High Point Mayor Jefferson

[Part 1] Scotty and Hannah talk to Mayor Jefferson about the 10 Year Plan for High Point.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome back to another episode of CarolinaCares. I'm Hannah Tyler, joined today
by the man himself, mister cylJefferson, the Mayor of high Point.
Good morning, good morning, Sogood to be here with you all.
Thank you for having me. Weare so glad you're here. We also
have Zach Davis with us as well. Going to be such a great conversation,
I guess let's get right into it. How is it going newly elected

(00:21):
as mayor of high Point? Sofar, so good. We hit the
ground running quite frankly, and I'mexcited. People came out of this election,
Zach and Hannah with a lot ofoptimism, wondering where we would go
in this community and also looking atthe world as it is. And I'm
glad because a lot of those folkswho are with us in the campaign are
also still with us now and they'reworking with us as we try to implement

(00:46):
and fulfill a lot of our campaignpromises. So I guess my first question
is it can be quite the jobbeing mayor? What made you want to
run for mayor of high Point?Absolutely, I've been wondering that political office
is It's a tough road times,Yeah, And I'll say this, I
think to answer that question, Istart with why I chose to run for
counsel in the first place, BeForevergot on as mayor of high Point,

(01:08):
and really being someone who worked ineducation, worked in nonprofit. There were
a number of folks who we wereinvested in seeing their growth, and we
did programs and all types of thingsto help kids get in school and stay
out of trouble. And I rememberworking on a program, y'all where we
ran out of capacity to fit morestudents, and one of those students that
we couldn't let into the program fellthrough the cracks and got into some serious

(01:30):
trouble as a result. And Iremember saying to myself when I found out,
obviously being heartbroken about it because wefelt like he was one that just
slipped through the cracks, said,I got to find a way to take
this impact and this mission that Ihave, and how do we do more?
How do we help people within communities? Because the work we did on
the ground level, that we didon an individual basis, however good and

(01:55):
righteous it was, we felt therewas opportunity to do more. And so
that sort of call and led meto run for council and then the work
we did I think effectively on councilled to the thought that said, hey,
we could take this one step furtherand hopefully lead the city in many
of the ways that people have beenasking us to. Are you a high
Point native? So not born herebut raised here? I graduated from Andrews

(02:16):
High School, which is not toofar from here, but my wife is
born and raised here, my kidsare born and raised here. So high
Point is certainly my adopted home.And what makes high Point home to you?
Before you were on council and mayor? I guess what made you want
to take the next step to helpthe city? I mean being a husband
and father. I think you startyour family here. Now you have a

(02:37):
vested interest and the community in thiscity and how it grows the strength of
its economy, how we ensure thatthat people's basic needs are taken care of.
My neighbors, my other family members, I've got extended family here.
It becomes very personal. And sohigh Point is home because it's where my
family is. It also happens tobe where my business is. And so

(02:58):
we feel that we've got to bestedinterest in many ways here. Awesome,
We've gotten so lucky to get toknow the people of high Point, people
who work for nonprofits, and itseems that high Point isn't such a servitalization.
Right. There was this moment whereeveryone got together and just said enough
is enough. We want to makeour community better. Can you touch on
that a little bit? Yeah,And I'm gonna try not to geek out

(03:20):
on some of the some of themof it, but I'll say this,
right, so I'm gonna start atthe point that as a government for the
people, by the people, there'sthis little thing called taxes, right,
I've heard of it. Yeah,how I cannot pay those, But as
you know, taxes provide for anumber of services and resources that within the

(03:42):
public sector need to be provided,such as public safety. You're firing police,
paving your roads, roads roads,thinking about who's picking up trash collection,
who's ensuring you do have that strongeconomy. Taxes pay for your schools,
Taxes pay for you know, casemanagement, for mental health, and
some many other things. I mean, taxes literally play a key role,

