliminary analysis against the Imagine Carey Community Plan found the policies from multiple chapters apply, along with guidance from the Chatham Carey Joint Land Use Plan.

1046
01:36:57,560 --> 01:37:06,600
The Joint Plan generally recommends lower density, moving from east to west towards Jordan Lake, supported by corresponding land use sub areas.

1047
01:37:07,580 --> 01:37:15,160
The subject site is in the low-density residential sub-area, which recommends one to two gross units per acre.

1048
01:37:17,690 --> 01:37:22,770
The proposed density of approximately 1.86 units per acre fits the skydense.

1049
01:37:25,340 --> 01:37:30,320
Surrounding low-density residential sub-area developments are under two dwellings per acre,

1050
01:37:31,020 --> 01:37:33,860
with higher densities in the medium-density sub-area,

1051
01:37:33,860 --> 01:37:35,820
which includes the Carolina preserve

1052
01:37:35,820 --> 01:37:39,200
at Amberly Neighborhood to the East and to the South.

1053
01:37:40,400 --> 01:37:42,380
The staff report provides further detail

1054
01:37:42,380 --> 01:37:45,740
on the joint plan and the surrounding development pattern.

1055
01:37:49,370 --> 01:37:52,410
Policies within the live, shape, and enrich chapters

1056
01:37:52,410 --> 01:37:55,050
of the imaginary community plan also apply.

1057
01:37:56,510 --> 01:37:58,790
We note that the area is largely surrounded

1058
01:37:58,790 --> 01:38:01,790
by existing carry detached dwelling neighborhoods.

1059
01:38:03,250 --> 01:38:04,870
The proposed use, density,

1060
01:38:04,870 --> 01:38:10,050
and lot size may support the live and shape chapters policies on

1061
01:38:10,050 --> 01:38:12,710
infill development and appropriate transitions.

1062
01:38:14,190 --> 01:38:18,170
For the enriched chapter, the commitment to wiring garages for future

1063
01:38:18,170 --> 01:38:23,490
electric vehicle charging may support policies on sustainable energy practices.

1064
01:38:25,790 --> 01:38:29,090
In terms of move chapter policies, the proposed rezoning

1065
01:38:29,090 --> 01:38:35,050
inclusive commitment to dedicate right away and to improve Pittered Sears Road to all applicable

1066
01:38:35,050 --> 01:38:41,990
standards. However, the developer has declined to offer two additional commitments recommended

1067
01:38:41,990 --> 01:38:46,810
by staff that could help meet move chapter objectives for pedestrian safety.

1068
01:38:48,390 --> 01:38:54,610
A prohibition on direct driveway access to Pittered Sears Road, which is a best practice for

1069
01:38:54,610 --> 01:39:01,450
collector streets, and the provision of sidewalks on both sides of subdivision streets.

1070
01:39:04,190 --> 01:39:08,530
A neighborhood meeting was held in April in 16 members of the public attended.

1071
01:39:09,610 --> 01:39:14,350
Questions and concerns were related to stormwater and drainage, perimeter buffers,

1072
01:39:15,250 --> 01:39:20,230
tree clearing and conservation, street connectivity, and the proposed housing product

1073
01:39:20,230 --> 01:39:21,650
and development details.

1074
01:39:22,610 --> 01:39:27,210
There have been approximately a dozen inquiries since the notice of the neighborhood meeting,

1075
01:39:27,490 --> 01:39:29,450
and then the notice of this public hearing.

1076
01:39:30,390 --> 01:39:34,850
Including very similar questions and concerns, generally regarding the proposed density

1077
01:39:34,850 --> 01:39:40,690
and lot sizes, the size and architecture of the proposed homes, stormwater, connectivity

1078
01:39:40,690 --> 01:39:46,170
and roadway improvements, preservation of trees, perimeter buffers, and also the condition

1079
01:39:46,170 --> 01:39:48,250
and maintenance of Pittered Sears Road.

1080
01:39:50,070 --> 01:39:56,210
Notice of the public hearing was mailed to property owners with an 800 feet of the subject site.

1081
01:39:56,410 --> 01:40:02,430
This exceeds the state and carries LDO requirements and signs were posted on the site.

1082
01:40:05,400 --> 01:40:06,980
This concludes my presentation.

1083
01:40:07,660 --> 01:40:12,960
Andy Porter, the applicants representative, is here to provide comments and following the public hearing.

1084
01:40:13,320 --> 01:40:14,700
I'm available for your questions.

1085
01:40:15,040 --> 01:40:15,820
Thank you, Ms. Smith.

1086
01:40:16,040 --> 01:40:17,620
I'll invite the applicant for this.

1087
01:40:28,390 --> 01:40:34,030
Good evening, Mayor. Members of Town Council. My name is Andy Porter. I'm Vice President

1088
01:40:34,030 --> 01:40:39,150
and a landscape architect with TMTLA Associates, a local landscape architecture and land

1089
01:40:39,150 --> 01:40:43,870
planning firm in Durham. Also here with me this evening in the gallery we have Lauren Hicks.

1090
01:40:43,890 --> 01:40:49,570
She's a town of Carrie resident. She's also with Dunhill Investors property owner.

1091
01:40:50,410 --> 01:40:55,710
Thank you Rachel for the great overview covering the basis of the request to annex and apply

1092
01:40:55,710 --> 01:41:03,090
tentacary initial zoning. I will keep my comments brief this evening. Rachel covered all the specifics,

1093
01:41:03,630 --> 01:41:09,150
so I don't necessarily want to go over all that again, but I do have a few quick points to recap.

1094
01:41:10,170 --> 01:41:15,070
So the properties one existing parcel, it's on the east side of Peter Sears Road, it's approximately

1095
01:41:15,070 --> 01:41:23,070
5.9 acres in size. There are no existing homes on the property. There are no existing wetlands or

1096
01:41:23,070 --> 01:41:24,550
which is unusual.

1097
01:41:26,630 --> 01:41:30,390
The existing Chendem County zoning is our one residential district one,

1098
01:41:30,950 --> 01:41:34,310
and this is one of the last parcels on Pittered Sears Road

1099
01:41:34,310 --> 01:41:36,470
that has direct frontage on Pittered Sears Road.

1100
01:41:39,230 --> 01:41:42,390
As many of you may be aware, an excitation and initial zoning

1101
01:41:42,390 --> 01:41:45,650
was recently approved earlier this year for the property

1102
01:41:45,650 --> 01:41:47,730
directly north of Pittered Sears Road.

1103
01:41:49,150 --> 01:41:51,950
That property was re-zone for R-8CU

1104
01:41:51,950 --> 01:41:55,930
to see you with a commitment, and I know more of 23 dwelling units.

1105
01:41:56,910 --> 01:41:59,430
I mentioned this for comparison of our current requests.

1106
01:42:00,710 --> 01:42:05,390
With annexation, we're requesting the zoning of R12CU,

1107
01:42:05,390 --> 01:42:06,630
conditional use district.

1108
01:42:07,150 --> 01:42:11,430
The R12 zoning requires a minimum of 12,000 square foot lot.

1109
01:42:13,250 --> 01:42:16,050
And also, I want to mention, Dunhill investors, the property owner.

1110
01:42:17,050 --> 01:42:21,590
They also develop the Dunhill subdivision that's on peter to use food.

1111
01:42:21,590 --> 01:42:28,690
many of you may be aware. The lots within done hill existing subdivision are 12,000 square foot,

1112
01:42:28,950 --> 01:42:35,950
plus or minus so that subdivision is very comparable. We anticipate and equal housing

1113
01:42:35,950 --> 01:42:43,150
product to be constructed should this get approved. We held neighborhood meeting on April 15th

1114
01:42:43,150 --> 01:42:47,350
and we worked with planning and transportation staff on the current commitments.

1115
01:42:48,830 --> 01:42:53,150
I would look forward to work with staff and neighbors as we continue to move forward with the

1116
01:42:53,150 --> 01:42:58,590
annexation and rezoning process and we're happy to receive feedback from town council

1117
01:42:58,590 --> 01:43:01,710
and neighbors this evening. Thank you, and I'm here for any questions.

1118
01:43:02,290 --> 01:43:09,310
Thank you. So now's time for the public hearing for the Pittered Sears rezoning and annexation.

1119
01:43:09,570 --> 01:43:14,210
And I'll call on the clerk to share the number of written comments and call on any registered

1120
01:43:14,210 --> 01:43:20,430
speakers. We have no calling speakers, no registered speakers, and

1121
01:43:20,430 --> 01:43:25,170
vibrant comments. And they were provided to counsel at their seat on the

1122
01:43:25,170 --> 01:43:29,930
agenda in email beforehand. Thank you. If you are here and would like to speak

1123
01:43:29,930 --> 01:43:34,350
at this Pittered Sears Resonning and Exition Nails, your opportunity, and I would

1124
01:43:34,350 --> 01:43:38,990
invite you forward. Anyone to speak at this public hearing? Yes.

1125
01:43:46,790 --> 01:43:47,370
Could you move to

1126
01:43:47,370 --> 01:43:51,110
your left please? Thank you. I was one of the residents that got one of the

1127
01:43:51,110 --> 01:43:57,070
notices and my home is located very close to this. My biggest question about this.

1128
01:43:57,070 --> 01:44:01,230
Did you give us your name? Yes, sorry. That's okay. Sonnalee.

1129
01:44:01,810 --> 01:44:08,530
So Pitterseer's Road is very narrow. There's not much except for where you walk on as a pedestrian.

1130
01:44:10,110 --> 01:44:15,350
The area just below where this is being annexed is where the tobacco trail is.

1131
01:44:15,350 --> 01:44:20,930
There are a lot of pedestrians over there and people cross those areas a lot.

1132
01:44:21,490 --> 01:44:27,650
My biggest concern would be whether the developer is going to invest in limiting the

1133
01:44:27,650 --> 01:44:35,450
amount of traffic and making sure the pedestrians are safe in doing this type of, I know

1134
01:44:35,450 --> 01:44:40,970
that in doing just a little limited amount of research, the type of zoning change that's

1135
01:44:40,970 --> 01:44:46,690
going to happen makes it less restrictive for the developer and so my concern would be what

1136
01:44:46,690 --> 01:44:48,670
is going to be done to protect pedestrians.

1137
01:44:49,170 --> 01:44:55,210
There's a lot of children that ride bikes in this area so that would be my comment.

1138
01:44:55,890 --> 01:44:56,970
Thank you.

1139
01:44:57,150 --> 01:44:59,390
Anyone else to speak at this public hearing?

1140
01:45:01,330 --> 01:45:06,770
I think no one else calls public hearing up in and up to council members for questions or comments.

1141
01:45:07,110 --> 01:45:14,830
I guess the questions, mostly questions, can you speak a little bit more about the

1142
01:45:14,830 --> 01:45:20,190
Army Corps of Engineers and what can be built there, the land that south of that,

1143
01:45:27,520 --> 01:45:28,440
or maybe it's.

1144
01:45:35,110 --> 01:45:41,770
So, Sean and White, dearly here, is the Army Corps of Engineers' property and I think that this

1145
01:45:41,770 --> 01:45:47,610
the floodplain map would actually illustrate this pretty well as well,

1146
01:45:53,130 --> 01:45:54,850
generally in here.

1147
01:45:55,030 --> 01:45:59,970
So you can see that this is floodplain in here and then stream buffer running up in here.

1148
01:46:01,530 --> 01:46:07,650
And so that would typically not be a development parcel due to those environmental features.

1149
01:46:08,210 --> 01:46:17,050
So are there extra requirements for the developer, for runoff or obviously our stormwater laws already apply?

1150
01:46:17,050 --> 01:46:21,090
But is there anything special that needs to be done because it

1151
01:46:21,090 --> 01:46:23,070
abuts the Army Corps land?

1152
01:46:24,650 --> 01:46:30,010
I was prepped by our stormwater staff for this potential question.

1153
01:46:30,490 --> 01:46:34,650
So specifically, it's not the Army Corps property in and of itself

1154
01:46:34,650 --> 01:46:36,590
because it's owned by the Army Corps.

1155
01:46:36,930 --> 01:46:40,450
I think the reason they own it probably is related to the fact

1156
01:46:40,450 --> 01:46:41,550
that it's watershed.

1157
01:46:42,710 --> 01:46:46,290
But the proposed future development is within the Jordan Lake

1158
01:46:46,290 --> 01:46:52,110
water should overlay, so the development will be required to capture runoff with an on-site

1159
01:46:52,110 --> 01:46:58,010
stormwater control measure or SCM. That would also include all of the right of way improvements.

1160
01:46:59,310 --> 01:47:04,590
There are also impervious limits established for the individual lots themselves. This will be

1161
01:47:04,590 --> 01:47:11,950
recorded on the plat. It will depend a little bit on the size and type of the SCM and also runoff

1162
01:47:11,950 --> 01:47:18,650
control will be required for the 1, 2, 5, 10, and 100 year storms as well. Does that help

1163
01:47:18,650 --> 01:47:24,570
to answer your question? That's it, yeah. And we received some place or concerns about the

1164
01:47:24,570 --> 01:47:30,750
runoff that's currently happening, but are there? Can you speak to that? Is there additional

1165
01:47:30,750 --> 01:47:35,610
planning going on? So I think you might be referring to a couple of written comments as well as

1166
01:47:35,610 --> 01:47:40,890
a video that it was provided. I have shared that video and actually watched it in real time with

1167
01:47:40,890 --> 01:47:47,350
warm water staff. So the development plan reviewers who are responsible for reviewing any future

1168
01:47:47,350 --> 01:47:52,470
development such as this are aware of that video and will take into account the information

1169
01:47:52,470 --> 01:47:57,570
that was provided by the residents both in written and visual form. Okay, and there we go.

1170
01:47:57,790 --> 01:48:06,170
Thank you. Other questions, concerns? I have a question. So I'm trying to look for that information

1171
01:48:06,170 --> 01:48:13,090
on our Townsweb site. I'm not able to find it. It's related to 25 R.A.C.O.O.5.

1172
01:48:13,210 --> 01:48:20,510
Peter 3, Spitter Sears Road, Zoning, that was approved about six months ago, and their project

1173
01:48:20,510 --> 01:48:29,450
was based similar. It was all detached dwelling. I believe it was four points, some acres. I thought,

1174
01:48:30,030 --> 01:48:35,110
and I see this on the map that you're showing right now on screen and I could be totally

1175
01:48:35,110 --> 01:48:43,370
wrong and it could be totally, you know, I'm phasing out right now. But I thought, it was

1176
01:48:43,370 --> 01:48:52,010
our 12 CU, that was approved. So the request actually started for TRCU at the time of

1177
01:48:52,010 --> 01:48:58,390
public hearing throughout the process. It was revised to be R8 CU, which you see on your

1178
01:48:58,390 --> 01:49:04,250
screen. It's this property here in the green hatching. That R8 CU was the approved zoning

1179
01:49:04,250 --> 01:49:11,350
for that property. And right next to it is a parcel that the builder at that time suggests

1180
01:49:11,350 --> 01:49:17,630
that they have purchased it and it will come back to the console. They plan to allocate

1181
01:49:17,630 --> 01:49:23,830
that property for a stormwater resolution, you know, because at that time there was a lot of

1182
01:49:23,830 --> 01:49:31,210
feet back related to stormwater. Is it possible that this applicant could work with that applicant

1183
01:49:31,210 --> 01:49:34,210
and perhaps leverage some of that.

1184
01:49:35,010 --> 01:49:37,730
We can certainly provide contact information for both parties.

1185
01:49:39,750 --> 01:49:41,190
I don't have any more questions.

1186
01:49:42,130 --> 01:49:43,330
Other questions, comments?

1187
01:49:44,590 --> 01:49:51,090
I just wanted to urge the applicant to reconsider the two pedestrian safety recommendations

1188
01:49:51,090 --> 01:49:52,650
by staff.

1189
01:49:52,650 --> 01:50:05,030
Actually, I have questions on this, so would the applicant put sidewalks in on one side only of the streets in the development?

1190
01:50:05,810 --> 01:50:10,290
On local streets, carries regulations only require a sidewalk on one side, okay.

1191
01:50:12,050 --> 01:50:19,890
And can you tell me, are there driveway cuts allowed in the recently approved, I believe it's the R8CU to the north?

1192
01:50:19,890 --> 01:50:30,710
Are there driveway cuts allowed in the the the the rezoning we approved or whatever the zoning is on the properties near there?

1193
01:50:30,990 --> 01:50:42,570
So I'm wondering how dissimilar it is to to for this property to be allowed to have driveway cuts on that collector road as opposed to the neighboring properties?

1194
01:50:42,570 --> 01:50:46,690
So, I just confirmed with air and that there was no written zoning condition for

1195
01:50:46,690 --> 01:50:47,190
hybidine.

1196
01:50:47,410 --> 01:50:49,310
The period is a collidered period.

1197
01:50:49,310 --> 01:50:52,630
Here's a collector on both sides for both sides purposes.

1198
01:50:53,670 --> 01:50:55,750
However, typically it is a best practice.

1199
01:50:57,010 --> 01:51:03,410
We have other regulations that tend to prohibit direct driveway access to collectors, but it

1200
01:51:03,410 --> 01:51:04,170
can happen.

1201
01:51:04,670 --> 01:51:10,530
It's not a direct prohibition, but there are certain standards that discourage them.

1202
01:51:11,190 --> 01:51:11,370
Okay.

1203
01:51:12,750 --> 01:51:15,110
Can you dumb that down for me?

1204
01:51:16,150 --> 01:51:22,170
So, they are technically allowed, but there's probably other requirements that make them

1205
01:51:22,170 --> 01:51:23,930
exceptionally difficult to do.

1206
01:51:25,130 --> 01:51:25,750
Good evening, council.

1207
01:51:25,770 --> 01:51:26,630
Thank you.

1208
01:51:27,170 --> 01:51:31,810
So, depending on the type of collector, they are limited to the, what your friends has

1209
01:51:31,810 --> 01:51:40,250
driveway cuts, they are limited to the number of dryways or street accesses on to the

1210
01:51:40,250 --> 01:51:40,710
collector.

1211
01:51:40,710 --> 01:51:55,690
This is a NCDOT owned road, and so they would have to get those permits through NCDOT, and we have been working with both of the applicants to make sure that their driveways align with one another.

1212
01:51:56,850 --> 01:52:04,350
If this was a carry owned road, would we be able to prohibit this development with if it included driveway cuts onto that road?

1213
01:52:04,350 --> 01:52:07,010
Our SIM collector requirements will apply here.

1214
01:52:07,250 --> 01:52:12,950
Okay, so the exception here is primarily because it's an NCDOT road and we can't regulate

1215
01:52:12,950 --> 01:52:16,130
drugway cuts on an NCDOT road in a project.

1216
01:52:16,310 --> 01:52:21,410
Well, we can guide that and work with NCDOT on what the appropriate safety access should be.

1217
01:52:21,450 --> 01:52:24,710
And we have our required standards, which they would be required to meet.

1218
01:52:25,290 --> 01:52:32,910
Unless in this instance there may be limited access to a remaining lot that may not be able to

1219
01:52:32,910 --> 01:52:37,430
have internal connectivity, which is the condition that staff had mentioned.

1220
01:52:39,750 --> 01:52:40,230
Thank you.

1221
01:52:40,330 --> 01:52:41,370
I appreciate the clarity.

1222
01:52:42,070 --> 01:52:45,550
And I did want to just bring attention to the questions.

1223
01:52:45,990 --> 01:52:51,230
There's in the written comments that we received here, particularly Mr. Sullivan, and there's some others.

1224
01:52:51,570 --> 01:52:57,090
They're asking, I think, pretty reasonable questions that they'd like some answers to.

1225
01:52:57,110 --> 01:52:59,110
I mean, obviously, this is the public hearing.

1226
01:52:59,110 --> 01:53:04,930
This is the ideal time to answer those questions, and I don't know that all of these are, you know,

1227
01:53:05,010 --> 01:53:09,150
when they ask about our contextual requirements of the home, I think that's, you know,

1228
01:53:09,290 --> 01:53:16,350
broadly part of our, our, our ordinances in general, but, you know, a timeline for development.

1229
01:53:16,410 --> 01:53:22,230
I know that's not something that's typically provided to us, but what about maximum and minimum size of the

1230
01:53:22,230 --> 01:53:28,290
homes to be built? Is there a minimum or maximum that's applied in a situation like this?

1231
01:53:28,290 --> 01:53:31,150
That's typically not something that we would regulate.

1232
01:53:31,510 --> 01:53:32,350
Just lots eyes, right?

1233
01:53:32,530 --> 01:53:33,990
We would regulate lots eyes, correct?

1234
01:53:34,250 --> 01:53:36,590
And I did respond to Mr. Sullivan's email yesterday.

1235
01:53:36,650 --> 01:53:37,030
Excellent.

1236
01:53:37,490 --> 01:53:38,290
OK. Thank you.

1237
01:53:38,550 --> 01:53:39,270
And that's all I had.

1238
01:53:39,710 --> 01:53:41,850
I just, you know, the, the, I've driven on that road,

1239
01:53:42,090 --> 01:53:43,690
the driveway cuts give me pause.

1240
01:53:45,350 --> 01:53:49,250
That's just seems like a really strange place for a driveway.

1241
01:53:49,910 --> 01:53:52,630
It, you know, it reminds me of probably some of the challenges

1242
01:53:52,630 --> 01:53:55,290
people who have cuts on some of our other thoroughfares,

1243
01:53:55,830 --> 01:53:59,470
You know, like Maynard or Walnut, where they probably wish they didn't.

1244
01:54:00,290 --> 01:54:01,770
Or it was a different road when they built.

1245
01:54:01,770 --> 01:54:03,570
It was very different when they built it.

1246
01:54:03,570 --> 01:54:04,710
But we know this is a collector.

1247
01:54:04,910 --> 01:54:07,730
And we know the traffic isn't going to reduce on that.

1248
01:54:07,830 --> 01:54:09,650
I know Council Member Poncell.

1249
01:54:09,910 --> 01:54:12,570
You probably have a perspective on that as well.

1250
01:54:12,730 --> 01:54:13,130
I just don't.

1251
01:54:13,450 --> 01:54:15,770
It just doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

1252
01:54:16,030 --> 01:54:17,210
I agree with you.

1253
01:54:17,570 --> 01:54:19,510
And I think definitely some of these comments.

1254
01:54:20,210 --> 01:54:21,330
Thank you for pointing that out.

1255
01:54:21,670 --> 01:54:23,770
I totally phased out of this.

1256
01:54:23,770 --> 01:54:32,930
earlier after the first section of our discussion. But there's another question that's here

1257
01:54:32,930 --> 01:54:35,370
about the buffer.

1258
01:54:38,050 --> 01:54:45,490
It's by Dennis Curtin. It's talking about tree preservation, tree planning,

1259
01:54:45,770 --> 01:54:48,510
construction protection and

1260
01:54:50,530 --> 01:54:54,690
the buffer committee. Talk about the buffer. I don't know if we

1261
01:54:54,690 --> 01:54:56,270
of what that in this presentation.

1262
01:54:57,690 --> 01:55:02,530
Sure, I just mentioned about the default buffer for privacy.

1263
01:55:03,590 --> 01:55:05,950
Yes, so several of the comments you have received

1264
01:55:05,950 --> 01:55:08,510
talk about the Carolina Preserves buffer.

1265
01:55:08,650 --> 01:55:11,510
So that's a 30 foot type A. Some of the emails

1266
01:55:11,510 --> 01:55:14,110
said type B, but it is a type A. I confirmed that.

1267
01:55:14,790 --> 01:55:17,410
So they have an existing 30 foot type A as well.

1268
01:55:17,530 --> 01:55:18,410
They have a fence.

1269
01:55:19,790 --> 01:55:23,410
The requirement adjacent to this property to be provided

1270
01:55:23,410 --> 01:55:31,170
by this developer, would be a 20 foot type B, so that is not as high of a planting standard

1271
01:55:31,170 --> 01:55:35,550
as the type A to type A is typically a little bit denser.

1272
01:55:35,670 --> 01:55:41,830
But the applicant could voluntarily do 20 feet of type A for a combined buffer of 50 feet

1273
01:55:41,830 --> 01:55:49,790
of type A, which I think would probably go a long way with your neighbors in the east, right?

1274
01:55:49,790 --> 01:55:52,550
They could, they could, they could, they could, they could do that.

1275
01:55:52,570 --> 01:55:53,690
They could offer that.

1276
01:55:56,500 --> 01:55:59,420
That was, I had a similar comment.

1277
01:55:59,560 --> 01:56:02,320
So thank you to my colleagues for, for beating me to it.

1278
01:56:02,500 --> 01:56:05,400
It's just, I'm looking at the satellite map right now.

1279
01:56:05,660 --> 01:56:11,260
And it looks like there's considerable tree canopy to the south and west of the parcel.

1280
01:56:11,880 --> 01:56:17,780
And as I encourage every applicant in particularly mindful of preserving as much of that canopy as possible.

1281
01:56:18,480 --> 01:56:21,540
So maybe some voluntary conditions could help address that.

1282
01:56:21,540 --> 01:56:24,100
What's that any other question to someone?

1283
01:56:24,320 --> 01:56:31,800
One other, is it possible to not have driveway cuts?

1284
01:56:31,900 --> 01:56:34,940
For instance, is there enough width of the property

1285
01:56:35,380 --> 01:56:40,340
so that the applicant could do a single driveway cut

1286
01:56:40,340 --> 01:56:43,700
into a neighborhood or is the property just to narrow?

1287
01:56:44,120 --> 01:56:47,520
I'm trying to understand what the need for potentially

1288
01:56:47,520 --> 01:56:50,900
11 at the most 11 drive-in cuts for the 11 homes?

1289
01:56:52,380 --> 01:56:55,900
So I don't know that there would be room for 11 drive-in cuts.

1290
01:56:56,200 --> 01:57:02,180
We don't have a lot layout at this time in the rezoning process that will be provided at development plan.

1291
01:57:04,260 --> 01:57:10,460
In my mind, I can see this laying out as a cul-de-sax street personally, but I don't have that knowledge.

1292
01:57:11,700 --> 01:57:16,100
So I think that would be very helpful if the developer could come back,

1293
01:57:16,100 --> 01:57:18,860
especially before the planning and zoning board.

1294
01:57:19,220 --> 01:57:22,940
If they give the planning and zoning board an idea

1295
01:57:22,940 --> 01:57:26,840
of what that road, what that collector would look like.

1296
01:57:26,920 --> 01:57:28,240
How many cuts are we talking about?

1297
01:57:28,420 --> 01:57:30,680
Are we talking about a single, like you said,

1298
01:57:30,720 --> 01:57:33,140
call the sack street for those 11 homes?

1299
01:57:33,280 --> 01:57:37,820
I think it's really difficult to envision what that would look like.

1300
01:57:41,340 --> 01:57:44,900
Anything else next step in this process

1301
01:57:44,900 --> 01:57:47,220
is it will go to the planning and zoning board

1302
01:57:47,220 --> 01:57:52,120
for their review and recommendation and return to Council in a few months.

1303
01:57:53,160 --> 01:57:56,540
Our next public hearing is going to be a long one.

1304
01:57:56,920 --> 01:58:00,320
So before we get started, I want to take a very short by a break.

1305
01:58:01,120 --> 01:58:02,160
Jenny, I want to come on.

1306
01:58:02,800 --> 01:58:02,920
Hello.

1307
01:58:04,140 --> 01:58:05,160
So he's saying body, break?

1308
02:06:03,600 --> 02:06:11,440
In our council meeting at this time, our next public hearing is for a resolution authority,

1309
02:06:11,760 --> 02:06:18,380
rally housing authority to acquire and preserve mixed income housing and carry, director of

1310
02:06:18,380 --> 02:06:23,880
planning and community development. Heather Willahan will present the item and council may take

1311
02:06:23,880 --> 02:06:29,600
action, Ms. Willahan. Good evening, Mayor and council. Tonight is a public hearing to consider

1312
02:06:29,600 --> 02:06:35,000
of a resolution authorizing the Raleigh Housing Authority to operate and carry for the purposes

1313
02:06:35,000 --> 02:06:41,680
of acquiring and preserving the affordability of 340 existing mixed income multifamily dwellings

1314
02:06:41,680 --> 02:06:46,340
within the Amberwood Allock Mirror community. The Raleigh Housing Authority has asked that we

1315
02:06:46,340 --> 02:06:51,080
bring this request to you during their contract due diligence period, so we are here tonight to

1316
02:06:51,080 --> 02:06:56,060
present that request. After the public carrying council may take action on this item.

1317
02:06:56,740 --> 02:07:01,100
First, I'm going to talk a little bit about procedures since this is unusual for us, and

1318
02:07:01,100 --> 02:07:03,820
then we'll specifically cover the request before you tonight.

1319
02:07:05,560 --> 02:07:09,420
The Raleigh Housing Authority is a government entity created under North Carolina General

1320
02:07:09,420 --> 02:07:13,180
Statutes, Chapter 157, known as the Housing Authority Law.

1321
02:07:14,020 --> 02:07:18,420
The law authorizes housing authorities to serve low and moderate income residents within adjacent

1322
02:07:18,420 --> 02:07:23,500
municipalities, but only if a community adopts a resolution authorizing them to do so.

1323
02:07:25,040 --> 02:07:35,820
Adopting a resolution authorizing a housing authority to operate is a technical requirement and does not make counselor carry a party to the acquisition or any related financing of the property.

1324
02:07:36,920 --> 02:07:40,760
Additionally, properties must be in compliance with all zoning and town ordinances.

1325
02:07:42,360 --> 02:07:43,640
Turning to Amber Wood at Luckmere.

1326
02:07:44,520 --> 02:07:47,940
This existing apartment complex was originally developed in two phases.

1327
02:07:47,940 --> 02:07:57,740
first, the first phase in 1991 and the second in 1996. It offers one, two, and three bedroom garden style apartments with a total of 340 units.

1328
02:07:59,260 --> 02:08:06,540
It's located at the intersection of southeast Kerry Parkway and Piny Plains Road about one mile southwest of the Destination Center at Crossroads,

1329
02:08:07,380 --> 02:08:12,060
and one mile east of the Destination Center at Kilder Farm Road and Trion Road.

1330
02:08:14,420 --> 02:08:19,360
Amber Wood is a part of the Lock Mirror community and is 96% occupied, so home to about

1331
02:08:19,360 --> 02:08:21,540
314 carry households.

1332
02:08:22,580 --> 02:08:28,040
Amber Wood is considered naturally occurring affordable housing or NOAA, meaning that

1333
02:08:28,040 --> 02:08:33,520
it is an unsubsidized unrestricted property offering below market rents.

1334
02:08:33,640 --> 02:08:44,400
It currently rents at rates affordable to households earning approximately 52% of the

1335
02:08:44,400 --> 02:08:46,580
average rent of 1510.

1336
02:08:47,520 --> 02:08:50,840
This type of below market unrestricted residential property

1337
02:08:50,840 --> 02:08:53,600
often serves as a community's largest supply

1338
02:08:53,600 --> 02:08:54,600
of affordable housing.

1339
02:08:56,930 --> 02:08:58,510
And properties like this represent

1340
02:08:58,510 --> 02:09:00,370
important affordable housing and carry.

