Garner Town Council CLASY Candidate’s Forum Shows Love for Garner but Some Distinct Differences on History, Growth, and the Future
The candidates – Kathy Behringer, Mike McIver, Gra Singleton, Kelvin Stallings, Rex Whaley, and – addressed critical issues facing Garner, including growth, infrastructure, affordable housing, supporting small businesses, and the downtown area, as well as the town's recent rebrand at the Choose Local and Small Y’all (CLASY) candidate’s forum on September 6th at the Garner Civitan Club.
A sixth candidate, Patricia Uzzell, did not participate.
Topics covered included
The Town’s recent logo and motto rebranding
Garner Growth
Affordable Housing
Infrastructure
Supporting Small Businesses
Downtown Garner
Overall Tone and Candidate Platforms
All candidates expressed a deep love for Garner and a commitment to its future. A recurring theme was the balance between preserving Garner's "small town charm" and managing its rapid growth. Each candidate highlighted specific areas of focus:
Gra Singleton (Incumbent): Emphasizes responsible and thoughtful growth, fiscal oversight, affordable housing, and transportation improvements (sidewalks, bus service). He prides himself on being prepared and responsive to citizens, making sure his vote reflects their wishes. "My goal is to ensure that Garner remains a community where you want to live, work, and raise a family."
Kelvin Stallings: Focuses on an "AAA approach" – Accessibility, Accountability, and Affordability. His background as an organizer informs his desire to improve citizens' quality of life with every decision. "I want to make sure that government is making sure we're improving the quality of life of our citizens with every decision that we make."
Kathy Behringer (Incumbent): Driven by a desire to make her community a better place, emphasizing reasonable balanced growth, respectful interactions with developers ("Developers are not our enemies. They're our business partners.
Rex Whaley: Highlights 40 years of public service experience, particularly in financial management, auditing, and budgeting. His focus is on financial oversight, public safety, and ensuring residential development adds value, not just population, with a strong emphasis on commercial development. "I want to focus on residential development adds value to the town, not just population."
Mike McIver: A lifelong Garner resident and retired Deputy Chief of Police, his platform includes smart growth, limiting tax increases, supporting public safety, and maintaining Garner's quality and charm. "I'm looking at… smart growth, limiting tax increases moving forward… ensuring our public safety is supported… and finally making sure that maintains the quality and charm that we all know Garner is."
Town Rebrand and Logo Change
The Town Council recently voted 3 to 2 to support the Town Manager’s recommendation and roll out of the new town logo and motto. Incumbents Singleton and Behringer split their votes, with Behringer ‘for’ and Singleton ‘against’.
General Sentiment
Mixed, with strong opinions on both sides regarding the chosen logo and process.
Concerns & Criticisms
Cost: Rex Whaley and Gra Singleton felt the $65,000 cost was excessive and could have been better spent, particularly on small businesses. Whaley noted a lower bid of $25,000 was bypassed.
Community Involvement: Rex Whaley suggested involving high school students in the design process.
Design Choice: Gra Singleton strongly criticized the new logo's "heavy industrial G," stating it "don't match" the town's strategic plan for "small town charm" and "hometown feel." He also expressed personal attachment to the "blue and gold" colors, which he said have historical significance, particularly related to the town's segregated past. "Refreshing it and just totally discarding it is stupid in my opinion."
Lack of Transparency: Singleton also mentioned reading the contract multiple times, suggesting a concern about the process not aligning with the stated goal of "refreshing" the brand.
Support & Acceptance
Trust in Leadership: Kathy Behringer expressed willingness to "trust her [the Town Manager's] leadership here and support the decision that she's made," acknowledging the Town Manager's decades of experience.
Periodic Necessity: Mike McIver agreed that every organization needs to "do a rebrand or a refresh from time to time" to stay current.
Dual Support: While acknowledging his "blue and gold" loyalty (as a Garner High School graduate), McIver also stated, "I also support our town staff with what they're trying to do."
The Town of Garner’s old logo.