(04:02):
as painful as they can be attimes. But within city government, we
get our taxes from property tax,right, which is the buildings, the
homes, things of that nature.And so imagine that if I said to
you, the property taxes and thehealth of those property taxes directly connect to
the quality of government services that wecan provide residents here, then you would

(04:27):
say, well, you want tomake sure you're getting your taxes year to
year and want it to be steadyand healthy. Well, what happens when
property values begin to go down andaccess go down, tax revenue goes down.
If tax revenue goes down. Now, when you say, man,
you know, how do I knowthat fire truck's going to be there in
a certain response time when I callnine one one. We can't guarantee that

(04:51):
anytime, but we have the bestchance of doing it well when we have
the people, the equipment, theprocesses of things in place that your taxes
paid for. Well in the coreof our city, and right in the
downtown where I heeart actually is aboutto move into. The bedrock build bad
rock building can go right in thecore of our city. We really saw

(05:14):
that it was kind of this ghosttown outside of furniture market town. Sure,
so if it becomes this ghost town, there's no demand for people to
want to be there, and ifthere's no man for people to want to
be there, property values will godown. And we saw this sort of
slow but steady kind of decrease insome of the property values in demand in
the core of our city. Well, you carry that out over X amount
of years, and what that doesis it hits your call fers every year.

(05:40):
So not only do you see that, but at a certain point you
hit a tipping point to where itgets so bad that no one wants to
be in the core of your city, and you try to revitalize. And
it's this incredible heavy lift. Andso rather than us waiting until it was
so obviously bad, our folks sawthe writing on the wall, did the
research, crunch the numbers, andsaid, hey, if we do reviletization,

(06:00):
we'll see an improvement to that taxbase. And we did. The
multipurpose stadium that's right near where youall are going. That's home to High
Point Rockers baseball. It's also goingto be home this spring to Carolina core
f Seed. So yeah, whichI'm looking forward to. That is looking
forward to it. But for adifferent reason, well, o, that

(06:23):
multipurpose stadium really was a catalyst tosay, if public sector does what it
needs to do, then it'll stimulateinterest and demand and people will want to
come and invest in the core.Absolutely, And so we did the project.
And what we bet on was withinten years we'll see one hundred million
dollars be improved to our tax base. That was our bet. We didn't

(06:43):
just make good on that, right. We end up doing a quarter billion
wow in like six years. Wow. So if our goal was to say,
hey, improve the tax base byone hundred million over a ten year
period, we improved it by twohundred and fifty over six year period.
And let us know that the royis such that this has been good revitization

(07:06):
so far, and the health ofour city is going to keep going up
and up and up and up.Now, it also just so happens that
revitization means more things to do indowntown. You can go to a ball
game, you can go enjoy thefood hall, you can enjoy the Chuses
Museum, you can spend a nightout with friends, you can walk down
there safely. It means a myriadof things in terms of the quality of

(07:27):
life and social activity and all that. But truth be told, one of
the big reasons why we had todo it was as a government corporation.
You look at your long term financialhealth of your organization and that's a key
piece of it. And I haveto imagine it's an interesting line to tote
of we're going to increase taxes andthe people coming back. So how do
you, I guess if someone comesdown there, my taxes are too high?
What is your response? So weactually decrease taxes in this past few

(07:49):
years because of all the investments,because of the surplus. There you go
six years, I gotta go.Yeah, So when you stare down the
barrel of man, we've got tocrepit. Property values is going down,
depressed areas well. If we don'twant to lose government services, we can
do one or two things, raisetaxes which no one wanted, or do

(08:09):
revitalization to attract investment back. Wedid revitalization, and not only did we
not have to raise taxes, wegot to go decrease the rate that we
have. That's great, that's along term play. Then are you in
year sixth in the revitalization. Yeah. So revitalization effectively started in twenty seventeen
with doctor Cubine making a major announcementand doctor Cubane for those who don't know