1341
02:09:01,670 --> 02:09:04,930
In markets like ours, where comparable rents are higher,

1342
02:09:05,510 --> 02:09:08,470
a property is considered to have rent to headroom.

1343
02:09:09,950 --> 02:09:12,230
Amber would as being marketed with the value proposition

1344
02:09:12,230 --> 02:09:15,510
that it has two to three hundred dollars in rent headroom.

1345
02:09:18,270 --> 02:09:23,330
It's impossible to predict every potential scenario, but two outcomes that properties like this

1346
02:09:23,330 --> 02:09:27,710
often faced and often faced in a profit-motivated market are.

1347
02:09:29,090 --> 02:09:35,350
First, a private investor inquires the property, invest in renovations, and increases rents.

1348
02:09:35,550 --> 02:09:42,210
Potentially, pricing out existing residents, and permanently removing affordable housing units from the community's supply.

1349
02:09:42,210 --> 02:09:49,230
or two, the property declines through deferred maintenance as an owner realizes gains without reinvesting,

1350
02:09:50,370 --> 02:09:53,590
resulting in substandard conditions and property value decline.

1351
02:09:55,250 --> 02:09:59,110
Alternatively, if an entity committed to affordability such as a non-profit,

1352
02:09:59,630 --> 02:10:02,450
a government agency or a subsidized private owner,

1353
02:10:02,810 --> 02:10:07,490
recapitalizes the property, rents remain affordable to low and moderate income households,

1354
02:10:07,490 --> 02:10:13,130
while the property is maintained to continue offering a high quality of life and stability to residents.

1355
02:10:14,410 --> 02:10:19,630
This is important because the residents of Amberwood are critical members of our community.

1356
02:10:22,410 --> 02:10:24,710
The Rally Housing Authority has proposed the following.

1357
02:10:25,710 --> 02:10:31,650
That all 340 units will remain affordable for low and moderate income households or 80% of AMI.

1358
02:10:31,650 --> 02:10:39,910
With at least 51% of the units as affordable for low-income housing, low-income households, or 60% of AMI,

1359
02:10:40,450 --> 02:10:46,130
with a maximum of 10% of the units potentially supported by project-based voucher subsidy.

1360
02:10:47,590 --> 02:10:53,490
They're also committed to minimizing rent increases over time to avoid displacing existing carry residents,

1361
02:10:54,090 --> 02:11:00,890
as well as addressing deferred maintenance and investing in renovations of units as they naturally turn over.

1362
02:11:02,680 --> 02:11:11,180
The assessed value of Amber Wood at Lockmeer is $64 million, $485,515, with the $20,27

1363
02:11:11,180 --> 02:11:16,540
carry municipal property tax of $236,984.

1364
02:11:17,840 --> 02:11:23,300
While there are currently property tax exemption avenues that any owner could pursue,

1365
02:11:23,740 --> 02:11:28,480
this resolution would allow RHA tax exemption through the Housing Authority's statute.

1366
02:11:33,410 --> 02:11:39,650
This is an important distinction because RHA's operating status is clearly defined under state law,

1367
02:11:40,190 --> 02:11:48,230
whereas recently publicized charitable housing loophole could be available to any property owner regardless of affordability commitments.

1368
02:11:51,460 --> 02:11:56,460
We have heard us say that partnerships are at the heart of Kerry's community plan and housing strategy.

1369
02:11:56,460 --> 02:12:02,080
This proposal leverages a regional public partnership, and for there's several

1370
02:12:02,080 --> 02:12:07,060
imagined-carry community-plan-live policies and carry-plan housing goals, including

1371
02:12:07,060 --> 02:12:12,380
maintaining neighborhood character, encouraging the provision of affordable dwellings,

1372
02:12:13,580 --> 02:12:17,120
pursuing regional and non-profit partnerships to meet housing needs,

1373
02:12:17,700 --> 02:12:21,700
and ensuring that all carry residents can enjoy the full benefit of carries

1374
02:12:21,700 --> 02:12:29,920
high quality of life. Please, please. This concludes my presentation. A representative from the

1375
02:12:29,920 --> 02:12:34,800
Rousey Raleigh Housing Authority is here to address this request and following the public

1376
02:12:34,800 --> 02:12:38,460
caring I'm available to answer any questions you may have. Thank you, Ms. Wheeler.

1377
02:12:42,750 --> 02:12:46,310
Good evening. Mayor and members

1378
02:12:46,310 --> 02:12:57,390
the town council and citizens of Kerry. My name is Ashley Lomus Johnson. I am the CEO

1379
02:12:57,390 --> 02:13:01,870
of the Raleigh Housing Authority. I'm going to just talk a little bit about the housing

1380
02:13:01,870 --> 02:13:12,110
authority and about what our intentions are. I think Heather gave a really good presentation

1381
02:13:12,110 --> 02:13:16,230
and explanation for what we are trying to do.

1382
02:13:19,210 --> 02:13:28,470
As the staff person said, the rally housing authority is required by state law to request

1383
02:13:28,470 --> 02:13:33,670
authorization for this acquisition, and that's why we are here.

1384
02:13:36,820 --> 02:13:43,440
The rally housing authority has served Wake County residents for decades.

1385
02:13:43,440 --> 02:13:51,560
We all of our programs, the Section 8 Program, Public Housing Program, and other housing programs,

1386
02:13:52,040 --> 02:13:58,200
a non-subsidized programs, have a preference for residents of all of Wake County.

1387
02:13:58,560 --> 02:14:06,840
So we have served, and we currently serve households throughout the county, from without the county.

1388
02:14:06,840 --> 02:14:10,960
and also within the city limits of carry.

1389
02:14:11,340 --> 02:14:17,220
We have a 400 carry residents on our waiting lists,

1390
02:14:17,580 --> 02:14:24,620
and we serve 211 households in carry through the section 8 voucher program.

1391
02:14:25,940 --> 02:14:30,820
The housing authority has a strategic plan adopted in 2024.

1392
02:14:30,820 --> 02:14:40,280
to that includes developing, redeveloping our properties into mixed-income housing units,

1393
02:14:40,880 --> 02:14:49,540
but also to acquire through acquisition, acquire properties so that we can preserve the affordable,

1394
02:14:49,540 --> 02:14:51,980
naturally occurring, affordable housing.

1395
02:14:52,740 --> 02:14:58,260
The folks who live in these properties are people who work, who are teachers.

1396
02:15:00,270 --> 02:15:20,210
Child care workers, and other essential workers who work in carry. And we want to make sure that those people who are living there now will continue to be able to live there through the housing authorities efforts.

1397
02:15:20,210 --> 02:15:30,570
The Raleigh Housing Authority is not completely unique, but of over 3,000 housing authorities in the United States.

1398
02:15:31,510 --> 02:15:47,010
We are one of less than 1% of the housing authorities in the nation that has a standard and poor credit rating of a plus, not triple A like the city of Kerry or Raleigh.

1399
02:15:47,010 --> 02:15:54,730
But this allows us to do things that we haven't been able to do in the past and that many cities can't do.

1400
02:15:54,930 --> 02:15:58,050
We are able to invest in

1401
02:15:58,050 --> 02:16:02,250
Naturally occurring affordable housing to save

1402
02:16:02,250 --> 02:16:10,690
Those properties and preserve them for use by folks who now live in them.

1403
02:16:11,130 --> 02:16:13,130
And that is what we intend to do.

1404
02:16:13,130 --> 02:16:22,570
And we are here to keep Amber Woods in the way it is now in the people that it serves.

1405
02:16:25,350 --> 02:16:26,790
Nothing will change.

1406
02:16:30,220 --> 02:16:33,100
Please, please, or almost nothing.

1407
02:16:34,140 --> 02:16:36,140
The rents will stay the same.

1408
02:16:36,760 --> 02:16:38,500
The lease will stay the same.

1409
02:16:39,060 --> 02:16:41,600
The management company will stay the same.

1410
02:16:42,000 --> 02:16:45,480
The feel of living there will stay the same.

1411
02:16:47,880 --> 02:16:51,940
Please allow us to hear the speaker thank you.

1412
02:16:52,140 --> 02:16:52,840
What did you?

1413
02:16:52,900 --> 02:17:07,420
What may change is the fact that we will have and will be able to have the resources to address the deferred maintenance and improve the property above the conditions that they are there now.

1414
02:17:11,460 --> 02:17:19,860
So I will end my remarks there, and if there are questions, I will entertain them, or my colleague.

1415
02:17:21,280 --> 02:17:27,860
I would direct of acquisitions and strategic partnerships, Jason Morrell, will assist with some of the...

1416
02:17:27,860 --> 02:17:32,480
And our process is to hold a public hearing. We have questions for you after the public hearing.

1417
02:17:32,980 --> 02:17:38,960
Okay, thank you. So now is the time for the public hearing. I'll call on the clerk to share the number of written comments,

1418
02:17:38,960 --> 02:17:41,280
call on any red street speakers?

1419
02:17:42,700 --> 02:17:43,100
Yes.

1420
02:17:44,700 --> 02:17:49,000
We are going to first start with the speaker that's on the line,

1421
02:17:49,560 --> 02:17:51,300
Cassie Holt, Cassie, if you can.

1422
02:17:51,320 --> 02:17:52,660
Are not going to do written comments?

1423
02:17:53,080 --> 02:17:55,760
Yes, they didn't give me the total, so I need to go ahead.

1424
02:17:55,760 --> 02:17:56,060
Go ahead.

1425
02:17:56,940 --> 02:17:58,360
So we'll let Cassie go first.

1426
02:17:58,740 --> 02:18:02,760
He's on the line, and then we'll do the written comments

1427
02:18:02,760 --> 02:18:03,620
and then in person speaking.

1428
02:18:03,720 --> 02:18:04,720
Okay, very good.

1429
02:18:05,260 --> 02:18:07,220
Cassie will, you confirm that you can hear us

1430
02:18:07,220 --> 02:18:08,340
Thank you, your name.

1431
02:18:09,920 --> 02:18:13,160
Yes, good evening. My name is Kathy Holtz.

1432
02:18:13,940 --> 02:18:15,620
I'm a resident of Lockmear.

1433
02:18:16,420 --> 02:18:19,840
I've had the privilege of growing up in Carrey,

1434
02:18:20,020 --> 02:18:21,980
having attended Davis Drive Elementary,

1435
02:18:22,400 --> 02:18:24,780
West Lake Middle School and Middle Creek High School.

1436
02:18:25,460 --> 02:18:28,720
I moved away from Carrey for college in law school,

1437
02:18:29,060 --> 02:18:30,420
but after living in Raleigh,

1438
02:18:30,580 --> 02:18:35,660
decided to purchase my first single family home in Lockmear

1439
02:18:35,660 --> 02:18:43,620
earlier this year. I've worked extremely hard and extremely proud of this achievement. However,

1440
02:18:43,800 --> 02:18:49,060
the proposed resolution regarding rally housing authorities' purchase of Amber Wood at Lockmear

1441
02:18:49,060 --> 02:18:51,180
is concerning to me on many levels.

1442
02:18:54,410 --> 02:18:58,750
First, the proposed R8HA resolution locked carry residents

1443
02:18:58,750 --> 02:19:04,910
into a 30-year commitment that helps the city of Raleigh to the detriment of the town of Carrey.

1444
02:19:04,910 --> 02:19:16,570
All current RHA developments are within Raleigh, which makes sense because RHA's board of commissioners are appointed by the Raleigh Nayer.

1445
02:19:17,830 --> 02:19:26,250
A quick review of RHA's website shows that the organization's goal is to help residents of the city of Raleigh.

1446
02:19:26,250 --> 02:19:32,090
Unlike Raleigh residents who can hold the mayor of Raleigh accountable for her appointments

1447
02:19:32,090 --> 02:19:38,510
to the RHA board, the town of Kiri, and residents of Kiri have no such appointment power

1448
02:19:38,510 --> 02:19:42,910
to ensure that the town's interest are represented in RHA's decisions.

1449
02:19:45,620 --> 02:19:55,300
Having recently moved to Kiri from a property that was adjacent to an RHA development,

1450
02:19:55,300 --> 02:20:03,200
I can confirm that this decision will affect property values and resellabilities of homes in this area.

1451
02:20:06,130 --> 02:20:16,890
Recently trying to sell a town home, I had several out-of-state buyers interested in purchasing the property until they found out that there was an RHA development across the street.

1452
02:20:18,190 --> 02:20:23,810
Lastly, I want to conclude with urging this council to take a moment to seriously consider

1453
02:20:23,810 --> 02:20:26,670
the circumstances surrounding this resolution.

1454
02:20:27,670 --> 02:20:29,530
A lot of things have happened recently.

1455
02:20:29,690 --> 02:20:36,290
The state auditor's office, the findings from Wambalban, Dickinson, regarding serious

1456
02:20:36,290 --> 02:20:39,350
operational failure and lack of transparency.

1457
02:20:40,730 --> 02:20:48,430
It was very concerning to me that I could not find information regarding this RHA resolution

1458
02:20:48,430 --> 02:20:50,730
on the town of Kerry Web site.

1459
02:20:51,930 --> 02:20:56,810
It is unclear whether there have been studies or whether anything has been done to consider

1460
02:20:56,810 --> 02:21:02,170
the property values of residents living in this highly residential area.

1461
02:21:02,170 --> 02:21:11,270
And with undermined confidence and the completeness and reliability of the information provided by this council,

1462
02:21:11,850 --> 02:21:21,850
I urge the council to, at a minimum, pause, take a moment and delay the vote to ensure that such a major decision is not rash.

1463
02:21:22,790 --> 02:21:25,270
The timing, the office,

1464
02:21:27,920 --> 02:21:32,100
the timing, the optics, the optics, the lack of information could not be more

1465
02:21:32,100 --> 02:21:39,060
assessed. And I urge the Council to vote no or the minimum delay this vote so that further

1466
02:21:39,060 --> 02:21:41,620
due diligence can be made. Thank you.

1467
02:21:48,270 --> 02:21:56,970
We had 144 written comments. They were provided to the Council beforehand through email at

1468
02:21:56,970 --> 02:22:02,850
desk tonight and also online. And then we'll go to our in-person speakers and start with

1469
02:22:02,850 --> 02:22:06,450
the people who signed up for Pollock's Beaks Out first. So I'm going to start with Nancy

1470
02:22:06,450 --> 02:22:07,850
Kaye, Fall of Island of Shaw.

1471
02:22:14,840 --> 02:22:22,600
I am not a professional public speaker. I am nervous. So if you can bear

1472
02:22:22,600 --> 02:22:24,400
with me, I'd appreciate it.

1473
02:22:26,660 --> 02:22:31,160
So good evening. My name is Nancy Joyner Kaye and I live at one of

1474
02:22:31,160 --> 02:22:40,380
I want you to know that I love the town of Carey and I am excited about the mixed income

1475
02:22:40,380 --> 02:22:51,430
housing that includes market rate housing that is currently under consideration under the

1476
02:22:51,430 --> 02:22:53,170
Imagine Carey Plan.

1477
02:22:54,610 --> 02:23:01,250
I'm excited that a lot of these projects are public and privately financed.

1478
02:23:01,250 --> 02:23:17,570
You couldn't ask for a better mix, you have low income housing, you have market rate housing on the same site, you have a community coming together, private and public to finance it.

1479
02:23:17,870 --> 02:23:23,430
This is the ideal model for housing options.

1480
02:23:23,430 --> 02:23:31,830
But tonight, I would like to address the tax exemption requested by Raleigh, or rather Raleigh Housing Authority.

1481
02:23:33,290 --> 02:23:41,460
Staff stated that private ownership brings either higher rents or deferred maintenance,

1482
02:23:42,300 --> 02:23:47,020
and that the Raleigh Housing Authority ownership prevents both.

1483
02:23:48,260 --> 02:23:58,040
Specifically, for Amber Wood, the deferred maintenance claim is simply not true, okay, and you need to listen.

1484
02:24:00,060 --> 02:24:04,200
Amber Wood sits inside a lockmeer homeowner's association.

1485
02:24:05,280 --> 02:24:12,500
Subject to the same architectural and landscaping covenants as every lockmeer home.

1486
02:24:12,500 --> 02:24:14,880
for a private owner, private.

1487
02:24:16,300 --> 02:24:18,320
Those covenants have teeth.

1488
02:24:19,160 --> 02:24:21,740
Unresolved violations bring fines,

1489
02:24:22,520 --> 02:24:24,260
and fines become leans.

1490
02:24:25,100 --> 02:24:28,240
Deferred maintenance is not an option,

1491
02:24:29,040 --> 02:24:31,340
which is why this apartment complex

1492
02:24:31,340 --> 02:24:33,640
looks so awesome,

1493
02:24:34,040 --> 02:24:36,560
despite the fact that it is 35 years old.

1494
02:24:38,500 --> 02:24:40,140
Since 1991,

1495
02:24:40,140 --> 02:24:47,700
through every owner, Amber Wood has met lockmeers standards, because the

1496
02:24:47,700 --> 02:24:53,240
covenants run with the deed, and you need to understand what that means. It

1497
02:24:53,240 --> 02:25:02,300
runs with the deed, and it binds any private owner. They would not bind the

1498
02:25:02,300 --> 02:25:28,100
housing authority. Now consider the Rally Housing Authority created by Rally in 1938. It is controlled by Rally. All nine commissioners appointed by the Rally mayor. The Rally mayor, not the Rally City Council. They're appointed specifically by the Rally mayor.

1499
02:25:29,300 --> 02:25:35,780
Like carry, it is a municipal corporation with immunity.

1500
02:25:39,140 --> 02:25:40,460
Let that sink in.

1501
02:25:41,100 --> 02:25:42,260
I shall repeat it.

1502
02:25:42,260 --> 02:25:46,440
It is a municipal corporation like carry with immunity.

1503
02:25:47,300 --> 02:25:55,580
North Carolina says plainly that no judgment against it can become a lean on its property.

1504
02:25:55,580 --> 02:26:09,260
This tax exemption is the first step toward the Raleigh Housing Authority operating as a housing authority inside carry.

1505
02:26:15,170 --> 02:26:23,930
If you approved this tax exemption, you would essentially be creating a town within a town.

1506
02:26:23,930 --> 02:26:30,010
One that covenants and carry ordinances, they cannot touch them.

1507
02:26:31,690 --> 02:26:34,090
And you need to be mindful of that.

1508
02:26:34,970 --> 02:26:40,850
By staff's own admission, margins, your staff would be thin

1509
02:26:40,850 --> 02:26:44,390
once this converts to low and moderate income housing.

1510
02:26:45,510 --> 02:26:48,850
With captains, when costs rise,

1511
02:26:49,810 --> 02:26:53,470
maintenance is the only place that gives.

1512
02:26:54,510 --> 02:27:03,450
That's the only place they can cut, an owner immune to lockmeers, covenants, and the town

1513
02:27:03,450 --> 02:27:11,650
of carry ordinances could remove the landscaping and features that are costly as to maintain.

1514
02:27:12,610 --> 02:27:14,550
A change the appearance of the buildings,

1515
02:27:16,750 --> 02:27:18,790
changed the level of maintenance of the buildings,

1516
02:27:18,790 --> 02:27:26,090
With little consequence, please let me finish one more sentence, I have to even

1517
02:27:26,090 --> 02:27:29,490
I'm speaking slow. I'm speaking slow. I'm speaking slow. It's you understand

1518
02:27:29,490 --> 02:27:36,770
Even the mayor has publicly voiced concerns about long-term maintenance under the RHA

1519
02:27:36,770 --> 02:27:38,930
staff and the mayor agree

1520
02:27:38,930 --> 02:27:40,670
Sir that

1521
02:27:40,670 --> 02:27:43,810
Ambrer to it is naturally occurring affordable housing

1522
02:27:43,810 --> 02:27:48,410
35 years old and an excellent condition with updated interiors

1523
02:27:48,790 --> 02:27:51,430
to pools, clubhouses, dog parts, et cetera.

1524
02:27:51,910 --> 02:27:56,390
But under our age control, 14, 9% of the units

1525
02:27:56,390 --> 02:27:59,390
would eventually go to rally residents

1526
02:27:59,900 --> 02:28:02,930
and current residents above the income level,

1527
02:28:03,370 --> 02:28:06,970
currently living there, would not be able to renew their lease.

1528
02:28:07,650 --> 02:28:09,890
Carrying residents would be displaced

1529
02:28:09,890 --> 02:28:13,110
from one of our few affordable communities.

1530
02:28:14,190 --> 02:28:18,150
In the end, this tax exemption is unnecessary.

1531
02:28:18,150 --> 02:28:24,310
The housing is already affordable, and the covenants already keep it well maintained.

1532
02:28:25,090 --> 02:28:34,050
Granting it cheats carry out a $6.5 million over 30 years, and the county out of $8.5 million,

1533
02:28:34,130 --> 02:28:35,550
also $3.8 million.

1534
02:28:35,730 --> 02:28:42,150
Well, just a minute, puts a town, just a minute, I've never been here.

1535
02:28:42,330 --> 02:28:43,050
I've never been here.

1536
02:28:43,130 --> 02:28:45,670
It puts a town inside our town.

1537
02:28:45,670 --> 02:28:49,730
It displaces Carrie residents in favor of Raleigh residents.

1538
02:28:50,170 --> 02:28:53,410
I am asking you to show up.

1539
02:28:53,410 --> 02:28:58,650
Ladies and gentlemen, I am asking you to show up for the Carrie residents

1540
02:28:58,650 --> 02:29:06,150
and let the RHA address its housing needs not in the town of Carrie.

1541
02:29:07,790 --> 02:29:14,010
You owe your allegiance, you owe your allegiance to the taxpayers and residents

1542
02:29:14,010 --> 02:29:15,790
of the town of Kerry.

1543
02:29:16,030 --> 02:29:18,110
Ms. K. If you, I have one more sentence.

1544
02:29:18,390 --> 02:29:19,670
I've let you go over for two of you.

1545
02:29:19,670 --> 02:29:23,450
If you cannot bring yourself to vote this down today.

1546
02:29:23,850 --> 02:29:25,910
Ladies and gentlemen, please.

1547
02:29:26,210 --> 02:29:31,670
I ask that you take that you table the vote for further study.

1548
02:29:32,010 --> 02:29:33,990
We have had very little notice.

1549
02:29:34,010 --> 02:29:35,250
Thank you. 13 days.

1550
02:29:35,670 --> 02:29:38,870
Thank you. Please, please, Mr. Ray, thank you.

1551
02:29:46,000 --> 02:29:48,360
Speaker is willing to solve.

1552
02:29:49,760 --> 02:29:50,680
Miss Shaw.

1553
02:29:51,320 --> 02:29:52,900
Miss Shaw, you're next.

1554
02:29:53,440 --> 02:29:54,740
Paul, about you, Lena Morgan.

1555
02:29:55,960 --> 02:29:58,180
I would ask please stick to the five-minute timer.

1556
02:29:58,380 --> 02:29:59,960
We have a long night ahead of us.

1557
02:30:24,010 --> 02:30:31,930
Good evening, Mr. Mayor, Mr. Weinbrecht and Kerry Town Council. Thank you for letting me speak. My name

1558
02:30:31,930 --> 02:30:39,550
is Lynn Shaw, and I live in Gary, and the residence is 95, and the residence of Washington

1559
02:30:39,550 --> 02:30:49,290
is 2001. I am speaking on my own. Okay, this is my own personal opinion. Okay. I do have a couple

1560
02:30:49,290 --> 02:30:55,390
ideas. I am asking the town of Kerry Town Council to vote no, on the resolution to allow

1561
02:30:55,390 --> 02:30:59,390
probably housing authority to operate in carry in a choir

1562
02:30:59,390 --> 02:31:01,030
of Amberwood apartments at Lachmer.

1563
02:31:01,670 --> 02:31:04,330
Amberwood apartments is already renting is naturally

1564
02:31:04,330 --> 02:31:06,950
a current affordable housing known as Nella.

1565
02:31:07,690 --> 02:31:12,190
I know is a subset of unsubsidized, not subsidized housing

1566
02:31:12,190 --> 02:31:14,990
that remains cheaper because it's specific rates.

1567
02:31:15,690 --> 02:31:18,750
Amberwood at Lachmer is within the Lachmer Association

1568
02:31:19,170 --> 02:31:21,250
and it does have to buy by the Lachmer

1569
02:31:21,250 --> 02:31:25,010
architectural standards and specifications, just like me and resident.

1570
02:31:26,510 --> 02:31:32,850
I am asking the town of Kerry Town Council and planning department to not allow a

1571
02:31:32,850 --> 02:31:36,670
potential loss of the Kerry tax revenue to rally housing authority.

1572
02:31:37,410 --> 02:31:43,670
Instead, please reallocate the hundreds of thousands and potentially millions of Kerry

1573
02:31:43,670 --> 02:31:50,150
tax revenue dollars to developing a veterans billet on the site of the Epic Games property

1574
02:31:50,150 --> 02:31:52,570
formerly known as the Curie Town Center,

1575
02:31:52,790 --> 02:31:55,770
property that is soon and still enveloped.

1576
02:31:57,270 --> 02:31:59,050
And article published in the American Legion,

1577
02:31:59,190 --> 02:32:03,850
and June 23rd, 2026, reports that there are over 32,000

1578
02:32:03,850 --> 02:32:04,870
homeless veterans.

1579
02:32:05,410 --> 02:32:09,110
The Charlotte today published on July 16th, 2026,

1580
02:32:10,050 --> 02:32:12,110
a tunnel to towers, excuse me, we got a call.

1581
02:32:12,630 --> 02:32:15,210
Foundation, the TeleTower's Foundation

1582
02:32:15,210 --> 02:32:17,910
has begun construction on a new veterans village

1583
02:32:17,910 --> 02:32:26,130
that will provide not only stable housing but also comprehensive support services designed to help service numbers rebuild their lives.

1584
02:32:26,430 --> 02:32:37,450
The town of Kerry could seek a partnership with Epic Games and Tunnel to Towers and the HUD VASH that's VASH to build a veteran's village.

1585
02:32:38,070 --> 02:32:44,990
Part of the partnership deal could allow for a part of the parcel to be developed for Epic Games or Print office space.

1586
02:32:44,990 --> 02:32:51,430
I don't know, maybe call it Epic 10 Veterans Village, you know.

1587
02:32:52,290 --> 02:32:53,530
And what's the Veterans Village?

1588
02:32:53,750 --> 02:32:56,810
The Foundation Bill's Transitional Employment Housing Community

1589
02:32:56,810 --> 02:33:00,230
across the United States, featuring on-site,

1590
02:33:00,550 --> 02:33:02,610
supportive medical and mental health services.

1591
02:33:03,090 --> 02:33:05,430
The Tunnels of Towers Foundation operates a dedicated

1592
02:33:05,430 --> 02:33:09,590
batch services team that collaborates with the United States

1593
02:33:09,590 --> 02:33:12,390
Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of HUD,

1594
02:33:12,390 --> 02:33:17,350
and the local public housing authorities to help homeless veterans secure permanent housing.

1595
02:33:18,090 --> 02:33:22,790
This project could align with the town of Kerry 2040 and imagine plan.

1596
02:33:24,370 --> 02:33:27,650
So once again, I am asking the town of Kerry town council to vote no,

1597
02:33:28,410 --> 02:33:32,350
the resolution to the rally housing authority to operate and carry.

1598
02:33:33,130 --> 02:33:34,450
And thanks so much for listening.

1599
02:33:40,370 --> 02:33:44,210
Our next speaker is Elena Morgan by followed by Thomas Kellener.

1600
02:33:44,210 --> 02:33:45,210
Good

1601
02:33:51,550 --> 02:33:56,430
evening. My name is Dr. Elena Morgan and I live across from the Amberwood apartment

1602
02:33:56,430 --> 02:34:04,850
buildings in Lockmear. I am here tonight to strongly oppose the sale of the property to

1603
02:34:04,850 --> 02:34:11,170
the Raleigh Housing Authority. Before I get into the specifics of what I want to say,

1604
02:34:11,310 --> 02:34:17,950
I'd like to take a moment and say the optics of this situation are catastrophic for all of you

1605
02:34:17,950 --> 02:34:27,590
individually. If I were to bill my patients and Medicare, who was who why bill for my services,

1606
02:34:30,510 --> 02:34:37,430
24 million dollars in excess of the services I had provided to my patients, I would lose my

1607
02:34:37,430 --> 02:34:44,710
license and I would go to jail. I would be on the front cover of every newspaper in this country

1608
02:34:44,710 --> 02:34:53,230
as a villainous physician, the fraud that has been propagated by the members of this council

1609
02:34:53,230 --> 02:35:04,110
seems to wash over you. Your faces are impressive. You've committed crimes. Crimes. Significant.

1610
02:35:05,150 --> 02:35:13,650
Financial malfeasance. Let that sink in. You are now turning to face, carry residents,

1611
02:35:13,650 --> 02:35:23,030
many of whom are telling you that giving away $200,000 a year in tax revenue.

1612
02:35:23,590 --> 02:35:31,130
Let's remember what tax revenue is. Tax payer dollars. What does that mean?

1613
02:35:31,930 --> 02:35:40,840
Money people have earned in their jobs and been forced by you to give to the government in good faith.

1614
02:35:41,680 --> 02:35:49,300
that you have taken and you're asking if you can give it away to a municipality that is not

1615
02:35:49,300 --> 02:35:50,720
answerable to us.

1616
02:36:00,070 --> 02:36:05,130
Each one of you will gladly have to stand for re-election sooner or

1617
02:36:05,130 --> 02:36:19,710
later. I genuinely support women and government. I'm glad to say a panel full of women who are

1618
02:36:25,250 --> 02:36:33,670
are elected, Bella, you are in my district, to represent the welfare of the people who live

1619
02:36:33,670 --> 02:36:40,030
in that area. Amber, what apartment buildings is fine, leave it alone.

1620
02:36:47,410 --> 02:36:48,430
I will end with

1621
02:36:48,430 --> 02:36:56,890
this one extraordinarily important point. When I reviewed the crime statistics for every

1622
02:36:56,890 --> 02:37:00,350
strongly housing authority building within its jurisdiction.

1623
02:37:01,970 --> 02:37:08,870
The violent crime recorded by police in Raleigh in the immediate quarter mile around

1624
02:37:08,870 --> 02:37:13,470
those apartments exceeded national averages by staggering numbers.

1625
02:37:14,510 --> 02:37:16,470
Should I tell you what they were?

1626
02:37:20,190 --> 02:37:20,890
Drive by shootings.

1627
02:37:22,290 --> 02:37:25,610
Great. Intentional homicide.

1628
02:37:28,030 --> 02:37:33,850
The sexual assault of a child at gunpoint. In the daytime. Near the street.

1629
02:37:34,910 --> 02:37:42,630
Not by a family member. Do you know what that means? Street crime, the likes of which carry cannot comprehend.

1630
02:37:43,430 --> 02:37:50,390
I moved here from Atlanta, and I can tell you, even in the areas where taxpayers feel

1631
02:37:50,390 --> 02:37:55,210
buffered, from crime, it will arrive on your doorstep.

1632
02:37:58,350 --> 02:38:01,610
And I will tell you, the ballot box

1633
02:38:01,610 --> 02:38:05,890
will arrive on yours. Vote? No.

1634
02:38:22,570 --> 02:38:25,430
Our next speaker is Thomas Volvai, Candace Demattis.

