A People-First Platform for Watauga County
Teachers. Retirees who built this place. Healthcare workers. Service workers. Students balancing jobs and classes. First responders. Tradespeople.
All of them create the value that keeps this county running. County government exists to serve those people first.
People First Is Pro-Business — and Anti-Extraction
This platform is not anti-business. It's anti-extraction.
A healthy local economy depends on people being able to live safely, afford rent, get to work, and build a life. Businesses that contribute to that ecosystem — by paying fairly, following the rules, and being part of the community — benefit when people can stay.
We have businesses like that in Watauga County. They give this place its character and keep it grounded.
But county government should never confuse "what's good for business" with "what's good for people."
When policy protects unsafe housing, poverty wages, or speculative profit while people are pushed out, that's not economic development. It's a transfer of wealth upward and outward — away from the community.
Putting people first is how you build an economy that lasts.
Housing Is a Human Necessity, Not a Speculative Asset
In Watauga County, your safety as a renter depends on your ZIP code.
Boone has minimum housing standards. Most of the county does not. That means housing without heat, with mold, or with unsafe stairs is legal outside town limits.
At the same time, short-term rentals and speculation shrink the long-term housing supply. Homes become investment vehicles instead of places to live. Workers and students compete for fewer units at higher prices — or are pushed farther out of the community altogether.
What I'll Do
- Adopt a countywide minimum housing code so basic safety standards apply everywhere
- Fund targeted enforcement focused on repeat violators, not good-faith landlords
- Establish right-to-cure protections so tenants can report serious safety issues without retaliation
Safe housing isn't radical. It's the baseline for dignity, health, and stability. A county that allows unsafe housing is choosing property income over human well-being — and pushing the costs onto emergency services, schools, and families.
Childcare Is a Public Good, Not a Private Struggle
People aren't choosing between working and having a life — many can't afford either.
When childcare shortages and solutions were presented to county leadership, the response was to defer responsibility to the General Assembly instead of acting locally. Meanwhile, parents fall out of the workforce, schedules collapse, and stress ripples through the entire community.
What I'll Do
- Treat childcare as essential infrastructure, not charity
- Expand access through existing community providers
- Support wrap-around care at schools so people aren't forced into impossible schedules
- Invest at a scale that matches the problem — not symbolic gestures
Childcare makes it possible for people to participate fully in community life. Without it, everything else frays.
Public Schools Should Be Places Where People Can Teach and Learn
Teachers need more than apples; they need better pay.
The county funds ribbon cuttings and capital projects while many classrooms still lack air conditioning. Teachers work in overheated rooms. Students struggle to learn. Leadership points to buildings instead of conditions.
At the same time, teacher supplements lag behind neighboring counties while housing costs here remain the highest in the region.
What I'll Do
- Make teacher supplement parity a clear budget priority
- Treat functional classrooms — including climate control — as non-negotiable
- Invest in stability instead of constant turnover
Strong schools aren't just about education. They're about whether people can imagine staying here long term.
Affordability Is Why Traffic Is Getting Worse — and Why the County Matters
As Boone becomes less affordable, people don't disappear. They move outward — into the county and into neighboring counties — while continuing to work or study in town.
- Highway traffic keeps getting worse
- Commutes get longer and more dangerous
- EMS response times stretch
- Quality of life declines for everyone
County commissioners often treat traffic as a town problem. Town residents are told housing is a county issue.
What I'll Do
- Treat housing affordability as traffic policy
- Invest in safe walking routes and crossings where people actually live — especially just outside town limits
- Support transit that works for real schedules
- Act on a short, public list of corridor bottlenecks using practical fixes, not endless studies
When the county invests upstream, the town feels the relief immediately.
Students Are Part of This Community, Not a Stopgap
Students are a huge part of Watauga County's population and workforce. But the current system only works because student loans quietly subsidize rent and low wages.
Students can't afford to live here without debt. Workers can't afford to live here at all.
Students deserve safe housing, walkable communities, and reliable transportation — and the possibility of staying after graduation if they want to.
Public Money Should Serve the People Who Generate It
County government has a choice: it can protect systems that extract value from people and push them out — or it can invest in the conditions that let people stay, contribute, and build lives here.
My Test for Every Decision
Does this improve the lives of people who live, work, and study here?
Or does it protect profit while shifting the costs onto everyone else?
If it's the second, it doesn't belong in county policy.
Three Non-Negotiable Commitments
Tenant Protections
Safe housing standards that apply countywide, not just in Boone
Real Childcare Investment
Infrastructure-level funding, not symbolic gestures
Competitive Teacher Pay
Supplement parity and functional classrooms
Everything else is open for discussion. These are not.
The Bottom Line
This campaign is about economic dignity.
A county that puts people first — not property, not profit, not political theater — will always be stronger, more stable, and more resilient.
That's not ideology. That's what local government is for.