Why Run?

In the past 10-12 years, our current Brunswick County leaders have seemingly allowed developers to roll into town, clearcut and develop, and roll back out profits in hand- leaving our community to pick up the pieces. Even with explosive growth, our Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) has not been updated appropriately and our commissioners have remained quiet about it. It is past time to get a handle on development. We need to make sure that our neighborhoods, properties, trees and wetlands, and our very future are appropriately protected. Growth is ok- it means we have something good here that is attractive to people. But we also want to keep it that way. Our first actions will be:

Updating the UDO to put protections in place that are enforceable and actually enforced, and making sure our county staff have the tools they need in order to carry out this work.

Protecting our wetlands and giving them the best opportunity to do what they are designed to do

Lobbying for the ability to write and enforce tree ordinances that will limit a developer’s ability to clearcut large tracts of trees all at once, which puts everyone at greater danger from the next storm that will come.

Development doesn’t have to be a four-letter word. But it will take leadership willing to meet that challenge and find a better way forward.

With the unmitigated growth we are experiencing, our local infrastructure has not been able to keep up. We need to refocus our efforts and ensure we get clean, safe water to all of our neighbors expeditiously, make sure our sewage plans are keeping up, advance and promote workforce housing initiatives, and make sure that all parts of our community have access to broadband internet service. Explosive growth means that our fire and EMT services need to be supported and expanded to match growth and we need to explore bringing more healthcare service and provider options to Brunswick County. No resident should be waiting weeks or longer to see a doctor because there simply is not enough providers and services in our region.

We still believe our children are our future, and that means we need to do everything we can to support our local public schools and the educators that help to create that future. North Carolina has one of the lowest teacher salaries in the nation and studies are now showing that teachers are leaving the profession. County commissioners cannot change that pay scale- that needs to be addressed in Raleigh- but we can support our teachers in other ways. Increasing teacher supplements (which are currently below the state average) and supporting workforce housing initiatives are ways we can attract and keep teachers in our community.

I am a big believer in Community College and will work to support and expand opportunities for students to go to school at CCBC and seek to grow workforce development and trade based programs so that students can graduate and join the workforce right here in our region without being burdened with excessive student debt.

The Cape Fear Memorial Bridge is the most important piece of infrastructure in our region, carrying approximately 70,000 cars per day. The replacement for the bridge is overdue, having the can of responsibility kicked down the road the past few decades, to today, when we find ourselves with the NCDOT thinking it would be a good idea for the carotid artery roadway of the local economy to be tolled in order to help pay for it.

This is not just a bad idea, but illegal, as state law says that an existing structure cannot be turned into a toll road. The suggested toll price is $2 per trip which would amount to approximately $1,000/year for a daily commuter going over and back. This is a burden on working residents of our region, seniors on fixed incomes, employers who will have to pay to get their commerce back and forth, not to mention gig employees who may be crossing multiple times per day.

The Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization (WMPO) has voted to explore a toll, with a “yes” vote for that toll coming from Commissioner Williams via a proxy vote by Commissioner Forte. We do not see this toll as a simple fundraiser, rather as what it actually is- a regressive toll tax on every resident who uses the bridge to carry on everyday life. I will join with other leaders from both sides of bridge who are appropriately calling for no toll tax on a bridge replacement.

The beauty of Brunswick County is unmatched (should we be willing to do the work to keep it that way) and all of these objectives speak to the hope I have for our county and for all of our neighbors. I will work to make Brunswick County more accessible and able to be traveled by bike or on foot. Working with local municipalities, towns, and NCDOT, we will secure additional funding to expand walkways and trails throughout the county so that safe recreational travel by bike or on foot can be easily accomplished. Let’s make Brunswick County the most bikeable county in our state!