Personal anecdotes, mutual respect and challenging questions on increased growth in Durham filled last night's at-large city council candidate forum sponsored by The Herald-Sun of Durham.
Although each of the candidates-who are vying for three open positions on the council-emphasized different aspects of growth in the area, their core views differed relatively little.
A 35-person audience asked the candidates-Patrick Byker, Tamra Edwards, Dan Hill, Michael Shiflett, Thomas Stith and Joseph Williams-a range of questions.
The overall theme of the night was the challenge the community faces in increasing growth in the city and the ramifications growth will have on such areas as transportation, local government structure, quality of life and opportunities for unskilled workers.
Both Byker, the vice president for government relations at the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce, and Hill, partner in the insurance brokerage firm, Hill, Chesson and Associates, stressed their mutual focus on bringing high-paying jobs to East and downtown Durham in order to revitalize the areas.
"I preach what I practice, and I have continued to create opportunities for all our people," said Byker, emphasizing the need to invest in expansion and "smart" growth in Durham.
The two candidates also advocated the plan to merge city and county government in order to cut down on bureaucracy.
"One local government is plenty for me," Hill said. "Let citizens decide [whether or not to pursue a merger], not politicians."
Flowing with the theme of the merger, Edwards, Shiflett, Stith and Williams agreed less government and more interaction with the community are keys to creating sustainable growth.
"There needs to be cohesiveness and unity within the council but it must have leadership and the backbone to stand up for what the citizens want," said Edwards, who is the program coordinator for Family to Family. "Citizens feel like they are not being heard and the council needs to listen."
Stith agreed that the opinions of community members are more important than politics. He said that utilizing resources already in place and creating a partnership between business, community and government are vital to continued growth.
"The council needs to be responsible and accountable to the people of Durham. We can't create an adversarial relationship with the community," said Stith, the owner and operator of Windsor Academy, a local preschool.
Williams said it was important for elected officials to improve Durham's race relations. "The council needs to build relationships between the black and white communities," said the owner of the Community Store and Grill.
Shiflett, former president of the Inter-Neighborhood Council, addressed the challenge of preserving the quality of life and the value of open space while simultaneously encouraging growth.
"We need to preserve more trails and open space," he said. "Therefore, we must focus on where we what to expand smart growth. We must look five, 10, 15 years ahead and decide how Durham can grow to benefit everyone."
All the candidates agreed on the necessity of investigating alternative means of transportation instead of constructing new roads to alleviate the traffic congestion in the area.
The candidates all agreed that strengthening the transit system, encouraging carpools and implementing bike and high-occupancy vehicle lanes are possible solutions to Durham's transportation problem.
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