Mayor Bell's Re-Election Announcement Speech

Remarks as Prepared

Before I begin my formal remarks, I first want to introduce Ms. Carla Williams and her family, son Shemar and mother Sandra. I want to thank them for their gracious hospitality and allowing us to use their home for my announcement today. And I also welcome their neighbors and friends.

I am pleased to be joined on this occasion with members of my family, my wife Judith, our daughter Tiffany, our four-month old granddaughter Aslan, and her mother and father (Kristen and Marcus) could not be with us today. Our other daughter and son Anjanee and William II are in New Orleans and Charlotte NC respectively. I am also thankful to all of my friends and supporters who took the time to be with us today, including my campaign Chairperson Mrs. Linda Wallace.

At 9:30 a.m. this morning, I took my heartfelt passion and love of this community--my community and proudly filed to seek a fourth term as the people's Mayor of the City of Durham, North Carolina. In taking that step, I reflected on my tenure and leadership at the County and as mayor, the successes and challenges that come with almost 32 years of public service in Durham and asked if my leadership and partnerships have contributed to making Durham a better place for our children, families, businesses. I asked if my work had served as a substantial foundation for positive change and could I measure that impact and be proud of the results.

I stand here before you on new ground, to give my answer, and that Answer is Yes.

I answer yes that Durham is a better place, a safer place, a great place for business, a creative community, a diverse community with great senior citizens who have made great contributions to our city and a place that has been recognized by our local citizens and other national media and organizations such as:

• Forbes magazine who ranked Durham as one of the top 10 cities for business and careers;
• Black Enterprise ranked Durham as one of the top 10 cities in the nation for African Americans;
• The City of Durham has been honored with a Trailblazer Award from the National Center for Civic Innovation (NCCI) for its successful completion of the Government Performance Reporting Demonstration Grant Program.
• The new Spirling's Cities Ranked and Rated put the Durham MSA at #15 out of 375 nationwide as a place to live.
  
• The Durham MSA ranked 1st out of all 367 MSA's in the nation for percentage of workforce in the Creative Class.
• America's Promise Alliance (whose Chairperson Mrs. Alma Powell wife of General Colin Powell) ranked Durham as being one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People.

However as mayor, I did not do whatever I may have accomplished alone and I must say, we in many ways have only just begun to unveil the greatness and potential that our booming city has to offer. I stand here to let the people of Durham know that throughout the past five years the blueprint for building a world class city was born, and the foundation laid, and I am committed and dedicated to the positive construction and revitalization of our great city. With the support of Durham's voters and supporters in other ways I will continue to serve as Mayor in this community that I have chosen as my home for almost 40 years. And I will continue to lead our great City with programs and policies to build an even greater Durham. In this campaign and in my next term I pledge to work with the city council and city administration to expand the vital programs and services that make Durham strong. My five (5) point priorities include.

1. Crime/Public Safety
2. Inner City Revitalization
3. Enhanced oversight –Accountability of all City Staff and continued fiscal responsibility
4. Infrastructure improvements
5. Climate and environmental protection

1. Crime/Public Safety: We must continue to minimize and hopefully limit the impact of gangs and criminals who serve to drive, dictate and undermine the possibilities of bright futures for our youth, and the safety and health of our community.

Since I have been Mayor my number one priority has been to work with the city council, the city administration and the community to reduce crime in our city. Other than those who may commit crimes I don't know anyone who doesn't have zero-tolerance for crime. However I do believe in giving persons a chance and holding them accountable and responsible and letting them know of the consequences for their irresponsibility. Program Project STRIKE, a program started by the Police Chief, the City Manager and myself was a unique program designed to address the gang problems in our city and that program contributed to the reduction in the number of homicides in 2006 as compared to the number of homicides in 2004 and 2005. Let me hasten to add that even though the number of homicides in 2006 were 15, an all time low for almost 20 years, even one (1) homicide is one (1) homicide too many.

As Mayor I have put forth specific proposals that require the police department to report more frequently at our public meeting on our crime statistic trends so that the public and council are aware and that we can take specific action to focus on those areas where the trends are increasing. In this year's city budget I supported and voted for increasing the number of police officers which will allow for more police presence especially in those parts of our community that are experiencing higher incidents of crime.

With the support of the council, the business community and other public institutions I will continue to support the Mayor's Summer Youth Program, a program that I reinvigorated which has hired over 350 young people during the summer and given them a positive experience as well as introducing many of them for the first time to the "world of work".

As I did in my 2007 state of the city address, I'd like to re-emphasize that the responsibility for making Durham safe is a community responsibility not just a law enforcement responsibility. We all have a role to play, and we all must get involved to help reduce crime in general and specifically to reduce violent crime in our city. We did see a dramatic reduction in the number of homicides in 2006. I am convinced that as a community we can also reduce the number of violent crimes in our community.

2. Inner City Revitalization: It has been said and I believe that "the strength and character of a city can be measured by the vibrancy of its inner city." My decision to hold my re-election announcement here in Eastway Village was to showcase the strength of one of our inner city neighborhoods where we have worked very hard and invested resources, with the goal of not only providing excellent affordable housing but to create a great neighborhood, quality of life and home ownership for our citizens. For some of you who may not know-- this street used to be a street of approximately forty or more houses most of which were drug infested, crime ridden and very few actual homeowners residing here and many absentee landowners. This successful revitalization is another example of "Durham Rising and setting a higher standard for community economic development. Homeownership is at the heart of this successful redevelopment as witnessed by one of those homeowners who were living on Barnes Avenue Mr. and Mrs. Biddle. They are now homeowners in Eastway Village living right here on Eastway Avenue and we are glad to see that they decided to return again as a homeowner. Ms. Carla Williams is another example of a person who has made an investment in this community to improve the quality of life for her and her family.

