Victoria Peterson
Durham City Council At-Large
Topic: Economic Development and Crime
Crime Continues To Be A Major Issue In The City Of Durham
As I observe the state of our city I ask myself “How can we best go about addressing the root causes of crime in our community”? Unemployment is a major factor in criminal behavior. Poverty that comes from unemployment plays a significant role in the crime rate. Barriers to livable wage employment for many citizens of Durham seems complex but one thing in certain, various neighborhoods within our fair city have more persons who are unemployed than in other parts of Durham.
We are in the midst of what is called “The Great Recession”. However, unemployment has been at a Depression Era level for generations in certain neighborhoods. Although the overall economy does not help the situation it is not the cause of high unemployment in many parts of Durham. Years of under investment in school, job training, and job creation have left some neighborhoods in economic distress. The city of Durham has a right to be proud of it’s many successes in attracting employers to the local area. However, a significant number of jobs that have been created within the past decade have been inaccessible to the people most in need of the work. Simply put, those without appropriate training and education cannot access available employment opportunities.
Recently Durham has made significant progress towards redevelopment and beautification of it’s downtown area. Whereas those efforts are laudable it is time that the infrastructure of the neighborhoods receive attention in a manner that benefits the existing stakeholders as well as the city.
Durham Small Business Initiative
(For our purposes a “Small Business” is defined as one that has between one and ten employees)
As a City Council member I will propose a Durham Small Business Initiative that will consist of several key elements:
- Help For Small Businesses In Durham
Creation of a Small Business Assistance Program/Grant Fund
A $25,000 to $75,000/ 5 Yr Small Businesses Assistance Fund for employers who can show that they are profitable, current on their taxes, and have hired and employed for at least one year an unemployed resident of Durham.
2. Job Training and Placement
a. Establishment of an Economic Development Fund for short-term (8-16 Week) Job Training program in conjunction with Durham Tech, NCCU, TCRC, CET, and other private short term programs using local tax dollars.
- Tax Credits and Financial Incentives To Attract Small Manufacturers and Blue Collar Jobs
- Any small business that creates jobs in Durham and employs local unemployed Durham residents will be elligeable for tax credits. Incentives for businesses to locate in Durham and create manufacturing and blue collar jobs will be implemented as well.
- Tax Breaks For Hiring Local Unemployed Citizens
- New and existing small businesses that hire long term unemployed residents of Durham (for a minimum of three years) will be eligiable for tax credits for those three years.
- A City Wide Plan For Revitalizing Neighborhood Business Districts
- Low interest loans and grants for $25,000 to $75,000 will be made available for the purchase and rehab of building in designated neighborhood business districts.
- Low interest loans and grants will be made available entrepreneurs who agree to locate their businesses in designated neighborhood business districts and do so for at least 3 to 5 years.
Where will the funds for the Durham Small Business Initiative Come From?
The City of Durham has in their fund balance about $20 million dollars. Each year a small portion of these dollars are used to balance the city budget. This past year about $300,000 was used to balance the city budget. Durham County government has about $104 million in their fund balance but only $65 million can be used. The City of Durham also has, jointly with their Economic Development and Work Force Development dollars (Federal programs) they have an excess of $3 million to address economic development issues here in Durham. Those small businesses that apply for the DSBI would be eligiable to access these funds as well.
The New Employee Residency Policy
All new employees of the City of Durham shall reside in the city or county of Durham. All contracts that the city signs will strictly adhere to a policy of preferential hiring of Durham based companies. Furthermore, selected companies will be required to hire Durham citizens wherever possible before hiring non-Durham residents.
As a City Councilor I will work to implement the Durham Small Business Initiative. I will work to bring small manufacturing and blue collar jobs back to the city of Durham. I will work to make sure the benefits of public money will be spread more evenly and more effectively across the city. I will be a tireless advocate for the needs of Durham citizens. The neighborhoods of Durham are where the citizens of Durham live, shop, work, and attend spiritual assemblies. It is time to address the needs of Durham’s neighborhoods and the majority of Durham residents who live there.
