Agenda - 09-02-2021; 4-a - Discussion and Appointment for the Vacant Position on the Orange County Board of Commissioners

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21 Building- The County does not build housing, however, it can encourage conversation,planning, and innovation among those who can provide and build affordable housing while providing support through zoning and grants. While most of our affordable housing is within the towns, this needs to be a county wide effort for maximum return, especially since most of the affordable land in the county is in our unincorporated areas. The Orange County HOME Consortium has taken proactive steps to increase our housing stock and we can do more. For example, we can provide incentives to for-profit entities to produce multifamily units at a price point that households can afford. We can defer taxes and other fees for a set period of time in conjunction with federal or state tax credits to help the developer reduce construction costs and thus reduce the rental price. We can use county or town owned parcels as leverage to bring down the cost of construction or redevelopment as land is often very expensive and streamline the development and approval processes with fast-tracking programs. Housing affordability requires a partnership between government and the private sector. The more both entities bring all their tools and assets into play, the greater the likelihood of finding viable solutions. 11. What should the county government be doing to address the climate crisis? The first step is to acknowledge there is a crisis and that it will cost money to mitigate future climate events. We are currently living through a number of climate catastrophes:heat dome,fires,flooding, and landslides. The climate crisis disproportionately affects lower income communities and women around the world, making it a social justic%nvironmental justice crisis as well.As a county, we have taken some steps, and we can always do more. • Pledge to be a Climate Smart Community- we have done this • Set Goals, Inventory Emissions, Set targets- The CfE(Commission for the Environment)does this and provides updates on a regular basis • Encourage our community to decrease energy use-continue education campaigns • Increase the county and community use of renewable energy- we can do better • Reduce greenhouse gas emissions-we have pledged to do so • Transition to 100%carbon neutral energy county wide by 2040- we have pledged to do so Orange County can continue climate mitigation by creating sustainable public transportation options, using more renewable energy at county facilities, reducing emissions through the use of electric vehicles or hybrids(including plug-in electric hybrids)in our county fleet, encouraging local food production and consumption, and promoting water conservation. We must invest in renewable energy, infrastructure updates, and help vulnerable residents. Working with the CfE(Commission for the Environment) we need to identify initiatives, quantify the impacts,prioritize and develop implementation, use established metrics to fund initiatives, create a plan for each initiative and track the progress. 12. Orange County is in the process of revising its long-term transit plan in the aftermath of the failure of the Durham-Orange light rail project. What do you believe a new plan should emphasize?What potential initiatives would you like to support? I support a transit plan with a comprehensive approach that aligns with county and regional objectives and provides redundancy, increasing transportation resilience. Street space is a precious commodity that should be shared equitably to best provide affordable and convenient transportation options for all of our residents. It is also key that we invest in connections to the rest of the Triangle. Congestion is predicted to worsen in the future, and the growth across our entire region means that people will continue to look across county lines to find job opportunities. If we want to keep the residents and support our businesses, we need to make sure that Orange County invests in travel options that make this possible. Without smart