Todd Kennedy, candidate for Raleigh City Council District D

The News & Observer asked readers again this year to submit their questions for the people looking to lead Raleigh.

We received nearly 200 questions that covered a range of topics important to city residents.

We asked candidates for a yes or no response to 15 questions with a chance to fully explain their position. If candidates did not provide a yes or no answer, we didn’t include their fuller response.

We also included biographical and open-ended questions. Some responses were edited for clarity or length.

Here is how Raleigh City Council District D candidate Todd Kennedy answered the questionnaire. Kennedy is one of four candidates for the southwest Raleigh seat.

District D candidates are elected only by people within the district and serve two-year terms. Stormie Forte, who holds this seat now, is running for one of two at-large seats in this election.

All eight seats on the Raleigh City Council are up for re-election.

Early voting for the Nov. 8 election began Oct. 20.

Name: Todd Kennedy

Age: 47

Occupation: Public Infrastructure and Environmental Consultant

Education: BA, UNC Chapel Hill; MS Environmental Science and Engineering, UNC Chapel Hill

Endorsements (limit to three): Former Mayor Charles Meeker, Former Mayor Nancy McFarlane, Equality NC

Previous political or civic experience? Raleigh Environmental Advisory Board Vice-Chair, Raleigh Human Relations Commission Chair, DHIC Affordable Housing Nonprofit Board of Directors, Finalist for District D Appointment in 2020, Various Other Community and Political Party Activity

Campaign website: KennedyForRaleigh.com

How do you identify your political ideology? Moderate

How would you add diversity to the City Council? I would bring experience from a career in public infrastructure.

What is your favorite locally owned restaurant either in the city or within your district? The Players’ Retreat

The city of Raleigh lowered the speed limit downtown to 25 mph. Are you in favor of lowering the speed limit to 25 mph throughout the city?

No. Raleigh should pursue strategies in alignment with Vision Zero, an approach being pursued around the country to eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries. I am in support of the speed limit reduction in downtown and we should seek to reduce speeds in other areas of the city where appropriate and necessary but not as a blanket speed citywide.

Should the city help bring a sports and entertainment stadium downtown?

Yes. In concept I support a stadium located downtown or in Downtown South. A city-owned stadium is an outdated model and the city should not take on that financial risk. However, I would consider the use of other economic/financial tools (e.g., land) and partnerships given a clear return on investment to the city. In addition, both the reinvestment in PNC and the idea of “bringing downtown to the arena” as well as Dix Park’s experience with Dreamville suggest there are also alternatives.

Do you support reinstating Citizen Advisory Councils?

Yes. I believe the move by the council to stop directly supporting the CACs was rash and unnecessary. But now we must look ahead and work together to craft the best community engagement program possible. I do see a potential role for citizen led engagement groups like the CACs but a CAC 2.0 where we address the shortcomings of the previous system and focus on information exchange. This would be part of our larger community engagement strategy.

Would you vote to increase the police department’s budget?

Yes. Raleigh’s continued economic prosperity is reliant on a strong commitment to our public safety network of police and other first responders. We currently have an unsettling number of vacancies in the department and the total number of budgeted officers has not kept up with the pace of population growth. We should increase the police budget to address these issues and to expand the ACORNS crisis intervention unit to assist vulnerable populations.

Would you vote to increase the salary of the city’s first responders, including police, fire and 911 staff?

Yes. The city should have raised police and firefighter pay higher in the current budget. Both departments are faced with a large number of vacancies and the number of positions has not kept up with the pace of growth. We should address pay issues including salary compression and staff retention. Our city is fortunate to have such good leadership in these two departments so let’s give them the tools they need to perform the critical public safety function that all our residents deserve.

Will you support keeping city buses fare-free indefinitely?

Yes. I support keeping the regular city buses fare-free. I believe this helps to increase ridership and has an important equity dimension. We should also put in place measures to prevent abuse of this for the sake of all riders. In association, we need to find creative ways to begin to change the broader culture around the use of transit so that we can also help facilitate the long term success of the BRT system.

The city has received numerous noise complaints about traffic and street racing. Is the city doing enough to enforce its noise ordinance?

No. While I acknowledge that enforcement of the noise ordinance can be a challenge, I do believe we as a city can put more focus on the issue including street racing. I live in an area of the city where this activity is frequent and has likely increased over time.

Would you support the city creating a buffer zone around abortion clinics?

Yes. I support a woman’s right to choose and believe we should not be making it harder for women to seek an abortion. In NC, abortions within 20 weeks of pregnancy are currently legal since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision in late June. In upholding that right under NC law we should take appropriate steps such as instituting a buffer zone around clinics.

Do you support the city’s missing middle zoning changes?

Yes. The missing middle zoning changes were necessary in the face of unprecedented growth. Raleigh needs more housing of all types in all parts of the city. I support placing a large proportion of growth into the downtown core, our growth nodes, and near transit corridors, but we also need to facilitate infill, redevelopment, and gentle density in our single-family residential neighborhoods in ways that do not destroy essential character.

Do you support the city’s $275 million parks bond?

Yes. Raleigh’s parks and greenways are an essential part of our quality of life and critical to our resilience. A parks and greenway system like Raleigh’s doesn’t happen without thoughtful planning and courageous investments. I support the 2022 Parks Bond because it strikes the right balance between making needed investments in our parks system, including equity-focused investments in parts of our city, and making progress on what will be the crown jewel of the Raleigh parks system, Dix Park.