(08:31):
it's the president of high Point University. They've done incredible work on that campus
to grow. He attracts investment anddonations from folks all over the world who
want to see a blossoming institution thatcan engage young people and educate them for
life, not as it is rightnow, but as it will be.
He's one of those folks who constantlyis thinking ahead. And when the city
needed a champion who could come forwardand bring folks to the table to be

(08:54):
invested in what was happening, doctorCubane was the perfect person. And he
said yes really quickly, actually backin twenty seventeen to it, and it
was funny, y'all. There there'sthis meeting that the Convention Visitors Bureau hosted.
I think it was like, Idon't know, may or sometimes twenty
seventeen you met to go back andcheck my dates, but they host this
meet in he agrees to do it. He says, all right, we're

(09:16):
going to do this. We're gonnahave hotels, We're gonna have apartments,
we're gonna have restaurants, gonna haveoffice buildings. It's gonna be a cheery
museum. It's gonna be parks.This stadium is gonna be about so much
more than baseball. Really, we'regonna really bring energy back to our core.
People are like, man, we'rereally gonna do all that? He
said, Yes, we're gonna doall that, and as a result,
we're gonna lead the effort to race. I think at the time it was

(09:39):
raised like thirty million dollars and we'rewhen I'm plan to do it within the
next six months. Well six weekslater, he convenes everyone for a meeting
and didn't just raise the thirty million, raised sixty million. So what was
an aspirational goal that was? Thatbecame tangible quicker than anybody ever thought,
much quicker than anyone ever thought,And so revilazation since twenty seventeen has been

(10:01):
going, which is why twenty twentythree made the six year mark where we
saw that two hund and fifty milliondollars improvement to our tax space. This
summer will marks seven years that we'llbe able to look at it and see
what kind of improvements we see.So even you go to downtown, now
you see cranes moving, hammers swinging. I mean, there's a hotel going
up more renovations as to the hotelstadium, more folks moving businesses, downtown

(10:22):
offices being recruited. I mean hundredsand hundreds and hundreds office jobs are relocated
to our downtown just in the pastfew years. Question for you, so,
how long is your term as mayorof high Point four years? Four
years? What is your plan goingforward? I mean, obviously it sounds
like the next three years or somewhatmapped out somewhat. I mean we're moving
there here in just a couple ofmonths, But like, what are the

(10:45):
plans moving forward? I mean,if you get reelected, what do you
want to see in the future ahigh Point in the next maybe five six
years. I think what's really importantto me is that not only do we
see the investment in the physical spacethat is hot Point, that is the
buildings, the structures, the roads, right, I think it's critical and

(11:05):
incumbent upon us that we see thatsame level of investment in our people.
I think when you look at ourlocal economy, you look at the wanting
for safety in our neighborhoods and inour streets. The only way you do
that is ensuring a multi problem strategy, and that is not just again investing
in the structures and in the physicalspaces. It's you know, also recruiting

(11:28):
the businesses that will come here tomake the economy strong, but it's also
the people. I mean, youthink, for one second, North Carolina,
it's been a number one state inthe country for the past several years
for economic development. We created morejobs, we created more industry to this
state than any of our forty nineyou know peers in terms of states across
the country. But the biggest threatthey tell you is that with all that

(11:50):
industry coming in, the only thingthat makes us wear here in North Carolina
is that we have the people trainedand skilled enough to fulfill those jobs.
Gotcha. And so if we investin people, and not just only at
adulthood, but think about the pipelinestarting at young, younger ages, investing
in education to ensure that for thenext twenty thirty, forty fifty years,

(12:13):
we've got the kind of population thatis equipped for all the growth we're seeing
in industry. Sure, and Ithink if that happens right, then we'll
make good on everything you see withthe Toyota Project Boom Supersonic. I mean,
there's just so many things happening inthis region that's creating tens of thousands
of jobs, and only that.The other thing is not just for filling

(12:33):
their jobs. But the small businesseswill tell you you want a good,
strong community of folks who can comeand patronize businesses. And so we want
to support people to where their earningpotential goes up and the income that they
bring to their households goes up,because if they do that, then everyone
in the long run ends up beingstronger as a result. I want to

