Durham City Council Meeting to Fill Ward 3 Vacancy - January 9, 2024
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Durham City Council Meeting to Fill Ward 3 Vacancy - January 9, 2024
The Durham City Council held a special meeting on January 9, 2024, starting at 7:00 PM, to interview four candidates to fill the vacant Ward 3 seat. The vacancy occurred after the previous Ward 3 council member was elected mayor in December 2023. The council began with a procedural Q&A to address candidate questions about speaking rules: each candidate would have 30 minutes for public supporters at a subsequent meeting, with an option for virtual participation, and supporters must register by 1 PM on Wednesday, January 10. Each candidate gave a two-minute introduction followed by five minutes of questions from each council member. The candidates were Amanda Bohr, Chelsea Cook, Sheila Huggins, and Justin Swain.
Discussion Items
Amanda Bohr – Public health administrator and nonprofit board member. She emphasized sustainable growth, affordable housing through public-private partnerships, and expanded HART program (nonviolent crisis response). She supported SCAD's removal of parking minimums and ADU allowances but expressed concerns about five-year affordability limits. She advocated for 15-minute cities, early childhood education, and workforce development. On gentrification, she stressed community engagement. On gun violence, she recommended long-term public health solutions and youth interventions. Her favorite thing about Durham: its diversity and "small big town" feel.
Chelsea Cook – Eviction defense attorney. She prioritized affordable housing, including incentivizing voucher acceptance, low-income housing tax credits, rental assistance, and enforcing housing standards through Neighborhood Inspection Services. She criticized SCAD as developer-led and not reflecting community voices. She expressed support for the community plan that includes resident quotes. On gentrification, she acknowledged both displacement and revitalization, and emphasized community-led de-escalation over traditional policing. She defined safety as community mutual care rather than just crime reduction. She supported expanding rental assistance immediately. Her favorite meal: Friday oxtails at Chicken Hut.
Sheila Huggins – Former city employee (OEWD), environmental chemist, attorney. She emphasized workforce development and stable income as foundational to affordable housing. She supported the Braggtown Industrial Business Park rezoning for job creation but wished the South Point project had included more affordable units rather than just fees. On gentrification, she cited property tax assistance and guaranteed income programs. She advocated for a strong economy, safe infrastructure, and family stability to combat gun violence. She stressed listening to immigrant communities to identify their needs, and highlighted the importance of accessible information and multilingual outreach. Her favorite meal: oxtails at Chicken Hut.
Justin Swain – State government employee (Hometown Strong), environmental advocate. He supported rolling back parking mandates to enhance transit and density but opposed the Perry Farm/Long Lick Creek development due to environmental and infrastructure concerns. On affordable housing, he favored small-scale infill development with mixed-income integration. On gun violence, he emphasized long-term investments in education, green space, and community centers, with policing as part of a broader strategy. He defined public safety as encompassing crime, transportation fatalities, and overall protection. He supported expanding workforce development from middle school through mentorship with local businesses. His favorite food: Isaac's Bagels, Softbox seafood, and Two Roosters ice cream.
Key Outcomes
- Each candidate will have 30 minutes for public supporters to speak on their behalf at a meeting on Wednesday, January 10, 2024, at 7:00 PM. Supporters (in-person or virtual) must register with the city clerk by 1:00 PM on January 10.
- The City Council will vote to fill the Ward 3 vacancy on Tuesday, January 16, 2024, at 9:30 AM. The selected candidate will be sworn in at the council meeting that evening.
- All candidates were thanked for participating. Council members noted that several of them had gone through a similar appointment process.
Meeting Transcript
Three minutes to air. Two minutes until live stream. Three minutes to air. Two minutes until live stream. The first and last name of the speakers. And then their emails. So it's not going to be open until the comments would have to go and register. That's what I'm saying. One minute to live stream. One minute to live stream. One for her. They go on her stream. We are now streaming. Hello everyone. Welcome to City Hall. To all of you all that are here, all six of you. And those that are online. It's great to have you all here in the house tonight. Back in December 4th, uh 2023, uh a young man was in the ward three capacity and decided to run for mayor and got elected, and that made that seat vacant. Tonight, we are here to fill that seat, uh start the process of filling that seat. Uh in order to do that, we need to get this meeting going. And I'm gonna call this meeting to order at 7 p.m. And um Madam Clerk, if you don't mind, please call the roll. Good evening. Uh Mayor Williams. I'm here. Mayor President Middleton. I'm here. Councilmember Baker. Here. Councilmember Gaball. Here. Councilmember Freeman present and council member. Here. Thank you very much. Dadayas will look a little different uh tonight as we uh have the manager and city attorney uh seated in the staff designated area and giving them a break tonight uh as we will facilitate this evening's uh meeting. So that's uh and this meeting is recorded, so it'll be able to uh be referenced. Um there were some questions. Okay, good. There were some questions by the candidates. We are gonna go ahead and address those those questions now in the beginning. So you don't have to go through the timestamp searching for it. Uh question one was is there a cap on the number of persons allowed to speak on each candidate's behalf. Each candidate, this is the answer, each candidate will have 30 minutes uh to have their supporters speak on their behalf. Um that how we use that 30 minutes is up to you. Uh whether you have one person speaking for 10 minutes, or if you have 30 people speaking for one minute, whether they are online or in person, it is up to your discretion to determine what you think will be most compelling. Um but you have 30 minutes and it it will it would be up to you. In order to uh that's okay and in order to uh have them speak online, if they will be speaking uh virtually, you will need their name first and last and their email, and that will need to be sent to the clerk, the city clerk at city.clerk at Durham NC dot government by 1 p.m. on Wednesday, by 1 p.m. on Wednesday, you will need to have your supporter supporters who are speaking virtually uh to send their information to the clerk, first and last name and their email address to the clerk at city.clerk at Durham NC dot gov, that is on Wednesday at 1 p.m.
openpublica.com