Would you propose additional measures to address the affordable housing crisis for lower-wealth residents?

Yes. On housing affordability, the city has made progress on many fronts but the housing crisis has gotten worse. In addition to more market rate housing to put downward pressure on rising costs/rents and balance supply/demand. To address the growing affordable housing need, we should strengthen partnerships with our nonprofit partners such as the Raleigh Area Land Trust, expand the preservation of naturally occurring affordable housing, and put more emphasis on the use of city-owned land to start.

Do you support Raleigh’s and Wake County’s efforts in bus rapid transit and commuter rail?

Yes. I support better public transit including commuter rail and a Bus Rapid Transit that has robust ridership, viable mobility options at stops, and well-planned corridors for density. Over time the density will help facilitate the success of transit so that more people can get from homes to jobs more easily and make car use less necessary. That will help improve the environment, reduce emissions, and enhance the lives of all Raleigh residents including those who prefer to use a car.

Should it be possible to live in Raleigh without owning a car?

Yes. We need a multimodal strategy in this city that moves transit like the BRT forward but also creates additional bike/pedestrian opportunities. Raleigh should develop a comprehensive mobility plan that includes robust community engagement so we can assess the current state of multimodal including non-car options, finds the gaps, and then use it to chart a long term strategy for the city.

A council-appointed study group made a recommendation to add one seat to the Raleigh City Council. Do you support expanding the size of the council by a seat?

Yes. I support a number of recommendations in the modernization study. With respect to expanding the size of council, I would support adding at-large seats. This will help address the current imbalance on our council where we have three city-wide reps (i.e., the mayor and two at large) and five district seats.

Do you think the current City Council has put Raleigh on the right path?

Yes. On balance I believe that the current city council has put Raleigh on the right path. Areas of progress include affordable housing, missing middle zoning reform, moving BRT forward, and work towards a more robust community engagement program. There are some areas where I do think we can do better. For example, support for our first responders as discussed in previous responses.

What will you do to ensure Raleigh’s working-class residents don’t get priced out of the city?

There are a number of things that Raleigh should do to support working-class residents. For one, we need to increase the salaries of city employees including our first responders so that they can afford to live in the communities that they serve. We should also strengthen and build on our tools for housing affordability. Let’s place just as much effort into preserving naturally occurring affordable housing as we do new builds. In addition, we need more housing of all types across the city to put downward pressure on rising costs and rents. Furthermore, we should focus a large proportion of new growth into downtown, our growth nodes, and near transit corridors. This will improve connectivity between resident’s homes and their places of work, which will support both an enhanced quality of life and equity.

What lessons should the city have learned from public safety challenges like COVID, curfews and George Floyd protests? Would you propose any new policies or changes?

One lesson that the city learned from both crises is to act quickly. Delays in not establishing curfews during the protests led to more property destruction than would have otherwise occurred. Not enacting restrictions more quickly and firmly may have reduced our ability to fight the pandemic early on. In terms of new policies or changes, I would propose that Raleigh create a resiliency plan for a Resilient Raleigh across environment, social, economic, and cultural dimensions. Here we can chronicle the lessons learned from the pandemic to prepare for the future. With respect to future protests, the city needs to take prompt and decisive action to ensure that protests remain peaceful and to minimize any potential injuries or property destruction. Our police force should be well trained and equipped in the state of the art techniques for such an event and held accountable when any part of the implementation falls short of our policies, procedures, and what we expect from our officers.

How can the city limit investment firms from buying entry level homes?

I am concerned about the proliferation of activity by investment companies in the housing market. We currently have limited tools to affect that issue. We would need legislation at the state level to grant the city more power to regulate that activity. In terms of what we can do outside of that, we should build an abundance of new housing units in the city so that we balance the supply and demand equation, and stabilize prices.

Describe a program in another city that you want the city of Raleigh to try. Please be specific.

We need a comprehensive multimodal strategy that moves transit like the BRT forward but also creates additional bike/ped opportunities all around the city. I propose that Raleigh develop a comprehensive mobility plan to assess the current state of multimodal in the city, finds the gaps, and then chart a long-term strategy. The City of Charlotte rolled out their mobility plan recently, and that could be a good model for Raleigh.

Raleigh is the center of one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the country. How do you personally feel about that?

You can fight the tide but it’s coming in all the same. Instead we should embrace the growth that Raleigh is experiencing. Tackle the challenges and leverage the opportunities it presents head on. Shape it with the tools we have so that it benefits all of us in the long run and creates a city with vibrance, vitality, and opportunity. We can do this while also preserving the parts of our city that make Raleigh so special if we work together. We need to work now, at an inflection point for our community, to move Raleigh forward instead of returning to policies that will stifle our city’s potential. Ultimately the true test of our work will be whether we have facilitated prosperity that all can share in, whether we are inclusive, and whether we are made stronger by our collective resilience to the challenges we face.

Name one initiative you’d propose in your first 100 days in office.

Besides the Resilient Raleigh initiative mentioned earlier…we need better collaboration between neighbors and developers. I’d like to see Raleigh establish a zoning mediator or ombudsmen to help residents participate in the rezoning process in a positive way. The change we need is to minimize the adversarial nature of the process and start working together as a community. As it stands now, city staff are caught in between the council and the developer, leaving them hamstrung in many ways to support affected neighbors. We need balance and a system that promotes an effective process for everyone.