Voters in Burlington will have quite an eclectic field to consider when they go to the polls next month to select the city’s next mayor and two of the four regular members of its city council.
This motley collection of candidates fell into place over the summer after the unexpected announcement from Bur-lington’s current mayor Jim Butler that he wouldn’t seek re-election this fall.
Butler’s decision to bow out of contention attracted second bid for the mayor’s seat from Beth Kennett, who had made a respectable showing against Butler in the fall of 2023. It also inspired councilman Ronnie K. Wall, who had previously served as Burlington’s mayor, to launch his own quest for the gavel in lieu of a run for the regular council seat that he currently holds.
With Wall seeking to win back his old job as mayor, the only incumbent pursuing reelection this year is city manager-turned-councilman Harold Owen, who presently serves as Burlington’s mayor pro tem. Facing Owen in the race for the council’s two regular seats are Burlington’s former mayor Ian Baltutis, who lost his position to Butler in 2021; one-time mayoral candidate Donna M. Vanhook; and retired police chief Jeffrey Smythe, who led the city’s police force until four years ago.
One of the few commonalities among these six electoral contenders is their familiarity with city government – either as candidates in previous elections or as one-time members of Burlington’s municipal staff. Otherwise, there’s much to set the six candidates apart in both their personal and professional backgrounds. There’s also no shortage of differences in their philosophies on municipal government as well as their views on the issues that matter most to Burlington’s residents.
In order to get a read on each candidate’s values and predilections, The Alamance News has distributed an issues questionnaire to all six contenders that delves into everything from taxes and spending priorities to law enforcement, race relations, and the city council’s own membership.
In their responses to the newspaper’s questions, the candidates revealed a distinctiveness and breadth of opinion that isn’t always apparent in municipal contests. The six office seekers also show an independence that makes it hard to group them into convenient categories or ideological blocs.
[Story continues below spending priorities responses.]
Among the more interesting takeaways from the survey responses is an apparent shift on a couple of the questions that the newspaper has perennially posed to contenders for public office in Burlington.
One of these longstanding questions concerns an offer that Alamance County’s sheriff Terry Johnson once made to provide staff for a police substation should the city council agree to set up a satellite office for the city’s police force. In the past, the city’s office seekers have generally expressed some deference to this overture from the sheriff. This year, Owen was the only one willing to throw his support behind the idea. Smythe, notwithstanding his own background in law enforcement, was almost contemptuous of the prospective substation.
“Cops sitting in a building does not impact crime,” the retired police chief asserted. “This deserves a full discussion.”
Elected representation
Another area where the tide seems to be shifting is the size of the council – which is one of several aspects of the council’s composition and membership that routinely appear in the newspaper’s candidate questionnaire. This year, four of the six candidates show a marked preference for a seven member council – with Wall and Smythe being the only two to support the current five-member setup.
This yearning for change was less pronounced in the responses to another recurring question about “ward,” or district-based representation. In this case, Kennett, Vanhook, and Baltutis expressed their support for this option as an alternative to Burlington’s current “at large” system of representation. Owen, Smythe, and Wall prefer the status quo.
Another question about a potential shift from non-partisan to partisan races in Burlington didn’t find nearly as much support among the six candidates. The lone proponent of partisan council races was Vanhook, while most of the other office seekers slated their preference for the existing non-partisan format. Kennett didn’t declare her support for either method, although she added that, in her view, “municipal issues are non-partisan” and require people of different affiliations to work “across divides” to create “safe and livable communities.”
Baltutis, meanwhile, voiced his support for non-partisan council races but also reserved the right to “weigh in on partisan issues when they directly impact Burlington’s funding, infrastructure, and ability to deliver essential services.” The other three candidates showed no inclination at all to bring partisanship into municipal government.
“As a member of a nonpartisan council,” Owen declared, “I do not participate in partisan politics at the local, state or federal level.”
“We should not engage in partisan political issues,” agreed Wall.”Partisan political issues and elections have no place in our city elections.”
“In NC,” Smythe added, “I have been unaffiliated and choose to stay that way. As a council, we should not be involved…I should not use my position to amplify my voice.”
Affordable housing
The six candidates also revealed a diversity of opinions on some of the specific issues that are currently on the city council’s agenda. One area where this is particularly apparent is affordable housing.
Vanhook, for one, said she’d entertain the expenditure of city tax dollars and even a tax hike to fund initiatives like “community land trusts, rental support, [and] incentives for developers to construct quality affordable units.”
Baltutis eschewed the idea of a tax increase but was amenable to the expenditure of city funds, although he argued that “the city’s most effective role” in encouraging affordable housing “is to reduce regulatory barriers that drive up costs.”
Smythe, likewise, is open to using city funds for affordable housing, but would object to a tax increase.
Owen wouldn’t countenance either idea in light of the opportunities that he said the city has to tap into other sources of revenue.
“Each year, Burlington applies for federal housing grants,” the mayor pro tem elaborated, “which are combined with private investment to support the development of affordable single-family and multifamily housing.”
Wall, like Owen, opposed both a tax hike and the allocation of city tax dollars for affordable housing/ He added, however, that in order to increase the city’s stock of lower-priced housing, he’d be willing to support public-private partnership as well as the targeted use of federal community development funds.
