Jack Smith response to the NC Sierra Club, Capital Group

1. General Information:

f.  Endorsed by Sierra Club previously?

YES – Starting 1989 and through every campaign up to and including 2017

g.  Are you the incumbent?

YES

2. What are your strategies, plans and tactics for securing this position?
As has always been my approach, I will conduct a broad-based, ‘grass roots’ information campaign educating citizens on my skills and how they have contributed to Cary’s quality of lifeand its national reputation as one of the top places in America to live. I plan to make clear in six words why citizens should vote for Jack Smith: More Trees, More Jobs, Lower Taxes.

a. What support and affiliations have you gained / expect to get?
Nothing gained yet, I have filed but my campaign has not truly begun and, as of today, the restarted filing period has yet to be determined. It is my understanding no affiliations have publicly announced their support for any individual who may consider running. In the past Ihave earned a broad spectrum of support from many diverse organizations, like the Sierra Club and hope to do so again.

b. What financial support have you secured? What are your expectations for future support?
Through my campaign website and emails with individuals with whom I have engaged over town matters in the past, I have received encouragement and contributions from many who agree with my past service, my balanced perspectives and my campaign platform. Prominent among early supporters and contributors are former Raleigh Mayor Smedes York and former Cary Mayor Glen Lang. I anticipate that after candidate filing closes and the campaign begins in earnest, support for my reelection will be significant, in no small part because of my history of successful advocacy for initiating and improving Cary’s environmental protections and, now, its transition into sustainability.

c. Have you received any endorsements? From whom?
It’s been my practice to not actively seek endorsements until the close of the candidate filing period. That said, Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht has already publicly announced his support for my reelection. (Accurate as of January 24, 2022. Additional endorsements have been received since.)

3. What three goals do you have while filling this position?
Having a 32 year history of proven environmental deliverables - from my early years of achieving the doubling of our buffers, protections against clear cutting and instigating a plethora of environmental initiatives such as water quality and conservation guidelines, Cary’s use of reclaimed (gray) water, championing Adequate Public Facilities ordinances, to activities in the past decade of leading the efforts in Stormwater management and championing programs in Composting, Solar installation, Town EV vehicles – and my personal pride and joy – my tree planting efforts which have grown our tree canopy. As these programs continue contributing to Cary’s ‘greening’, my role is somewhat like that of a senior statesman, allowing me to focus on a larger role, which is reflected in the following:
a. Protecting Cary from the divisive partisan politics that is seeping into our municipalities, stagnating critical thinking and impeding our ability to address emerging needs. (The Cary Council majority, including myself, are Unaffiliated.)
b. Broadening Cary’s role as a quality of life regional and national leader by more effectively communicating our accomplishments and best practices.
c. Partnering with our neighboring communities in turning our shared goals into joint meaningful, actionable and measurable programs.

4.  In your opinion, what are two top environmental issues facing your serving area or Wake County?

a. Climate change and associated weather variability remains my top concern, forcing us to be even more responsive and flexible.

b. Natural resource protection, including forests, trees, open space, wetlands, and floodplains. Through my efforts to initiate and sheperd ongoing programs, Cary leads in all these areas with more work to do on a ‘job that will never be done’.

What plans do you have for addressing these concerns while in office?

Cary has a Climate Action Plan developed in concert with our Environmental Advisory Board (EAB). As liaison to this Board, I have challenged them to continue to explore best practices to enhance our plan and engage more of our citizens in climate action activities. I am also seeking more funds to support our actions related to emissions reduction in energy and transportation. I am also recommending the Town invest in the hiring of a Climate Action Manager.
During the peak of COVID-19 all Town hiring was suspended, with one exception: through my persistent efforts we hired an Urban Forestry Manager.  This position is a critical resource in my goal of implementing management plans for the large amount of natural lands in Cary (30 percent of the town is open space land) to ensure that our forests, urban trees and wetlands will be protected for generations to come.

5.  Wake County is undergoing tremendous, rapid growth. There have been many concerns and comments voiced about this. What two concerns are top of mind to you regarding this and, if you succeed in your bid, how do you intend to address them while in office?

a. We are one of the top areas in the nation for growth and cannot ignore the impact this has on our natural resources and air quality. Cary will do its part to mitigate the consequences, but a wholistic assertive action approach on emissions reduction is needed, including improvements to the region’s transportation infrastructure and funding to transition to alternative and sustainable energy sources, and electric vehicles.

b. Unaffordable housing is also a major consequence of our region’s success. Like our environmental efforts, there is no silver bullet solution. We need to tackle affordability ‘head on’ with a full portfolio of efforts, including rental assistance, opportunities for home ownership and transit-oriented development, e.g.: affordable housing along transit lines, low- or no-fare transit options, and expanded transit services, to name a few. (Cary recently made a mid-year funding allocation of $5 million to our Cary Housing Plan to augment the existing $5.2 million.)

6.  What does “environmentally responsible development” mean to you?

We need to consider the impact of any development on our finite natural resources, including tree canopy, streams, wetlands and floodplains, while also integrating green technologies into all new development including solar and infrastructure for electric vehicles. (With Cary 85% built out, redevelopment guidelines consistent with our new development is equally critical.). Similarly, I have encouraged and supported requiring the Town of Cary to prioritize environmental conservation, energy efficiency and sustainability throughout its planning and budgeting procedures.

