Republished from /https://indyweek.com/news/garner-town-council-gra-singleton/

Full name: John Graham Singleton, Jr.

Party affiliation: Democrat

Campaign website: graforgarner.com

1) In 300 words or less, please give our readers your elevator pitch: Why are you running? Why should voters entrust you with this position? What prior experience will make you an effective member of the Garner town council?

I have been a leader in Garner for over 25 years and have specifically lead the Town to build more sidewalks all over Garner ( there was no sidewalk master plan in Garner until 1999); led the Town to conduct the first master transportation plan in Garner; led the Town to conduct our first ever storm water master plan that has helped to identify specific storm water projects to the forefront and finally get completed; led the Town to adopt its first ever Parks and Rec master plan that has helped to guide park development in town and has also assisted in receiving numerous grants for our parks system; I am not a “yes” person…I will challenge my colleagues on the council, the staff, and consultants to do better.. we seem to have an issue with “settling” sometimes in Garner for projects that, with a little more talk and discussion, could become even better projects for our town. We need to strive to be the best we can be and not simply go along just to get along. Our town deserves better than that. 

2) What would your priorities be as a member of the town council? Please identify three of the most pressing issues Garner currently faces and how you believe the town should address them. 

Top 3 priorities:

1) How to manage and pay for a Capital Improvement Program that is currently at $89 million and that does not include major infrastructure needs in the next 3-7 years. Raising taxes is not popular and recent bond votes in other Wake County towns were defeated. We have to have a clearly defined strategy to move forward with these major capital projects, including applying for both State and Federal grant dollars; 

2) Creating an Affordable Housing / Neighbor Hood Manger position to assist with developers and any currently owned housing that might be changing hands and seek the right kind of investors that use tax credits and other methods to finance affordable housing projects. The Town may need to offer bridge funding to make some of these affordable projects happen. A neighborhood manager can work with long time citizens to assist them with getting funds to make needed repairs so that they can stay in their homes. We currently fund $100,000.00 annually but that amount has to be increased.

3) Continue to monitor the budget process. I voted against the last 2 budgets, in 2024 because of the 8.5 cents tax increase, and in 2025 because of a $1.3 million error found by me and others not on the Town staff. The budget team can’t make errors that big and not catch them.

3) What’s the best or most important thing the town council has done in the past year? Additionally, name a decision you believe the town should have handled differently. Please explain your answers.

The decision that was handled very poorly was the process of the re-branding / logo here in Garner. The public was asked to participate in a survey…almost 1300 responses..but when it came time to narrow the choices down to 3 or 4, the majority of the Council decided not to put these final selections out there for the public to help guide the winning selection. Instead a majority of the Council picked an unattractive logo choice with colors that have no connection to our Town. A poorly managed process by the management and a majority of the Council. 

Decisions that have been positive for our town include:

1) moving forward with the construction of Yeargan Park, a 2021 bond project that passed with 75% of the citizens supporting this park;

2) moving forward with an all inclusive playground that is under construction behind our recreation center in Downtown Garner; 

3) moving forward with the Town’s first splash pad, as the contract has been awarded and construction will start soon;

4) moving forward with our 2nd all inclusive playground, this time at White Deer Park. These amenities will continue to enhance the wonderful parks thru out Garner; 5) moving forward with 3 sidewalk projects in town.

4) President Trump is working to ramp up deportations and curtail visas. At the same time, the state legislature has passed laws requiring agencies to cooperate with ICE. What do you think the town council can or should do to ensure safe, welcoming communities for immigrants in light of these policies?

We currently have to cooperate with the Wake County Sheriff’s Department per state law. As required by state law, Sheriff’s Departments has to notify ICE about any persons who have detainer issued for them. According to state law, local law enforcement must cooperate with ICE agents. The PD could participate in the 287(g) program to receive additional training in dealing with any specific individuals that the ICE agents may be pursuing, or the PD could simply decide to fully cooperate with the WCSO and any ICE agents. I would put this decision in the hands of our public safety officials and let them guide the Town’s response to ensuring a safe community for immigrants. 

5) As climate change leads to more intense rainfall, communities are at greater risk of inland flooding, such as the historic floods in parts of the Triangle this summer. How would you like the town council to address climate resilience, particularly flooding? 