1635
02:38:31,540 --> 02:38:36,580
My name is Tom Keller, her IML, resident of Lockmeer.

1636
02:38:36,880 --> 02:38:39,060
I've been in Carries since 1992.

1637
02:38:41,580 --> 02:38:43,360
Although I do not have a Southern accent,

1638
02:38:43,940 --> 02:38:45,960
you can tell them from the Boston area.

1639
02:38:47,940 --> 02:38:49,920
I was born in Beaford, South Carolina,

1640
02:38:50,160 --> 02:38:51,920
so that qualifies me to be here.

1641
02:38:52,640 --> 02:38:54,320
So with that said,

1642
02:38:55,100 --> 02:38:57,860
I mentioned that I'm from the Boston area.

1643
02:38:57,860 --> 02:39:07,960
And my personal life story is I grew up under the Cambridge Housing Authority in Boston.

1644
02:39:09,820 --> 02:39:16,140
Similar projects, we call them projects, similar arrangements to this proposed arrangement,

1645
02:39:17,840 --> 02:39:23,060
similar situations, similar wanting to do good for the community,

1646
02:39:23,060 --> 02:39:27,000
and then ramped mismanagement.

1647
02:39:28,680 --> 02:39:34,620
That mismanagement caused a lot of grief on my family.

1648
02:39:35,680 --> 02:39:39,740
I have scars to approve that it was mismanaged.

1649
02:39:40,340 --> 02:39:41,500
I have a stab wound.

1650
02:39:42,380 --> 02:39:46,260
And that is something that I don't want anywhere

1651
02:39:46,260 --> 02:39:52,660
in our carry community, especially managed by a housing authority

1652
02:39:52,660 --> 02:39:59,240
and a housing authority that is not within the care limits and not controlled by care.

1653
02:40:00,060 --> 02:40:10,620
Now I know other folks have gone over the money, the 219 by 30 years, 6.5 million adjusted

1654
02:40:10,620 --> 02:40:16,840
for inflation up to 11 million and if you take the other numbers and say, well actually

1655
02:40:16,840 --> 02:40:24,260
The inflation adjustment of 2%, it should be 5%, it just goes up into astronomical numbers.

1656
02:40:27,000 --> 02:40:33,360
But I came to carry 92, like I said, I worked my way through carry in different neighborhoods.

1657
02:40:34,420 --> 02:40:39,780
And my whole goal was to live at Lockmeyer, to live in that environment.

1658
02:40:41,400 --> 02:40:42,800
I think I deserve that right.

1659
02:40:43,820 --> 02:40:46,380
I think I deserve to preserve that, right?

1660
02:40:47,040 --> 02:40:57,160
Amber, what itself is a giveback where we provide, not subsidized housing for honest people

1661
02:40:57,160 --> 02:40:59,260
to make a living to grow and carry.

1662
02:40:59,340 --> 02:41:00,340
We provide that already.

1663
02:41:00,780 --> 02:41:03,820
There's no reason to remove this.

1664
02:41:05,720 --> 02:41:10,000
And I wanted to say things like, well, I'm a disabled veteran, which I am.

1665
02:41:10,000 --> 02:41:21,840
I have struggled, I've seen what these housing authorities who present, you know, delusions

1666
02:41:21,840 --> 02:41:24,360
of grandeur and what they actually deliver.

1667
02:41:25,260 --> 02:41:31,000
I've seen the rats and the sewers, I've seen trash piled up as high as the second story

1668
02:41:31,000 --> 02:41:33,400
within the project I've lived in.

1669
02:41:33,400 --> 02:41:43,660
I've seen the riot police come in every Friday and Saturday night and throw tear gas to where we have to close our windows and we can't go outside.

1670
02:41:44,500 --> 02:41:53,980
These are all places that are managed by the housing authority who I don't even think is in here in the room anymore to hear these comments.

1671
02:41:54,980 --> 02:42:00,980
So, I may be speaking on that, but yeah, that's my observation and that's when I'm going to stand on.

1672
02:42:03,060 --> 02:42:11,180
I do know through articles within different papers and news feeds and all that,

1673
02:42:12,740 --> 02:42:16,480
that the rally housing authority and the current owners have bragged to say,

1674
02:42:16,640 --> 02:42:18,040
well, we don't really need your approval.

1675
02:42:19,460 --> 02:42:21,380
We can go ahead with this without your approval.

1676
02:42:21,380 --> 02:42:28,100
So then don't give it to them, don't give them the tax break, which is what they probably need and they desire.

1677
02:42:29,620 --> 02:42:34,080
Let them do what they want to do if that's what they can do and do it.

1678
02:42:34,580 --> 02:42:38,720
I guarantee you they won't go ahead if you don't approve this and give them the tax break.

1679
02:42:41,320 --> 02:42:49,140
After all my years of service through the military, I think I deserve and I think my community deserves

1680
02:42:49,140 --> 02:42:53,520
And I think Kerry deserves your consideration in this issue.

1681
02:42:54,480 --> 02:42:56,080
Just don't give them the authority.

1682
02:42:58,740 --> 02:42:59,440
That's all I can say.

1683
02:42:59,640 --> 02:43:01,820
Except for this is financial bad for Kerry.

1684
02:43:02,740 --> 02:43:05,720
It's very stressful for the current Amber Woods residents.

1685
02:43:06,520 --> 02:43:08,340
Who eventually would be kicked out?

1686
02:43:08,520 --> 02:43:10,180
And I know something up now.

1687
02:43:10,940 --> 02:43:14,280
And the surrounding thousands of Kerry residents

1688
02:43:14,280 --> 02:43:20,640
to support your, what we have here in Carey.

1689
02:43:22,590 --> 02:43:26,550
I think we know that the word transparency came by tonight.

1690
02:43:27,190 --> 02:43:28,430
And I think this is your moment.

1691
02:43:28,990 --> 02:43:30,790
You want to, you want to make things right.

1692
02:43:31,610 --> 02:43:35,050
Be transparent about this, and not vote for it.

1693
02:43:35,750 --> 02:43:36,170
Thank you.

1694
02:43:46,440 --> 02:43:48,280
Our next speaker is Candice Demadas,

1695
02:43:49,280 --> 02:43:50,380
followed by stormy forte.

1696
02:44:01,500 --> 02:44:02,120
Who's after?

1697
02:44:02,120 --> 02:44:08,160
So Candice, then stormy, and Paula, and China, and then Sina.

1698
02:44:09,640 --> 02:44:10,900
So it's Candice here.

1699
02:44:12,890 --> 02:44:13,950
Okay, who's the next speaker?

1700
02:44:14,010 --> 02:44:14,350
Story.

1701
02:44:15,650 --> 02:44:16,190
Or tape?

1702
02:44:16,890 --> 02:44:17,550
Paula, Bob Paula.

1703
02:44:18,250 --> 02:44:19,210
The stormy here.

1704
02:44:21,190 --> 02:44:21,730
Next speaker.

1705
02:44:22,410 --> 02:44:22,690
Paula.

1706
02:44:29,570 --> 02:44:30,150
Good evening.

1707
02:44:32,150 --> 02:44:33,770
I am a resident of Kerry.

1708
02:44:33,810 --> 02:44:35,050
My name's Paula Mansino.

1709
02:44:35,230 --> 02:44:36,910
I live on Franklin Heights Road.

1710
02:44:37,970 --> 02:44:44,910
and Amber Wood is adjacent to my neighborhood. I live off of Piny Plains.

1711
02:44:46,090 --> 02:44:56,210
Ms. Donna over here is a resident. How many years? 40 years. Her husband came to the same town

1712
02:44:56,210 --> 02:44:59,850
and insisted that they paid the road before they built Amber Wood.

1713
02:45:00,000 --> 02:45:26,120
It was dirt. She worked for the state, her husband worked for the state, her son worked for the state. He had to beg and plead for them to keep the trees up for the buffer swear, deers can live in the woods. I make $15.50 an hour. I teach preschool. My husband works hard. I have a son on the spectrum. I don't need to worry about what's going to happen behind those woods.

1714
02:45:26,120 --> 02:45:31,200
to the people that live there. Now to miss Donna should have to put up a fence.

1715
02:45:32,620 --> 02:45:40,700
She's widow. Her son has some needs. She shouldn't have to worry.

1716
02:45:41,400 --> 02:45:49,300
Her husband helped make that area as beautiful as it is because he had to come here and tell you people how to go by the laws.

1717
02:45:49,300 --> 02:45:56,020
that the developers have to put up a stop sign and a sidewalk, and they have to pay

1718
02:45:56,020 --> 02:46:03,320
the road. This is not rocket science. It's called legal zoning protocols.

1719
02:46:06,020 --> 02:46:07,360
The presentation

1720
02:46:07,360 --> 02:46:15,660
neglected to mention the Wake County taxes that Raleigh would be exempt from, which

1721
02:46:15,660 --> 02:46:19,420
I think is a lot more than $200 in something thousand dollars per year.

1722
02:46:20,460 --> 02:46:20,560
Okay.

1723
02:46:20,860 --> 02:46:22,420
I'm sure one of you knows the number.

1724
02:46:24,500 --> 02:46:24,620
Okay.

1725
02:46:25,500 --> 02:46:27,860
725,000 times 30 years.

1726
02:46:28,320 --> 02:46:30,580
I'm not a statistician, but I know that's a lot of money.

1727
02:46:33,120 --> 02:46:33,920
I love Kerry.

1728
02:46:35,100 --> 02:46:35,500
How much?

1729
02:46:36,280 --> 02:46:37,200
21 million dollars.

1730
02:46:37,260 --> 02:46:38,420
Why don't you all pay that?

1731
02:46:38,780 --> 02:46:39,000
Okay.

1732
02:46:39,140 --> 02:46:40,020
You write us a check.

1733
02:46:40,700 --> 02:46:40,720
Okay.

1734
02:46:41,160 --> 02:46:42,180
Get out to check folks.

1735
02:46:43,260 --> 02:46:43,980
God bless me.

1736
02:46:43,980 --> 02:46:49,960
Let me be nice. Okay. I love Kerry. I love their towns people. They're hard working.

1737
02:46:50,260 --> 02:46:55,180
They're kind and they're honest people. They're from all over the world, by the way.

1738
02:46:56,600 --> 02:47:01,340
Okay. I'm here to speak my peace. There's neighbors in my area that are disabled,

1739
02:47:01,560 --> 02:47:04,720
that are veterans that have adult children on the spectrum.

1740
02:47:05,000 --> 02:47:08,980
And they shouldn't have to be afraid to walk down the street because we're going to put in

1741
02:47:10,040 --> 02:47:13,000
subsidized housing in our backyard.

1742
02:47:13,820 --> 02:47:15,600
My husband works a long hours.

1743
02:47:15,800 --> 02:47:18,140
I should not be afraid who's walking down my street.

1744
02:47:18,620 --> 02:47:21,960
My son should not have to be afraid because he's on the autism spectrum.

1745
02:47:22,140 --> 02:47:23,520
Somebody might run him down.

1746
02:47:23,680 --> 02:47:25,180
We've got one lady in the neighborhood.

1747
02:47:25,520 --> 02:47:26,240
We're going to catch her.

1748
02:47:29,850 --> 02:47:33,570
I want our tax dollars to stay in carry.

1749
02:47:34,310 --> 02:47:36,330
So we can hire more police officers.

1750
02:47:36,330 --> 02:47:41,800
So people could call 911 and not be put on hold for God's sake.

1751
02:47:43,470 --> 02:47:47,830
How many people have called 911 in the town of Cary and can't get somebody to answer?

1752
02:47:49,350 --> 02:47:51,050
Where is the money for that?

1753
02:47:54,800 --> 02:47:59,230
I do not want you to vote yes on this

1754
02:48:00,460 --> 02:48:05,580
The tax money deserves to stay in the town of Cary.

1755
02:48:05,580 --> 02:48:10,080
There are people living in our community now, it used to be Swift Creek and then it became

1756
02:48:10,080 --> 02:48:12,160
Tonic Care and everyone thought that would be wonderful.

1757
02:48:12,540 --> 02:48:18,780
De-duke's raising our rates, y'all approve that, okay, the water's going up, there we go.

1758
02:48:19,300 --> 02:48:24,200
You said we're going to have our taxes up 3.5, well we talked it down to 2.5, thank you, but

1759
02:48:24,200 --> 02:48:25,200
no thank you.

1760
02:48:25,600 --> 02:48:33,260
Last time I checked, I didn't get a 2.5% increase in my wages and in my neighbors' social

1761
02:48:33,260 --> 02:48:43,740
security in those veterans benefits. Did you get a 2.5 raise? You did. Good for you. I'm sure you'll put some to charity.

1762
02:48:46,280 --> 02:49:00,180
Okay. The wealthy people living in carry and all of us other folks living in carry do not want folks that need affordable housing to go without that needs to be clear here.

1763
02:49:00,180 --> 02:49:08,300
No one is here putting people down that live in a place that has affordable housing, okay?

1764
02:49:08,760 --> 02:49:13,240
I am speaking from experience. I lived near the projects in St. Paul, Minnesota.

1765
02:49:13,680 --> 02:49:18,430
And I know what section eight subsidized housing looks like.

1766
02:49:19,280 --> 02:49:22,360
And it's scary. And it's not everybody that lives there.

1767
02:49:22,440 --> 02:49:25,580
Only takes about 10% to take the whole place down.

1768
02:49:25,580 --> 02:49:30,800
and you are going to lose money if you approve it because guess what people are going to

1769
02:49:30,800 --> 02:49:35,740
be leaving in droves is that what you want for the town of carry and see no okay I'm

1770
02:49:35,740 --> 02:49:41,780
a six so I want you to realize that if you allow that to happen you will see higher crime

1771
02:49:41,780 --> 02:49:46,260
rates you will see drug related crimes no one wants to talk about the drugs but that comes

1772
02:49:46,260 --> 02:49:53,060
with it I'm as expired last time and let's remember the child abuse in neglect I'm prayerful

1773
02:49:53,060 --> 02:50:00,220
that the town of Carrey, God bless you, it's true, we'll make the right decision and not sell amberwood

1774
02:50:00,220 --> 02:50:02,580
because we have serious concerns.

1775
02:50:03,960 --> 02:50:11,260
Some people like myself, our home property values are all the only investment I have.

1776
02:50:11,600 --> 02:50:13,260
I'm going to be 55 years old.

1777
02:50:13,880 --> 02:50:17,800
I would like to stay in my house until I'm no longer alive.

1778
02:50:18,260 --> 02:50:20,260
I'd like my son to inherit that house.

1779
02:50:20,260 --> 02:50:29,640
I would like my son to be able to keep the property value so he can have something to live off of and not be paying for subsidized housing.

1780
02:50:30,180 --> 02:50:31,360
Thank you. God bless you.

1781
02:50:36,200 --> 02:50:39,020
Our next speaker is Tim Brock.

1782
02:50:47,080 --> 02:50:48,120
All about Thomas Hozy.

1783
02:50:57,810 --> 02:51:00,230
Good evening. My name is Tim Brock.

1784
02:51:00,750 --> 02:51:04,930
I am also a resident of Lockmear and a resident of Kerry.

1785
02:51:04,930 --> 02:51:11,750
I came tonight to voice my support for affordable housing and the resolution before you right now.

1786
02:51:12,210 --> 02:51:17,450
I think it's really important as a community benefit that we have affordable housing and I think carry

1787
02:51:17,450 --> 02:51:21,930
recognizes that as it's in a lot of our plans and our visioning.

1788
02:51:22,690 --> 02:51:28,050
I also think that it's important to keep these wonderful people in place that are already here at Amberwood.

1789
02:51:28,490 --> 02:51:29,850
Many might be here tonight.

1790
02:51:29,850 --> 02:51:34,630
I think there are critical members and valuable members of our community and I think we need

1791
02:51:34,630 --> 02:51:39,350
to support them staying here so they can work and engage in living carry and don't have to

1792
02:51:39,350 --> 02:51:41,710
make long commutes to stay part of our community.

1793
02:51:42,950 --> 02:51:48,910
I also think in terms of when you think about affordable housing, it's also people who have already

1794
02:51:48,910 --> 02:51:53,950
living here who maybe have parents that can't afford to come and live in carry and they need

1795
02:51:53,950 --> 02:51:58,190
a place to stay nearby and they can sort of engage in affordable housing.

1796
02:51:58,190 --> 02:52:02,270
And I know that's been something that over the years has been an issue with my family.

1797
02:52:03,150 --> 02:52:07,310
And so I think it's really important that we have affordable housing and carry.

1798
02:52:08,050 --> 02:52:13,630
In terms of the cost proposition, I think it's this is a very good cost proposition for affordable

1799
02:52:13,630 --> 02:52:14,110
housing.

1800
02:52:14,510 --> 02:52:19,650
When you think about what it would take to buy land, construct and develop affordable housing

1801
02:52:19,650 --> 02:52:26,590
in the maintenance cost, that is way more expensive than for going to $100,000 in taxes

1802
02:52:26,590 --> 02:52:27,050
a year.

1803
02:52:27,050 --> 02:52:29,830
I think this is really important and really worth

1804
02:52:29,830 --> 02:52:32,590
worth doing because it is a fraction of the cost

1805
02:52:32,590 --> 02:52:35,710
to get affordable housing that we want to need and carry.

1806
02:52:38,220 --> 02:52:40,120
In terms of community character,

1807
02:52:40,540 --> 02:52:42,460
the Intuence of Community Character,

1808
02:52:42,740 --> 02:52:44,620
Amber Wood is already there,

1809
02:52:45,240 --> 02:52:46,600
and they've been wonderful neighbors

1810
02:52:46,600 --> 02:52:48,700
and those residential stay in place.

1811
02:52:48,900 --> 02:52:51,980
And I think that it'll continue to create a great,

1812
02:52:51,980 --> 02:52:54,040
and it'll continue to,

1813
02:52:54,040 --> 02:52:56,300
it'll continue to create great neighbors

1814
02:52:56,300 --> 02:52:57,620
and a great place to be.

1815
02:52:57,620 --> 02:53:12,320
And so I think in terms of this, my biggest concern is that if the deal were to fall through an RAHA doesn't get this property and a predatory development company comes and looks as an extract of opportunity to disinvest and to grade the property.

1816
02:53:12,900 --> 02:53:16,640
And if we see a dilapidated property then that really will impact community character.

1817
02:53:16,840 --> 02:53:18,680
So I have concerns about that.

1818
02:53:22,140 --> 02:53:29,320
So to reaffirm I am a locker resident and I am very much in support of affordable housing in this proposition

1819
02:53:29,320 --> 02:53:31,820
And I want to thank you for your time this evening.

1820
02:53:38,450 --> 02:53:41,830
Our next speaker is Thomas Hosing followed by Reynolds Nippie.

1821
02:53:42,050 --> 02:53:44,750
I'm sorry could you repeat the name Thomas Hosing?

1822
02:53:45,250 --> 02:53:46,390
Yes followed by Reynolds.

1823
02:53:47,310 --> 02:53:47,830
Okay.

1824
02:53:50,110 --> 02:53:57,890
Mayor and Council people, I am Thomas, I'm Thomas, I'm Thomas, I live in Carrey homeowner

1825
02:53:57,890 --> 02:54:03,810
there in the Winston Ridge Development. I had two have concerns with the RHA proposal for

1826
02:54:03,810 --> 02:54:10,130
the public housing in Ambulance. This would eliminate approximately 236,000 to the city over

1827
02:54:10,130 --> 02:54:15,650
500,000 of the county property tax annually, all while property tax and carity was just increased

1828
02:54:15,650 --> 02:54:19,830
by the Council, 8%, another three and a half percent by the county.

1829
02:54:20,630 --> 02:54:25,470
However, the needs for amberwood services would continue but unfunded.

1830
02:54:25,970 --> 02:54:29,850
Property values in the fabric of the community are great concern.

1831
02:54:30,450 --> 02:54:35,270
Neither RHA or WAKE housing authority, oh no, operate apartments in carry.

1832
02:54:35,830 --> 02:54:41,890
They primarily use vouchers for single units, the owner pays the property tax, and hundreds

1833
02:54:41,890 --> 02:54:45,110
of units are not concentrated in one location.

1834
02:54:46,350 --> 02:54:51,330
Large scale public housing in carry would be a first, an experiment, if you will, without

1835
02:54:51,330 --> 02:54:51,930
precedent.

1836
02:54:52,610 --> 02:54:59,290
In fact, there is only one publicly owned complex of comparable size in concentration in the

1837
02:54:59,290 --> 02:55:03,010
entire state of North Carolina, and that is McDougal Terrace in Durham.

1838
02:55:03,810 --> 02:55:10,350
This large complex and Jay Scenario experienced dramatically high crimes, as well as many associated

1839
02:55:10,350 --> 02:55:16,990
challenges, violent crimes. Comprehensive studies that are not limited to just low-income areas

1840
02:55:16,990 --> 02:55:22,990
and actually distinguish between affluent areas and low-income indicate when public housing

1841
02:55:22,990 --> 02:55:30,770
incurs in affluent areas such as carry, property values do fall. They go down, as opposed to

1842
02:55:30,770 --> 02:55:36,890
when built in lower-income areas, where values can remain stable or actually increase. A few examples

1843
02:55:36,890 --> 02:55:44,550
of comprehensive studies that make this finding include a 2016, a 2019 Stanford University study,

1844
02:55:45,050 --> 02:55:52,250
a 2016 Harvard University study with work noted economist Rebecca Diamond and Tim

1845
02:55:52,250 --> 02:55:59,630
Quaid, as well as a 2016 urban studies that specifically focused on the Charlotte area, just

1846
02:55:59,630 --> 02:56:04,950
the name of few. Additionally, the City Council has no future input into this experiment.

1847
02:56:04,950 --> 02:56:14,410
RHA can make any changes they choose at any time without regard to how this impacts the surrounding areas or the required city service levels.

1848
02:56:15,210 --> 02:56:23,950
According to RAL on WRAL on July 16, Wake County and various rally agencies are seeking to house 400 homeless people.

1849
02:56:25,010 --> 02:56:29,970
Each year, they have a budget of 22 million, which is great, so they will be housed.

1850
02:56:29,970 --> 02:56:33,750
Would RHA unilaterally decide to house them at Amberwood?

1851
02:56:34,530 --> 02:56:35,970
It is definitely more than possible.

1852
02:56:36,530 --> 02:56:39,530
Again, carry council would not be a decision-maker on this.

1853
02:56:39,970 --> 02:56:44,170
This is not a carry-marigold development model, which is great.

1854
02:56:44,710 --> 02:56:46,370
It's a very different approach.

1855
02:56:47,430 --> 02:56:49,990
Amberwood does a pride, naturally caring, affordable housing,

1856
02:56:50,190 --> 02:56:51,750
many as many have already stated.

1857
02:56:52,530 --> 02:56:58,790
Changing this to public subsidized housing will not add any affordable units.

1858
02:56:58,790 --> 02:57:04,750
This is already occurring has been stated 50 to 52 percent low-mod AMI and 96 percent

1859
02:57:04,750 --> 02:57:10,250
occupied. However, if approved, it would remove needed property tax.

1860
02:57:11,170 --> 02:57:16,170
Negatively impact adjacent property values supported by comprehensive studies that conclude this

1861
02:57:16,170 --> 02:57:21,710
in affluent areas. Remove Council as a decision maker. Council's responsibility,

1862
02:57:21,890 --> 02:57:25,530
as you know, is to promote stable home values, public safety,

1863
02:57:25,530 --> 02:57:31,650
risk or responsibility and ensure the continuity of the fabric of the community for existing

1864
02:57:31,650 --> 02:57:37,490
resonance. This is why we elected you and purchased homes in carry rather than less expensive

1865
02:57:37,490 --> 02:57:44,790
homes in other communities. Removing 340 units from the tax roll while taxes increased on existing

1866
02:57:44,790 --> 02:57:51,310
homeowners jeopardizing existing property values and eliminating oversight simply does not fulfill

1867
02:57:51,310 --> 02:57:54,510
of the risk responsibility owed to existing carry residents.

1868
02:57:55,730 --> 02:57:59,630
The intentions are great, but the downside at this location,

1869
02:58:00,090 --> 02:58:03,810
at this concentrated size, at this fiscal juncture,

1870
02:58:04,410 --> 02:58:05,730
are just not in the best instruments

1871
02:58:05,730 --> 02:58:07,790
of current carry residents.

1872
02:58:08,670 --> 02:58:11,750
I would urge you to please vote no on this.

1873
02:58:12,010 --> 02:58:13,630
Thank you very much, I appreciate your time.

1874
02:58:21,830 --> 02:58:25,210
Our next speaker is Rinal.

1875
02:58:25,850 --> 02:58:28,570
Okay, followed by Eric Northeine.

1876
02:58:33,140 --> 02:58:33,660
A lot of paper.

1877
02:58:34,080 --> 02:58:34,460
There you go.

1878
02:58:34,720 --> 02:58:35,720
Oh, by the way.

1879
02:58:36,160 --> 02:58:37,260
That's what you're on.

1880
02:58:40,320 --> 02:58:42,060
Good evening, Mr. Mayor.

1881
02:58:43,320 --> 02:58:44,240
And council members.

1882
02:58:46,200 --> 02:58:47,780
That gentleman was right.

1883
02:58:48,800 --> 02:58:51,620
A lot of you folks are somewhat on the record

1884
02:58:51,620 --> 02:58:54,520
of being in favor of affordable housing

1885
02:58:54,520 --> 02:58:55,620
and an authority.

1886
02:58:58,590 --> 02:58:59,610
Don't vote your dream.

1887
02:58:59,850 --> 02:59:00,690
Vote your reality.

1888
02:59:00,950 --> 02:59:01,570
If you please.

1889
02:59:01,570 --> 02:59:07,890
The reality, this gentleman just gave you the reality, and it's not as good as a dream.

1890
02:59:09,230 --> 02:59:12,690
Everywhere is a success, and it's someone before me said it.

1891
02:59:12,770 --> 02:59:13,510
But you're alone.

1892
02:59:15,030 --> 02:59:15,290
Okay.

1893
02:59:16,750 --> 02:59:20,850
Now I do have about two minutes, maybe or less.

1894
02:59:23,210 --> 02:59:26,510
And it's in big print, so it'll go real quick, and it's only two sides.

1895
02:59:29,050 --> 02:59:36,410
Okay, comments on the rally housing authority coming to carry with the rally program.

1896
02:59:37,110 --> 02:59:39,930
Number one, this is a back door entry.

1897
02:59:40,450 --> 02:59:43,430
You folks have been talking about tonight, about transparency.

1898
02:59:44,090 --> 02:59:45,410
This is a back door entry.

1899
02:59:45,990 --> 02:59:52,450
Carry has not initiated a housing authority, and it's not therefore debated it publicly or

1900
02:59:52,450 --> 02:59:57,870
a thought of vote, a approval of our citizens to undertake such a costly program.

1901
02:59:58,630 --> 02:59:59,950
We may be in favor of it.

1902
03:00:00,140 --> 03:00:14,300
But this is a backdoor effort. Number two, North Carolina State Auditor, a part of me for talking about what's happened in the last six days.

1903
03:00:16,650 --> 03:00:31,390
North Carolina State Auditor, only a week ago released a 2600 page investigative report detailing, to quote WRAL, widespread financial best management within the Tana Carey.

1904
03:00:32,430 --> 03:00:41,170
Number three, again I quote WRAL's article, quote Extravagant Spending Investigation

1905
03:00:41,170 --> 03:00:51,470
Reviews, Curries, Fund Balance, Cell Ballot Policy Specials, in fiscal 2023, and fiscal 2024,

1906
03:00:52,910 --> 03:00:53,810
and a quote.

1907
03:00:55,030 --> 03:01:01,370
Number four, if members of the town council of Kerry vote yes, on this agenda item

1908
03:01:01,370 --> 03:01:09,370
tonight, your U.S. will reduce carries real estate income tax, carries income, pounds

1909
03:01:09,370 --> 03:01:16,150
income, it was put up tonight, about $130,000 plus dollars, just the first year.

1910
03:01:18,090 --> 03:01:24,990
Because the rally housing authority, as you have heard, and no, is tax exempt.

1911
03:01:26,610 --> 03:01:31,110
Number five, I ask you, each and every member of this town council.

1912
03:01:31,850 --> 03:01:34,890
Please vote no, on Raleigh's request.

1913
03:01:36,270 --> 03:01:36,650
Thank you.

1914
03:01:44,280 --> 03:01:48,700
Our next speaker is Eric Northheim, all of our Roy Miller.

1915
03:02:00,290 --> 03:02:02,090
Hello, my name is Eric Northheim.

1916
03:02:02,290 --> 03:02:05,830
I've been a carrier resident for more than 43 years now.

1917
03:02:06,110 --> 03:02:08,910
In fact, I've been a lock mirror resident for 39 years.

1918
03:02:09,350 --> 03:02:11,550
I've seen the area quite a bit.

1919
03:02:11,550 --> 03:02:21,310
I am on the Board of Directors of the Lockmeer Homeowners Association, so I'm going to give you the view of our HOA.

1920
03:02:22,750 --> 03:02:29,950
I appreciate you letting me stand up here and address all of you and speak on behalf of the Lockmeer Homeowners Association.

1921
03:02:31,090 --> 03:02:40,030
We represent about 1,966 properties and owners, including our billet.

1922
03:02:40,750 --> 03:02:44,390
We do recognize the importance of affordable housing and carry.

1923
03:02:44,850 --> 03:02:45,470
It's very important.

1924
03:02:46,490 --> 03:02:53,990
That's why we've had Amber Wood working as an NOAAH, I guess you call it, for 35 years.

1925
03:02:54,910 --> 03:03:03,030
But, however, we have received quite a bit of feedback from our residents and the overwhelming majority oppose this resolution.

1926
03:03:04,450 --> 03:03:07,450
So, we respectfully ask the council to vote no tonight.

1927
03:03:09,050 --> 03:03:13,070
First, I would like to highlight three concerns.

1928
03:03:13,090 --> 03:03:19,910
I'll try not to cover items that are already been covered, so I'll modify some of the words on here.

1929
03:03:20,950 --> 03:03:27,830
But the things I'd like to talk about are the benefits of the carry, financial impacts, and lack of transparency.

1930
03:03:29,190 --> 03:03:34,110
So first, the benefits of the carry remain very unclear to a lot of us.

1931
03:03:35,850 --> 03:03:42,830
The accelerated timeline has allowed little opportunity to evaluate the long-term impacts of this significant change.

1932
03:03:43,950 --> 03:03:55,030
This resolution would authorize the rally housing authority to obtain jurisdiction and carry and that goes a long way.

1933
03:03:55,770 --> 03:04:07,430
I think even on the slides and we saw at the beginning, we said that the rally housing authority is going to set aside a minimum of 51% of the units as a low income housing.

1934
03:04:07,430 --> 03:04:09,910
What do you think is going to happen to those

1935
03:04:09,910 --> 03:04:13,730
and what residents when their lease comes to you?

1936
03:04:13,730 --> 03:04:15,810
They're not going to qualify for that.

1937
03:04:16,390 --> 03:04:19,030
So they will be displaced, but other people in there.