As mayor I am very proud of what we have been able to accomplish with the support of our citizens and by engaging in a public private partnership in the redevelopment of downtown Durham. As many of you know a few weeks ago we celebrated the redevelopment and renaissance of downtown Durham with a very successful Durham Rising Event. It was estimated that nearly 10,000 people came to downtown Durham to enjoy the events and amenities—and that represents a minor picture of what is yet to come.

During my term as Mayor, we have led the way and devoted a large amount of time and resources in working with the private sector and county to revitalize downtown Durham. We believe that the city's investment has served as a catalyst for quality development and all of the good things happening and will be happening in downtown Durham.

I asked the Council members to join me in asking the City Manager to begin to preliminarily identify neighborhoods that may be candidates for revitalization. The administration has been working with some of the potential neighborhoods and the private sector and I expect a specific recommendation will be coming to the council during the 3rd quarter of this year. I'll repeat what I have said earlier this year that the revitalization of our blighted neighborhoods, if done correctly, will not happen overnight. It will require fortitude, determination and patience as well as resources from all stakeholders to make it a reality. We hope to use our experience working with the private sector to revitalize additional areas of our inner city neighborhoods.

3. Accountability and continued fiscal responsibility. Let me say that I will never promise that there will be no mistakes in city government, I will promise that if I find there are mistakes I will work with the city council to correct the results of those mistakes where possible, but more importantly I will to the best of my ability to try to put controls in place so those mistakes won't be repeated. As an example it was under my leadership and urging that the city council established an internal audit committee that operates as independently of the city administration as the city charter permits. It is an audit committee that is well staffed with reputable persons and has done an excellent job of auditing city departments and functions. It has also resulted in more controls and procedures put in place to reduce costly mistakes.

However Durham stills remains a fiscally responsible city and is one of only 34 cities in the nation rated with a triple A bond rating by the three (3) major Bond rating agencies in the country; Standard & Poors, Moodys and Fitch. We have consistently received external auditor's report that is clean or an unqualified opinion with no material issues in the accompanying management letter. Our Department of Housing has vastly improved in the audits received from HUD and I have been told is now being used as a model for other cities.

I also promise to continue to hold accountable those persons for which the city charter says we have direct authority. It is important to remind the public that we have a council manager form of government not a strong mayor form of government and any decisions about the city manager, city attorney or city clerk with respect to disciplinary actions are done by the full council voting as a majority and not by any one singe person. Although the mayor may be considered to be the first among equals, the mayor still has only one vote the same as every other council person.

4. Infrastructure improvements. I am well aware of the importance of the need to maintain the city's infrastructure in good and reliable condition. Our water and sewer treatment facilities, the water and sewer lines, our streets, sidewalks, parks and recreation facilities and public buildings are all vital to the well being of or our city. It does no good to point to the past to explain the condition of our infrastructure except to learn from the past in order to plan to do better in the present and future.

Since I have been mayor I have worked in a systematic way to determine the condition of our infrastructure and to put a plan in place to make improvements. Over the past years we have begun to execute that plan with the help of our voters. The large capital needs required to improve the condition of our infrastructure can not be made with small annual incremental budget increases and I could not support the large property tax increase that would be needed to adequately fund those infrastructure needs. That is why I have supported leveraging our excellent triple A bond ratings and I have supported the use of General Obligation Bonds to provide the capital needed to make the substantial improvements in our infrastructure.

As a citizen and motorist I too have experienced, like many of our motorist, the poor condition of some of our streets. It was at my urging that the city council will be considering a $20 million dollar General Obligation Bond issue referendum for the upcoming November 2007 election to resurface many of our streets and pave dirt roads and sidewalk construction and repair. It is also why I have supported the necessary investment in our water and sewer infrastructure and the planning for future water reservoirs so that our present and future generations will have adequate and dependable sources of water and sewer networks for the delivery and treatment of our water and sewage.

5. Climate and Environmental Protection. I was among the first mayors in NC and the U.S. to sign the US Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. It is the intent of this agreement to develop programs to reduce carbon emissions. I have supported and will continue to support in a fiscally responsible way those programs which will lead to the reduction of carbon emissions in our city.

As I work to achieve my five point priorities, in addition to working with the city council and citizenry of Durham and Durham County Commissioners I will continue to build and maintain a good working relationship with Durham's delegation to the NC general Assembly to assist in supporting the needs and resources at the city level. Together we are empowered toward improving human services and the quality of life for all our citizens.

Finally let me say that I have proven over the years that My five point plan will focus on improving the programs and services that address crime/public safety, inner city revitalization, accountability and infrastructure and climate and environmental protection.

I thoroughly enjoy serving my community. (I am certainly not doing this for the money!!) But seriously, the tremendous time commitment that I and the other Council members make is a testament to our desire to make Durham an even better place for all of us. At the beginning of this press conference, I introduced part of my family, and as you can imagine, my children and grandchildren are part of our future. I have dedicated my energy to making Durham a place where all will prosper. To Mrs. Williams and her family I ask that she continue to call on me as we work to build a greater Durham, and to all of our citizens I call on you that we may we work together to provide the access and opportunities to give Durham cause to continue to strive.

Thank you for coming and for letting me share with you why I want to continue to serve as your Mayor.

I consider it an honor to have been given the privilege to be mayor of this city, Durham has been good to me and my family and I enjoy the responsibility and the challenges presented in being a part of a council in moving this city forward.

I look forward to the campaign and the opportunity to share my vision for this city with specific proposals and to respond to questions as we begin the campaign.

William V. Bell Campaign Committee
P.O. Box 12535
Durham, NC 27709
(919) 768-2398