Garner's Growth
Reasons for Growth (Consensus)
Proximity to Raleigh/RTP: Many are moving for job opportunities in the Triangle area. "Garner is literally 10 minutes, 5 to 10 minutes outside of Raleigh." (Stallings)
Availability of Land: Compared to more developed areas like Holly Springs and Morrisville, Garner (and southern/eastern Wake County) still has land for development. "The reason we're growing here now is because they run out of land in Holly Springs and in Morrisville." (Singleton)
Quality of Life/Reputation: Garner is seen as a desirable place to live, work, and play, with a strong community feel. "Garner is a great place to live, to work, and to play. And and our reputation is out there. People want to come here." (McIver)
Amenities & Location: Access to downtown Raleigh's cultural resources, 2 hours from the beach, 3 hours from the mountains, and seasonal changes were all cited as attractions.
Balancing Growth with Small-Town Feel
Candidates agreed on the need for "smart" or "responsible" growth.
Rex Whaley emphasized making it clear to developers "how we want the residential areas that they're building, what we expect from them," focusing on development that "adds value to Barner. Don't just bring us people and throw up some houses and stack them on top of one another."
Mike McIver suggested fostering "welcome neighborhoods" and leveraging Garner's "world-class parks" to maintain community connections. He also stressed balancing residential and commercial growth for a stable tax base.
Kathy Behringer acknowledged Garner is a different town than 50 years ago (45,000 people vs. 5,000), suggesting a focus on being a "welcoming community" with a "hometown feel" rather than strictly "small town."
Gra Singleton highlighted existing amenities like the July 3rd celebration, GPAC programs, and efforts on Main Street as ways to maintain a sense of community, noting that the "core" of Garner's togetherness (e.g., fighting library closure, "red route" opposition) is still present.
Kelvin Stallings advocated for "community informed" decisions, proposing "neighborhood walk teams" to engage citizens directly about their desires for their communities.
Infrastructure
Key Challenges:
Significant Costs: The Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) is approximately $89 million, but several large projects (e.g., new Public Works facility estimated at $35-40 million, stormwater pipe replacement) will double that.
Aging Infrastructure: Existing infrastructure, like the Public Works facility (opened 1980s) and stormwater pipes, is in need of replacement and repair, costing "millions and millions of dollars." (Singleton)
Funding: Tax increases and bonds are politically difficult. "Last fall Cary had two bond referenda not pass and Wendell also had a long referendum to fail." (Singleton)
Proposed Solutions:
Purposeful Planning: Candidates stressed the need for clear, long-term plans rather than reactive measures. "We would have to have a plan. We would have to work with [developers]... and make it clear to them what our goals are that they need to be in tandem." (Behringer)
Financial Foresight: Rex Whaley emphasized strengthening debt capacity and prioritizing resources based on future needs (e.g., fire stations). He also highlighted the importance of commercial development to contribute more to the tax base, as residential development "not paying for itself."
Innovative Approaches: Kelvin Stallings suggested "innovative approaches" to ensure infrastructure keeps pace with growth, possibly including "a tax increase up front to be able to provide what we need for the citizens."
Fiscal Responsibility: Mike McIver advocated for being "fiscally conservative and responsible," planning for "rainy days," and having a "bank account set up" to avoid burdening taxpayers when infrastructure breaks.
Affordable Housing
Key Challenges
National Crisis: All candidates recognized affordable housing as a complex, nationwide issue, not unique to Garner.
Impact on Public Servants: Kelvin Stallings raised a significant concern: a recent report indicated that firefighters, police officers, and many nurses cannot afford housing in Garner, deeming it a "public safety issue" if those who serve the town cannot live there.
Supply and Demand: Rapid job growth brings people, but housing supply cannot keep up, driving up prices. "Because the housing can't keep up with the people moving here, supply and demand squeeze for the housing drives the price." (Singleton)
Community Understanding: Rex Whaley emphasized the need for better community outreach and education, noting that 25% of Garner households make less than $50,000, and the average household income ($77,000) is among the lowest in the county.
Approaches & Definitions
Task Force Recommendations: The town is continuing to work with the Affordable Housing Task Force and Central Pines study recommendations (Behringer).
Varied Types: Kelvin Stallings highlighted various forms: townhomes, apartment complexes, "naturally occurring affordable housing" (older homes whose owners have downsized), and housing for public servants.
Targeted Benefits: Rex Whaley questioned the effectiveness of some current initiatives, citing the Tryon Station project, and stressed that efforts should primarily "benefit Garner residents," including "firefighters, teachers, first responders, medical professionals."