1938
03:04:22,470 --> 03:04:24,710
So before approving this resolution,

1939
03:04:24,930 --> 03:04:27,030
the council really should have clear answers

1940
03:04:27,030 --> 03:04:29,370
about whether the rally housing authority,

1941
03:04:29,670 --> 03:04:31,870
ownership would change occupancy policies

1942
03:04:31,870 --> 03:04:34,210
and whether current care to residents

1943
03:04:34,210 --> 03:04:35,650
would continue to be served.

1944
03:04:36,970 --> 03:04:41,130
Second, the financial impact deserves careful consideration.

1945
03:04:42,290 --> 03:04:47,290
A lot of the speakers have been up here talking about the reduction in taxes and things

1946
03:04:47,290 --> 03:04:47,750
like that.

1947
03:04:47,750 --> 03:04:53,410
I'm not going to cover all those numbers again, but at the same time that you have reduced

1948
03:04:53,410 --> 03:04:59,250
amounts, you're still, the time is still going to be responsible for providing police,

1949
03:04:59,530 --> 03:05:02,090
fire, transportation, and other municipal services.

1950
03:05:02,090 --> 03:05:09,490
And in fact, there's a lot of research that said that might actually go up based on the use of it.

1951
03:05:11,970 --> 03:05:17,110
So where would that come from? The residents observed and know how this law's gravity would be

1952
03:05:17,110 --> 03:05:23,870
offset in what impact it could have on our own future town services or our property taxes.

1953
03:05:25,210 --> 03:05:30,910
So I think you don't consider that. Then third, the public process is lack transparency.

1954
03:05:31,570 --> 03:05:38,090
I mean, that's just very obvious, but legal notice was issued on July 10th, and that we

1955
03:05:38,090 --> 03:05:43,230
let's less and two weeks for public review, less and two weeks.

1956
03:05:44,210 --> 03:05:48,790
I think you had to over what 144 comments, is that what I heard the number was?

1957
03:05:49,550 --> 03:05:53,430
Neither the locking or association nor neighboring communities received direct notification.

1958
03:05:54,490 --> 03:05:55,950
So we did not get that.

1959
03:05:56,190 --> 03:05:58,210
We found out about it by word of mouth.

1960
03:05:59,460 --> 03:06:09,900
So, I don't think that's a very transparent decision with long-term consequences should include

1961
03:06:09,900 --> 03:06:15,460
meaningful public engagement and really not a rushed process that this is.

1962
03:06:16,460 --> 03:06:22,220
So the resolution tonight is more than just a procedural action and I've read those words

1963
03:06:22,220 --> 03:06:23,520
in from the staff.

1964
03:06:23,520 --> 03:06:34,400
This really could establish a precedent for outside housing authorities to acquire and operate properties and carry without a clear obligation to benefit carry residents.

1965
03:06:34,400 --> 03:06:40,940
So, we're in closing, let's say the Lockmeer Homeowners Association respectfully urges the

1966
03:06:40,940 --> 03:06:44,160
Council to vote no, I would

1967
03:06:51,940 --> 03:06:59,380
reiterate, reiterate also at minimum if you don't vote

1968
03:06:59,380 --> 03:07:05,120
no that you vote to defer this and gather the facts that you have clear answers regarding

1969
03:07:05,120 --> 03:07:06,120
occupancy policies.

1970
03:07:06,600 --> 03:07:06,940
Thank you.

1971
03:07:07,020 --> 03:07:11,720
A thorough financial impact analysis and an open public dialogue with the taxpayers who will

1972
03:07:11,720 --> 03:07:12,040
be affected.

1973
03:07:12,580 --> 03:07:13,180
Thank you.

1974
03:07:19,450 --> 03:07:22,530
Our next speaker is Rory Miller, followed my Mary Kits.

1975
03:07:28,910 --> 03:07:32,210
Hi, my name is Rory Miller, and I'd like most of the people before me.

1976
03:07:32,370 --> 03:07:34,790
I'm a homeowner in Lockham, here.

1977
03:07:35,510 --> 03:07:38,570
I want to start with, I'm not going to focus on the crime and all that.

1978
03:07:39,110 --> 03:07:41,430
Demographic, anything like that, that's outside my purview.

1979
03:07:42,170 --> 03:07:43,330
I want to focus on RHA.

1980
03:07:43,890 --> 03:07:46,890
They were formed in 1938, 88 years ago.

1981
03:07:47,550 --> 03:07:50,870
Today, I don't know that they've ever owned a property outside of Rally City limits.

1982
03:07:51,130 --> 03:07:54,250
Why now? Why are our neighborhood? Why carry?

1983
03:07:57,880 --> 03:08:00,240
I understand the need for affordable housing.

1984
03:08:00,600 --> 03:08:06,580
I've lived in I assume much roughly places than anybody sitting up there right now.

1985
03:08:07,100 --> 03:08:07,540
I've been there.

1986
03:08:08,000 --> 03:08:10,740
I don't judge on it, but there's some concerns for sure.

1987
03:08:11,020 --> 03:08:12,220
I'm going to go back to the whole process.

1988
03:08:12,400 --> 03:08:14,940
I'm going to speed up, so I don't run out of time like everybody else.

1989
03:08:15,900 --> 03:08:17,780
The first notice came out 10 days ago.

1990
03:08:18,140 --> 03:08:21,860
In that notice, I said the carry town council intends to adopt a resolution,

1991
03:08:22,240 --> 03:08:25,460
authorizing the Raleigh Housing Authority to acquire and rehabilitate.

1992
03:08:25,460 --> 03:08:34,320
The word intent is bothersome to me here, you didn't have the public hearing yet, you didn't listen to your constituents and you already made a decision.

1993
03:08:35,740 --> 03:08:42,860
It's not okay. Now there will be people for it and again, that's okay. We all have our opinion and that's what makes the democracy of America.

1994
03:08:44,100 --> 03:08:46,460
I'm here to hear everybody, it is what it is.

1995
03:08:47,700 --> 03:08:53,800
The word intent was bothersome to me because you guys seem to already have your thing and going back to what you campaign on,

1996
03:08:53,800 --> 03:08:55,660
Yes, many campaign on affordable housing.

1997
03:08:56,180 --> 03:08:58,980
Okay, you know, do what you campaign on.

1998
03:08:59,000 --> 03:09:02,800
The document I saw today, dock ID 8650 55,

1999
03:09:03,100 --> 03:09:06,640
attachment resolution was titled the resolution of the

2000
03:09:06,640 --> 03:09:09,540
carry town council authorizing the housing authority of

2001
03:09:09,540 --> 03:09:11,880
the city of Rally to acquire and rehabilitate a certain

2002
03:09:11,880 --> 03:09:14,020
multifamily housing development located in

2003
03:09:14,020 --> 03:09:14,680
carry.

2004
03:09:15,040 --> 03:09:17,420
It states that the housing authority of the city of

2005
03:09:17,420 --> 03:09:21,060
Rally has requested that the town authorized RHA to

2006
03:09:21,060 --> 03:09:23,620
operate and perform its lawful functions within the boundaries

2007
03:09:23,620 --> 03:09:29,840
of the town in connection with the acquisition and rehabilitation by RHA through its nonprofit

2008
03:09:29,840 --> 03:09:35,140
affiliate capital area developments incorporated. That's the first I heard of them. What's

2009
03:09:35,140 --> 03:09:42,140
the relationship? Do you guys all know? I looked it up. I know there was a name change. We'll go to

2010
03:09:42,140 --> 03:09:48,340
the corporate filings. We've got a ton of differentities here. RHA, Rolly Housing Authority, 11 properties

2011
03:09:48,340 --> 03:09:51,180
Please listen, wait county real estate, all in the city of Raleigh.

2012
03:09:51,200 --> 03:09:54,700
RHA Incorporate, Raleigh Housing Authority Incorporate, 15 properties,

2013
03:09:54,980 --> 03:09:57,420
listen, wait county real estate, all in the city of Raleigh.

2014
03:09:57,500 --> 03:10:01,500
Capital area developments incorporating non-profit, 80 properties,

2015
03:10:01,840 --> 03:10:04,520
listen, wait county, all in the city of Raleigh.

2016
03:10:05,080 --> 03:10:07,140
And then we have one for the Raleigh Housing Authority as well.

2017
03:10:07,320 --> 03:10:08,100
I assume it's an office.

2018
03:10:08,600 --> 03:10:11,640
107 total properties owned by all of these different entities,

2019
03:10:12,240 --> 03:10:13,500
all in Raleigh, zero and carry.

2020
03:10:13,500 --> 03:10:20,140
I think we support the affordable housing.

2021
03:10:20,860 --> 03:10:24,860
I think there's definitely questions of why to push us through in two weeks flat.

2022
03:10:25,540 --> 03:10:28,140
And then every time the information comes out, it's different.

2023
03:10:28,580 --> 03:10:33,500
And frankly, I don't know that I don't need to assume here,

2024
03:10:33,620 --> 03:10:38,620
but I'm not sure if you guys understand the corporate structure of these two different entities.

2025
03:10:38,620 --> 03:10:44,380
So, non-profit, who's buying it, is the non-profit buying it because I'm sure that's going

2026
03:10:44,380 --> 03:10:48,420
to change the way we govern them as far as lock mirror goes, as far as the town of

2027
03:10:48,420 --> 03:10:49,200
carry goes.

2028
03:10:49,660 --> 03:10:55,500
And like many others have said, basically, it seems like Raleigh's going to get their first

2029
03:10:55,500 --> 03:10:56,520
foot in the door.

2030
03:10:56,580 --> 03:11:00,920
Like I said, 88 years, they don't have any properties outside of Raleigh, and we're going

2031
03:11:00,920 --> 03:11:01,460
to be the first.

2032
03:11:02,240 --> 03:11:06,680
So, good or bad, can't tell you, but it'll have every one of your names attached to it,

2033
03:11:06,680 --> 03:11:11,740
If you vote yes on the resolution today, I

2034
03:11:15,640 --> 03:11:19,140
do want to go to one more thing, it kind of

2035
03:11:19,140 --> 03:11:20,560
relates to crime, but not really.

2036
03:11:21,860 --> 03:11:28,300
So federal lawsuit settled October 16, 2019 by RHA, per Fair Housing Project, a project

2037
03:11:28,300 --> 03:11:33,040
of legal aid of North Carolina, RHA settled a federal discrimination complaint filed against

2038
03:11:33,040 --> 03:11:37,460
the RHA, on behalf of a public housing tenant who was a victim of domestic violence.

2039
03:11:37,460 --> 03:11:48,140
The settlement includes a federal consent decree believe to be the first in the country to address the landlord's obligations under the EVAWA violence against women's act

2040
03:11:48,140 --> 03:11:48,420
well

2041
03:11:49,000 --> 03:11:54,000
They did a first don't know that that's a good thing. I feel bad for the woman though. Um, the tenant

2042
03:11:54,000 --> 03:12:00,920
Was the victim of multiple crime to enter housing unit violence perpetrated by an exploiter and who strangled her a home intruder who threatened her

2043
03:12:00,920 --> 03:12:05,020
at Gunpoint and our man plural who shot bullets into her apartment.

2044
03:12:05,660 --> 03:12:06,920
No, I'm not focusing on the crime.

2045
03:12:07,060 --> 03:12:09,840
No woman or nobody should have to go through that.

2046
03:12:10,040 --> 03:12:12,000
And that happened under RHA's watch,

2047
03:12:12,400 --> 03:12:14,280
and they had to settle it federally.

2048
03:12:14,520 --> 03:12:16,940
Thank you to Legal Aid of North Carolina for that.

2049
03:12:17,360 --> 03:12:20,560
If you do some research on the gentleman that was here,

2050
03:12:20,640 --> 03:12:23,260
I'm sure you'll find interesting things in every housing authority

2051
03:12:23,260 --> 03:12:24,840
relating to how he manages.

2052
03:12:26,160 --> 03:12:26,880
I guess that's it.

2053
03:12:27,020 --> 03:12:27,480
Thank you guys.

2054
03:12:35,640 --> 03:12:39,540
Our next speaker is Mary Kins, followed by a submit the partner.

2055
03:12:50,370 --> 03:12:53,970
Good evening, Mayor and town council staff.

2056
03:12:54,110 --> 03:12:55,150
Carrie folks.

2057
03:12:56,090 --> 03:12:57,590
My name is Mary Kins.

2058
03:12:59,550 --> 03:13:01,610
I'm employed at St. Paul's Episcopal Church.

2059
03:13:01,750 --> 03:13:05,010
I'm on staff there. My title is Community Connector.

2060
03:13:05,550 --> 03:13:08,890
I'm also a member of the Strategy Team of One Wake.

2061
03:13:11,330 --> 03:13:15,570
One Wake is formed so that we can reach beyond the boundaries of our

2062
03:13:15,570 --> 03:13:23,370
faith and try to connect, trying to connect people together to find a way to a more just and

2063
03:13:23,370 --> 03:13:24,310
loving world.

2064
03:13:27,390 --> 03:13:35,410
I'm really frustrated that this is happening tonight. Timing stinks. There's

2065
03:13:35,410 --> 03:13:43,890
an opportunity before us that has nothing to do with corruption. There's an opportunity

2066
03:13:43,890 --> 03:13:51,710
before us, and I feel like I'm in a time warp. Because 30 years ago, the thing that prompted

2067
03:13:51,710 --> 03:13:57,150
me and really spurred me to get involved in one wake was the time that I kept my mouth shut.

2068
03:13:57,790 --> 03:14:02,990
When the Episcopal Housing Ministry wanted to build affordable housing apartments in my backyard,

2069
03:14:03,390 --> 03:14:10,520
literally in the backyard of the first home I ever owned. And I said, who's going to live there?

2070
03:14:11,340 --> 03:14:18,920
And they said, single moms, people who are just trying to make it, and I said, you know what?

2071
03:14:18,920 --> 03:14:20,480
That's the neighborhood I grew up in.

2072
03:14:21,560 --> 03:14:23,180
Yeah, I want that in my backyard.

2073
03:14:23,760 --> 03:14:25,800
And my neighbors said, you are an idiot.

2074
03:14:26,400 --> 03:14:29,620
You're going to lose everything that you ever worked for in this house.

2075
03:14:30,560 --> 03:14:32,000
You're going to lose it all.

2076
03:14:32,240 --> 03:14:38,980
And so I shut up in the Episcopal Housing Ministry didn't build apartments on dynasty drive.

2077
03:14:40,770 --> 03:14:43,170
So here I am 30 years later,

2078
03:14:46,100 --> 03:14:50,940
and the mood is really not any different, except that the

2079
03:14:50,940 --> 03:14:53,280
town council is listening.

2080
03:14:54,700 --> 03:14:59,980
Now, you're taking it on the chin for listening, and I'm kind of embarrassed by that.

2081
03:15:00,000 --> 03:15:05,420
I'm sad about that. Stop please, let her speak.

2082
03:15:07,870 --> 03:15:14,470
You know, rent is expensive. Wages are not keeping pace. Dead is increasing.

2083
03:15:15,550 --> 03:15:24,390
No area in Wake County is getting ahead of this. We have got to work together to try to change this runaway system.

2084
03:15:24,390 --> 03:15:32,470
We have got to stop blaming people for the hardships that the system keeps piling on them.

2085
03:15:33,090 --> 03:15:35,610
We used to say people were down on their luck.

2086
03:15:36,290 --> 03:15:37,630
They come knocking at the church door.

2087
03:15:37,770 --> 03:15:40,350
We maybe didn't want to say that they were having a hard time.

2088
03:15:40,410 --> 03:15:41,690
No, they're down on their luck.

2089
03:15:41,950 --> 03:15:44,450
As if luck is the driving factor.

2090
03:15:45,470 --> 03:15:51,610
We have created a system that keeps pushing people into these crises.

2091
03:15:51,610 --> 03:15:55,210
We have to stop it.

2092
03:15:57,130 --> 03:16:00,470
Chathamah states was an issue in March.

2093
03:16:00,990 --> 03:16:04,530
I was there with my camera on the last day that they gathered.

2094
03:16:05,330 --> 03:16:08,210
I was there to capture the emotion of what was going on.

2095
03:16:08,830 --> 03:16:12,390
I captured the emotion of several of you town council members who were weeping

2096
03:16:12,390 --> 03:16:15,510
over the fact that these people were being wiped away.

2097
03:16:16,990 --> 03:16:22,510
People said, if only we had enough money that we could buy the land out from under them,

2098
03:16:22,510 --> 03:16:24,610
that we could keep them here.

2099
03:16:24,650 --> 03:16:28,730
If only we could invest in them, we cared about them.

2100
03:16:30,310 --> 03:16:31,970
We didn't have the money, we didn't have a superhero.

2101
03:16:31,970 --> 03:16:33,330
Please let her speak.

2102
03:16:33,630 --> 03:16:42,390
So now, when we're presented with a solution that will prevent profitability from taking over this land, what do we do?

2103
03:16:44,400 --> 03:16:48,520
We don't want that here, we don't trust them, we don't trust anybody.

2104
03:16:48,520 --> 03:16:55,300
profitability is the thing we can't afford to let these people live here. We keep calling them

2105
03:16:55,300 --> 03:17:06,040
these people as if it's not us. Where are our priorities? Good ideas don't stop at the boundaries

2106
03:17:06,040 --> 03:17:11,980
of our town. There's good ideas in Raleigh. There's good ideas in Zebulin. There's good ideas

2107
03:17:11,980 --> 03:17:13,000
in a lot of places.

2108
03:17:14,260 --> 03:17:18,740
We stand at a crossroads where we can bring collaboration in

2109
03:17:18,740 --> 03:17:20,760
in a place that we have never done this before.

2110
03:17:21,200 --> 03:17:26,220
Innovation is what gets us beyond the same old,

2111
03:17:27,020 --> 03:17:27,520
innovation.

2112
03:17:28,160 --> 03:17:29,340
Letterspeak, please.

2113
03:17:29,760 --> 03:17:30,220
What do you need?

2114
03:17:30,540 --> 03:17:37,080
Innovation will carry us way beyond the 30-year problem

2115
03:17:37,080 --> 03:17:38,640
of not in my backyard.

2116
03:17:40,060 --> 03:17:46,660
I urge you to let this collaboration be the beginning of a new way forward for all of Wake

2117
03:17:46,660 --> 03:17:46,900
Army.

2118
03:17:49,670 --> 03:17:52,510
Are we only a profit motivated society?

2119
03:17:53,250 --> 03:17:55,210
Or can we think about the people that are in our community?

2120
03:17:55,210 --> 03:17:55,550
Thank you.

2121
03:17:55,830 --> 03:17:56,730
Your time is expired.

2122
03:17:57,090 --> 03:17:57,870
Thank you.

2123
03:18:18,700 --> 03:18:19,220
Good evening.

2124
03:18:19,420 --> 03:18:20,880
My name is Samantha Burtner.

2125
03:18:21,520 --> 03:18:26,640
My husband Jared and I became first-time homeowners four years ago when we bought our

2126
03:18:27,920 --> 03:18:31,840
And we live directly across the street from the Amberwood apartment community.

2127
03:18:32,820 --> 03:18:34,340
We can see the entrance from our windows.

2128
03:18:35,800 --> 03:18:40,760
We're here tonight with our four children, and many, many of our

2129
03:18:40,760 --> 03:18:41,940
Lockmeer neighbors.

2130
03:18:43,300 --> 03:18:48,640
To voice our objection to the Raleigh Housing Authority acquiring this property.

2131
03:18:49,620 --> 03:18:53,880
The town of Kerry should not authorize or enable this for all of the reasons

2132
03:18:53,880 --> 03:18:54,980
that you've heard tonight.

2133
03:18:56,120 --> 03:19:02,040
And because the Raleigh Housing Authority is not operating on behalf of Kerry and will not be a good neighbor.

2134
03:19:03,540 --> 03:19:07,680
The Raleigh Housing Authority has an extensive application, oh I'm sorry, yes.

2135
03:19:07,940 --> 03:19:12,260
The Raleigh Housing Authority has an extensive application process and long wait lists,

2136
03:19:12,400 --> 03:19:15,780
which range from months to several years according to their website.

2137
03:19:16,700 --> 03:19:24,520
The application for this public housing and the application, I'm sorry, is for this public housing.

2138
03:19:24,520 --> 03:19:29,360
and when public housing units become available, the next person on the wait list is notified.

2139
03:19:30,020 --> 03:19:32,480
This is not carry specific.

2140
03:19:33,460 --> 03:19:38,000
Rally public housing in carry will move people looking for affordable housing in Rally out

2141
03:19:38,000 --> 03:19:43,480
of the city, which might be in Rally's best interest, but is not serving the housing needs

2142
03:19:43,480 --> 03:19:48,000
of the people of carry or the town of carries stated housing goals.

2143
03:19:49,340 --> 03:19:54,940
This idea that the idea that this housing would be for carries teachers and firefighters

2144
03:19:54,940 --> 03:19:57,520
who we love is just a comfortable fantasy.

2145
03:19:58,700 --> 03:20:03,300
In reality, the RHA cannot guarantee that people living in Amberwood are working in

2146
03:20:03,300 --> 03:20:08,880
carry, and in fact, it's most likely that residents would be from Raleigh effectively taking

2147
03:20:08,880 --> 03:20:10,700
housing from carry residents.

2148
03:20:11,960 --> 03:20:18,160
This is not preserving affordable housing for carry residents as Mrs. Ms. Wailahan hopes.

2149
03:20:18,700 --> 03:20:23,400
It will only create more public housing for Raleigh's public housing program.

2150
03:20:24,700 --> 03:20:30,040
The reason the RHA will be a bad neighbor is too fold. First, it takes a robust property management

2151
03:20:30,040 --> 03:20:36,600
team to maintain a clean, safe and comfortable community. I have experience with this as I was a property manager

2152
03:20:36,600 --> 03:20:42,580
for many years. And some of the communities I worked for had low-income designated units.

2153
03:20:44,440 --> 03:20:49,280
RHA apartment communities have received many negative reviews from residents complaining about

2154
03:20:49,280 --> 03:20:55,900
trash, dirty and stinky buildings, broken AC for weeks during our recent heat wave, and complaints

2155
03:20:55,900 --> 03:21:02,340
about management and on-responsive staff. One resident review even said, don't move here unless you

2156
03:21:02,340 --> 03:21:04,700
have nowhere else to go.

2157
03:21:05,220 --> 03:21:10,020
I drove by RHA's Kentwood community, and the first apartment I saw had a broken couch sitting

2158
03:21:10,020 --> 03:21:12,460
on the front porch and trash all around the front door.

2159
03:21:13,460 --> 03:21:18,600
This is not in keeping with the community standards of lockmeer, and we should not invite

2160
03:21:18,600 --> 03:21:23,680
Raleigh's dysfunctional property management choices into our neighborhood and into our communities.

2161
03:21:28,790 --> 03:21:33,450
Second, the RHA is not accountable to the people of Kerry as many people have pointed

2162
03:21:33,450 --> 03:21:37,570
out, or even to its own residents that are living at their communities.

2163
03:21:38,090 --> 03:21:41,890
This kind of bureaucratic entity is no incentive to keep residents happy since there's a

2164
03:21:41,890 --> 03:21:47,690
steady supply of applicants waiting to take their place, or it's carry neighbors since it

2165
03:21:47,690 --> 03:21:51,250
has no ties of any kind to our community.

2166
03:21:53,500 --> 03:21:57,240
Voting, yes, on this resolution, would not only go against the will of the community affected

2167
03:21:57,240 --> 03:22:03,140
by this measure whom you represent and have heard from tonight overwhelmingly, but also against

2168
03:22:03,140 --> 03:22:07,840
the best interests of Kerry, since it will not keep Kerry housing available for Kerry residents

2169
03:22:07,840 --> 03:22:11,860
and will introduce an unaccountable government entity into our community.

2170
03:22:12,940 --> 03:22:19,400
We urge and expect a no vote on this resolution and even more that you will take action

2171
03:22:19,400 --> 03:22:21,780
to prevent this acquisition in the future.

2172
03:22:22,600 --> 03:22:23,280
Thank you.

2173
03:22:33,920 --> 03:22:37,640
Our last registered speaker is Michael Jones.

2174
03:22:38,540 --> 03:22:39,500
Mr. Johnson?

2175
03:22:52,860 --> 03:22:55,260
Yes, I'm the Speaker, you've been waiting for.

2176
03:22:56,400 --> 03:23:00,480
I think I'd nice to be here all by fellow Kerry citizens.

2177
03:23:01,300 --> 03:23:03,600
Most citizens, Kerry, are here by choice.

2178
03:23:04,460 --> 03:23:08,020
We could have chosen Raleigh with its high-rises and urban amenities,

2179
03:23:08,960 --> 03:23:10,740
but we chose Raleigh, have chosen Kerry.

2180
03:23:11,400 --> 03:23:14,020
Kerry, with roughly one-seventh-the-violent crime,

2181
03:23:14,400 --> 03:23:17,520
allowing citizens of all ages to enjoy time and public spaces.

2182
03:23:17,520 --> 03:23:20,900
carry with less than one half the property crime.

2183
03:23:21,880 --> 03:23:26,460
This proposal gives the mayor of carry, her non-appointed Rosal Raleigh housing authority

2184
03:23:26,460 --> 03:23:34,020
commissioners, their CEO, and 134 fellow employees operational authority over the 340 units

2185
03:23:34,020 --> 03:23:35,260
of Amberwood apartments.

2186
03:23:36,400 --> 03:23:38,860
You are carry-elected citizens can say no.

2187
03:23:39,840 --> 03:23:44,360
That's the only voice you will have, a yes vote by you will mean all citizens carry will

2188
03:23:44,360 --> 03:23:50,440
linkers our operation of this large, the operation of this large, successful carry apartment

2189
03:23:50,440 --> 03:23:55,520
complex to a governor organization that answers to their citizens, not ours.

2190
03:23:56,560 --> 03:24:01,020
Unlike private, privately owned departments, he will not be subject subject to the open

2191
03:24:01,020 --> 03:24:07,040
market forces of renders with choices, subsidized renders will not have alternative accommodations

2192
03:24:07,040 --> 03:24:07,980
they can afford.

2193
03:24:09,420 --> 03:24:15,720
It's a poverty trap for the residents who become dependent and must accept what a full market

2194
03:24:15,720 --> 03:24:18,000
paying renner would not.

2195
03:24:18,720 --> 03:24:23,840
Who here believes Raleigh will prioritize carry apartments, sending in the best residents,

2196
03:24:24,680 --> 03:24:29,580
putting their first, putting first their operational and maintenance funds over, over their

2197
03:24:29,580 --> 03:24:30,820
own Raleigh units.

2198
03:24:31,760 --> 03:24:37,580
This acquisition of a significant carry property by government that does not serve us is wrong

2199
03:24:37,580 --> 03:24:44,000
for the town of Kerry, bad for the people of Kerry, but quite the outlet for Raleigh.

2200
03:24:44,340 --> 03:24:47,620
The citizen of Kerry voted for you. Who will you vote for?

2201
03:24:56,300 --> 03:25:00,020
That's it for those who have signed up to speak if you are in the audience and would like

2202
03:25:00,020 --> 03:25:01,420
to speak this is your opportunity.

2203
03:25:24,210 --> 03:25:30,050
Good evening, Council. My name is Evan McGen, and I serve at the Kirk of Kildair Presbyterian

2204
03:25:30,050 --> 03:25:35,950
Church and I'm a Kerry resident. I'm a previous role. I also served on the Advisory Council

2205
03:25:35,950 --> 03:25:40,090
of the largest effort to preserve Noah housing in North Carolina.

2206
03:25:42,070 --> 03:25:50,670
I'll say that much of the discussion tonight has focused on whether or not 300 units of affordable housing should come to carry.

2207
03:25:51,490 --> 03:25:56,430
When I want to note that there are already 340 units of affordable housing in carry.

2208
03:25:56,430 --> 03:26:03,850
And so, the question, the question is not, should these 340 units become affordable housing?

2209
03:26:04,150 --> 03:26:07,550
The question is, do we want to lose it?

2210
03:26:07,930 --> 03:26:14,410
Now, I'll say that comes with a cost, that decision to preserve no housing, which is the

2211
03:26:14,410 --> 03:26:17,110
largest source of affordable housing in carry.

2212
03:26:17,110 --> 03:26:20,450
It's 80% of all affordable housing in White County.

2213
03:26:21,170 --> 03:26:24,350
If we want to keep that, because it's vulnerable.

2214
03:26:24,350 --> 03:26:28,830
It is the most at-risk source of affordable housing in our community.

2215
03:26:29,510 --> 03:26:35,650
If we want to keep that vulnerable and large stock of affordable housing in this community,

2216
03:26:35,990 --> 03:26:43,650
it comes with a cost that's been talked about a lot this evening, that 200,000, number,

2217
03:26:43,850 --> 03:26:51,010
that 15 million over 30 years, what has not been talked about is the cost of building 340 units

2218
03:26:51,010 --> 03:26:56,630
of affordable housing, which by my count with the current North Carolina Builders Association

2219
03:26:56,630 --> 03:27:05,470
250,000 per unit cost comes to about 85 million dollars. So I know there's been a lot of discussion

2220
03:27:05,470 --> 03:27:12,370
about financial responsibility and management this evening, but I would compare 85 million dollars

2221
03:27:12,370 --> 03:27:17,110
and 15 million and I would take this bet as a much more responsible choice.

2222
03:27:18,250 --> 03:27:26,910
I would also just want to say that I think if you live in Amber Wood, if it's managed by

2223
03:27:26,910 --> 03:27:32,750
Raleigh Housing Authority, you're still a carry resident, and I'll leave that there.

2224
03:27:33,330 --> 03:27:34,110
Thank you.

2225
03:27:49,040 --> 03:27:49,760
Good evening, Council.

2226
03:27:50,280 --> 03:27:51,980
My name is Reverend Wesley Spears.

2227
03:27:53,160 --> 03:28:01,100
I've lived in carry for about a decade now, coming up on our 10th anniversary, and I'm proud to live in this town.

2228
03:28:01,760 --> 03:28:07,420
I'm a pastor at Greenwood Forest Baptist Church just down the road at the intersection of

2229
03:28:07,420 --> 03:28:09,280
Maynard and killed their farm.

2230
03:28:11,020 --> 03:28:18,080
And when I first started working in ministry and carry, one of the things that would happen

2231
03:28:18,080 --> 03:28:21,660
a lot is folks would come in with small needs.

2232
03:28:22,520 --> 03:28:26,440
They would come in meeting a grocery card, meeting a gas card,

2233
03:28:26,440 --> 03:28:30,480
need to bus ticket just to get to Raleigh.

2234
03:28:30,640 --> 03:28:32,660
Let's back then, we had higher fares.

2235
03:28:33,420 --> 03:28:34,180
So thank you, God.

2236
03:28:36,680 --> 03:28:38,980
But eventually, they started coming with more.

2237
03:28:39,640 --> 03:28:43,800
And I started coming with needs that we couldn't meet.

2238
03:28:44,320 --> 03:28:46,640
They started coming with needs like rent.

2239
03:28:47,000 --> 03:28:48,240
That was too high.

2240
03:28:48,760 --> 03:28:50,520
Newtility bills that were too high.

2241
03:28:51,000 --> 03:28:54,820
And we didn't have the resources to help with that.

2242
03:28:54,820 --> 03:28:59,180
And that is what led to our congregation's housing work.

