The candidates’ responses are presented without edits (except for formatting).
Below are the responses from Republican candidate John Hinnant.
What plans do you have to address the need for more affordable housing?
The current $15 Million investment is helpful, but it is a drop in the bucket of the need. It’s also a good start to motivate the private sector to be a part of the solution. The challenge with affordable housing is we all must be working from the same definition of what affordable housing is in the unincorporated area versus workforce housing, etc. We need more housing of all types to increase supply. More supply will drive prices down if it meets or exceeds demand. We do a great job at demand (beautiful beaches, vibrant downtown, and CFCC/UNCW [both growing] and also providing valuable training for fast growing local companies that hire recent graduates who remain here.
Government intervention should be limited to providing incentives for developers to set aside a percentage of housing units for varying levels of area median income. Those incentives can be reimbursements for utilities, additional stormwater capacity, and perhaps more density at an appropriate scale.
Related, what efforts would you make to address homelessness?
I like the city/county combined approach. I’d prefer to see the city/county efforts focus on 3-5 year funding strategies among nonprofit service providers with measurable benchmarks and goals with a claw back provision. If an organization is not hitting its benchmarks, then the future payments would be reallocated to nonprofits hitting their marks. Strategies should address the varying degrees of home insecurity, homelessness, mental health, drug dependency, human trafficking, and rental/mortgage assistance. This should include homeownership counseling and financial literacy.
What is your plan to manage development, balancing concerns over the environmental and traffic impact with a rapidly growing region’s need for more housing?
The housing market is cyclical, and government overreach can do more harm than good. Presently, with regards to residential sales volume, we are on the downside of a cycle.
It’s important for us to understand the factors of supply and demand. We are great at creating demand (beautiful beaches, a vibrant downtown, growing economy with UNCW and CFCC growing quickly and training the workforce for fast growing local companies. I would support requiring increased capacity of stormwater ponds to prevent flooding. The most important consideration is that new development does not destroy the integrity of existing neighborhoods.
How would you help promote economic development (and what kind of development would you like to see)?
Any economic development incentives should require an average salary at or above the Area Median Income (“AMI”) to include benefits like health insurance. Reimbursements for infrastructure (water/sewer/underground electric) is also a great incentive I support. No incentive money or tax credits should be allowed until after the capital investment is made, the employees are working, and the property taxes are paid and current.
What are your plans for funding public education, and would you support placing a school bond on the ballot?
The current budget amount of $101,000,000 is a lot of money. I would encourage the Board of Education to continue looking at the administrative budget. The recent 17% cut was a good start, but teachers have told me that assistant principals are not typically seen unless there’s a staff meeting. Everyone employed by the schools has the responsibility of ensuring school safety. People in positions of authority should prioritize being in the hallway during class change to help project safety.
I would only support a bond referendum if it were bipartisan and did not result in a tax increase. That said, this is the ideal scenario for the endowment. Statements were made at the creation of the endowment that we would be able to build capital projects without debt to the taxpayers. Presently, the $0.45 tax rate only has $0.025 of voter approved debt. I believe the school overcrowding problem should be dealt with by the endowment once we have a plan to solves the overcrowding issue. Wilmington is the #10 destination in the
United States for the domestic migration of millennials aged 25-39. These people are having children while New Hanover County has averaged more deaths than births in recent years. We have to carefully follow demographic changes as we begin to address overcrowding.
What financial role do you think the county should have in supporting WAVE’s public transportation system?
Presently funded at $1,500,000, I support increases as demand for public transit in the unincorporated area of the county increases. I would also encourage WAVE to continue focusing on improving efficiency and adapting to changes in competition.
What are your views on the county’s Diversity and Equity Office work inside the county government and in the community?
The way to better improve inclusion is to better educate & lift up all citizens about opportunities available to them. The $631,000 for 4 DEI positions would be better applied to classroom-facing positions in the underperforming schools and special needs classes. This could fund new positions or serve as an additional supplement to attract the best teachers to the lowest performing schools. The existing DEI employees could be laterally transitioned into Human Resources or Communications & Outreach where DEI services should be, not a standalone department. Our focus should be on providing equal opportunity, and when it comes to hiring, the county should focus on the best qualified candidate. As one of the largest employers in southeastern North Carolina, we should be able to recruit, retain and hire the best and brightest … not check a box. This way delivering the highest quality of services to all citizens regardless of race, gender or zip code is more attainable because we have the most talented workforce.