Kennett also voiced her support for public-private partnerships and showed particular interest in teaming up with the Burlington Community Land Trust. She went on to acknowledge a willingness to open the city’s own coffers to house low-income residents, although like Wall, she wasn’t inclined to hike taxes to advance this particular cause.
“I do not support the increase to property taxes,” she added, “without a clear plan of development and benefit to the city and our residents.”
Crime and policing
All six of the candidates voice a high opinion of Burlington’s police department. They nevertheless differ on some of specific measures that they think the police department should use to fight crime and improve its rapport with the law-abiding residents of Burlington.
In his assessment of the police department’s activities, Wall insisted that the city is noticeably safer than it has been in the past.
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“Crime is down substantially in Burlington,” he elaborated. “Violent crime is down significantly city-wide.”
Owen also pointed to a decrease in violent crime to underscore his faith in the city’s police force.
“According to SBI crime statistics, Burlington’s overall crime index has declined since the COVID years of 2020 and 2021,” he explained. “The city saw a decrease in murder rates from 10 in 2021 to zero in 2023. Gun violence continues to be a top priority for the Burlington Police Department, and community involvement is essential.”
Given his former role as the city’s police chief, it may go without saying that Smythe believes “the PD does an excellent job” and is adequately funded. Smythe nevertheless identified some areas where he thinks there’s room for improvement – particularly when it comes to the department’s relationship with the city’s black residents.
“There are long standing cultural and economic issues that will take all of us to fix,” the retired police chief insisted. “We should be evaluating what we can do ‘with’ the citizen and ‘for’ the citizens, not ‘to’ the citizens.”
Kennett likewise insisted that the police department should strive to improve its relationship with the people it serves, although she also noted the potential value of public investment as a means to create a safer community.
“Providing greater opportunities for city residents, youth and adults, to engage in activities and meet the needs of our residents is an easy first step,” she added. “Crime is a concern throughout our county and Burlington. Listening and talking with residents in partnership with city staff and law enforcement creates plans to make our city safe for all.”
A one-two punch of increased investment and relationship building also struck Baltutis as a good way to address crime in the city.
“Our police are responding professionally to violent crime,” the city’s former mayor went on to concede. “However, lasting safety requires a dual approach: supporting law enforcement while also making smart, long-term investments in positive opportunities for our youth. This is the most effective way to ensure a safe community for every family.”
Vanhook, the only black candidate on the ballot in Burlington, concurred that the police department can do more to improve its relationship with racial and ethnic minorities.
“We can collaborate to make it better,” she added. “I am a Black faith leader who will work with the police department to assess how Black and Brown populations can feel safe while building trust with it.”
Vanhook also called for more investment in young people who may be drawn to criminal activities. More broadly, she argued for an increase in city funds to areas, like the city’s east side, that she feels have been overlooked by Burlington’s municipal leaders.
“East Burlington,” she argued, “is lacking decades of infrastructure improvements to attract healthy amenities. To address food insecurity a city-managed grocery store may be an option.”
Property taxes
The city’s property tax rate was another item that elicited a range of responses from the six candidates.
Baltutis insisted that current rate of 48.36 cents for every $100 of property value is excessively high. Kennett deemed the rate both “too high” and “too low” – “too high” because it presents a “hardship for many” and “too low” since it’s “not enough to meet the need” of the city.
The other four candidates deemed the current rate to be “about right.” Even so, Wall was the only one to specify the current rate of 48.36 cents when asked to identify his preferred level for this particular levy. Owen suggested a range from 48 to 52 cents for the city’s ideal tax rate, while the other four candidates left the question blank or declined to be pinned down to any one figure.
Baltutis used the space provided for his preferred tax rate to assert the need for “a thorough budget review to eliminate waste and ensure the city is operating efficiently.” The former mayor went on to express a similar sense of frugality in response to other budget-related questions. He also seized the opportunity to ding the city’s current leadership for its alleged profligacy when he was prompted to name some of areas where he thinks spending should be pared back.
“It’s time for a top-to-bottom review,” he asserted. “Projects no longer providing good value for taxpayers must be paused, cancelled, or rebid. This includes the aquatic center, Paramount expansion, and the many significantly delayed road projects.”
Baltutis went on to recommend financial prudence in addressing some of the specific issues in the newspaper’s questionnaire. Among other things, he suggested that the city should merge its Link Transit bus system with the Alamance County Transportation Authority to “create a more efficient, seamless network…while maximizing the value of tax dollars.”
The city’s former mayor also took issue with Burlington’s current leaders over the tax impact of two bond packages that the city’s voters approved last year in order to raise $21.5 for street and infrastructure improvements and another $47 million for various recreation endeavors.
Kennett was similarly critical of the city’s leaders for the way they presented these bond packages to the local electorate.
“People did not know what they were voting for and the costs were drastically under-estimated,” she insisted when asked to identify her primary disagreement with the city council’s current membership.
A full account of each candidate to the newspaper’s questionnaire begins on page 11 of this week’s edition. Bios for the six candidates begin on page 10.