2243
03:29:00,540 --> 03:29:01,820
Many of the folks in Carrey,

2244
03:29:02,000 --> 03:29:05,780
know us as people who have worked on housing and are working on housing.

2245
03:29:06,580 --> 03:29:12,000
We were one of the founding congregations of one wake because of this interest in housing.

2246
03:29:12,580 --> 03:29:15,740
Because we saw it affecting the people who walked in our door

2247
03:29:15,740 --> 03:29:18,420
in the people who sat in our pews.

2248
03:29:19,700 --> 03:29:27,900
We have decided to take half of our property and make it available to become affordable housing.

2249
03:29:28,520 --> 03:29:31,060
Because we believe in putting money where our mouth is.

2250
03:29:34,900 --> 03:29:41,800
So one wake and greenwood forest and our folks are not coming to you as people who just want other people to do things.

2251
03:29:42,220 --> 03:29:45,680
But we're putting our skin in the game too.

2252
03:29:45,680 --> 03:29:53,320
And given my history with housing advocacy and housing work and working with vulnerable populations,

2253
03:29:54,200 --> 03:29:59,360
when I heard details about RHA purchasing Amberwood, I actually breathed a sigh of relief.

2254
03:30:00,210 --> 03:30:11,690
Because we've been enduring the effects of displacement for years, hearing carry. Not just a high profile, examples of it, but we've been watching our housing stock disappear.

2255
03:30:12,790 --> 03:30:29,710
I have told the story in front of council before, but the only reason I was able to move from renting and carry to living and carry, where I work and serve the community, is because someone in my family died and left us the money.

2256
03:30:30,570 --> 03:30:35,510
And that should not have to happen to be able to afford a house.

2257
03:30:36,430 --> 03:30:41,510
We should not be necessary for folks to die for us to be able to afford housing.

2258
03:30:42,150 --> 03:30:47,010
And we should not have to work six figure jobs to be able to afford housing in care.

2259
03:30:47,630 --> 03:30:54,470
I was relieved when I saw that RHA wanted to buy it because this is housing that serves folks

2260
03:30:54,470 --> 03:30:58,250
who are at the 50% of the area median income right now.

2261
03:30:58,250 --> 03:31:04,390
We're trying to do that on our campus too and we don't have as much room it's not going to be

2262
03:31:04,390 --> 03:31:13,270
340 units. But we have been moving heaven and earth for 5 years for 62 units and it has cost us money

2263
03:31:13,270 --> 03:31:24,430
and it has cost us effort and it is incredibly hard to do. And it seems to me given my experience that if we have someone who can come in

2264
03:31:24,430 --> 03:31:26,550
and preserve affordable housing,

2265
03:31:27,270 --> 03:31:29,050
we should become partners with them.

2266
03:31:29,550 --> 03:31:32,250
I understand the concerns about oversight

2267
03:31:32,250 --> 03:31:36,530
and I understand the concerns about Raleigh,

2268
03:31:36,530 --> 03:31:40,530
and I also know that the people of Raleigh are my neighbors too.

2269
03:31:41,010 --> 03:31:44,730
That I know that the people of Carrie are my near and dear family.

2270
03:31:44,950 --> 03:31:47,050
I love my street, I love my neighborhood,

2271
03:31:47,370 --> 03:31:50,730
and I love my church, and all the people who go there.

2272
03:31:50,730 --> 03:31:56,550
And I also know that through my work with one week, I care about the people rally too.

2273
03:31:56,870 --> 03:32:01,310
And I've been disappointed to see them demonized tonight as they have been.

2274
03:32:01,910 --> 03:32:04,790
And I would like to see these homes stay affordable.

2275
03:32:04,990 --> 03:32:09,870
And I would like to see the residents stay in their homes.

2276
03:32:10,370 --> 03:32:13,690
And we can debate about the best way to do that.

2277
03:32:13,690 --> 03:32:23,890
It seems to me based on considering this asking questions of RHA and asking questions of all of you all that this is our best option right now.

2278
03:32:24,450 --> 03:32:34,030
So let's let people stay, don't turn carry into just a luxury community, and let's be good partners and good stewards and above all be good neighbors.

2279
03:32:35,250 --> 03:32:35,910
Thank you.

2280
03:32:50,280 --> 03:32:54,880
My name's Mike Dolan, like many of you have heard from my live in Lockmear.

2281
03:32:56,220 --> 03:32:59,040
The pastor was just up, seemed to make a good point.

2282
03:32:59,300 --> 03:33:01,960
Apologize if I disagree with a lot of what you said.

2283
03:33:04,590 --> 03:33:07,510
First question is, do you guys know what the Yoki Doke is?

2284
03:33:08,550 --> 03:33:10,250
Because that's what I feel like we're getting.

2285
03:33:11,410 --> 03:33:15,110
The Yoki Doke is where you get somebody's attention on one thing,

2286
03:33:15,630 --> 03:33:17,970
and you get them from behind on something else.

2287
03:33:19,130 --> 03:33:20,570
The rally housing authority

2288
03:33:22,250 --> 03:33:33,470
As many people have said, not just is not part of carry, but it's going to have priorities that are completely in contradiction to what's important for carry.

2289
03:33:34,130 --> 03:33:37,710
They're going to be managing a whole portfolio.

2290
03:33:38,470 --> 03:33:44,810
And as some have said, the crime in one might be high or the values in another, and they're going to want to distribute that.

2291
03:33:44,810 --> 03:33:48,870
And any of that will then start being distributed to us.

2292
03:33:49,150 --> 03:33:54,290
If we decide we need a housing authority, we need our own.

2293
03:33:54,470 --> 03:33:57,770
Not one from Raleigh or any other municipality.

2294
03:34:01,570 --> 03:34:05,690
And I've heard that there's 24 million available to start it.

2295
03:34:09,740 --> 03:34:10,740
Number two,

2296
03:34:13,760 --> 03:34:15,480
the specifically with the Okidoq.

2297
03:34:15,760 --> 03:34:20,480
We've heard a lot of how it's $219,000 in tax.

2298
03:34:20,480 --> 03:34:27,840
per year that's going to be forgiven if the rally housing authorities led to come in.

2299
03:34:28,100 --> 03:34:31,520
I don't think anybody thinks that there won't be an impact on property values.

2300
03:34:32,720 --> 03:34:36,300
Take for example, let's say a house is a half million dollars.

2301
03:34:37,480 --> 03:34:39,400
I don't think it'll go to a hundred thousand.

2302
03:34:39,960 --> 03:34:41,660
Let's say it only loses ten percent.

2303
03:34:42,660 --> 03:34:45,580
Let's say it becomes a foreign fifty thousand dollar property.

2304
03:34:46,560 --> 03:34:49,700
If you take the value of all the houses and I pulled them,

2305
03:34:49,700 --> 03:34:52,920
There are within two miles of amberwoods.

2306
03:34:53,000 --> 03:34:56,520
There's 7,187 private homes.

2307
03:34:57,020 --> 03:34:59,820
The assessed value is $4.65 billion.

2308
03:35:03,030 --> 03:35:08,790
If you assume a 5% annual increase, which is exactly what we've averaged,

2309
03:35:10,590 --> 03:35:18,180
that loss of property taxes along with will be over 4 million a year,

2310
03:35:18,180 --> 03:35:30,200
And to that, the 219,000, over the 30-year commitment, you're looking at $263 million lost

2311
03:35:30,200 --> 03:35:32,400
in tax revenue to the town of Kerry.

2312
03:35:33,900 --> 03:35:40,480
So telling everybody, oh, it's only 219,000, when it's really over a quarter billion dollars,

2313
03:35:41,240 --> 03:35:42,200
that's the Okidoq.

2314
03:35:42,640 --> 03:35:46,260
That's saying, here's one number, but it's really something else.

2315
03:35:46,260 --> 03:35:56,160
And if you guys haven't done the math and haven't calculated that, that's because either there wasn't enough time in the process, or you didn't care.

2316
03:35:57,220 --> 03:35:58,260
Guess me the next part.

2317
03:35:59,220 --> 03:36:05,040
The fact that the RHA folks left makes me think they already know this is a done deal.

2318
03:36:06,180 --> 03:36:08,680
That's one of the most telling things I've seen.

2319
03:36:09,320 --> 03:36:22,600
In the wake of auditors finding the financial mismanagement, I think it would be prudent to freeze any large financial decisions by the council, the mayor, the board, anybody.

2320
03:36:23,440 --> 03:36:27,120
This is a chance to instead move forward with a different direction.

2321
03:36:28,540 --> 03:36:33,880
If you want to send the message that this is all for show, that this is all a waste of time, and that this was done.

2322
03:36:33,880 --> 03:36:38,080
But yes, otherwise, vote no.

2323
03:36:39,460 --> 03:36:40,240
Thank you.

2324
03:36:52,590 --> 03:36:52,990
Good evening.

2325
03:36:53,150 --> 03:36:53,710
Good evening.

2326
03:36:54,210 --> 03:36:54,250
Good evening.

2327
03:36:54,250 --> 03:36:55,530
My name is Joshua Atkins.

2328
03:36:56,130 --> 03:36:59,870
My parents are residents of Lockhamere for 25 years.

2329
03:37:01,190 --> 03:37:02,270
I grew up in a household.

2330
03:37:02,910 --> 03:37:04,250
I still live there to this day.

2331
03:37:04,510 --> 03:37:07,570
We live about half a mile from Amberwood.

2332
03:37:08,550 --> 03:37:09,750
I have a disabled brother.

2333
03:37:10,770 --> 03:37:21,090
And he often takes walks to Amber Wood or to the church, which is right across the street from Amber Wood, right up the street.

2334
03:37:21,910 --> 03:37:24,370
We often take walks every day.

2335
03:37:25,710 --> 03:37:38,370
I have been very star-stroke by this because it's been brought to my attention just ten days ago that they're going to put a affordable housing.

2336
03:37:39,290 --> 03:37:42,110
in this, in lockamere, my neighborhood.

2337
03:37:43,350 --> 03:37:48,350
So I'm speaking to you as a kid, as a kid of lockamere.

2338
03:37:48,950 --> 03:37:55,530
I would not feel safe with these people, not these people,

2339
03:37:55,910 --> 03:38:04,290
but I have a voice just like you.

2340
03:38:07,780 --> 03:38:10,880
I'm trying to figure out the right words to say.

2341
03:38:12,480 --> 03:38:39,360
Because nowadays, living a world where you cannot speak your mind without other people disagree and we should be able to disagree and go on with other lights, you know, and not, you know, be neighbors, and I feel like if we put these affordable housings in, then my neighborhood lock mirror will become a crime driven neighborhood.

2342
03:38:40,380 --> 03:38:47,960
Like you've heard the numbers today, why don't we all take a trip down to Raleigh, down to the

2343
03:38:47,960 --> 03:38:54,400
affordable housings, and let's take a look around and let's take a look at how that would fit

2344
03:38:54,400 --> 03:38:56,940
into carry, how that would fit into lockmail.

2345
03:38:57,420 --> 03:39:06,980
My parents withdrew them to lockmail was the safeness of lockmail and the proximity to everything,

2346
03:39:06,980 --> 03:39:15,000
The proximity of everything, you can get the rawly within 15 minutes, wherever you need.

2347
03:39:15,920 --> 03:39:23,000
And my concern is today. And my question is to you guys today. Would you guys put these affordable housings in your neighborhood?

2348
03:39:25,170 --> 03:39:32,410
Because honestly, I'm not one that would be accusing in you guys elected officials I do respect you all.

2349
03:39:33,210 --> 03:39:38,670
as I've been raised, but honestly I do not feel like you guys would put this in your

2350
03:39:38,670 --> 03:39:44,650
guys's neighborhoods. This is my opinion. Other people may have different opinions, but

2351
03:39:44,650 --> 03:39:50,790
please do not put this in my neighborhood and let my disabled brother risk his life

2352
03:39:50,790 --> 03:39:57,650
on the street. Because if that happens, your your mayor seat and all your guys' seats

2353
03:39:57,650 --> 03:40:04,770
will be up and I'm an I'm of the age to vote now so I will vote specifically for

2354
03:40:04,770 --> 03:40:11,370
a different person all right thank you and we do not put this in my neighborhood thank

2355
03:40:11,370 --> 03:40:12,230
you

2356
03:40:30,660 --> 03:40:40,380
my name is Kim Dakey and I'm a terrible speaker so just bear with me I have actually

2357
03:40:40,380 --> 03:40:49,240
live in Cary for 48 years and I haven't heard anybody here that's lived quite that long

2358
03:40:49,240 --> 03:40:57,540
here. So I'm coming at it from somebody who's grown up, went to Cary schools, went to

2359
03:40:57,540 --> 03:41:02,260
college in North Carolina, came back, lived in Cary, owner house and Cary in fact right

2360
03:41:03,200 --> 03:41:13,300
Mayor Wine Brick's house and I'm very concerned about this public housing that's going in right across from our neighborhood.

2361
03:41:14,300 --> 03:41:18,880
I live in Camden Forest, which is right around the corner from lock mirror.

2362
03:41:20,640 --> 03:41:26,760
I'm not going to reiterate all the tax issues, which I feel very strongly about,

2363
03:41:26,760 --> 03:41:33,420
especially given the fact that this city council not to hold the mic.

2364
03:41:33,960 --> 03:41:40,900
The city council has just blown through all of this money which really, as a taxpayer,

2365
03:41:41,900 --> 03:41:50,520
makes me and most of my friends and family extremely angry because if I overspent in my

2366
03:41:50,520 --> 03:41:55,620
I have to cut back on a lot of things so that I could catch up.

2367
03:41:55,980 --> 03:42:02,740
It seems like this whole tax issue with this affordable housing unit, public housing,

2368
03:42:04,040 --> 03:42:05,440
is not cutting back on things.

2369
03:42:05,840 --> 03:42:08,100
It's just wasting more money that we have.

2370
03:42:08,240 --> 03:42:12,680
It might only be $4 or $5 or $10 or $10,

2371
03:42:12,840 --> 03:42:14,260
but what's the next one going to be?

2372
03:42:14,360 --> 03:42:15,700
What's the next one after that?

2373
03:42:15,700 --> 03:42:21,660
I mean, it's just, it's just going to go on and on and I just think it's a poor use

2374
03:42:21,660 --> 03:42:22,900
of our tax money.

2375
03:42:24,680 --> 03:42:31,120
When I first found out about this, I just thought I was going to look up the RHA housing

2376
03:42:31,120 --> 03:42:37,820
developments and see for myself what was going on with them, crime-wise, because I don't

2377
03:42:37,820 --> 03:42:41,580
like to just listen to other people say, oh yeah, well, there are a lot of crime, and what

2378
03:42:41,580 --> 03:42:51,880
found was extremely alarming. There's one group that rates some of these places with grades.

2379
03:42:52,580 --> 03:43:00,320
And the only grades I saw were a C, a C minus and an F plus for crime ratings. One is

2380
03:43:00,320 --> 03:43:06,220
Kentwood, it had a C rating. So here's what happens with the C rating. Most of these are

2381
03:43:06,220 --> 03:43:13,380
actually not violent crimes, there are property crimes and drug crimes, but assault was 67%

2382
03:43:13,380 --> 03:43:20,820
above the national average, robbery was 92% above the national average, burglary was 50%

2383
03:43:20,820 --> 03:43:28,100
above the national average, larsony in theft was 81% above the national average, vehicle theft

2384
03:43:28,100 --> 03:43:36,200
was 83 above the national average, Kentwood is near NC State, it's not, you know, in an area

2385
03:43:36,200 --> 03:43:41,860
that you would really consider to be super low-income or anything like that.

2386
03:43:41,860 --> 03:43:49,920
I have two kids at NC State, Capital Park, which is near William P. University, was rated

2387
03:43:49,920 --> 03:43:55,180
the C minus. I'm not going to go into all of this, but it also had low violent crime,

2388
03:43:55,300 --> 03:44:00,320
but very, very high property crime above the national average.

2389
03:44:00,320 --> 03:44:08,340
The one that really really got me though was Walnut Terrace, which is in downtown Raleigh.

2390
03:44:08,600 --> 03:44:18,060
Near southeast Raleigh, this is all Raleigh housing association property, very high crime F plus.

2391
03:44:18,780 --> 03:44:27,240
violent crime, 94% above the national average, so that's violent crime, property crime was 81%

2392
03:44:27,240 --> 03:44:34,640
above the national average, and overall had a 100% crime rate above the national average.

2393
03:44:35,840 --> 03:44:44,560
So, and I all I did was I just googled every one of these properties, and I really only got to about half of them.

2394
03:44:44,560 --> 03:44:52,520
Now, some people brought up the information about maintenance.

2395
03:44:53,600 --> 03:44:59,980
And I was reading that the maintenance requests are like there's 250 requests in.

2396
03:45:00,000 --> 03:45:07,880
Right now at Raleigh Housing Association and there behind. How do you fill 250 maintenance requests?

2397
03:45:08,940 --> 03:45:15,040
I mean, when my kids lived in apartments at NC State, they had to wait a week to get their air conditioning fixed.

2398
03:45:15,220 --> 03:45:22,620
I mean, it's hot outside. What do you do? You can't wait for 250 other requests to be filled before your own.

2399
03:45:24,860 --> 03:45:38,440
So I just, I really feel like this has been rushed, it's been, you know, a back door type of thing, and it's a crime, it's going to be,

2400
03:45:38,720 --> 03:45:44,780
the crime alone is just alarming to me, and I would urge you to vote no for it, especially you, Bella.

2401
03:45:53,050 --> 03:46:00,130
Hello Mayor and town council, and I just want to thank everyone in this town for coming out tonight.

2402
03:46:00,470 --> 03:46:01,890
This is great to have you.

2403
03:46:01,890 --> 03:46:03,510
Could just take it together to discuss.

2404
03:46:05,610 --> 03:46:08,170
I hope everyone could you state your name please.

2405
03:46:08,170 --> 03:46:09,050
Oh yes, thank you.

2406
03:46:09,370 --> 03:46:10,490
Jenny Lynn Tilletson.

2407
03:46:10,770 --> 03:46:11,230
Thank you.

2408
03:46:11,510 --> 03:46:15,390
And I live in Franklin Chase.

2409
03:46:16,230 --> 03:46:19,850
My house, the backyard, is open to the Spate Branch Greenway,

2410
03:46:19,850 --> 03:46:27,550
way, which is easily accessible from the Amberwood apartments, and I hope everyone will forgive

2411
03:46:27,550 --> 03:46:34,630
me for not having prepared remarks, but I actually only heard about this four days ago.

2412
03:46:36,710 --> 03:46:47,650
And at first I was very excited because I firmly believe that we should have space for everyone

2413
03:46:47,650 --> 03:46:53,930
and our world, and we should be providing opportunities for all of us to reach out and be better

2414
03:46:53,930 --> 03:46:58,350
neighbors. As I've been listening tonight, though, I see everyone's concerns.

2415
03:47:04,140 --> 03:47:04,860
There are

2416
03:47:04,860 --> 03:47:11,860
ways, there are really smart ways, there are really caring ways to provide affordable housing.

2417
03:47:12,460 --> 03:47:19,320
My brother who is a public school teacher in Iowa was hoping to move here, but can't find

2418
03:47:19,320 --> 03:47:21,300
place that they can afford.

2419
03:47:23,700 --> 03:47:28,600
And so I'm all for carry being able to provide many levels

2420
03:47:28,600 --> 03:47:37,640
of housing where everyone has a lifestyle that they can feel good about. The large scope

2421
03:47:37,640 --> 03:47:39,720
of this development is concerning.

2422
03:47:41,860 --> 03:47:45,160
First of all, because it is rushed, as I said, this came

2423
03:47:45,160 --> 03:47:52,320
to me as a surprise, having only heard about it four days ago from actually a friend who lives

2424
03:47:52,320 --> 03:47:53,140
in lock mirror.

2425
03:47:53,960 --> 03:47:59,840
When my house is so easily accessible to the Amberwood, I thought perhaps all of us in those

2426
03:47:59,840 --> 03:48:05,000
surrounding areas should have been notified so that we could have time to study this out

2427
03:48:05,000 --> 03:48:14,200
and learn about it, my hope was that as other areas have done where they do have very successful

2428
03:48:14,200 --> 03:48:19,640
of boarding affordable housing. My hope was that this was going to be more of a few units

2429
03:48:22,000 --> 03:48:30,520
placed so that no one really can tell within the neighborhood which residents are subsidized.

2430
03:48:31,640 --> 03:48:39,000
So there's more of a community places I grew up in Utah and also in California and neighborhood

2431
03:48:39,000 --> 03:48:46,260
where affordable housing is placed highly successfully, is where on in a group of town homes,

2432
03:48:46,880 --> 03:48:53,640
one or two town homes will be the subsidized affordable housing. But because neighbors have a chance

2433
03:48:53,640 --> 03:49:04,900
to be seen as equal with each other, there isn't the discrimination and there isn't an assumption

2434
03:49:04,900 --> 03:49:14,840
of I have a reason to fear you, or in a housing development, a few houses, within that development,

2435
03:49:15,420 --> 03:49:21,720
would have a subsidized or a floor or a lower income level capped for just a few of those

2436
03:49:21,720 --> 03:49:21,980
houses.

2437
03:49:22,120 --> 03:49:28,700
But again, none of the neighbors would know which of those houses were capped for a lower income.

2438
03:49:28,700 --> 03:49:36,160
It made it a really wonderful opportunity in those neighborhoods where I lived in Utah and in California

2439
03:49:37,400 --> 03:49:49,560
to be able to just reach out and be neighbors and not have any social, economic status assumptions go along with that.

2440
03:49:49,560 --> 03:49:58,340
So, as much as I was super excited to know that there's affordable housing being promoted by

2441
03:49:58,340 --> 03:50:01,660
Utah Council and by other entities in the town of Kerry,

2442
03:50:03,820 --> 03:50:05,080
from what I've heard tonight,

2443
03:50:05,840 --> 03:50:12,180
I don't think this has been well planned or well thought out if what people have studied about the

2444
03:50:12,180 --> 03:50:19,940
tax issues of taxes going to rally rather than to carry is true. I think that's a mistake.

2445
03:50:23,180 --> 03:50:31,280
I would just urge all of us though to find better ways to welcome all people into our lives

2446
03:50:31,280 --> 03:50:38,500
and into our neighborhoods that we can have our distrust evaporate because there's a really

2447
03:50:38,500 --> 03:50:46,060
wonderful thing that happens. If you see someone as an enemy, they're going to be an enemy.

2448
03:50:46,540 --> 03:50:51,100
But if you instead treat your enemies, quote enemies as friends,

2449
03:50:51,480 --> 03:50:56,040
pretty soon you don't have any enemies. And we can make that happen in carry.

2450
03:50:57,160 --> 03:51:01,100
But it needs to be done wisely, judiciously, carefully.

2451
03:51:01,340 --> 03:51:04,300
Thomas, it's far. Thank you very much, town council. Thank you,

2452
03:51:04,300 --> 03:51:05,120
Kerry residents.

2453
03:51:18,500 --> 03:51:20,800
Hi, my name is Paul Cole. I live in

2454
03:51:20,800 --> 03:51:24,420
Lockmeer. I am very fairly familiar with the housing authority.

2455
03:51:24,820 --> 03:51:28,660
I have built housing subsidized housing before.

2456
03:51:29,320 --> 03:51:33,760
It's a terrible idea to do in Kerry. It's a terrible idea that

2457
03:51:33,760 --> 03:51:36,680
most successful ones are when like she said right there.

2458
03:51:36,840 --> 03:51:40,640
When you build them, you mix them in here and there. You don't put a group together

2459
03:51:40,640 --> 03:51:44,440
like that. The most successful ever the crime line goes up 19

2460
03:51:44,440 --> 03:51:49,740
percent. That's the most successful. So if we can keep it very successful and raise our

2461
03:51:49,740 --> 03:51:56,160
crime only 19 percent, why would you want to do that? I am also a member of the Lock

2462
03:51:56,160 --> 03:52:02,340
Mirror Home Association, the HR at the, at the, at the HR at the, at the HR at the

2463
03:52:02,340 --> 03:52:07,240
Architectural Committee. Everybody has to keep their yards up, and we're with no exception.

2464
03:52:07,700 --> 03:52:13,120
Like she says, it's not like people were saying before that another developer will come in here

2465
03:52:13,120 --> 03:52:18,920
and they'll let it run down. It won't be run down. It has to be maintained. We have control

2466
03:52:18,920 --> 03:52:20,640
over it the way it is. Somewhat control.

2467
03:52:22,740 --> 03:52:25,900
If we don't, if we let Rally take care of it, and

2468
03:52:25,900 --> 03:52:30,700
I'm familiar with Rally housing authority. I know how they work. I know how believe me it'll

2469
03:52:30,700 --> 03:52:35,960
be an absolute mess. People in lockmeer, most of people in lockmeer, and around here don't

2470
03:52:35,960 --> 03:52:41,760
want that. I know Bella, you've come to our neighborhood. I know you represent it so over there,

2471
03:52:41,760 --> 03:52:44,580
I know most of the people who live in the area don't want it.

2472
03:52:44,620 --> 03:52:48,060
I know some people who rent it, lock me, they're okay with it.

2473
03:52:48,060 --> 03:52:52,740
I know the crowd over there who doesn't live in lock me is for it.

2474
03:52:54,260 --> 03:52:57,720
But as someone who lives there and someone who cares about our property,

2475
03:52:58,040 --> 03:53:00,200
our neighborhood, I don't want to crime increase.

2476
03:53:00,460 --> 03:53:05,080
I do believe it would be good to mix people in neighborhoods here and there,

2477
03:53:05,720 --> 03:53:07,180
not altogether in one section.

2478
03:53:07,180 --> 03:53:13,540
that never works out. It always raises crime everywhere. There's never been one that hasn't

2479
03:53:13,540 --> 03:53:17,600
raised the crime. Why would carry you on it? Why would any of you want it, in carry?

2480
03:53:17,840 --> 03:53:23,560
I don't understand why anybody who, on this council who represents carry would want this,

2481
03:53:23,880 --> 03:53:28,100
would you want it for any of your people? I can't, I can't, I can't believe in it even,

2482
03:53:28,100 --> 03:53:39,580
even up for consideration, but anyway, I urge you to vote against it. Please do. I know what you're

2483
03:53:39,580 --> 03:53:46,120
doing is tough. I know you get criticism from all sides all the time. It's got to be hard to make

2484
03:53:46,120 --> 03:53:52,320
decision, but for the carry resistance we represent, it's not good for us. Thank you very much.

2485
03:53:52,320 --> 03:53:53,000
Hello,

2486
03:54:02,100 --> 03:54:08,760
my name is Carla Libertor. I lived in affordable housing 33 years ago. My husband

2487
03:54:08,760 --> 03:54:15,200
data and I moved from Syracuse, New York, where we went broke in the recession in

2488
03:54:15,200 --> 03:54:20,180
upstate New York. We both lost our jobs in the same year. We had a one year old and a five

2489
03:54:20,180 --> 03:54:26,920
year old. We drove down here in two cars that took us two days in blinding snow to follow

2490
03:54:26,920 --> 03:54:29,000
Mayflower truck to get here.

2491
03:54:29,300 --> 03:54:31,480
My husband started a job that one day.

2492
03:54:32,360 --> 03:54:35,720
And in a month, the person that hired him said she couldn't

2493
03:54:35,720 --> 03:54:36,460
paint anymore.

2494
03:54:37,700 --> 03:54:40,080
Everybody was happy to not take a paycheck that month.

2495
03:54:40,680 --> 03:54:43,020
Well, we had babies to feed, and I wasn't working.

2496
03:54:44,140 --> 03:54:47,640
We moved into affordable housing in Durham, and I'm

2497
03:54:47,640 --> 03:54:50,980
telling you it saved our marriage, it saved our life.

2498
03:54:51,940 --> 03:54:56,060
So when I hear people saying, NIMBY, not in my backyard,

2499
03:54:56,060 --> 03:54:59,760
It breaks my heart, and you can tell I'm on the verge of tears.

2500
03:55:01,000 --> 03:55:03,680
This community is an affluent community.

2501
03:55:04,100 --> 03:55:09,360
We get written up in National Geographic as a beautiful affluent, carry community.

2502
03:55:09,980 --> 03:55:12,720
But we need to open our doors to people who have less than us.

2503
03:55:12,820 --> 03:55:16,560
There are people in this audience who are having trouble making ends meet.

2504
03:55:17,080 --> 03:55:18,940
I've had trouble making ends meet.

2505
03:55:19,560 --> 03:55:21,520
I became a successful financial advisor.

2506
03:55:22,020 --> 03:55:23,380
I raised our family.

2507
03:55:23,380 --> 03:55:28,020
We live in Lockman now. We live in a beautiful house in Lockman. When I go by

2508
03:55:28,620 --> 03:55:33,100
Ambergate regularly, because I live two blocks down from there, I never see a

2509
03:55:33,100 --> 03:55:37,700
problem. I have never seen a person from Ambergate in my neighborhood.

2510
03:55:38,920 --> 03:55:41,020
Letterspeak. Letterspeak. Letterspeak.

2511
03:55:42,420 --> 03:55:47,040
Here's your manners. I'm really sorry about the anger and the fear that we're

2512
03:55:47,040 --> 03:55:51,280
hearing here tonight. We're an anger, fear-based society, and it's all in this room.

2513
03:55:51,280 --> 03:55:56,160
everybody's assuming the worst of rally housing authority.

2514
03:55:56,620 --> 03:56:01,020
What if they're trying to create a partnership with us to give people a second chance?

2515
03:56:01,800 --> 03:56:07,480
I really hope that you will consider this proposal and even if you put it on hold

2516
03:56:07,480 --> 03:56:09,660
and ask them to wait so you can do more research.

2517
03:56:10,200 --> 03:56:12,000
These people deserve a second chance.

2518
03:56:12,240 --> 03:56:13,040
I know I did.

2519
03:56:25,770 --> 03:56:27,330
Hi, my name is Alison Spencer.

2520
03:56:27,330 --> 03:56:31,870
I have been a resident of Carey since I was six years old in 1996.

2521
03:56:35,230 --> 03:56:40,670
One thing that I don't think many people have been thinking of is, I work with refugees

2522
03:56:40,670 --> 03:56:41,670
and a silice.

2523
03:56:42,730 --> 03:56:49,610
Current affordable places like Amberwood, who are not controlled by a public housing authority,

2524
03:56:49,790 --> 03:56:56,430
offer some of the increasingly limited housing options for population for these populations

2525
03:56:56,430 --> 03:57:00,510
who are currently under extreme attack by the current administration,

2526
03:57:03,910 --> 03:57:03,930
and

2527
03:57:03,930 --> 03:57:09,630
please let a part in that population is currently being proposed to have

2528
03:57:09,630 --> 03:57:13,070
barred access to accessing programs like this that they have traditionally been

2529
03:57:13,070 --> 03:57:19,510
offered. Right now, in Lockmear, we have refugees living there. We have a refugee

2530
03:57:19,510 --> 03:57:25,930
who lives in my home. She would not be able to go to this place. We have other

2531
03:57:25,930 --> 03:57:31,770
people who are looking at this place to come and move that I've been working with.

2532
03:57:32,190 --> 03:57:32,510
Also,

2533
03:57:35,310 --> 03:57:40,310
a lot of this reeks of what happened last year with the Waverly proposal.

