{"id":9347,"date":"2011-10-26T10:14:18","date_gmt":"2011-10-26T14:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raleighpublicrecord.org\/?p=9347"},"modified":"2012-01-11T12:31:51","modified_gmt":"2012-01-11T17:31:51","slug":"on-the-record-nancy-mcfarlane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/news\/2011\/10\/26\/on-the-record-nancy-mcfarlane\/","title":{"rendered":"On the Record: Nancy McFarlane"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><center><iframe width=\"420\" height=\"315\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ix_G8Hvl5_U\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p><strong>On The Record: Nancy McFarlane Interview Transcription<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>CDP:<\/strong> \tMy name is Charles Duncan Pardo with the Raleigh Public Record, and I am speaking with Nancy McFarlane, who just won the mayoral race for Raleigh. Congratulations.<br \/>\n<strong>NM:<\/strong> \tThank you very much. Thanks for coming out.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CDP:<\/strong>\tCan you tell me what your plans are for the next two years?<br \/>\n<strong>NM:<\/strong> \tWell, Raleigh\u2019s really in a great place, and I think that that was a message that we heard from the voters. They\u2019re like being the number one city in the country, and they also, with the passing of the bonds, acknowledge that it\u2019s really important to invest in our community. So, I think that the main focus is going to be on making sure economy stays strong and gets even stronger. And, also, really planning for growth. We\u2019ll be seeing more and more people move here, so we have to manage that carefully.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CDP:<\/strong>\tAnd voters did pass the bonds. Do you like how the discussions over light-rail and high-speed rail have been going and what are your plans there?<br \/>\n<strong>NM:<\/strong>\tThe bonds did pass. The only thing really in there was the transit station, and we\u2019ve had a lot of good discussion about rail. I think people really understand how the dynamics of the area could change if we do see the growth that some people have talked about \u2013 anywhere [from] 100,000 people coming in the next few years. So, I think that what people really are looking for are transportation options, and I think that that means a combination of cars, but also light-rail and buses and trolleys and bikes and walking. I think we really are looking at multi-modal transportation options.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CDP: <\/strong>\tSo, you\u2019re going to be taking over this council with a lot of balls in the air, and I think one of the most contentious is going to be the Lightner Center and where to put the police department. I know you supported the Lightner Center, and you\u2019re going to be the negotiator over the next two years, so tell me what your thoughts are on that.<br \/>\n<strong>NM:<\/strong>\tWell, I think that everyone does acknowledge that we have a need. Our 911 emergency services are at capacity. That is the most pressing need, and I think that we\u2019ve really had some good discussion, and I think that everybody is ready to really sit down and find out a solution that\u2019s going to work for all of us. <\/p>\n<p><strong>CDP:<\/strong> \tDoes there need to be some sort of interim measure for the 911 folks?<br \/>\n<strong>NM:<\/strong>\tWell, I think everybody knows that\u2019s really going to be the first thing that we address and it\u2019s going to be a matter of really getting some feedback on just how long it will take with different options, building something new, rehabbing something and that will be all part of what we take into consideration, but it\u2019s something we\u2019re going to have to look at right away.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CDP:<\/strong>\tAnd when you think about what you would like to see, is this something centralized, decentralized?<br \/>\n<strong>NM:<\/strong>\tWell, I think\u2026 when I originally saw the building that was proposed, I think that there are some things that we can do, looking at that model. I think it will be toned down, maybe not quite as big, maybe moving the emergency services down to the bottom. I think there\u2019s a lot of potential, so that we can use the monies that we\u2019ve already invested in that project. We\u2019ve relocated people and shifted space around. We have that space available. So, I think the first thing would be, maybe, how do we best utilize the dollars we\u2019ve already spent.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CDP:<\/strong>\tIt sounds like you\u2019re saying a centralized solution.<br \/>\n<strong>NM:<\/strong>\tWell, I mean, I would say that, having my own business, there is a lot of benefit to having your managers together. <\/p>\n<p><strong>CDP:<\/strong>\tThere\u2019s still a lot of tornado damage in southeast Raleigh and northeast Raleigh. What is going on with that?