Reeves Peeler, candidate for Raleigh City Council at-large, answers our questions
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Raleigh voters will pick a new mayor and City Council members this November.
All eight council seats, including the mayor’s, are up for grabs, with all the incumbents except for current Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin seeking another two-year term.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5. Early voting runs from Thursday, Oct. 17, through Saturday, Nov. 2.
To help inform voters across the state, this candidate questionnaire is available to be republished by local publications in North Carolina without any cost. Please consider subscribing to The News & Observer to help make this coverage possible.
Name: Reeves Peeler
District/seat: Raleigh City Council, at-large
Political party: Democrat
Age as of Nov. 5, 2024: 38
Campaign website: www.reevesforraleigh.com
Current occupation: Community Development Finance at First Citizens Bank
Education: BS in Agriculture Economics at NC State University, MBA at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obsipo
Offices Sought/Held: None
Please list any notable government or civic involvement.
Member of Raleigh Planning Commission since May 2023. While serving on the Planning Commission, working on the station planning and Transit Overlay District for the New Bern Avenue Bus Rapid Transit line.
Serving as Precinct Vice-Chair and later as Precinct Chair for the Wake County Democratic Party in Precinct 01-26. Working as Regional Organizer for Down Home NC in Granville and Johnston Counties from February 2022 to June 2024 and while working there, winning our field campaigns to elect Guillermo Nurse for Oxford mayor, Robert Fountain for Granville sheriff, and winning funding to revitalize the historic Granville Street Park in Oxford.
Volunteering for Mary Black, Jane Harrison, and Wanda Hunter’s campaigns for Raleigh City Council in 2022. Managing Damon Chetson’s campaign for Wake County district attorney in 2021 and 2022. Serving as a Victory Captain for Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign. Volunteering on the Yes on Propositions I and K campaigns 2020 and the Yes on Proposition C campaign in 2018 in San Francisco, and winning all three. Volunteering and later working on Dean Preston’s Campaign for San Francisco supervisor - District 5 in 2019.
Which city council district do you live in? C
What is the top issue facing Raleigh now and how would you address it?
Housing. Specifically, the issue of unfettered, real-estate speculation that has led to an increasing lack of affordability for low-income, working-class, and middle-class residents.
We can trace this issue directly to our growing gentrification, sprawl and homelessness problems. It will take every tool available to rein this problem in, but we can start by: 1) amending our zoning ordinances to discourage highly speculative practices, 2) offering better tax rebates/credits to low-income residents to help them afford their property taxes, 3) setting transparent guidelines that encourage developers to contribute to the city’s affordable housing stock and other infrastructure funding, 4.) investing more locally in subsidies like bonds and preservation funds, and 5) lobbying the state and federal government to support our local efforts.
What is your strategy for increasing affordable housing in Raleigh?
We need to use every tool available to increase our affordable housing stock and preserve the naturally occurring affordable housing we have left. I will repeat a few from my previous answer, but also add a few: 1) amend our zoning ordinances to discourage highly speculative practices, 2) offer better tax rebates/credits to low income residents to help them afford their property taxes, 3) set transparent guidelines that encourage developers to contribute to the city’s affordable housing stock and other infrastructure funding, 4.) invest more locally in subsidies like bonds and preservation funds, and 5) lobby the state and federal government to support our local efforts. Specifically for increasing housing stock, we should also: 6) use zoning to limit short term rentals in highly vulnerable housing areas, 7) limit rents in developments built on city-owned land, 8) streamline zoning of 100% affordable housing developments so that affordable developers can compete for obtaining prime land (especially land near public transit) with market-rate developers.
Should the city be more aggressive about requiring affordable units from developers or partner with nonprofits?
Yes, the city should be more aggressive and transparent about requiring affordable units from developers. A first step for me on council would be to commission a study to gather data showing what we should be requiring in certain developments and start to create a transparent process that can be easily followed by the development community.
Do you think Raleigh can support concert venues both downtown and in Dix Park?
I do. There seems to be a great demand for concerts in Raleigh and I see that continuing to grow, which is a good thing. That said, I think a new concert venue in Dix Park should be planned carefully so that the park can be consistently enjoyed by everyone in Raleigh, not just those paying to use the venue.
Would you describe Raleigh’s growth as too fast, too slow or just right?
I don’t think Raleigh’s growth discussion should be a question of speed. Growth has been great for Raleigh (especially downtown) and I hope we continue to grow.
For me, the discussion should center on whether the fruits of the growth we’ve seen over the last 15 years (and more specifically, the last 5-8 years) has been experienced by everyday residents. For the most part, I don’t see the recent growth in the real estate and tech sectors trickling down to people like teachers, nurses, first responders, service industry workers, warehouse workers, drivers, and the many public employees who make Raleigh and our state government run.
We need to address this by 1) paying our city employees a living wage, giving them better benefits, and engaging with their unions so that the municipality of Raleigh can retain and attract the best and brightest (this will also raise local private wages), 2) stop doubling down on unsustainable car-centric sprawl developments that force residents to have longer commutes and put a bigger strain on city services, 3) expanding and improving our public transit services and perfecting our bus corridors so that the people who depend on our buses can afford to live near bus access, and 4) requiring the big corporations that make large profits in Raleigh to pay their fair share to our budget.
Do you think Raleigh is losing too many historic properties? If so, how should this be addressed?
Yes. Raleigh’s history is vibrant and I want to see us do a better job of highlighting our most interesting stories. Particularly, I see historically Black and working class areas of District C and D being flipped and having their history erased faster than other parts of Raleigh.
While on Planning Commission, I have advocated for stopping the piecemeal reduction of historic districts like the Prince Hall District. Historic Districts shouldn’t be able to be reduced by a singular rezoning case, except for extreme and rare circumstances.
We are not only losing too many historic properties, but we are losing existing affordable housing to similar rezonings at an alarming rate. While this will also take many approaches to fix, we can start to fix this by identifying zones that need to be overlayed to protect their affordability (much like a historic overlay does) by both requiring preservation and adding financial incentives to maintain these properties.
This story was originally published September 26, 2024 at 3:39 PM with the headline "Reeves Peeler, candidate for Raleigh City Council at-large, answers our questions."