2534
03:57:41,670 --> 03:57:47,190
If the council was so concerned about affordable housing availability, why was Waverly

2535
03:57:47,190 --> 03:57:56,310
approved with only seven, seven apartments out of 750 apartments for affordable housing.

2536
03:57:57,250 --> 03:58:00,170
And of those, all seven of those are efficiency apartments.

2537
03:58:00,330 --> 03:58:11,870
They don't even get the same level of amenities that a normal family, or even a family to live in.

2538
03:58:12,730 --> 03:58:16,750
Last year when the vote for Wavelay was called, my dad called out the towns.

2539
03:58:16,750 --> 03:58:24,430
for option to y'all's faces. Mr. Mayer, you even told him how dare he impune on your integrity

2540
03:58:24,430 --> 03:58:29,310
given the events of the last several months. I really wouldn't be surprised if kickbacks were offered by

2541
03:58:29,310 --> 03:58:36,250
hines back then and I can't help but wonder what has been off or behind closed doors for this deal.

2542
03:58:36,890 --> 03:58:43,150
Back then we had no idea just how right my dad's assumptions were. Thank you very much.

2543
03:58:43,150 --> 03:58:44,230
Mr.

2544
03:58:56,380 --> 03:59:01,640
Mayor, town council, thank you for letting us have this time in front of you.

2545
03:59:01,760 --> 03:59:02,760
My name is David Johnson.

2546
03:59:02,880 --> 03:59:09,120
I have been a carry resident, a lot near homeowner for close to 35 years.

2547
03:59:09,700 --> 03:59:11,720
I love my neighborhood, I love my neighbors.

2548
03:59:12,000 --> 03:59:18,000
We disagree all the time, but I want to stand up here right now and applaud everyone here

2549
03:59:18,540 --> 03:59:23,980
because we all come together, whether we like us each other or we don't like each other,

2550
03:59:23,980 --> 03:59:27,340
to do the democratic process to speak our minds.

2551
03:59:27,720 --> 03:59:31,080
Because if we can't speak our minds, nobody's

2552
03:59:31,080 --> 03:59:32,260
going to know what's going on.

2553
03:59:32,540 --> 03:59:34,480
And that's what happened here, guys.

2554
03:59:35,300 --> 03:59:36,800
This is what happened.

2555
03:59:37,760 --> 03:59:40,280
Two weeks ago, you're my representative, by the way.

2556
03:59:40,680 --> 03:59:44,460
Two weeks ago, this came in from, I came into my came home,

2557
03:59:44,780 --> 03:59:47,300
and I found out the world was turning upside down.

2558
03:59:48,480 --> 03:59:48,820
OK?

2559
03:59:49,440 --> 03:59:52,500
I found a sneaky guy, very, very sneaky.

2560
03:59:52,500 --> 03:59:55,460
I would like to ask one question.

2561
03:59:56,440 --> 03:59:59,960
When did this first come up to the Terry Carey?

2562
04:00:02,760 --> 04:00:13,960
What was the last week? Why did you let that fall and you jump on this? This is your time speech.

2563
04:00:14,180 --> 04:00:27,120
Yes, sir, why did you let that happen? Because in one week's time nobody can close a house. Could you close a house in a week? Can you clear, I couldn't clear out my garage in a week?

2564
04:00:29,520 --> 04:00:35,760
You know, there's no me know this, but I want to say thank you to everybody who came out tonight, whether it's pro, whether it's con.

2565
04:00:36,000 --> 04:00:37,760
I thank all of you for doing your job.

2566
04:00:38,120 --> 04:00:41,660
I'm not going to sit here and say, you know what you guys are, bunch of crooks.

2567
04:00:41,900 --> 04:00:43,460
I don't think I have to say that.

2568
04:00:44,440 --> 04:00:46,380
That's not how I meant that. That came off from.

2569
04:00:47,540 --> 04:00:52,160
I won't you to seriously consider what you've heard tonight.

2570
04:00:52,160 --> 04:01:00,260
And when someone goes to buy a house, you just don't go in and buy a random and just jump all over it.

2571
04:01:00,420 --> 04:01:03,260
That's, okay, so I've been in North Raleigh 35 years ago.

2572
04:01:03,620 --> 04:01:08,840
Off six forks road, what was the investments I could ever have made in my life trying to drive up and down there?

2573
04:01:09,400 --> 04:01:17,360
So what I ask you is, if you don't vote no, at least table this so we can have more community discussion.

2574
04:01:17,360 --> 04:01:24,380
So we can do not get angry at each other, but let's have real discussion because you did not discuss with anybody.

2575
04:01:24,840 --> 04:01:32,200
You didn't call, you didn't call a lot, Mayor. You didn't call the neighborhoods around the corner. Nobody's in anything out.

2576
04:01:32,540 --> 04:01:32,820
Period.

2577
04:01:34,240 --> 04:01:34,580
No way.

2578
04:01:36,100 --> 04:01:41,700
So I leave this tonight saying to all my friends, not friends.

2579
04:01:42,120 --> 04:01:45,160
People I've never met before, I've never said only about three people I know here.

2580
04:01:45,160 --> 04:01:50,740
But I think as a whole, we are against this, okay?

2581
04:01:51,180 --> 04:01:53,880
You are not, that's great, yes, you're a pinion.

2582
04:01:54,920 --> 04:01:58,040
So please vote no, I thank you, may we have a good night,

2583
04:01:58,420 --> 04:02:01,420
not everybody goes home safely and take all this

2584
04:02:01,420 --> 04:02:02,100
in the consideration.

2585
04:02:02,760 --> 04:02:05,080
I plead that you vote no, thank you.

2586
04:02:14,620 --> 04:02:15,840
Thank you.

2587
04:02:16,240 --> 04:02:19,460
I might be the last, but I'll be brief.

2588
04:02:20,220 --> 04:02:23,440
Thirty years ago, I made into Ann Riverwood.

2589
04:02:23,440 --> 04:02:24,340
Your name, please.

2590
04:02:24,740 --> 04:02:25,680
Bob Bolderon.

2591
04:02:25,960 --> 04:02:26,020
Thank you.

2592
04:02:26,040 --> 04:02:27,160
I live in Locomir.

2593
04:02:28,000 --> 04:02:33,360
Thirty years ago, I moved into Amber Wood, loved it so much.

2594
04:02:33,960 --> 04:02:34,980
What did I love?

2595
04:02:35,700 --> 04:02:38,900
I love the beauty, the beauty of Locomir.

2596
04:02:39,160 --> 04:02:48,240
Locomir was, to me, one of the anchor, PUD models of Carey.

2597
04:02:48,780 --> 04:02:50,500
It had covenants.

2598
04:02:50,500 --> 04:02:56,680
It had covenants and the covenants made it special, right?

2599
04:02:56,760 --> 04:03:00,080
It wasn't for everybody, but it was the covenants.

2600
04:03:00,280 --> 04:03:01,340
So what do I hear today?

2601
04:03:01,480 --> 04:03:04,920
I came here with an open mind, right?

2602
04:03:04,920 --> 04:03:07,300
I'm gonna hear, and what do I hear?

2603
04:03:07,520 --> 04:03:09,300
It's affordable today.

2604
04:03:10,680 --> 04:03:14,280
It's nice today because of the covenants and carry.

2605
04:03:14,820 --> 04:03:17,200
So for me, it's a vote of this.

2606
04:03:17,200 --> 04:03:25,700
is a better under the covenants of lock mirror and carry, or roly, okay?

2607
04:03:26,240 --> 04:03:27,320
It's your vote.

2608
04:03:27,860 --> 04:03:33,220
You think it's better off under roly or under you to me.

2609
04:03:33,560 --> 04:03:35,720
That's the question you ask yourself.

2610
04:03:36,640 --> 04:03:37,480
What do you think?

2611
04:03:38,420 --> 04:03:42,600
I think the answer is it's better under you

2612
04:03:42,600 --> 04:03:46,520
and it's better under the covenants of lock mirror, okay?

2613
04:03:46,520 --> 04:03:49,820
So I urge you to vote, no,

2614
04:03:52,100 --> 04:03:53,620
thank you very much,

2615
04:03:55,670 --> 04:03:56,710
anyone else.

2616
04:04:10,540 --> 04:04:12,780
Good evening, my name is Kim Zoinger.

2617
04:04:13,160 --> 04:04:19,720
I've been a resident of Carey for 38 years and absolutely did not expect to speak tonight.

2618
04:04:20,480 --> 04:04:24,500
So I have, excuse me, if it sounds a little scattered.

2619
04:04:28,200 --> 04:04:30,000
I grew up in a low-income family.

2620
04:04:30,000 --> 04:04:42,440
I don't think any of us broke the law or trashed our neighborhood or endangered people who lived around us.

2621
04:04:45,840 --> 04:04:51,980
I remember years ago someone in my neighborhood invited a bunch of us over and said we need to talk about something.

2622
04:04:52,180 --> 04:04:59,600
We went over and they said, did you hear there's going to be some lower priced apartments going up beside our neighborhood?

2623
04:05:00,520 --> 04:05:02,400
And we're starting a petition,

2624
04:05:04,670 --> 04:05:08,290
and I remember standing up and saying, I'm not signing it.

2625
04:05:13,730 --> 04:05:18,210
I've yet to see any crime or any endangerment.

2626
04:05:18,470 --> 04:05:21,550
The property values in carrier skyrocketing.

2627
04:05:23,840 --> 04:05:26,760
I see 1,000 square foot ranch homes.

2628
04:05:27,100 --> 04:05:29,700
The one point I looked at is a good place for me to retire.

2629
04:05:30,560 --> 04:05:32,660
They're going for $900,000 now.

2630
04:05:33,520 --> 04:05:37,380
And then being torn down to build something bigger.

2631
04:05:37,380 --> 04:05:38,380
I

2632
04:05:43,500 --> 04:05:46,500
don't know all the details about what's going on with this.

2633
04:05:47,280 --> 04:05:49,200
I haven't had time to research it.

2634
04:05:49,220 --> 04:05:52,260
I do know that some of the research that's been thrown out tonight

2635
04:05:52,260 --> 04:05:54,500
sounds a little sketchy.

2636
04:05:55,180 --> 04:05:58,060
92% higher than the national average.

2637
04:05:59,420 --> 04:06:00,540
100% higher.

2638
04:06:01,180 --> 04:06:03,620
That seems like something that would be newsworthy.

2639
04:06:05,740 --> 04:06:06,340
I'm a teacher.

2640
04:06:06,860 --> 04:06:09,980
I've taught children who are from low income families.

2641
04:06:10,920 --> 04:06:15,760
and are doing their best to get by. And I also know that a lot of people are being pushed

2642
04:06:15,760 --> 04:06:22,340
out around where I taught. We had low income, a low income neighborhood, and now we have

2643
04:06:22,340 --> 04:06:29,240
houses that sell for 1.6 million dollars. And the community that was a lot of people who had

2644
04:06:29,240 --> 04:06:33,540
grown up together and knew each other were pushed out, and they now do not live in carry.

2645
04:06:37,990 --> 04:06:38,410
But I

2646
04:06:38,410 --> 04:06:44,410
the thing that bothers me the most about what I've heard tonight, and we can debate the

2647
04:06:44,410 --> 04:06:49,050
legalities, the, it sounds like Amber Wood is a, is a community that's already there,

2648
04:06:50,170 --> 04:06:57,250
and that this is going to keep a company from coming in and raising the rates, which I'm sorry,

2649
04:06:57,250 --> 04:07:04,930
it does happen. And like I said, I haven't had time to research all of this, but I think that

2650
04:07:04,930 --> 04:07:11,390
the thing that bothers me the most tonight, and I think that being able to talk is community is very

2651
04:07:11,390 --> 04:07:17,790
important, but the thing that bothers me the most is I feel like we're equating income with character.

2652
04:07:19,930 --> 04:07:20,950
And I think that's wrong.

2653
04:07:23,970 --> 04:07:37,150
We can't mix, you know, all respect to people that live in

2654
04:07:37,150 --> 04:07:42,490
I can't sell a house and lock mere for $300,000 to $200,000.

2655
04:07:46,700 --> 04:07:47,820
Please, please.

2656
04:07:52,300 --> 04:07:56,120
I just wish we would see each other as more than our incomes.

2657
04:07:59,590 --> 04:08:00,730
And thank you for your time.

2658
04:08:07,240 --> 04:08:07,900
Next speaker,

2659
04:08:19,580 --> 04:08:20,120
please come.

2660
04:08:25,900 --> 04:08:26,280
Good evening.

2661
04:08:30,610 --> 04:08:33,130
My name is Nick Ballmus, and I am a Lockman resident.

2662
04:08:33,570 --> 04:08:35,710
I live very near the Amberwood facility.

2663
04:08:36,990 --> 04:08:39,470
And it has been pointed out already.

2664
04:08:40,690 --> 04:08:46,730
It already is a affordable housing, and it's been being managed quite well, and it's been

2665
04:08:46,730 --> 04:08:51,870
part of the community, it's been part of the lock mirror, and it doesn't need to change.

2666
04:08:52,910 --> 04:08:59,170
I also grew up in a family, they did not have a lot of money, did not have a nice house when

2667
04:08:59,170 --> 04:09:00,390
I grew up.

2668
04:09:00,550 --> 04:09:06,450
I had to work hard, pay my taxes, and work really hard to get a job and carry.

2669
04:09:06,450 --> 04:09:14,570
Sometimes you just have to work really hard pay your taxes and you get a place like

2670
04:09:14,570 --> 04:09:16,450
Harry to live.

2671
04:09:17,190 --> 04:09:19,490
I'm sorry that not everybody can afford to live here.

2672
04:09:21,030 --> 04:09:23,070
There are other places that are cheaper.

2673
04:09:23,770 --> 04:09:28,750
But there are so many places to live, not that far away.

2674
04:09:29,330 --> 04:09:33,490
It doesn't need to be right next to in amberwood and it doesn't need to change.

2675
04:09:33,490 --> 04:09:40,230
is already affordable and I encourage you to vote now for this. Thank you.

2676
04:09:44,960 --> 04:09:46,360
Anyone else for this

2677
04:09:46,360 --> 04:09:51,100
public hearing? I was

2678
04:10:07,640 --> 04:10:11,180
not planning to speak tonight and I'm not going to talk long. My name is Elizabeth

2679
04:10:11,180 --> 04:10:17,360
Slight. I go by Libby, Libby, Libby, Libby. I've been there almost 40 years. You guys have all gotten

2680
04:10:17,360 --> 04:10:24,260
might e-mails. The one thing that I want to mention that hasn't even been mentioned tonight

2681
04:10:24,260 --> 04:10:34,160
is none of us are not in favor of low and mid-income housing. Amberwood's already there,

2682
04:10:34,320 --> 04:10:41,160
we love it. What we are opposed to is you giving that to the Raleigh Housing Authority.

2683
04:10:41,160 --> 04:10:56,060
Now, if we can get a bond referendum to put a $68 million park in downtown Kerry, why can't we do that for an amberwood?

2684
04:10:56,640 --> 04:11:00,620
We know that they're trying to sell it. We know that the owner wants to sell it.

2685
04:11:00,840 --> 04:11:04,400
Find, let's keep it affordable, but let's keep it Kerry.

2686
04:11:04,400 --> 04:11:12,580
make this happen, you should do this, put the bond forward, you know, we'll, we'll, we'll, yes, for it.

2687
04:11:12,960 --> 04:11:19,260
Don't let Raleigh come in and ruin it. Don't let them.

2688
04:11:19,660 --> 04:11:24,760
I'm sure, I'm sure those people are really nice, but just for whatever heard,

2689
04:11:25,000 --> 04:11:30,100
just the fact that Raleigh doesn't have, Kerry doesn't have any control over it once it's gone.

2690
04:11:30,760 --> 04:11:33,440
Big mistake. That's all you gotta say. Thank you very much.

2691
04:11:38,050 --> 04:11:41,210
Anyone else or the public hearing?

2692
04:11:43,290 --> 04:11:54,450
Anyone else? Okay I'll close the public hearing. I'll start off with my comments. I'll be very brief.

2693
04:11:54,450 --> 04:11:56,610
Um, some questions before we to come in.

2694
04:11:57,150 --> 04:11:57,170
Sure.

2695
04:11:57,270 --> 04:11:57,750
Could you be right?

2696
04:11:58,710 --> 04:11:59,230
Yeah.

2697
04:11:59,970 --> 04:12:00,270
Um,

2698
04:12:00,870 --> 04:12:01,050
Ms.

2699
04:12:01,050 --> 04:12:01,570
We love you.

2700
04:12:01,890 --> 04:12:03,630
And, and maybe the RTA.

2701
04:12:03,870 --> 04:12:06,090
I have a number of questions that, um,

2702
04:12:06,230 --> 04:12:08,210
the public brought up.

2703
04:12:08,210 --> 04:12:11,250
I'm hoping someone can answer them.

2704
04:12:13,320 --> 04:12:14,240
A whole time.

2705
04:12:14,560 --> 04:12:14,920
Oh, here.

2706
04:12:20,700 --> 04:12:22,420
Can you,

2707
04:12:22,420 --> 04:12:24,740
can you, um,

2708
04:12:25,340 --> 04:12:25,680
address,

2709
04:12:26,980 --> 04:12:29,280
maybe the history of this property?

2710
04:12:29,280 --> 04:12:35,380
And, you know, we've heard there's some money that's put down, there's money that's coming.

2711
04:12:36,040 --> 04:12:42,960
We've also heard about RHA being only in Raleigh, and which you have shared with us.

2712
04:12:42,960 --> 04:12:45,100
Can you give us a little bit more information about that?

2713
04:12:45,260 --> 04:12:48,480
And also the covenant, some of the questions that we have heard.

2714
04:12:49,020 --> 04:12:50,780
Can you address some of those?

2715
04:12:54,710 --> 04:12:54,930
Hi.

2716
04:12:55,430 --> 04:12:56,090
Good evening.

2717
04:12:57,330 --> 04:12:58,450
Can you introduce yourself?

2718
04:12:58,570 --> 04:12:59,610
My name is Jason Morrell.

2719
04:12:59,830 --> 04:13:02,750
I'm the Director of Acquisitions and Strategic Partnerships for the

2720
04:13:02,750 --> 04:13:07,750
Rally Housing Authority and the prime point person responsible for this acquisition.

2721
04:13:09,110 --> 04:13:18,330
A little bit of history, the Housing Authority has a strategic plan which provides a background for our actions, which is authorized by our board.

2722
04:13:19,010 --> 04:13:24,090
One part of the strategic plan is to preserve affordable housing where we can and where we can.

2723
04:13:24,090 --> 04:13:34,410
In this instance, we had made an offer on some an acquisition in Raleigh, that acquisition was not accepted.

2724
04:13:35,430 --> 04:13:40,010
At the same time, the property in Amberwood was perfor sale.

2725
04:13:40,390 --> 04:13:42,490
We were contacted by brokers to participate.

2726
04:13:43,150 --> 04:13:50,890
We put an offer, a competitive offer with a wide variety of commercial real estate investment companies.

2727
04:13:50,890 --> 04:13:59,910
And ultimately, we were selected as the winning offer and at that time, we then negotiated

2728
04:14:01,590 --> 04:14:07,630
basically a agreement for access to take a look at the property that triggered the timeline.

2729
04:14:08,310 --> 04:14:14,270
And so the timeline that has been addressed tonight and the reasons why it's of the particular timing that it is.

2730
04:14:14,270 --> 04:14:21,530
From our perspective was driven by the sales contract and the market process for these properties.

2731
04:14:22,010 --> 04:14:31,390
And in general, once the agreement is made and offers accepted, typically those terms are 30 days due diligence period,

2732
04:14:31,570 --> 04:14:37,750
which is a period for us to take look at the property without that money becoming non-reimbursable,

2733
04:14:37,990 --> 04:14:42,850
meaning the earnest money that we would put down similar to the same thing that you would do before your house.

2734
04:14:45,370 --> 04:14:47,890
Um, so the earnest money,

2735
04:14:59,690 --> 04:14:59,970
I'm going to walk.

2736
04:15:00,000 --> 04:15:02,380
I want to talk to everyone through maybe just the time.

2737
04:15:03,440 --> 04:15:07,640
I can't ask that question right? I think the audience is trying to.

2738
04:15:08,920 --> 04:15:14,280
The access agreement, there are two parts, basically, of a purchase and sale agreement.

2739
04:15:15,100 --> 04:15:20,560
One part is an access agreement, which provides the buyer of the property and opportunity to do

2740
04:15:20,560 --> 04:15:27,980
due diligence on that property, meaning to enter the grounds, to take a look at the physical elements, to

2741
04:15:27,980 --> 04:15:32,720
documents have been provided at that time prior to the full fulfillment of those documents

2742
04:15:32,720 --> 04:15:33,140
set.

2743
04:15:33,260 --> 04:15:38,480
During that time, there's a negotiation over the actual purchase and sale agreement.

2744
04:15:38,980 --> 04:15:45,020
So these work at parallel times, but the actual timeline is triggered by the access agreement.

2745
04:15:45,200 --> 04:15:50,280
And the access agreement I believe was signed on the 12th of June or somewhere very close

2746
04:15:50,280 --> 04:15:51,060
to that date.

2747
04:15:51,580 --> 04:15:57,780
That triggers basically a 30-day due diligence period and then a 15-day extension period

2748
04:15:57,780 --> 04:15:59,480
which was part of that sales contract.

2749
04:16:00,160 --> 04:16:04,580
That is why that takes us to in terms of our timeline

2750
04:16:04,580 --> 04:16:07,600
that's driving this process to the 27th.

2751
04:16:07,920 --> 04:16:10,840
That is a decision date by which we need to make a decision

2752
04:16:10,840 --> 04:16:13,860
as a buyer, whether or not we want to move forward

2753
04:16:13,860 --> 04:16:16,280
with this acquisition and purchase,

2754
04:16:16,880 --> 04:16:19,660
or whether or not we decline to move forward.

2755
04:16:20,060 --> 04:16:24,520
As a housing authority, and as a fiduciary of public monies,

2756
04:16:24,520 --> 04:16:29,440
We need to be very certain at that point in time that we can move forward.

2757
04:16:30,460 --> 04:16:32,680
At that time, should we choose to move forward?

2758
04:16:32,820 --> 04:16:37,740
We then have a closing period process, which is typically 30 to 60 days.

2759
04:16:38,180 --> 04:16:43,600
In our sales contract, we have a 30-day process, and then we have another 30-day extension

2760
04:16:43,600 --> 04:16:47,420
with the very sizable deposit that's associated with it.

2761
04:16:47,680 --> 04:16:52,620
And so that explains basically the timeline that brought us to today.

2762
04:16:52,620 --> 04:17:00,140
And, you know, it's already been noted why we're here today, but we need to ensure that we're

2763
04:17:00,140 --> 04:17:02,860
compliant with the law prior to making that decision.

2764
04:17:04,500 --> 04:17:08,700
And can you speak to the covenants questions by the public?

2765
04:17:10,480 --> 04:17:13,380
I have found that discussion would be very interesting today.

2766
04:17:14,280 --> 04:17:14,880
I haven't.

2767
04:17:15,120 --> 04:17:19,560
Myself have very deep conversations with legal counsel, so the first thing I want to suggest

2768
04:17:19,560 --> 04:17:23,840
is that we haven't had legal counsel conversation in regards to the covenant.

2769
04:17:24,720 --> 04:17:30,600
For my perspective, there's no expectation or no reason why the housing authority and

2770
04:17:30,600 --> 04:17:34,920
in particular instrumentality that the question is about capital area developments in

2771
04:17:34,920 --> 04:17:35,660
instrumentality.

2772
04:17:35,780 --> 04:17:42,100
Housing authority is used, what we call instrumentalities, which are nonprofit entities to own

2773
04:17:42,100 --> 04:17:49,520
the properties in which we engage in and in this instance, this would be CAD as a participating

2774
04:17:49,520 --> 04:17:56,580
The owner, which is basically otherwise known as a sister company or instrumentality, there's

2775
04:17:56,580 --> 04:18:00,120
no reason to believe that the instrumentality would not.

2776
04:18:00,120 --> 04:18:01,880
Please, please let me know.

2777
04:18:01,880 --> 04:18:11,760
There would be no reason to believe that there would be no reason for our perspective to believe

2778
04:18:11,760 --> 04:18:15,600
that we would not have to adhere to the covenants of Amberwood.

2779
04:18:15,600 --> 04:18:20,540
So, and nor would we be disenclined to not agree to.

2780
04:18:20,760 --> 04:18:22,620
So Ms. Glover, do you have any information

2781
04:18:22,620 --> 04:18:23,940
that would help on that question?

2782
04:18:24,180 --> 04:18:26,780
Yes, I too have not done deep research on this,

2783
04:18:26,940 --> 04:18:28,040
but for my understanding,

2784
04:18:33,130 --> 04:18:35,250
for my understanding in general,

2785
04:18:35,770 --> 04:18:37,590
when you buy property in that neighborhood,

2786
04:18:37,750 --> 04:18:39,070
you would be subject to any covenants

2787
04:18:39,070 --> 04:18:40,830
that the property is currently subject to,

2788
04:18:40,850 --> 04:18:42,130
but they wouldn't need to confirm that

2789
04:18:42,130 --> 04:18:44,130
with their own legal counsel, not the towns.

2790
04:18:45,550 --> 04:18:46,430
Thank you.

2791
04:18:46,970 --> 04:18:47,410
Other questions?

2792
04:18:47,410 --> 04:18:50,510
That's where my first point of this one, Hanson.

2793
04:18:50,950 --> 04:19:07,550
I have some question to our towered attorney is the procedure like RHA, no matter what kind of authorities come to carry as to ask for a resolution.

2794
04:19:08,210 --> 04:19:10,490
What is the procedure for that?

2795
04:19:10,490 --> 04:19:19,370
And I think we need to let the public know we are complies with the procedure.

2796
04:19:19,790 --> 04:19:20,490
That's correct.

2797
04:19:20,850 --> 04:19:23,590
State law is Ms. Wheeler hand mentioned in her presentation.

2798
04:19:24,230 --> 04:19:29,710
Governors all actions of housing authority and a housing authority created in one city that

2799
04:19:29,710 --> 04:19:35,230
desires to operate in an adjacent city must come to that city, so in this case, carry.

2800
04:19:35,230 --> 04:19:41,310
and ask for a resolution approving their operation in the city of

2801
04:19:41,310 --> 04:19:46,770
Kerry. So that's what they have done. They came to Kerry and again they've

2802
04:19:46,770 --> 04:19:51,630
explained their timeframe. We are required under state law to provide the

2803
04:19:51,630 --> 04:19:55,270
public hearing notice which we did in compliance with law and then it's

2804
04:19:55,270 --> 04:19:55,930
before you tonight.

2805
04:19:57,300 --> 04:20:01,800
Other questions, please, please,

2806
04:20:03,100 --> 04:20:04,040
other questions,

2807
04:20:08,300 --> 04:20:09,820
other questions?

2808
04:20:11,940 --> 04:20:13,140
Who will the Management Company?

2809
04:20:13,320 --> 04:20:14,700
This is Council Deliveration.

2810
04:20:15,020 --> 04:20:16,160
Thank you.

2811
04:20:16,320 --> 04:20:17,860
Who will the Management Company be?

2812
04:20:18,140 --> 04:20:19,720
Our intention is the Management Company.

2813
04:20:20,060 --> 04:20:23,240
It will be the same management company that's currently there, which is great star.

2814
04:20:25,850 --> 04:20:26,030
Other?

2815
04:20:27,290 --> 04:20:31,490
Can, I'm not sure everybody heard you.

2816
04:20:31,490 --> 04:20:32,830
Can you say that a little bit louder?

2817
04:20:32,830 --> 04:20:37,010
The management company our intention is for it to remain the same.

2818
04:20:40,060 --> 04:20:41,060
Any other questions?

2819
04:20:41,420 --> 04:20:45,500
And the reason I use the word intention is because we're still in the negotiation of a contract.

2820
04:20:45,700 --> 04:20:49,820
We haven't signed a contract and therefore we can't do that.

2821
04:20:49,820 --> 04:20:51,600
That's fair. We can't hold you to it.

2822
04:20:55,140 --> 04:20:56,680
Please. Please.

2823
04:21:00,170 --> 04:21:01,590
I didn't hear.

2824
04:21:02,210 --> 04:21:10,390
At least I didn't hear you say the specifics of the questions I have for staff were about the language.

2825
04:21:10,390 --> 04:21:16,870
of the public notice, the timing, the how and where it was distributed. I don't know who would be best to answer.

2826
04:21:17,190 --> 04:21:20,450
And we complied with state law and preparing the notice and publishing it.

2827
04:21:20,970 --> 04:21:29,690
Because Lisa, just to clarify, my understanding is, you know, I know that language of intense to adopt, you know, a gruesome attention.

2828
04:21:29,770 --> 04:21:36,090
But that's the statutory language. That's the language that informs the public of what your action may be.

2829
04:21:36,090 --> 04:21:40,810
There are, of course, many different ways you could prepare a public notice and that's how that one was prepared.

2830
04:21:41,150 --> 04:21:44,130
The timeline was appropriate. I looked at all of them also.

2831
04:21:44,570 --> 04:22:00,610
And I want to remind everyone that just Tuesday, our mayor per 10 bush proposed to take this proposal out of today's agenda and we did a vote on this past Tuesday.

2832
04:22:00,610 --> 04:22:08,210
that was 3, 2, 3, and today we opened the paddock speaks out, a paddock hearing just

2833
04:22:08,210 --> 04:22:16,410
we are listening to everyone's opinion and I know this is by law we need to listen to everyone's

2834
04:22:16,410 --> 04:22:25,910
opinion and I wish everyone will be respectful to each other because this is in discussion and

2835
04:22:25,910 --> 04:22:27,590
and we are listening to everyone,

2836
04:22:27,730 --> 04:22:31,930
CMS, RHA, we respect everyone's opinion.

2837
04:22:32,970 --> 04:22:36,270
And we haven't, please, please.

2838
04:22:37,270 --> 04:22:40,990
We had the conversation, our staff on Tuesday.

2839
04:22:41,810 --> 04:22:48,010
If you, please let me talk for the council meeting, right?

2840
04:22:48,290 --> 04:22:52,850
That's, we had a conversation with the Lockmeer HOA,

2841
04:22:53,130 --> 04:22:55,430
this Tuesday, noon with our staff.

2842
04:22:55,430 --> 04:22:57,190
and our system temperature.

2843
04:22:58,750 --> 04:23:02,230
We had a very good conversation, and I appreciate

2844
04:23:02,230 --> 04:23:07,750
Loch Nier H-O-A, provide enough information with us.

2845
04:23:07,750 --> 04:23:08,890
And we listened a lot.

2846
04:23:11,600 --> 04:23:14,720
We haven't made any decision at that time.

2847
04:23:15,080 --> 04:23:18,480
So today, the council meeting is for the decision.

2848
04:23:19,660 --> 04:23:24,480
So our council hasn't had any decision on this proposal.

2849
04:23:24,480 --> 04:23:37,620
And on Wednesday, we had a conversation with RHA meeting with most of our council members to deliver all the questions from lock near residents.

2850
04:23:38,500 --> 04:23:48,420
And today during the public hearing, we have heard every question you reached today before the council meeting.