Not a Crime Issue: Gra Singleton pushed back on the idea that affordable housing automatically creates problems or strains emergency services, citing existing Habitat for Humanity projects.
No Single Answer: Candidates agreed there isn't one simple solution, requiring a multi-faceted approach involving the community and partners.
Impact on Taxes, Transit, and Education
Taxes: The impact on tax rates depends on various factors of the development (affordable, workforce, or upper-end).
Public Transit: An increase in all housing, not just affordable, will increase the need for public transit. Candidates support expanding bus routes and accessibility (e.g., to the new VA clinic).
First Responders: Any housing increase will strain emergency services. Mike McIver noted that police officer ratios are typically 2.2 per thousand residents, and high-density vertical development might require fewer officers per area than sprawling developments. Rex Whaley pointed out that Garner's emergency room already sees 40,000 visits/year, 65% from Garner residents, indicating existing strain regardless of affordable housing.
Crime: Kelvin Stallings cited studies showing that "when people are housed and taken care of, crime and all the other social determinants of health actually increase and crime and things like that go down."
Supporting Small Businesses
Current Perceptions & Needs
Self-Reliance: Kathy Behringer, a small business owner herself, noted that she and her husband "never looked to the town to provide help for us."
Lease Costs: Gra Singleton identified rising lease costs (driven by increasing property values from high-dollar development) as a major threat, citing numerous restaurant and brewery closures in Raleigh and statewide.
Permitting Process: Mike McIver reported that new business owners find the permitting process "challenging" and would like it streamlined with a "one-stop shop" approach.
Proposed Town Support
Direct Engagement: Rex Whaley suggested the town meet with small businesses to ask "what can we do to help your specific business," particularly regarding regulations, permitting, zoning, and infrastructure (e.g., turn lanes). He also proposed reserving space for small businesses in new developments.
Town Business Contact & Website: Rex Whaley recommended a dedicated business contact and a small business section on the town website, similar to other Wake County towns, to provide information and maps for residents and visitors.
Promotion & Recognition: Kelvin Stallings actively uses social media to promote local businesses and suggested the town council and staff do the same, perhaps with a "highlight campaign." Gra Singleton recalled a past practice of the mayor recognizing long-standing local businesses at town hall meetings as a simple yet effective form of recognition.
Downtown Investment: Continuing to invest in the downtown area and recruit local businesses there was seen as crucial for the town's charm. (McIver)
Downtown Garner
Current State & Challenges
Growing Vibrancy: Candidates acknowledged progress, citing murals, coffee shops, the Recreation Center, and downtown concerts as positive developments.
Lack of Initial Planning: Kathy Behringer noted that Garner was "not ever planned" around a downtown, instead settling around the railroad, which has put it "a little bit behind the curve."
Investor Confidence: The proposed Metro 201 project (a food hall and residential units) has been delayed due to economic signals affecting investor confidence. "You got to have investors investors have to feel confident in what plant what project they're investing in so you can't fault them because of some of the economic signals out there." (Singleton)
Balancing History & Development: The presence of the "dirt baseball fields" as part of Garner's small-town charm presents a tough question against potential high-value residential development. (Singleton)
Vision & Strategies
Promotion: Rex Whaley suggested promoting downtown more actively through the town website, local news stations, and even travel shows to attract both internal and external visitors.
Community & Business Input: Kelvin Stallings emphasized involving citizens and businesses in conversations about what they want to see in downtown.
Catalytic Projects: Mike McIver believes getting the Metro 201 project "off the ground" is key to "catapult further expansion of downtown."
Preserving History: Gra Singleton highlighted the role of the Historical Society and the museum in preserving downtown's history and value.
Public Art: Kathy Behringer spoke passionately about the growing public art committee, noting that "Art makes people happy," and encouraged residents to visit downtown to see the art and offer suggestions.
Closing Remarks
All candidates urged citizens to vote in the upcoming election, emphasizing the significant impact of local elections on daily life. They encouraged voters to research platforms, attend meetings, and engage with candidates. Kelvin Stallings invited voters to visit his website, kelvinstallins.com. Gra Singleton closed with a touching endorsement from his daughter, highlighting his passion and long-standing commitment to Garner.