<br \/>\n<strong>NM:<\/strong>\tWell, that was one of the parts of the bond, and that was one reason I was very happy that the voters stepped up and passed that because there is tornado relief monies in there and, you know, it\u2019s complicated. Some people have insurance, some people may still be waiting on FEMA money. We\u2019re certainly aware. We\u2019re working with different groups that are assisting people. We\u2019re doing all different kinds of programs as best we can, but the bond money is really going to be helpful. <\/p>\n<p><strong>CDP:<\/strong>\tAnd that\u2019s for loans to people who can\u2019t get insurance?<br \/>\n<strong>NM:<\/strong>\tMm-hmm. (McFarlane nods in agreement.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>CDP:<\/strong>\tSo, one of the other big balls is rewriting the entire zoning code. Do you like how that process has gone?<br \/>\n<strong>NM:<\/strong>\tIt is a big process, and I\u2019m really glad that, a few months ago, we decided to slow it down a little bit. It\u2019s a complicated thing, and it\u2019s really important to get public input on that, but Unified Development Ordinance just in itself, just explaining what it is\u2026I just want to make sure that the process is right. I\u2019m not as worried about the length of the process as I am with outcome. <\/p>\n<p><strong>CDP:<\/strong>\t And do you think there should be\u2026 I know there\u2019s been some controversy over a map to go along with this. Do you think that mapping process should be sped up?<br \/>\n<strong>NM:<\/strong> Well, I\u2019ve actually heard both sides, and that is something I\u2019d like to sit down with the consultants that we have \u2026 and our \u2026 maybe Christie Dargess, the staff that\u2019s really looking at it, to really get\u2026everybody kind of has an opinion on that right now, but I\u2019d really like to spend some time with the consultant going through and seeing what the pros and cons are of doing them separately, or waiting and doing them together.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CDP:<\/strong>\tOkay, and I know we\u2019re running a little short on time here, but I wanted to just ask you about water. There\u2019s this weird dynamic where if people conserve, rates go up. It pays for itself. What do we do with that when we could get another drought any time?<br \/>\n<strong>NM:<\/strong>\tActually, that\u2019s a really good question because one thing that we looked at during the drought was exactly that model of people conserve, and then they use less water, and then you don\u2019t have as much income to run the utility, and based on that, and talking to some people that are really key in the locally and in the state on water, that\u2019s not a sustainable model. <\/p>\n<p>So, what actually I did last year was put together a group, we call it the WUTAT, Water Utility Transition Advisory Task Force, and what they\u2019re doing is looking at our water utility system, our storm water system, our reuse water system, and saying what\u2019s a better model&#8211; what\u2019s a more sustainable model.  Is that something that we need to have altogether, as opposed to having a water system and a storm water system over here? There\u2019s a way to recapture storm water and work that in so that it\u2019s not every time you use \u2026  People feel that they\u2019re being punished for using less water, but what they also have to understand is the base of what their cost is is the cost to run the system. There\u2019s a cost of water purification plants, there\u2019s a cost of waste water treatment plants, and that\u2019s why it\u2019s so important when we do things like protect Falls Lake and buy up some of that open space, because the cleaner we can keep Falls Lake, the lower the cost is to purify that water. <\/p>\n<p>And so, it\u2019s all very connected. So, we have a task force that\u2019s come up with some great recommendations, and now they\u2019re really looking at how do we take that into a sustainable model that\u2019ll take us into the future.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CDP:<\/strong>\tSo, are we going to see this system change a lot in the next two years?<br \/>\n<strong>NM: <\/strong>\tYeah, I\u2019m kind of hoping that we will. I think that storm water is a huge issue for us. They just built a Whole Foods up here, and the storm water system that they came up with is\u2026I mean, they got a grant from the Clean Water Trust Fund because it\u2019s so innovative, and nothing leaves that site. What water they do capture and don\u2019t use is all reintroduced into the ground, and that\u2019s really what we want to see. So, it can be done, and I\u2019m just really excited about the possibilities of taking different kinds of storm water recapture and putting them into our water model to help us with drought and with storm water run-off. <\/p>\n<p><strong>CDP:<\/strong>\tThank you so much for speaking with us.<br \/>\n<strong>NM:<\/strong> \tThanks. Thanks for coming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Raleigh Public Record Editor Charles Duncan Pardo speaks with Mayor-Elect Nancy McFarlane about her plans for office. Watch the video of our interview or read the transcription. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24002,"featured_media":7801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[214,15,384,23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9347"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24002"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}