The Town is in the middle of a second storm water study that is taking video and evaluating the smaller storm water pipes in town. A recently completed first study took video and evaluated the larger storm water pipes. The Town has to determine what storm water pipes need to be replaced and set a schedule so that repairs and replacements are taking place on a regular basis. Proper storm water infrastructure is just one way to ensure that drainage can take place as best as possible, because we al know that some storm events happen so fast and the amount of rain that falls can overwhelm even the best storm water infrastructure that is in place. This is a serious concern as some of the older subdivisions in Garner are over 60 years old and storm water drainage has been an issue in a couple of older subdivisions. This is not an issue to be taken lightly. 

6) Describe what sustainable growth and development mean to you in the context of Garner’s rapid growth. What is another municipality you believe has made smart decisions related to growth and development that could be similarly implemented in Garner?

We have to strive to encourage development that is guided by the Garner Forward Comprehensive Plan. This plan was developed to help guide future growth and land development decisions throughout town. The principals in this plan were developed over several years of planning and meeting with citizens and developers and elected officials as how all would like to see projects develop in Garner over the next several years. These guidelines may take some time to actually see get developed, but the end result should be similar to the expectations that all groups that helped to develop the plan envisioned when putting this comprehensive plan together. 

7) This summer, the General Assembly passed a law to block Garner from expanding its extraterritorial jurisdiction, or ETJ, into southern Wake County near the expanded I-540. Is this a good thing? How will it impact Garner’s economic development, and how should the town respond?

The response should simply be to plan for when this 3 year limitation expires to be prepared to move forward with an ETJ request to Wake County government. It is an adopted piece of legislation, so there is little that can be done at this time. It must run the course of the time frame designated for this legal blocking of an ETJ request and then hope than there will not be any additional legislation put in place to prevent urban development in the area surrounding the I-540 intersections. 

8) As with most places in the Triangle, Garner is grappling with issues related to affordable housing. How would you like to see the town approach affordability issues over the next few years? Should it promote apartment living, duplexes, and/or triplexes? Encourage density in single family housing? What do you believe the town is doing right? What could it do better?

As stated earlier, we need to create a new position on staff for an Affordable Housing manager / Neighborhood manager that can strive to address numerous projects with developers to allow for some or a portion of their products to be affordable to person that work for local government ( teachers, police, fire personnel, public works and parks and rec employees, and other folks who are at around the 60% AMI for this area). 

Durham has a Tiny House / Small House program that offers a more affordable entry level for those seeking home ownership. These programs have defined standards regarding square footage and lot sizes that make this model a possibility for Garner as we seek developers who may have had success in projects like these that allow for smaller lots and smaller houses that should be attractive to new home buyers. There is not one answer to this complex problem, and what works in one town may not work in another, but as an elected official I have to be open minded as we seek possible solutions to allow for first time home buyers the opportunity to put down roots here in Garner. 

9) How can Garner improve its pedestrian infrastructure? How should it look to improve public transit options for residents?

The Town has recently adopted a comprehensive Sidewalk and Pedestrian plan. This plan will identify infrastructure and program recommendations to help the Town as a pedestrian friendly community. This plan will continue to guide the Town in connecting to existing sidewalk networks and also to the Town’s expanding Greenway programs thru-out Garner. 

The Garner transit study was adopted about 4 years ago and helped to establish a local bus route system thru the Town. The Town is also cooperating with Raleigh with the southern leg of the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT) that will go from downtown Raleigh to highway 401 in Garner and loop around the large existing Walmart location and then head back into downtown Raleigh. This BRT system will offer updated service and more frequent stops and pick-ups will be made. The Town will be cooperating with Raleigh as the planning for the BRT loop continues to move forward. 

10) If there are other issues you want to discuss, please do so here. 

We need to be very aware of the budgeting process. There is a projected 5 cent tax increase in next year’s budget ( this info is available in a copy of the 2025-2026 budget document), a budget that I voted against. I also voted against the 2024-2025 budget as it had a 8.5 cents tax increase in it. Our citizens can only swallow so much in property tax increases and we have to proceed cautiously in the next few years with the Town budget. With $89 million needed for Capital Improvements in town, managing the dollars for these improvements is going to be a huge challenge.