7.  How will you address environmental justice concerns throughout your jurisdiction?

I grew up in a poor blue-collar neighborhood in southeastern Pennsylvania and, even in the 60’s, I saw the distinction in the have and have-not communities, particularly regarding the environment. Environmental (and social) justice is burned into my DNA and guides my decision making. I believe every citizen of Cary should have access to the high quality of life we offer. Environmental justice is accomplished, first, by understanding the magnitude of issues associated with heat islands, development impacts, and air quality impacts, among other things. Then, by developing programs to ensure tree canopies are protected and expanded, and energy efficiency is accessible to all citizens regardless of income or race.

Nearly all our older ‘lower income’ neighborhoods have extensive tree canopies and access to our greenways. I’m proud of that, and will continue to foster these efforts.

8.  A bill introduced in the NC House would prevent county and municipal governments from enacting greater tree protections during construction and development than those already specified. Would yousupport HB 496 and similar efforts that would limit Wake County’s authority to protect trees? Why or why not? What actions would you take in response to this proposed legislation?

I do not support any legislation that limits local authority, especially a community’s authority to protect its tree canopy. As the cost of land and construction continues to increase, I fear additional attempts to further restrict our authority to protect our communities from over- development and degradation of the environment. We are a Dillon’s Rule State, making it ever more difficult to manage our own destiny. It is therefore critical that we establish and maintain personal relationships with our State legislators, coordinate with lobbying organizations such as the Sierra Club, and endeavor to keep the lines of communication open, and seek fair and meaningful compromise, when appropriate. I intend to model this behavior. Municipalities will also be wise to retain lobbyist assistance to represent their concerns on Jones Street (as Cary has done).

Many of Cary’s past successes have come from having a strong, independent, nonpartisan Council focused on our community and not on partisan special interests. I aim to keep it that way.

9.  Sierra Club promotes local government adoption of 100% clean and renewable energy by 2050. How will you implement renewables for your city/town?

Cary has the same goal and is working toward achieving that by 2040. The transition is being accomplished by integrating alternative energy sources in new municipal buildings, while retrofittingexisting buildings. Cary is also working directly with Duke Energy to accomplish this on a broader basis. To some, working with the power company may appear counterintuitive but I believe all players that impact our environment need to be at the table as we seek solutions.

10.  Do you support giving local governments more powers to create and preserve housing that is affordableby low income persons? What tools do you think local governments need in this area?

Yes, very much so, and I have shared my perspective in some of my previous responses.

What will you do to ensure preservation of existing affordable housing for those living in lower income in your town?

Cary needs broadened authority to be more effective. I believe that our and other local governments would be well served by tools such as the ability to create a rental registry, a broadening of allowable tax abatement to support desirable development and allowing inclusionary zoning. Despite these constraints, Cary is implementing a variety of programs to ensure the preservation of affordable housing. This includes our existing housing rehabilitation program (Healthy Homes Cary), as well as the addition of a dedicated housing fund for grants, interest free loans, and developer incentives.

11.  How will you incorporate natural landscape and green stormwater protection into the rapidly urbanizing Cary?

Nearly 60 percent of Cary was developed prior to 2000, before many of our significant regulatory improvements were created to protect streams and floodplains. In response, Cary has focused significant effort implementing an Adaptive Approach to Stormwater, working directly with citizens, particularly in the oldest areas inside the Maynard loop. This includes dynamic modeling to monitor the impacts of increased weather variability, rain gauges, stream sensors, purchasing open space and return-to-natural land, installing rain gardens on private property and installing green infrastructure in streets. These efforts have significantly helped many of our citizens of modest means. In addition, Cary recently qualified and joined FEMA’s Community Rating System (CRS) – a program that recognizes and encourages community floodplain management activities. As a result of joining the CRS, every Cary homeowner with flood insurance will receive a significant discount on their policy.

12.   How will you ensure high quality of life and air and water quality protection for all Cary residents in an equitable manner?

During my service on Council, I have coached and mentored many individuals in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. Two years ago, under my tutelage of our EAB, Cary was the first municipality in the region to dedicate funding for the protection of the Jordan Lake watershed. These funds are being used to purchase lands outside of our jurisdiction. In addition, the same year, we changed our ordinance requiring development to measure discharge based on the 100-year storm or no adverse downstream impacts. We’ve also launched our purchase of open space and restoration of natural lands in the Walnut Creek watershed, soon expanding these efforts into the Swift Creek watershed. To build on our significant efforts to protect the Walnut Creek Watershed and support our downstream neighbors in Raleigh, Cary recently made a grant to Partners for Environmental Justice (PEJ). This grant allows PEJ to assist residents in flood prone areas in both Raleigh and Cary.

I believe my professional coaching career played a critical part in Cary successfully achieving and maintaining a nationally recognized high quality of life, an accolade we’ve earned consistently over the past decade. I am confident Cary has the human capital to sustain its impressive and progressive record of environmental protection well into the future. This approach benefits all residents of Cary as well as all our neighbors.

As discussed previously, the region’s accelerating success has created unintended consequences,including an exploding housing demand and limited supply. My commitment is to ensure Cary remains focused on all Cary citizens sharing in the benefits Cary has to offer. This is my pledge, particularly in efforts related to housing affordability, preservation and protection of natural resources, equity, inclusion, public safety and low property taxes.

13.  What other ways might you plan to address climate resiliency for your city/town?

I want to make sure Cary leads in emissions reduction and climate action, while working to support a regional approach with greater impact.

Thank you for the opportunity to answer your questionnaire and I look forward to meeting with you.
s/Jack Smith