Voter Guide – 2024 – District D
Jane Harrison, the current District D councilor is running unopposed.
Our Voter Guide provides candidate responses to voter concerns gathered from our citywide poll.
For incumbents, relevant Council record items are included.
Click on candidate images to view their Full Questionnaire Answers
See Poll Findings Here: Polling Results
Finding More Details
If you don’t see an issue you care about addressed for an individual candidate, they may not have addressed the issue in the answers they gave in response to our questionnaire. Click on a candidate’s image to review their full responses.
Restoring Confidence in Council
Declining confidence in Council marked one of the biggest changes from two years ago. In our new poll, 73% of voters said the city does not do a good job of keeping residents informed, up substantially from 49% in 2022. The undue influence of special interests is still a big concern, with 71% of voters saying the city is still too beholden to developers. To correct that imbalance, 73% of 2024 voters said Council campaign donations should be capped at $500. Only 23% of voters approve of Council doubling their terms to four years. (See Questionnaire Items Q1 – Q6)
Harrison(Incumbent)– Community engagement is a top priority. Highlight is new Community Engagement Office’s partnerships with other city departments to improve notices, announcements and support for CACs. Also supports city’s Leadership and Planning academies. On key issues before Council, studies all information sources, negotiates community benefits, and presents motivating factors in decisions via newsletters and social media. Undue development influence occurs when Councilors vote yes on every case or fail to advocate for public benefits. Given the influence of money in politics, would pursue state authority to cap donations at $1,000. Voted for 4-year terms after much public input and debate about the various considerations. Opposes Council’s secret vote to extend their own terms by a year. It’s imperative that City Council not make decisions behind closed doors.
Record in office– Despite strong public opinion objecting to four-year terms, made the motion to move to 4-year terms of office without a referendum on the ballot for voters to decide.
Empowering Residents
In the 2022 election citizen engagement was a top campaign issue. Our polling has found that the city has gotten worse at keeping residents informed since then. 73% say the city does a poor job of keeping residents informed compared to 49% in 2022. 74% of respondents say neighborhood rezoning meetings should be returned from developer control to CACs. (See Questionnaire Items Q7 – Q10)
Harrison(Incumbent)– Revive CACs across the city before taking on new responsibilities. Rezoning meetings managed by staff, keeping CACs informed about the meetings. Supports CAC independence with staff support and strong leadership in minority neighborhoods. Restore all CAC support eliminated in 2020 according to discussions underway between Council & CAC leaders. Expects both the Housing & Neighborhoods Dept and Community Engagement Office will support CACs.
Record in office– Holds regular District D community meetings to engage with constituents. In Feb 2024 voted to reinstate CACs but has taken no concrete action to make that happen since.
Mitigating Growth Impacts
Raleigh’s Missing Middle rules were another big issue in the 2022 election. Our poll shows only 29% of voters support these new rules. Criticisms include failing to inform the public about rules affecting their most important investment and enacting rules promoting market profitability at the expense of best practices that would incentivize affordability, neighborhood compatibility and walkable access to transit. (See Questionnaire Items Q15 – Q18)
Missing Middle was a prominent issue in the 2022 election. Four new members of council (Black, Patton, Harrison and Jones) were elected on promises of reforms and/or repeal. The other current councilors (Melton, Forte and Branch) all voted in favor of implementing the Missing Middle policies during the previous council. There has been little to no meaningful action taken in the nearly two years since the current council was seated. Council has been hiding behind the two lawsuits that have been filed against the city on the issue saying they can’t discuss Missing Middle in public while the lawsuits are ongoing.
We disagree. One lawsuit was about a specific project and its failure to meet the city’s UDO (Unified Development Ordinance) provisions for Compact Subdivisions. This suit was resolved AGAINST the city in July. The other suit, still outstanding, is against the city for alleged failure to properly notify affected property owners of proposed Missing Middle changes. To date the court has denied all attempts by the city to have this suit dismissed.
We see no reason why either of these suits should have stopped any public discussion of reforms for Missing Middle. Neither of the suits is about the Missing Middle policies. In March 2023, the Planning Director told the council they could Repeal or Reform Missing Middle. Watch: Time for reform
Harrison(Incumbent)– Council must address strains growth puts on built and natural resources. Councilors must be diligent in reviewing staff rezoning reports about infrastructure concerns and advocating changes or denying the case. City must re-invest in infrastructure and amenities for Raleigh residents to continue a high quality of life. Missing Middle infill rules have helped increase the supply of dwellings in Raleigh, including some affordable units, but they haven’t created widespread affordability for low and middle-income earning households. Council has asked staff for ways to improve neighborhood transitions and protect more trees under missing middle rules. Respect adopted NCODs, HODs & Area Plans.
Record in office– With regards to abiding by NCOD, HOD and Area Plan Guidance, voted to remove property from the Prince Hall HOD and for rezoning Shaw University property which is located in a protective Downtown Transition Area.
Expanding Affordable Housing
Raleigh’s highly ranked growth rate has increased the cost of living in Raleigh, with low and fixed income households being especially hard hit. Given the strong voter sentiment that current efforts are not keeping up with Raleigh’s deepening affordable housing crisis, what changes you would enact – beyond existing programs? What measurable goals and performance tracking would you set so the public can hold Council and staff accountable on this top issue? (See Questionnaire Item Q19)
Harrison(Incumbent)– Proposes 3 measures to expand affordable housing: authorize rent stabilization at the state level, expand City’s pilot program to provide rental vouchers to individuals experiencing homelessness and invest in natural occurring affordable housing sites to maintain reasonable rents.
Improving the City Budget Process
In our citywide poll, only 1 in 4 voters said this year’s city budget reflects their priorities. What would you do to improve voter satisfaction with future city budgets? (See Questionnaire Items Q11 – Q14)
Harrison(Incumbent)– Continue participatory budgeting with earlier public engagement. Set and publicize Manager performance Goals. Budget changes include new investments in affordable housing and alternative crisis response, while maintaining all essential functions of the City (e.g. public safety, solid waste management, transportation). Approved 10.3% salary increase for public safety employees and launched alternative crisis response program which needs resources from Wake County to establish non-police community response teams. Need to fully fund holistic public safety programs and hold all personnel accountable.
Improving Our Environment
Promoting urban densities can conflict with environmental protection, such as clearcutting forested land, including infill and teardown lots. What are your key considerations for deciding if the growth benefits of a project outweigh environmental impacts? (See Questionnaire Items Q20 – Q21)
Harrison(Incumbent)– Continue to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and become more resilient to climate change. Proud of emissions reductions and uses Committee leadership to set city’s environmental agenda. Improvements include invasive species reduction, expanded tree preservation and planting and stream litter reduction. Advocate for greenways and for bike, pedestrian and transit improvements. Environment is a critical factor in decision making, especially protecting water supplies, reducing flooding and conserving unique natural resources.
Record in office– The sole councilor to vote against rezoning a property in the Falls Lake Watershed.
Local Government Experience
Each Candidate’s campaign website is listed. We also include here any experience a candidate has in Raleigh government whether as a member of City Council or a member of any of the city Boards and Commissions.
Harrison(Incumbent)– janeforraleigh.com
Elected to City Council District D in 2022.