2851
04:23:48,420 --> 04:23:57,420
And I think RHA already received all the concerns from the residents and also from the council.

2852
04:23:59,680 --> 04:24:10,260
I appreciate everyone's respectful opinions, and especially there are children in front of the camera in our council meeting.

2853
04:24:10,260 --> 04:24:20,080
I really appreciate your word or language to be the role model of the future, a dance of

2854
04:24:20,080 --> 04:24:29,360
Kerry. So let's continue the conversation, but please respect the applicant, the council,

2855
04:24:30,060 --> 04:24:36,680
and everyone here. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Wong. So are there any other questions

2856
04:24:36,680 --> 04:24:41,740
for R.I.J. Thank you, gentlemen. Any questions?

2857
04:24:42,020 --> 04:24:42,880
Thank you, Mr. Wheelhand.

2858
04:24:45,260 --> 04:24:48,520
Okay, so I'll give my comments very briefly.

2859
04:24:50,580 --> 04:24:51,700
There's a lot of information.

2860
04:24:52,660 --> 04:24:55,780
Unfortunately, some things were true, some things were not true,

2861
04:24:56,300 --> 04:24:58,120
but I'll give my perspective.

2862
04:24:59,440 --> 04:25:04,340
I do have a vested interest. I live less than a quarter mile from there.

2863
04:25:04,340 --> 04:25:07,420
I've lived in Carries since 1958.

2864
04:25:08,920 --> 04:25:10,620
So I've been here a long time.

2865
04:25:11,960 --> 04:25:15,600
I can talk to things that I thought were interesting,

2866
04:25:16,020 --> 04:25:16,980
the lost revenue.

2867
04:25:17,800 --> 04:25:19,740
And if the Council votes to approve this,

2868
04:25:19,760 --> 04:25:24,980
I would ask that we subtract that from the 1%

2869
04:25:24,980 --> 04:25:27,220
that we give to affordable housing every year.

2870
04:25:27,280 --> 04:25:30,080
As counted as expenditures toward affordable housing,

2871
04:25:30,240 --> 04:25:32,360
I would ask Council to consider that.

2872
04:25:32,360 --> 04:25:37,160
But my biggest problem with this whole thing is how it's been handled.

2873
04:25:38,460 --> 04:25:41,360
I found out somewhere around July 10th,

2874
04:25:42,060 --> 04:25:44,360
I got a staff report on July 13th

2875
04:25:44,960 --> 04:25:51,000
and filled the dozens of emails trying to provide them with the staff reports

2876
04:25:51,000 --> 04:25:52,420
so they would have information.

2877
04:25:53,340 --> 04:25:57,620
But the problem for me is if I am making a decision

2878
04:25:57,620 --> 04:26:01,600
and I can't give the public enough information

2879
04:26:01,600 --> 04:26:05,060
where they understand all the details of it,

2880
04:26:05,160 --> 04:26:07,180
then I shouldn't be defending that decision.

2881
04:26:08,160 --> 04:26:09,940
So I cannot support that.

2882
04:26:10,500 --> 04:26:11,340
Please don't.

2883
04:26:11,820 --> 04:26:13,180
I cannot support that.

2884
04:26:14,060 --> 04:26:17,700
And I realize we might be missing a grand opportunity.

2885
04:26:18,220 --> 04:26:21,600
But we have got to, in the future,

2886
04:26:21,940 --> 04:26:23,300
if you want to work with the Kerry Council,

2887
04:26:23,560 --> 04:26:25,500
you have to work with the public first.

2888
04:26:26,020 --> 04:26:27,000
They are all voices.

2889
04:26:27,680 --> 04:26:28,940
They are the ones that are in charge.

2890
04:26:28,940 --> 04:26:31,560
And they have to understand what we're trying to do.

2891
04:26:31,840 --> 04:26:34,560
And if they don't, then we can't move forward with it.

2892
04:26:34,740 --> 04:26:39,040
So those are my thoughts, and I'll let my council colleagues speak nice.

2893
04:26:45,520 --> 04:26:46,700
I can make a motion.

2894
04:26:46,980 --> 04:26:48,120
Oh, can I make a motion?

2895
04:26:48,460 --> 04:26:48,780
Sure.

2896
04:26:49,060 --> 04:26:50,900
No, I have lots of things to say.

2897
04:26:51,080 --> 04:26:52,680
I just wanted to defer to you as though.

2898
04:26:52,900 --> 04:26:59,760
Oh, I, before, after mayor, I completely agree with mayor,

2899
04:26:59,760 --> 04:27:08,720
because the timing to rush and we had meetings on Tuesday, Wednesday, and we have phone calls

2900
04:27:08,720 --> 04:27:14,960
with all around in partners, and that makes me feel not because of today's public hearing

2901
04:27:14,960 --> 04:27:22,280
the enders here, just because I have the procedure and everything the information is not enough

2902
04:27:22,280 --> 04:27:25,640
for me to support this proposal.

2903
04:27:28,300 --> 04:27:40,100
But during our meeting with Lockmeyer H.O.A. board members, we all agree that affordable housing is important for the carry residents.

2904
04:27:40,980 --> 04:27:48,900
So it's not about affordable housing, it's about the procedure to make decision on this specific proposal.

2905
04:27:49,880 --> 04:27:51,560
That's my comments.

2906
04:27:52,980 --> 04:27:58,240
So, first of all, I want to thank all of you for joining tonight because this is real

2907
04:27:58,240 --> 04:28:00,620
democracy where we hear both sides.

2908
04:28:00,980 --> 04:28:02,880
You know, we all are fighting for the same thing.

2909
04:28:03,020 --> 04:28:05,760
I really appreciate what Libby said in the end.

2910
04:28:06,020 --> 04:28:10,360
You can sum up everybody that we are not fighting against each other.

2911
04:28:10,580 --> 04:28:16,220
It's not a topic about affordable housing, whether we want this and carry or not.

2912
04:28:16,660 --> 04:28:20,800
This council has been very, very responsive and it comes to affordable housing.

2913
04:28:20,800 --> 04:28:27,820
we have gone above and beyond what we could do in the budget, we still move the needle forward

2914
04:28:27,820 --> 04:28:31,020
for affordable housing and we will continue to do that in future.

2915
04:28:32,000 --> 04:28:41,540
What I understand from my very brief conversation with RHA was that they will increase the rent.

2916
04:28:41,540 --> 04:28:57,640
So it is not going to stay where it is today, but it will be at 51% AMI for 60% 80% of the units and about 60% for 10% units.

2917
04:28:58,120 --> 04:29:02,320
So you know, I mean, if you think about this, the rent is still going up.

2918
04:29:02,720 --> 04:29:04,920
It's not, it is that's my understanding.

2919
04:29:04,920 --> 04:29:14,560
And the reason I why I understand the timing issue here because I agree that we didn't have enough time to research everything.

2920
04:29:15,020 --> 04:29:19,580
Everything is so rushed from our side that we don't feel comfortable.

2921
04:29:19,700 --> 04:29:26,180
I don't feel comfortable at this point saying that I can wave this side or that side.

2922
04:29:26,180 --> 04:29:30,600
And so I voted what Councilwoman Bella Wong still said.

2923
04:29:30,840 --> 04:29:33,620
I voted in favor of, you know,

2924
04:29:33,740 --> 04:29:36,760
tabling this for now so that we can take some time

2925
04:29:36,760 --> 04:29:39,140
and understand both perspectives

2926
04:29:39,140 --> 04:29:41,900
and come up with a plan which is best for gay residents.

2927
04:29:43,300 --> 04:29:45,840
I just feel like I don't want to be rushed.

2928
04:29:46,380 --> 04:29:49,380
And in the spirit of exactly what we discussed today,

2929
04:29:50,280 --> 04:29:52,940
and some of my colleagues may not agree with me,

2930
04:29:53,020 --> 04:29:54,500
but this is just my perspective

2931
04:29:54,500 --> 04:29:59,780
I'm just one boat here. In the spirit of what the findings of the state auditors are, I don't

2932
04:30:07,360 --> 04:30:18,720
I'm not looking at this, whether I'm voting in favour of affordable housing or voting against affordable housing, we want affordable housing and these are affordable housing units.

2933
04:30:18,720 --> 04:30:22,720
I actually like the suggestion, even though that is a dream,

2934
04:30:23,720 --> 04:30:30,560
Billaron housing authority, and you know, put a bond and buy this property and manage it by day.

2935
04:30:31,140 --> 04:30:36,960
Why should we let Raleigh take this property and run for us?

2936
04:30:37,260 --> 04:30:39,440
That's just my opinion, though.

2937
04:30:39,840 --> 04:30:41,480
Other comments, thoughts?

2938
04:30:42,700 --> 04:30:42,800
Please.

2939
04:30:46,780 --> 04:30:53,300
I didn't feel that I had enough time to, I couldn't have made a decision on Tuesday.

2940
04:30:54,360 --> 04:31:00,010
I've got a lot of research to talk to a lot of people since then, and I do, I do believe,

2941
04:31:01,760 --> 04:31:06,340
I love room for any new information that I gained tonight, and I didn't gain any new information,

2942
04:31:06,540 --> 04:31:11,760
and I do believe I have enough information to vote tonight.

2943
04:31:14,400 --> 04:31:23,280
I, thanks to RHA for all they do to help contribute to affordable housing, thanks to all of the diverse opinions that are here.

2944
04:31:23,980 --> 04:31:26,940
It takes a lot to get out and speak in front of people.

2945
04:31:28,380 --> 04:31:30,900
Some are speaking for it, some are speaking against it.

2946
04:31:31,140 --> 04:31:34,000
We obviously cannot vote in a way to agree with everyone.

2947
04:31:34,820 --> 04:31:37,460
And I respect my colleagues' views as well.

2948
04:31:37,460 --> 04:31:42,420
I understand that people are upset about the misuse of funds in the town.

2949
04:31:43,720 --> 04:31:45,780
I'm sorry that we did not provide enough oversight.

2950
04:31:46,840 --> 04:31:48,240
We are learning and we will do better.

2951
04:31:49,300 --> 04:31:51,920
It will take time to earn trust.

2952
04:31:52,820 --> 04:31:56,020
I understand the concerns about the loss of tax revenue.

2953
04:32:00,400 --> 04:32:05,020
And perhaps I can get into that more, but I have lots of other things to say.

2954
04:32:05,660 --> 04:32:10,760
I've never been as validated as I am tonight about my choice to run for office.

2955
04:32:12,600 --> 04:32:19,140
I know that everyone does not, I believe you all respect the positions that we hold,

2956
04:32:19,560 --> 04:32:27,000
but I think it's fair to say some of you do not respect me and my role currently as council member.

2957
04:32:28,180 --> 04:32:31,280
That is okay, that is your opinion and that is fair.

2958
04:32:31,280 --> 04:32:35,280
Everyone's opinion is right for them.

2959
04:32:36,460 --> 04:32:40,300
I care deeply about affordable housing.

2960
04:32:42,220 --> 04:32:50,260
I serve as a council member and a teacher to families who receive government assistance, including subsidized housing.

2961
04:32:51,920 --> 04:32:58,780
I work with people who in public education that receive government assistance.

2962
04:32:58,780 --> 04:33:06,060
I am disappointed by some misinformation that I've heard over the last week.

2963
04:33:07,140 --> 04:33:14,500
I'm disappointed especially about a narrative that those receiving a voucher to help offset calls for housing

2964
04:33:16,360 --> 04:33:20,040
may be associated with crime and using drugs.

2965
04:33:21,100 --> 04:33:23,180
It's okay. You're entitled to your opinion.

2966
04:33:23,180 --> 04:33:32,460
I know that some people who live in subsidized housing may use drugs and they may commit crimes,

2967
04:33:33,140 --> 04:33:37,780
but so do other people who live in carry in other places.

2968
04:33:40,320 --> 04:33:45,920
I have taught children who lived in Magdugo Terrace also because of that reference earlier.

2969
04:33:46,040 --> 04:33:48,600
I worked in Durham before I worked in White County Public Schools.

2970
04:33:48,600 --> 04:33:59,380
These are humans that deserve respect and we can address them on individual basis instead of making sweeping statements.

2971
04:34:00,920 --> 04:34:13,800
I have spent hours researching this and I will make the best decisions that I can and if I don't have all the information then I, I own that as well.

2972
04:34:13,800 --> 04:34:27,950
I have searched the Lockmeer website and I may have understood but what I see is that there

2973
04:34:27,950 --> 04:34:29,410
are

2974
04:34:31,780 --> 04:34:38,780
condos, townhouses and single family homes under the Lockmeer Master Association.

2975
04:34:40,820 --> 04:35:00,700
And I can't find anything the map of Lockmear on Lockmear's website when I compare it to where Amber Wood at Lockmear is, if I have not had, if I have incomplete information, I have not been able to find it.

2976
04:35:00,700 --> 04:35:08,380
I am not making my decision tonight based on the statements that they don't need

2977
04:35:09,760 --> 04:35:16,440
renovations or whatever. I'm making my decision based on the fact about having

2978
04:35:16,440 --> 04:35:24,640
naturally occurring affordable housing where families live with the average

2979
04:35:25,440 --> 04:35:33,300
Area meeting income currently is 52 percent. They are already low and moderate income

2980
04:35:33,300 --> 04:35:40,420
individuals and families. I am concerned about their displacement. I see an opportunity

2981
04:35:41,320 --> 04:35:48,800
for someone to come in and help keep them from being displaced. I don't have a crystal ball.

2982
04:35:48,800 --> 04:36:02,320
I am not making any promises, I believe that the best vote for me tonight is to go forward with it is to vote yes for the resolution.

2983
04:36:04,980 --> 04:36:07,680
I respect your opinion even when you do me.

2984
04:36:13,640 --> 04:36:14,580
Please, please.

2985
04:36:18,080 --> 04:36:23,780
I understand the concern that the person raised about certain groups not being able to access subsidized housing.

2986
04:36:23,780 --> 04:36:41,860
I think I saw you over here. I share those concerns also. I do believe the fact that this property is being sold, makes individuals vulnerable, and I hope we can do better at a federal level to help with those policies.

2987
04:36:43,600 --> 04:36:46,440
My view about the tax loss.

2988
04:36:47,220 --> 04:36:49,800
Ladies and gentlemen, please let us deliberate.

2989
04:36:51,280 --> 04:36:53,860
We've been here many hours listening to you.

2990
04:36:54,720 --> 04:36:54,820
Please.

2991
04:36:56,180 --> 04:36:59,840
We received emails and people spoke tonight about the tax loss.

2992
04:36:59,900 --> 04:37:03,640
And there was one particular email that I remember that referred to it as tax loss.

2993
04:37:04,240 --> 04:37:05,680
And I understand that.

2994
04:37:05,980 --> 04:37:09,900
Yes, there will be an effect where,

2995
04:37:09,900 --> 04:37:17,000
I believe it's 237,000 for this year we would not be collecting and then of course that

2996
04:37:17,000 --> 04:37:21,620
would most likely include possibly increase year to year and it's a 30 year commitment.

2997
04:37:22,780 --> 04:37:27,960
We, from the time that I've been on council for the two and a half years, we've put millions

2998
04:37:27,960 --> 04:37:32,760
of dollars into affordable housing every year. We would definitely need a conversation but I'd

2999
04:37:32,760 --> 04:37:38,340
be open to looking at the idea that the mayor had about however much money we want to spend.

3000
04:37:38,340 --> 04:37:40,840
we potentially need to dunk this out.

3001
04:37:41,600 --> 04:37:46,260
This is, in my opinion, not a tax loss,

3002
04:37:46,300 --> 04:37:49,220
but an investment, instead of collecting money

3003
04:37:49,220 --> 04:37:51,060
and putting it into affordable housing,

3004
04:37:51,560 --> 04:37:54,660
we are subsidizing a small tiny bit

3005
04:37:54,660 --> 04:37:57,880
of what could be a great benefit to carry.

3006
04:37:58,060 --> 04:38:00,920
And I know we have some disagreement on that, that is okay.

3007
04:38:06,110 --> 04:38:10,830
No housing, no housing when a position opens

3008
04:38:10,830 --> 04:38:15,590
in an apartment. There is never a promise of whether people in

3009
04:38:15,590 --> 04:38:19,370
Kerry are going to get that or whether it's from another municipality, this will be

3010
04:38:19,370 --> 04:38:20,070
no different.

3011
04:38:23,960 --> 04:38:29,140
I hope that housing authorities continue to want to come to

3012
04:38:29,140 --> 04:38:40,380
Kerry. I believe this is our opportunity and if this turns out to be a

3013
04:38:40,380 --> 04:38:43,740
Ladies and gentlemen, please allow civil discourse.

3014
04:38:44,280 --> 04:38:46,600
Please, I'm begging you. Let her finish.

3015
04:38:47,360 --> 04:38:48,900
Then we can take a vote.

3016
04:38:49,520 --> 04:38:53,060
Okay. We don't know yet if this will pass or not.

3017
04:38:53,460 --> 04:38:58,020
Right now, you can see that we are divided and that is okay because just like you all,

3018
04:38:58,200 --> 04:39:02,440
we have different opinions and we have different comfort levels with things.

3019
04:39:03,140 --> 04:39:10,100
But if it passes, this is rally housing authorities first opportunity outside of rally.

3020
04:39:10,100 --> 04:39:16,800
every new thing that starts has a first. I don't believe their predatory and coming to carry,

3021
04:39:17,400 --> 04:39:19,920
but if I'm wrong, I will own my mistake.

3022
04:39:22,910 --> 04:39:22,910
Please.

3023
04:39:26,420 --> 04:39:29,580
Ladies and gentlemen, please let us finish.

3024
04:39:30,500 --> 04:39:39,540
But I can easily justify the investment of taking this tax exemption and putting it into affordable

3025
04:39:39,540 --> 04:39:46,940
housing. There are multiple entities in Carey that already exist as a tax

3026
04:39:46,940 --> 04:39:55,760
exempt entities. This is not a first. And I'm happy to see what my

3027
04:39:55,760 --> 04:40:01,760
colleagues say. Who would like to go next? I'm happy to because you know

3028
04:40:01,760 --> 04:40:07,060
while I came to a very different conclusion I do agree with much of what

3029
04:40:07,060 --> 04:40:14,340
you just said. And thank you for, you know, the fortitude to sit and say it all. I appreciate

3030
04:40:14,340 --> 04:40:21,640
that I do. I do particularly feel strongly that preserving naturally occurring affordable

3031
04:40:21,640 --> 04:40:28,120
housing is something that is well worth our time and energy. And it's just so difficult

3032
04:40:28,120 --> 04:40:35,720
to do. It's probably one of the most difficult things to do. You know, I've yet to hear any

3033
04:40:35,720 --> 04:40:42,740
better proposal than what was described by the, you know, the report and the materials and

3034
04:40:42,740 --> 04:40:51,740
what the, the leaders of the housing authority described, where what their intention is and

3035
04:40:51,740 --> 04:40:56,500
I believe this to be right and true, I believe their intention is to preserve that naturally

3036
04:40:56,500 --> 04:41:02,540
occurring affordable housing. And I do support that. I live in, you know, 20 years in the most

3037
04:41:02,540 --> 04:41:05,440
affordable area of carry which has become wildly

3038
04:41:05,440 --> 04:41:07,480
unaffordable, very quickly here downtown.

3039
04:41:08,540 --> 04:41:12,000
So, you know, every time I see a affordable house

3040
04:41:12,000 --> 04:41:16,720
torn down, my heart breaks and I do want to be a part

3041
04:41:16,720 --> 04:41:17,800
of the solution.

3042
04:41:18,400 --> 04:41:22,880
And ideas like this, I would welcome a collaboration.

3043
04:41:23,220 --> 04:41:27,060
I spoke to a member of the Raleigh Council today,

3044
04:41:27,300 --> 04:41:29,040
shortly before coming to this meeting.

3045
04:41:29,040 --> 04:41:36,360
And, you know, we had a really nice brief discussion of, you know, Wake County, Raleigh,

3046
04:41:36,500 --> 04:41:42,180
Carey, other municipalities in Wake County, collaborating makes a lot of sense.

3047
04:41:42,800 --> 04:41:47,540
You see it in our other regional partners, you see it in the Greater Raleigh area, habitat

3048
04:41:47,540 --> 04:41:51,960
for humanity, you see it in the Raleigh area of land trust.

3049
04:41:52,560 --> 04:41:58,320
So I do believe there's a future for us in collaborating with other entities.

3050
04:41:58,320 --> 04:42:07,120
these, that being said, I think I owe my colleagues in apology, because they wanted us to consider

3051
04:42:07,120 --> 04:42:12,480
removing this from tonight's agenda, and I fought against that, because I think there's

3052
04:42:12,480 --> 04:42:14,660
two problematic things that happen.

3053
04:42:15,080 --> 04:42:19,560
Our residents believe we vote, yes, on everything, and we agree too much.

3054
04:42:20,680 --> 04:42:25,520
And in this case, we certainly don't agree too much, and we're not all voting, yes.

3055
04:42:25,520 --> 04:42:33,000
And I felt as though it was important for the ugly part of this process to be done publicly.

3056
04:42:33,860 --> 04:42:37,460
I expected a little more, you know, mutual respect in the process,

3057
04:42:37,840 --> 04:42:40,880
but so be at your angry with us and you have every right to be angry.

3058
04:42:41,580 --> 04:42:45,760
So that this is the discourse and this is what I think needed to happen.

3059
04:42:46,460 --> 04:42:53,020
But there is no reasonable reason why we shouldn't do this exactly how we just discussed.

3060
04:42:53,120 --> 04:42:53,900
And that's transparently.

3061
04:42:55,120 --> 04:43:00,980
We just found out about this and I argued to my colleagues that if we refused to hear this

3062
04:43:01,440 --> 04:43:08,100
in the timeline that was necessary for the housing authority to move forward with this project,

3063
04:43:08,560 --> 04:43:12,220
we're making it a decision by not making it a decision and that is not how I work.

3064
04:43:12,720 --> 04:43:20,900
I don't avoid hard votes, hard questions, hard answers, and I don't anymore that I respond to being bullied into it.

3065
04:43:20,900 --> 04:43:26,120
I'm not going to be bullied into this, but I did consider all of the information that was

3066
04:43:26,120 --> 04:43:34,000
available to me and my answer really is not now, maybe at some point I don't know what a great

3067
04:43:34,000 --> 04:43:39,780
project looks like. I do believe that mixed income is right for carry. I've said it for four years.

3068
04:43:39,820 --> 04:43:49,080
I'll say it for four more. I do believe those projects are right here. I want to do more to shore up

3069
04:43:49,080 --> 04:43:54,080
that were like me 30 years ago and didn't have two nickels to rub together and really needed

3070
04:43:54,080 --> 04:43:57,260
a lot of help or a little help or some help at all.

3071
04:43:57,800 --> 04:44:02,500
And I do know there are so many people in this community that want to be part of that

3072
04:44:02,500 --> 04:44:09,100
solution and I want to say we do hear you even when we can't move forward on the

3073
04:44:09,100 --> 04:44:12,080
thing that's in front of us that you feel so strongly about.

3074
04:44:12,080 --> 04:44:14,340
And I'm sorry about that,

3075
04:44:17,230 --> 04:44:25,450
but I can't support this, based off of the merits of what's in front of me how quickly we had to consider this case and come to a decision.

3076
04:44:31,720 --> 04:44:33,260
You want to go next or last?

3077
04:44:33,840 --> 04:44:34,960
I guess I'll go next.

3078
04:44:36,320 --> 04:44:42,260
So on the spirit of transparency on Tuesday, I made a motion to table this.

3079
04:44:42,560 --> 04:44:46,920
As everybody has shared, we were six people.

3080
04:44:46,920 --> 04:44:54,760
The mayor was unfortunately not able to be there and it was the vote as we said was three to three and a tie the vote fails

3081
04:44:54,760 --> 04:44:59,960
So that's what happened on on Tuesday and there was a reason as everybody has

3082
04:45:00,000 --> 04:45:08,060
Chair, the reason at that time was I had been also contacted by a rally council member who had some concerns.

3083
04:45:09,380 --> 04:45:14,460
We had, I had some concerns about the RHA governance. How does it work?

3084
04:45:14,840 --> 04:45:20,000
You know, I have a similar question that you all brought up. How does rally working in carry work?

3085
04:45:21,140 --> 04:45:26,200
You know, we don't, as you all brought up, we don't have a seat on board. What does governance look like?

3086
04:45:27,180 --> 04:45:35,720
And although we've absolutely followed the process and that is the state process, this

3087
04:45:35,720 --> 04:45:43,160
is very different than a rezoning where you have months and months to weigh in.

3088
04:45:43,700 --> 04:45:47,160
The average rezoning takes a year or more, maybe two years.

3089
04:45:47,620 --> 04:45:54,320
So there's lots of opportunity to weigh in to hear, to talk back, and this process is compressed

3090
04:45:54,320 --> 04:46:01,440
two weeks. As you learned, we got most of our information just a couple of weeks ago. So that

3091
04:46:01,440 --> 04:46:08,020
is new information. We're also not done this before. So everyone's doing their little bit of

3092
04:46:08,020 --> 04:46:16,680
our own research, looking at what's in front of us, and I also knew that by making the proposal

3093
04:46:16,680 --> 04:46:24,200
to table it was making a decision to not make a decision, right? Because basically they have

3094
04:46:24,200 --> 04:46:33,260
a timeline as well. I think, as Council Member Conjonson said, I think a housing authority

3095
04:46:33,260 --> 04:46:38,900
and carry is a good idea. Whether it's Raleigh, whether it's a regional partnership, whether

3096
04:46:38,900 --> 04:46:44,240
it's weight counting, whether it's our own carry, I don't know what the right answer is,

3097
04:46:44,240 --> 04:47:10,100
But certainly, having that ability to take advantage as RAH can do in that tax way that they can allows us to invest in affordable housing, just as a side note, we invested in the senior affordable housing called Rose Park Manor, where there are 81 units.

3098
04:47:10,100 --> 04:47:24,760
That, those 81 units cost carry $3 million, it cost weight counting almost $3 million, and they received more than $25 million in tax credits for 81 units.

3099
04:47:25,380 --> 04:47:29,060
Now, it is a lovely place if you don't, or you know people that are there.

3100
04:47:29,060 --> 04:47:33,380
But that is quite the investment for a small number.

3101
04:47:33,860 --> 04:47:36,700
So in comparison to the 340,

3102
04:47:36,900 --> 04:47:40,040
that this investment is much more affordable

3103
04:47:40,600 --> 04:47:42,840
if you were to compare them.

3104
04:47:43,980 --> 04:47:50,220
And there were one last thing that Amber Wood is a lovely community.

3105
04:47:50,960 --> 04:47:57,260
I grew up in a single family home

3106
04:47:57,260 --> 04:48:08,380
in subsidized housing, and I know what it's like to not have food on the table, but be entirely grateful for a roof over my head.

3107
04:48:09,120 --> 04:48:18,760
It is, no one wants to be there, and Kerry is becoming continually more unaffordable for many of the people that live here.

3108
04:48:19,300 --> 04:48:24,360
Amber Woods, we received some demographics. Amber Woods's median age is 31.

3109
04:48:24,360 --> 04:48:46,640
The people that live there and this is real life data are many our teachers and nurses first responders, child care workers and service workers, that is real hard data of the folks who serve our community and I know that this is an important opportunity.

3110
04:48:46,640 --> 04:49:05,580
And at my challenges from Tuesday still remain, I don't have the answers to a lot of the things that I need, which are, how does Raleigh Governance work and carry?

3111
04:49:06,520 --> 04:49:15,520
How does the two million dollars, that was due diligence, or earnest money, was that role

3112
04:49:15,520 --> 04:49:19,840
these money, or you're going to want that back from Kerry?

3113
04:49:21,540 --> 04:49:24,380
What is the place that we have?

3114
04:49:24,440 --> 04:49:27,240
Where's the say that Kerry will have?

3115
04:49:27,680 --> 04:49:32,840
But the biggest concern I have right this moment is the fact that we don't, I'm very glad

3116
04:49:32,840 --> 04:49:39,200
brought up. We don't know enough about the covenants. We know that our ordinance will obviously

3117
04:49:39,200 --> 04:49:48,680
still play a role. There are too many unanswered questions still for me. They have not changed.

3118
04:49:49,560 --> 04:49:55,100
A bunch of them were answered. I will give RHA credit for that. But there's still a number of other

3119
04:49:55,100 --> 04:49:57,680
questions that need to be answered for me.

3120
04:49:58,160 --> 04:50:01,100
I am an affordable housing advocate.

3121
04:50:01,920 --> 04:50:04,140
I believe the folks that live in Amber

3122
04:50:04,140 --> 04:50:06,600
which would stay in Amber would,

3123
04:50:06,920 --> 04:50:09,540
and I want this to happen,

3124
04:50:10,400 --> 04:50:13,440
but I don't have enough information to support it at this time.

3125
04:50:13,960 --> 04:50:15,740
And that's where I am going to

3126
04:50:20,890 --> 04:50:20,890
go.

3127
04:50:20,970 --> 04:50:22,350
I'll make some brief remarks,

3128
04:50:22,550 --> 04:50:24,550
but Council Member Craig has one more question.

3129
04:50:26,560 --> 04:50:28,780
Oh, first of all, I thought you met after.

3130
04:50:28,780 --> 04:50:38,120
I would, I would like that, I would like RHA to answer the question about the $2 million

3131
04:50:38,120 --> 04:50:44,620
because I was told that no money was received from the city of Raleigh

3132
04:50:49,800 --> 04:50:53,920
and Mayor to

3133
04:50:54,540 --> 04:50:58,440
the person, Lori Bush, was in a different meeting than me.

3134
04:50:58,620 --> 04:51:00,380
So I want to make sure we have both the information.

3135
04:51:00,380 --> 04:51:04,000
No, I'm glad you, it was one of my questions on my list to ask him, I first.

3136
04:51:04,120 --> 04:51:09,520
So the question again is the $2 million in earnest money that was paid.

3137
04:51:10,280 --> 04:51:14,460
Yeah, so that money is refundable and will come back to the housing authority.

3138
04:51:15,680 --> 04:51:19,880
Then money, I think she was asking where it came from, was it Raleigh's?

3139
04:51:19,880 --> 04:51:24,100
Have you read, I would hold you had not received me from the city of Raleigh?

3140
04:51:24,240 --> 04:51:27,340
No, no, no, we don't, we just saw on resources.

3141
04:51:27,340 --> 04:51:33,300
So could you, it tells a tiny bit more, we're probably voting no, it sounds like, but could

3142
04:51:33,300 --> 04:51:38,760
you provide a time because I think it's important that people know that I do a did do research.

3143
04:51:39,440 --> 04:51:42,400
I mean, I'm gathered this information, but where are you get your funding?

3144
04:51:43,080 --> 04:51:49,800
Where do we, the housing authority does have reserves that are unrestricted from operation

3145
04:51:50,380 --> 04:51:54,160
of properties that are non-federal and not subsidized?

3146
04:51:54,160 --> 04:52:02,060
we have workforce housing, that pays for itself, and earns, you know, has cash flow.

3147
04:52:02,760 --> 04:52:06,940
So, with reserves built up, we can make that investment.