(12:54):
get back to you talking about startingat the youth. Zach and I were
in a meeting yesterday and heard thatall but one school in High Point is
Title one elementary school. Yeah,it was elementary schools. Can you speak
to that at all kind of whatyou guys are trying to do to move
away from that and try to reallybring the community back. It's a great
point. I had the same thoughtto you, Hannah, because we were

(13:15):
just in the meeting yesterday and wewere we were talking to the beyond sports
folks and they have the same visionyou do, where you don't start like
at college age or even high schoolage, you start at the elementary school
age. That way you keep peopleinvested in school, invested in sports programs,
right, and keep people in schoolbecause they're attached to a football team,

(13:35):
a soccer team, a baseball team, basketball team, any clue whatever.
And I and they brought up agood point and they're like, yeah,
thirteen out of fourteen schools elementary orTitle one, I go what?
And they said the only one thatwasn't was Southwest And I was like okay,
And I and I and I think, I think what you said investing

(13:56):
in people is important. You know. I think as every at these income
raises and their education increases, Ithink I think the the the ocean water
level naturally rises. Yeah, yeah, no, I agree. So so
most folks don't know. I actuallycome from a background in education where I've
gotten politics for I own a business. I worked in our schools here in

(14:18):
this community for about seven years,and in terms of seeing some of the
challenges sought up front, worked witha lot of young people who became the
first and their families to graduate school, to go to college. And certainly,
when you talk about Title one,I mean which you're speaking to our
issues of poverty. But despite allthat, some of the young people I

(14:39):
worked with were the most dedicated,most talented, most brilliant young people I'd
ever seen. And many of themnow you see whether they're at uh.
Their their circumstances so many years agodid not end up dictating where they are
in life, and their futures arevery promising and very bright. And what

(15:01):
it kind of confirms here, Zach, is that the potential of people to
do great things that exists. Whatmatters is do we equip them with the
opportunity, with the resources, withthe pathway to be able to go and
do great things? And so Ilike what you said because I think you
started using this sort of metaphor ofthis rising tide, right and so many

(15:26):
years ago, high point before Icame on council, this revitalization that everyone
talked about. They were using thisterm that you know, it would be
this rise and tide, and thisrise and tide would lift all boats.
And I said, that's true exceptfor the boats that have leaks in them
and are anchored down, because thoseboats are not going to rise. In
fact, they're probably going to drown. You have to you have to put

(15:48):
the boats in a position to float. There you go. You have to
put the boats in the position tofloat, you have to plug the leaks.
And I'd say, what that lookslike metaphorically, are you know,
gaps in terms of some of theservices we provide, I had lack of
opportunity that people who don't get tosee in terms of those anchors we talk
about. I think what that lookslike are many times you have folks who
are burning with generational things, systemicthings, institutional things. Yeah, yeah,

(16:11):
that their families and their neighborhoods andtheir communities have dealt with for years.
So how do we, however,if it's a big lift or not,
how do we make it such thatthose boats can rise too? And
that's really the work we talk aboutwhen we talk about responsible vialization. That
invests not only in things but alsoin people. And I think some of
the taxes you touched on it,like with education that being so important,

(16:34):
Let's be honest. Does SO andso athlete need to make upteen million,
zillion bazillion dollars? No? Shouldthe teachers make more? Absolutely, you
get better teachers, you get betterstudents, and you get kids who want
to stay in school. And Idon't want to refer to people as products
but you get better productivity out ofthose individuals if you have you know,

(17:00):
tax revenue is paying for the betterteachers and the better school administrators, better
principles, because that's where it starts. Absolutely, that's exactly you have to
go to the inception of the problem, not deal with the problem once they're
in college or they go to acommunity college, or they're going to GTCC.
We're going to take a quick breakand then we'll be back with the
Mayor of high Point, Cyril Jefferson.