Cheryl Stallings

I believe it is important to balance technological and economic growth with the protection of residents, and our local infrastructure and financial needs. Modernizing zoning ordinances are important in this work, as well as mandates that the data center operator - not local residents/households - pay for the infrastructure and electricity needed for all operations. Building height, placement, set-backs, and buffers need to be carefully evaluated as well as water and energy usage plans. Noise, light, and air pollution (with back-up generators) mitigation would also be evaluated, and overall public health and environmental impacts would be scrutinized carefully as well.

Public education funding makes up about 1/2 of our county budget. This includes funding for pre-school services (underserved 3- and 4-year olds), K-12 public education, and Wake Tech Community College. This funding includes capital costs (new buildings and renovations) and operating expenses. County Commissioners in NC are responsible for the capital costs, and the state legislature is responsible for operating expenses (salaries, transportation costs, instructional materials, and routine maintenance). Our state legislature persistently underfunds their part, and County Commissioners get asked to stand in the funding gap. This unfunded mandate equates to about $500 million that Wake County tax payers are paying for Wake County Public Schools’ operating expenses (which is about 1/3 of Wake Public Schools’ operating expenses). We need a committed state legislature to public education. I remain a champion for public education and will work with our local school board in supporting their work in ensuring science workforce preparedness throughout the grades. We also have Wake Tech Community College as a strong ally in workforce preparedness in the science and biotechnology fields as well.

County government plays a strong role in these areas, and I fully support our work in public safety and pubic health. In my county, we have a centrally located public health center, and also have several regional centers strategically placed in the four corners of the county to serve our residents. We try to maintain a strong media and social media presence with our residents and community partners as we share information about vaccines, environmental health, disease prevention and emergency preparedness. We also have a mobile community health mini-bus that works its way throughout the county, especially in more vulnerable communities. We partner with our public libraries for information sharing and public health pop-up events as well. I also serve on a number of health and human services boards and committees, and see first-hand how our Staff work diligently in their public health work. I can also say that our first responders work very diligently with emergency preparedness and serve our residents with compassionate care every day. Our Board invests in public health and public safety to the fullest extent that we can with each annual budget cycle.

I stand with scientists in this critical work. It is very important for elected officials to lead by example and to be critical thinkers who engage in data-driven decision-making. I welcome continued partnership in building the public’s trust in science.