3148
04:52:07,360 --> 04:52:18,160
And we also have other sources of income in bond fees, that we issue bonds for all tax credit deals

3149
04:52:18,160 --> 04:52:20,580
in the county and we earn bond fees for that.

3150
04:52:20,580 --> 04:52:26,680
So we do have unrestricted funds coming in that we can use doors.

3151
04:52:26,800 --> 04:52:32,380
Other properties have those been funded by the city of Raleigh.

3152
04:52:34,560 --> 04:52:38,040
No, we have not received any funding from the city of Raleigh for this.

3153
04:52:38,480 --> 04:52:39,000
Can you walk there?

3154
04:52:39,660 --> 04:52:46,320
Were those projects funded similarly to what you described to me when I asked you how

3155
04:52:46,320 --> 04:52:53,380
funding works with these kind of self-funding where you purchase the property and the

3156
04:52:53,380 --> 04:52:55,940
rents are really what's paying the mortgage, so to speak.

3157
04:52:56,380 --> 04:52:58,840
So, which property is the property that we developed?

3158
04:52:59,600 --> 04:53:05,180
What we're trying to understand is, remember I kept asking you is there any commingling

3159
04:53:05,180 --> 04:53:12,700
of rally taxpayer funds with how you're paying for this project and I think we're trying

3160
04:53:12,700 --> 04:53:18,700
really understand, you know, break down to the penny, whether or not there is.

3161
04:53:19,280 --> 04:53:26,160
I mean, the short answers, there's no rally tax money that is going into this, not at all.

3162
04:53:29,520 --> 04:53:30,500
Thank you.

3163
04:53:30,740 --> 04:53:31,540
Thank you.

3164
04:53:31,880 --> 04:53:32,140
Appreciate it.

3165
04:53:33,910 --> 04:53:39,670
Okay, folks, I'm last and it's late and I'm clearly not casting the deciding vote,

3166
04:53:39,830 --> 04:53:45,810
so I don't really have to offer a comment, but I feel compelled to speak to the constituents

3167
04:53:45,810 --> 04:53:51,750
of Carrie so you understand why I cast a vote the way that I do and I'm going to be up front

3168
04:53:51,750 --> 04:53:55,730
to give you time to react so that hopefully I can get through the rest of my remarks and tell

3169
04:53:55,730 --> 04:53:56,910
you that I am voting yesterday.

3170
04:54:00,100 --> 04:54:04,380
The resolution is not going to pass so like I said this is not decisive

3171
04:54:05,020 --> 04:54:12,020
but in the interest of transparency I want to let you know why my vote is yes and so council is not

3172
04:54:12,020 --> 04:54:14,200
passed with making decisions slowly.

3173
04:54:14,680 --> 04:54:17,000
We are charged with making decisions thoughtfully

3174
04:54:17,000 --> 04:54:19,000
and seeking community input.

3175
04:54:19,500 --> 04:54:22,000
And as evidenced by my full inbox

3176
04:54:22,000 --> 04:54:26,120
and the full house here tonight, residents are engaged.

3177
04:54:26,780 --> 04:54:29,740
And I agree with my colleagues,

3178
04:54:30,060 --> 04:54:32,520
if they feel that they did not have enough time

3179
04:54:32,520 --> 04:54:34,080
to have their questions answered,

3180
04:54:34,240 --> 04:54:35,960
then they should not vote for it.

3181
04:54:36,300 --> 04:54:38,660
I however feel that I had enough time

3182
04:54:38,660 --> 04:54:41,600
to have my questions answered to my satisfaction.

3183
04:54:42,300 --> 04:54:45,260
That was talking to our counterparts in Raleigh.

3184
04:54:45,320 --> 04:54:47,180
That was meeting with the applicant.

3185
04:54:47,520 --> 04:54:51,400
That was consulting police chief salt about crimes

3186
04:54:51,400 --> 04:54:52,900
statistics in our community.

3187
04:54:53,800 --> 04:54:56,520
And so what I heard here today was a lot of concerns about change,

3188
04:54:57,060 --> 04:54:58,780
which I totally understand.

3189
04:54:59,560 --> 04:55:02,160
I drove through Amber Wood myself today.

3190
04:55:02,540 --> 04:55:03,120
And it's lovely.

3191
04:55:03,320 --> 04:55:05,200
I see why you don't want to change it.

3192
04:55:05,200 --> 04:55:11,740
the change of ownership is not our choice, the current owner is selling and the current owner

3193
04:55:11,740 --> 04:55:16,520
is an investment firm in Florida and so, you know, the concerns about if the ownership

3194
04:55:16,520 --> 04:55:21,620
has the interest of carry at heart, the ownership of any given property doesn't necessarily

3195
04:55:21,620 --> 04:55:26,180
have ties to our community and so I was willing to think of our partners and our neighbors

3196
04:55:26,180 --> 04:55:32,940
in Raleigh as owners that would be owners in good faith as any owners were and that's not

3197
04:55:32,940 --> 04:55:39,920
cast aspersions on a ownership company in another state, but they are also not local neighbors.

3198
04:55:41,120 --> 04:55:43,860
They don't, you know, that company is not based in carry.

3199
04:55:44,700 --> 04:55:51,320
And so I believe of all the likely outcomes that RHA ownership is a scenario most likely

3200
04:55:51,320 --> 04:55:52,760
to keep the community the same.

3201
04:55:53,100 --> 04:55:57,300
The residents who live there now stay in their homes, professional property management stays

3202
04:55:57,300 --> 04:55:58,400
the same.

3203
04:55:58,400 --> 04:56:04,280
affordable housing has been a top concern, not just of many on council, but also the community.

3204
04:56:04,720 --> 04:56:08,120
And it was one of the top concerns of our most recent carry survey.

3205
04:56:08,920 --> 04:56:14,280
And what I hear most often is that carry is a prosperous community,

3206
04:56:14,560 --> 04:56:17,040
but people are getting priced out of living here.

3207
04:56:17,380 --> 04:56:22,200
And honestly, I hear less about building brand new affordable housing, which is an important tool,

3208
04:56:22,580 --> 04:56:27,680
but I think folks think more about maintaining the affordable housing for the people that live here.

3209
04:56:27,680 --> 04:56:33,580
I personally don't think it's a myth or a fallacy to say that preserving Amber would means

3210
04:56:34,140 --> 04:56:38,960
that the teachers and the firefighters and the police officers who live there now would

3211
04:56:38,960 --> 04:56:45,240
get to stay there. The other population I hear a lot about is when people say, I raise my

3212
04:56:45,240 --> 04:56:49,620
children and carry. I'd love for them to, they went away to college, they want to move back,

3213
04:56:49,760 --> 04:56:54,840
I'd love for them to be able to live here. Well, those are the young professionals, the median

3214
04:56:54,840 --> 04:56:58,900
page 31, those are the people who are living in Amberwood.

3215
04:56:59,460 --> 04:57:04,360
And I see a parallel with Chadama states, one of the commenters mentioned Chadama states.

3216
04:57:04,840 --> 04:57:09,280
That situation just made a lot of neighbors that carry residents were being displaced.

3217
04:57:10,160 --> 04:57:12,140
And in that case, carry couldn't intervene.

3218
04:57:12,620 --> 04:57:16,860
We assisted our nonprofit partners, but we couldn't prevent that displacement from happening.

3219
04:57:17,540 --> 04:57:21,140
And in this case, we do have an opportunity to preserve a community.

3220
04:57:21,140 --> 04:57:28,560
And so I believe the investment is worth it, especially compared to the cost of new construction, and that's why I'm voting yesterday.

3221
04:57:30,660 --> 04:57:31,780
Anybody else?

3222
04:57:33,530 --> 04:57:34,950
We're ready for emotion.

3223
04:57:35,230 --> 04:57:36,170
I would entertain a motion.

3224
04:57:39,870 --> 04:57:40,670
If you want to.

3225
04:57:41,350 --> 04:57:42,190
I'm sorry.

3226
04:57:43,070 --> 04:57:46,330
The council member Fong had mentioned that she wanted to make a motion.

3227
04:57:46,550 --> 04:57:48,470
So I wasn't sure if you still want to.

3228
04:57:48,470 --> 04:57:54,110
because similar to Tuesday, I still, on the same page,

3229
04:57:54,390 --> 04:57:59,290
would love to table this, Lisa, I can,

3230
04:58:01,470 --> 04:58:08,910
I think RHS made it clear if we table it, that will be effectively a no vote.

3231
04:58:09,370 --> 04:58:11,510
Of course, you can make that motion if you would like.

3232
04:58:12,430 --> 04:58:18,030
I would just say that tabling from my perspective, I would support a table.

3233
04:58:19,490 --> 04:58:27,070
You haven't made the motion yet, so I'll just say that because my concerns do need additional information.

3234
04:58:27,630 --> 04:58:34,410
And I do think that some of these, over time I might have the answer in order to vote.

3235
04:58:34,710 --> 04:58:35,150
Yes or no.

3236
04:58:35,150 --> 04:58:38,450
but right now, if I'm pressed to vote,

3237
04:58:38,650 --> 04:58:41,230
I don't have enough answers to support it.

3238
04:58:41,350 --> 04:58:43,530
But if you were to vote on the table in it,

3239
04:58:43,630 --> 04:58:45,670
I would support that if that was your motion.

3240
04:58:46,490 --> 04:58:50,810
But again, we do know that the RHA has said

3241
04:58:50,810 --> 04:58:53,450
that they need the answer to vote.

3242
04:58:53,450 --> 04:58:59,050
Before, next Monday, which is essentially no?

3243
04:58:59,070 --> 04:59:04,070
Yes, a table in this proposal means no.

3244
04:59:07,090 --> 04:59:09,810
If that is your motion.

3245
04:59:10,410 --> 04:59:17,130
My motion is to table the RHA to put his emberwood in carry.

3246
04:59:18,910 --> 04:59:20,730
Is there a second?

3247
04:59:21,230 --> 04:59:23,950
It's the same motion we did on Tuesday.

3248
04:59:25,950 --> 04:59:34,230
I would just like clarification from Lisa please on understanding that RHA has their own independent decision

3249
04:59:34,230 --> 04:59:38,850
to make, whether this is a vote to table or this is an upper-down vote, is there any practical

3250
04:59:38,850 --> 04:59:46,350
difference to us in terms of calling this a table, you know, in terms of saying that we're

3251
04:59:46,350 --> 04:59:53,610
tabling it or in just voting no. I mean, does this obligate us to then have to return to it

3252
04:59:53,610 --> 04:59:59,550
on another agenda or it doesn't obligate you, it leaves it open so that it comes back to you

3253
04:59:59,550 --> 04:59:59,830
the future.

3254
05:00:00,940 --> 05:00:04,000
You may not ever bring it up again.

3255
05:00:04,000 --> 05:00:09,860
So, I mean, couldn't it also, if we voted it, no tonight, still come before us again?

3256
05:00:10,560 --> 05:00:14,180
The housing authority or different housing authority would need to make a different proposal.

3257
05:00:17,040 --> 05:00:20,260
So, we have a motion on the table two and a second.

3258
05:00:20,480 --> 05:00:22,800
And the second to table this item.

3259
05:00:23,840 --> 05:00:30,800
And I understand, to be clear, I understand that folks on this table, some are ready to make a decision.

3260
05:00:30,800 --> 05:00:40,360
But my reason still stands that I don't have enough to support it, so I think I agree with Mayor Brutan Bush.

3261
05:00:40,360 --> 05:00:41,680
That's exactly what I said.

3262
05:00:41,980 --> 05:00:45,080
I don't have enough information toward yes or no.

3263
05:00:45,720 --> 05:00:49,880
I mean, if I really have to work today, it would be no.

3264
05:00:50,320 --> 05:00:51,320
Between yes and no.

3265
05:00:53,800 --> 05:00:54,920
Please, please.

3266
05:00:56,000 --> 05:00:59,300
So in discussion, I will support your motion.

3267
05:00:59,300 --> 05:01:02,660
but that I'm thinking that is a no vote.

3268
05:01:03,400 --> 05:01:05,540
So that is the vote you know.

3269
05:01:06,340 --> 05:01:08,760
All right, so any other comments and discussion,

3270
05:01:09,120 --> 05:01:11,260
there's a motion on the table, all in favor.

3271
05:01:11,960 --> 05:01:13,000
Please say aye.

3272
05:01:13,360 --> 05:01:13,640
Aye.

3273
05:01:13,960 --> 05:01:14,800
Those opposed.

3274
05:01:16,440 --> 05:01:19,960
So motion carries five, two.

3275
05:01:21,480 --> 05:01:24,160
And this item is tailored to the council.

3276
05:01:25,180 --> 05:01:27,840
The council will now take a five minute recess.

3277
05:01:28,680 --> 05:01:29,320
Council

3278
05:08:22,660 --> 05:08:28,240
meeting at this time, we have two discussion items. First discussion item is twenty-five

3279
05:08:28,240 --> 05:08:34,180
R.E.Z.O.O.-3. K.L.X. Senior Living of Carey Resonning and Planning Manager Aaron

3280
05:08:34,180 --> 05:08:39,300
Puckett will give a report and we'll hear from the planning and zoning. We'll hear the

3281
05:08:39,300 --> 05:08:45,520
planning and zoning boards recommendation and council may take action. Thank you and good

3282
05:08:45,520 --> 05:08:50,860
evening council. On a lighter note, this request is to resume an approximately 7.4 acres

3283
05:08:50,860 --> 05:08:58,240
located at 1,000, 5, and 1,017 redecorate. You all to public hearing for this request last year in June

3284
05:08:58,240 --> 05:09:03,280
and you may make a decision this evening. The site is located south of the intersection of North

3285
05:09:03,280 --> 05:09:07,960
Harrison Avenue and redecorate road with front-age on both streets and it's largely surrounded

3286
05:09:07,960 --> 05:09:14,500
by detached residential development. The Parks Recreation and Culture Resources System plan

3287
05:09:14,500 --> 05:09:19,860
indicates a greenway corridor along the southern edge of the property. The site is currently

3288
05:09:19,860 --> 05:09:25,620
zone, R-40, and the applicant proposes to reason the site to office and institutional

3289
05:09:25,620 --> 05:09:31,880
conditional use, or O and I-C. The applicant has offered several zoning conditions,

3290
05:09:34,580 --> 05:09:39,120
to limit uses on the site to life care community and nursing home, for context these

3291
05:09:39,120 --> 05:09:44,740
uses could include facilities similar to searstone or Glen Air. Additional conditions

3292
05:09:44,740 --> 05:09:50,700
include a minimum of 40 and maximum of 75 residential units, which would be just over

3293
05:09:50,700 --> 05:09:57,200
10 units per acre, commit to construction of the green way on site as shown on that PRCR

3294
05:09:57,200 --> 05:10:02,140
system plan I showed a moment ago, and to construct it at least 35 feet from the southern

3295
05:10:02,140 --> 05:10:08,720
property line, such than an average 30 foot wide area where we may not disturb, limit

3296
05:10:08,720 --> 05:10:14,720
buildings on the site to one story and 35 feet in height, provide a 75 foot building step

3297
05:10:14,720 --> 05:10:21,420
from the Southern property line, as well as a 75-foot parking space that back from the Southern property line.

3298
05:10:21,540 --> 05:10:27,940
Dry BIOS could be closer. Provide a bus stop pad along the North Harrison Avenue front-edge,

3299
05:10:29,340 --> 05:10:33,640
and provide a slide path along the North Harrison Avenue front-edge consistent with the PRC

3300
05:10:33,640 --> 05:10:38,420
our system plan and bike plan. That would be a 12-foot wide facility, but could be reduced to

3301
05:10:38,420 --> 05:10:43,180
no less than eight feet in constrained situations. That would be reviewed and approved by staff at

3302
05:10:43,180 --> 05:10:44,340
of development plan.

3303
05:10:46,740 --> 05:10:49,460
The planning and zoning board reviewed the request at their March meeting

3304
05:10:49,460 --> 05:10:54,160
earlier this year. Board members had generally positive comments that noted the proposed uses

3305
05:10:54,160 --> 05:11:00,000
are needed in carry. One member requested the applicants ensure a minimum number of units. Some

3306
05:11:00,000 --> 05:11:05,320
noted the need for a wider multi-modal facility along North Harrison at the time of six foot sidewalk

3307
05:11:05,320 --> 05:11:13,080
was offered. And, excuse me, and some commented that larger buffers are open space could help

3308
05:11:13,080 --> 05:11:15,940
of transitions to nearby residential neighborhoods.

3309
05:11:17,160 --> 05:11:19,000
Ultimately, the board did find it consistent

3310
05:11:19,000 --> 05:11:21,300
with the Carey Community Plan by a vote of a tone.

3311
05:11:24,280 --> 05:11:25,720
The applicant made a number of changes

3312
05:11:25,720 --> 05:11:28,260
with the proposal following the planning and zoning board meeting.

3313
05:11:29,120 --> 05:11:32,140
They added that minimum number of units for 40 units

3314
05:11:32,140 --> 05:11:33,240
in addition to the maximum.

3315
05:11:34,700 --> 05:11:36,160
They increased the greenway separation

3316
05:11:36,160 --> 05:11:38,480
from those southern property line by five feet,

3317
05:11:38,600 --> 05:11:40,980
so the minimum separation would now be 35 feet.

3318
05:11:41,420 --> 05:11:43,460
I do note this condition does not supersede

3319
05:11:43,460 --> 05:11:45,960
LDO requirements, limiting buffer disturbance.

3320
05:11:46,580 --> 05:11:48,900
So it is possible the LDO could require the trail

3321
05:11:48,900 --> 05:11:50,400
to have a slightly greater separation

3322
05:11:50,400 --> 05:11:51,640
at time of development plan.

3323
05:11:54,310 --> 05:11:56,070
They also increase the minimum side path

3324
05:11:56,070 --> 05:11:57,890
along the North Harris and Avenue frontage.

3325
05:11:58,090 --> 05:12:00,010
Previously, they had offered six foot sidewalk

3326
05:12:00,010 --> 05:12:02,890
and now they've offered to meet the 12-bit wide option

3327
05:12:02,890 --> 05:12:05,750
in the PRCR system plan and bike plan,

3328
05:12:05,990 --> 05:12:08,970
but narrow it to eight feet in areas of constraint

3329
05:12:08,970 --> 05:12:10,510
as approved by carry staff.

3330
05:12:12,420 --> 05:12:15,160
Staff on the proposed use is consistent with live policies

3331
05:12:15,160 --> 05:12:17,900
and is supported by the future growth framework designation.

3332
05:12:19,060 --> 05:12:23,100
The shape policy regarding transitions is addressed by an increased building set back

3333
05:12:23,100 --> 05:12:25,080
and the one-story building form.

3334
05:12:26,080 --> 05:12:28,240
The commitment to constructing the site's green-way segment

3335
05:12:28,240 --> 05:12:31,300
and providing a multi-modal facility on North Harrison Avenue

3336
05:12:31,300 --> 05:12:33,800
helps meet move and engage policies.

3337
05:12:35,060 --> 05:12:37,700
There's no clear commitment to open-space or tree preservation

3338
05:12:37,700 --> 05:12:41,240
beyond minimum LDO requirements to address and rich

3339
05:12:41,240 --> 05:12:43,900
but overall the proposal meets most applicable

3340
05:12:43,900 --> 05:12:46,940
plan policies and staff therefore recommends a approval

3341
05:12:46,940 --> 05:12:47,900
of the request.

3342
05:12:49,600 --> 05:12:50,660
This concludes my presentation.

3343
05:12:51,080 --> 05:12:53,120
I'm available for questions and the applicants team

3344
05:12:53,120 --> 05:12:53,920
is also available.

3345
05:12:54,200 --> 05:12:55,400
Should you have questions for them?

3346
05:12:55,820 --> 05:12:56,420
Thank you, Ms. Puckett.

3347
05:12:56,520 --> 05:12:57,820
Do we have questions from us?

3348
05:12:59,720 --> 05:13:01,380
Or are we ready for a motion?

3349
05:13:01,680 --> 05:13:02,980
I just have one quick question.

3350
05:13:03,880 --> 05:13:04,560
I know.

3351
05:13:04,720 --> 05:13:05,000
I know.

3352
05:13:05,000 --> 05:13:07,400
How tall is a one story building usually?

3353
05:13:08,380 --> 05:13:09,440
So it depends.

3354
05:13:09,840 --> 05:13:12,340
This is more of an institutional type building.

3355
05:13:12,340 --> 05:13:17,080
So it could be more like 15 feet, but that's not a requirement in our code.

3356
05:13:17,540 --> 05:13:20,360
Can you explain one story slash 35 foot, then to me?

3357
05:13:20,360 --> 05:13:22,100
So they could go up to 35 feet.

3358
05:13:22,320 --> 05:13:25,040
We have had facilities, even apartments in the past,

3359
05:13:25,580 --> 05:13:28,780
that have sort of a one and a half story appearance.

3360
05:13:28,920 --> 05:13:32,760
We're have like a mezzanine, type, trim, yes.

3361
05:13:32,760 --> 05:13:34,380
So this just gives them some flexibility.

3362
05:13:34,740 --> 05:13:36,360
Should they have high ceilings?

3363
05:13:36,780 --> 05:13:37,480
OK. Thank you.

3364
05:13:37,780 --> 05:13:40,380
I just couldn't get past them.

3365
05:13:40,380 --> 05:13:43,780
I understand, yes, that's my only question.

3366
05:13:44,040 --> 05:13:44,660
Other questions?

3367
05:13:44,880 --> 05:13:45,920
I just have an observation.

3368
05:13:46,140 --> 05:13:48,320
It feels lonely here now.

3369
05:13:48,640 --> 05:13:49,260
What's that?

3370
05:13:49,260 --> 05:13:50,980
It feels lonely here now.

3371
05:13:51,560 --> 05:13:52,220
You're lonely.

3372
05:13:52,340 --> 05:13:53,040
Come on.

3373
05:13:53,340 --> 05:13:54,420
Does that's for some giggles?

3374
05:13:56,340 --> 05:13:59,360
I just wanted to say that I appreciate the changes made

3375
05:13:59,360 --> 05:14:01,460
since planning and zoning board.

3376
05:14:02,520 --> 05:14:05,760
And we have, there's a shortage of CCRCs and it's growing.

3377
05:14:06,320 --> 05:14:09,460
And so that would be a welcome addition to the community,

3378
05:14:09,460 --> 05:14:12,900
because that's exactly the kind of facility we really need.

3379
05:14:13,780 --> 05:14:17,140
And I'm not going to repeat anything anyone else said.

3380
05:14:17,440 --> 05:14:19,080
So moving and getting along.

3381
05:14:19,660 --> 05:14:25,780
I appreciate specifically the wider sidewalk to 12 feet, especially for bike

3382
05:14:25,780 --> 05:14:28,500
folks, and understanding is narrower.

3383
05:14:29,260 --> 05:14:34,040
The other thing is that I reached out to some folks and I find it very interesting.

3384
05:14:34,220 --> 05:14:39,400
We didn't receive any email from any concerned homeowners this time.

3385
05:14:39,400 --> 05:14:46,080
So if they let it go, or they're okay with the changes as well.

3386
05:14:46,440 --> 05:14:49,260
Yeah, they must be okay, but I appreciate all the conditions

3387
05:14:49,260 --> 05:14:51,000
and I think this is going to be a great project.

3388
05:14:52,060 --> 05:14:54,060
Yeah, I'll be candid and say,

3389
05:14:54,120 --> 05:14:57,840
you know, we don't make a decision until we are taking a vote.

3390
05:14:58,040 --> 05:14:59,980
And so I was leaning no on this.

3391
05:15:00,000 --> 05:15:29,980
It felt me a little bit like. You know, we know that the land that's left to develop and carries often, not yet developed because it presents logistical challenges. And so it felt to me that maybe we were having a little bit of a square peg in a round hole situation here, despite the real need for the housing. But I'm also happy to see the changes since planning and zoning. I think the applicant was mindful of that. You know, whenever we're making any one of these decisions, thinking about,

3392
05:15:29,980 --> 05:15:37,000
also what are the alternatives and, you know, we have so many pressures for density and height.

3393
05:15:37,380 --> 05:15:43,000
And so for this to be a needed type of housing with a height that's going to fit in with a

3394
05:15:43,000 --> 05:15:49,140
neighborhood character. We've addressed some of the transition issues by extending the the

3395
05:15:49,140 --> 05:15:56,020
buffer. I appreciate all those measures. Make a motion that we move to adopt the following

3396
05:15:56,020 --> 05:16:00,960
Dr. Mithatatch to the online agenda for the State of Independence Consistency for 25REC,

3397
05:16:01,180 --> 05:16:08,600
O3 Calix, Senior Living of Care and the Resonating Ordinance for 25REC, 03 Calix, Senior Living of Care.

3398
05:16:09,360 --> 05:16:10,680
There's the motion and a second.

3399
05:16:10,860 --> 05:16:11,840
Further discussion.

3400
05:16:12,460 --> 05:16:13,680
All in favor, please say aye.

3401
05:16:14,260 --> 05:16:16,220
E. A. P.O. is motion carries unanimously.

3402
05:16:16,780 --> 05:16:17,540
Thank you, Ms. Bucket.

3403
05:16:17,560 --> 05:16:18,340
Thank you.

3404
05:16:18,380 --> 05:16:20,500
Now moved to our last discussion item.

3405
05:16:20,500 --> 05:16:27,780
Yeah, it's anti-retaliation policy protection for reporting and proper activities.

3406
05:16:28,520 --> 05:16:34,260
Interim town manager Russ overdone will present the Sodom in Council May, Tech Actual, Mr. Overtime.

3407
05:16:34,480 --> 05:16:39,880
Thank you, Mayor, before you with just a little bit of night left is a new policy to establish

3408
05:16:39,880 --> 05:16:46,280
an anti-retaliation policy and we talked about this in more detail at this past Tuesday's work session.

3409
05:16:46,280 --> 05:16:51,640
Kerry does not have a formal standalone anti-rotalliation policy to provide comprehensive

3410
05:16:51,640 --> 05:16:53,460
organization-wide coverage.

3411
05:16:53,920 --> 05:16:59,280
We do, however, have policies and standards on anti-harassment, non-discriminate nation,

3412
05:16:59,640 --> 05:17:02,660
as well as grievance procedures that provide some protections.

3413
05:17:04,960 --> 05:17:15,740
Not going to read them all, but this policy implementation mentions three of, is mentioned

3414
05:17:15,740 --> 05:17:22,440
on the screen? It's policy would also establish a tip line and we are currently that someone

3415
05:17:22,440 --> 05:17:29,060
could call and report retaliation and we'll research options and make that part of the standard

3416
05:17:29,060 --> 05:17:35,520
procedure as we implement it. There is no direct fiscal impact associated with approving this policy,

3417
05:17:35,860 --> 05:17:39,840
however, with the tip line operating tip line, there could be some calls. We'll research that and if

3418
05:17:40,760 --> 05:17:46,680
it's of a appropriate fee that we need budget appropriations, we'll bring that back to you. So the next

3419
05:17:46,680 --> 05:17:49,840
steps of Council approves this anti-retaliation policy.

3420
05:17:50,340 --> 05:17:53,760
We'll publish it, we'll communicate it to staff and throughout the

3421
05:17:53,760 --> 05:17:56,680
organization there'll be training and we'll develop the

3422
05:17:56,680 --> 05:17:59,600
supporting standard procedure to be able to implement it.

3423
05:17:59,680 --> 05:18:04,080
So with that, we'd recommend that Council adopt a policy

3424
05:18:04,080 --> 05:18:07,860
statement, 190 for anti-retaliation protection for reporting and

3425
05:18:07,860 --> 05:18:09,800
improper activity.

3426
05:18:09,800 --> 05:18:13,940
And I want to point out that we also, as was recommended by Council

3427
05:18:13,940 --> 05:18:20,480
on Tuesday's work session, add the language to the policy that you were emailed earlier today

3428
05:18:20,480 --> 05:18:25,200
that I believe it states direct to create a standard procedure to further implement this policy

3429
05:18:25,200 --> 05:18:29,980
to include requirements for training for new and existing employees on a periodic basis.

3430
05:18:30,480 --> 05:18:34,520
Thank you for that. I appreciate it. I think I also sent you an email,

3431
05:18:34,520 --> 05:18:40,500
about how do we report this back to the council?

3432
05:18:41,680 --> 05:18:48,580
Can we, can we have some sort of reporting structure on a quarterly basis on how does the

3433
05:18:48,580 --> 05:18:54,480
feedback or things working and you know what kind of issues are we hearing about?

3434
05:18:54,660 --> 05:19:01,440
Okay, I probably didn't see that with all the other emails of the day, what if we, obviously,

3435
05:19:01,440 --> 05:19:05,600
You know, recommending that to adopt this policy statement, we work on that within a standard

3436
05:19:05,600 --> 05:19:09,780
procedure and try to implement it in that way and then also give us some time to think

3437
05:19:09,780 --> 05:19:14,120
about it because we'll have to be careful how we report and we probably need to be thoughtful

3438
05:19:14,120 --> 05:19:20,540
on how we report because there's an anonymity to this with regards to who, so if it's data

3439
05:19:20,540 --> 05:19:25,060
and how many calls or something like that, I'm sure that would be easy to report, but

3440
05:19:25,060 --> 05:19:30,800
maybe we work that into the standard somehow and certainly you can always ask me for anything

3441
05:19:30,800 --> 05:19:38,160
you like? Okay. That's fine. No, I'm saying that's fine. Just putting that into standard

3442
05:19:38,160 --> 05:19:46,080
operating procedure. Other questions or are we ready for most quick comments? I just want

3443
05:19:46,080 --> 05:19:52,160
to say that I'm sorry that we didn't push for a survey last year. We requested a year prior

3444
05:19:52,160 --> 05:19:58,560
for a survey to happen for employees and I take personal responsibility. I did not follow up

3445
05:19:58,560 --> 05:20:07,060
that and I'm sorry for that and I'm sorry that as was described in the wobble bond, it can

3446
05:20:07,060 --> 05:20:14,360
send report today that a negative workplace culture developed and that we were not able to

3447
05:20:14,360 --> 05:20:19,600
prevent or that from happening or from making it worse and so then I'm happy we're putting things

3448
05:20:20,420 --> 05:20:27,100
wow I'm happy that we're putting things into place to help make sure that doesn't happen in the future

3449
05:20:27,100 --> 05:20:36,250
If we vote yes anybody else ready for a motion I

3450
05:20:36,250 --> 05:20:39,970
moved that the council adopts policy statement when 90 the anti-retellation

3451
05:20:40,650 --> 05:20:45,070
protection for reporting improper activity a second not motion in a second

3452
05:20:45,070 --> 05:20:50,530
discussion all in favor please say aye aye any opposed motion very unanimously that

3453
05:20:50,530 --> 05:20:56,490
concludes our business I would entertain a motion to oh so moved second there's a

3454
05:20:56,490 --> 05:21:00,450
Motion in a second to adjourn. Discussion. All in fact, let's say aye.

3455
05:21:01,250 --> 05:21:02,290
Opposed. Motion carries.

3456
05:21:02,710 --> 05:21:04,490
And we are adjourned.

3457
05:21:04,630 --> 05:21:05,290
On Thursday.

3458
05:21:05,910 --> 05:21:06,870
Is it?

3459
05:21:06,990 --> 05:21:07,390
On Thursday.