ISSUES

Explore this page to gain insights into Paul Fitts’ stance on key issues, his proposed solutions, and how together, we can shape a better future for Raleigh.

Public Safety – Raleigh has been experiencing increasing record crime rates. Murder, break-ins, assaults are all steadily increasing. Homelessness is at an all-time high in Raleigh. Factor #1 our city council hasn’t focused at all on Public Safety at all. Since 2011 the Democrat led council has had ONE major focus and that’s Dix Park. The City has allocated $500M to pour into parks that WILL NEVER REPAY ITS INVESTMENT, our Debt Servicing is more than our investment into Public Safety.

We need a minimum of 400 more police officers. To pay for them we need to broaden our tax base to invest more money into Public Safety. That means make our city more business friendly, to bring in more businesses and create more livable areas. I’ve asked current Representatives to look at removing properties from Downtown such as Central and Women’s Prison and convert those areas to livable space.

We need to help transition our homeless population to places where they need to be. If they are mentally or physically incapable of caring for themselves, we need to find them long-term care or group homes. If they have job loss or addiction issues we need to find short term housing or rehab care to get them back on their feet to be productive citizens again.

All of this can be accomplished and crime can be reduced again once we have a better RPD presence on the street.

Economy – Our City’s economy has taken a SERIOUS hit since 2020. As a Candidate in 2017 I stated why we didn’t need to spend $Billions for a light rail system because our data entry workforce could telecommute….well, Covid and 2020 simply proved me right. But look at the aftermath. The Primary employer in Raleigh was the Government (State/County/City)…but with remote work, employees aren’t coming into town as much. Estimates would say 20-25% of the previous workforce now works from home. That’s great for the workers but businesses throughout the area have felt the impact. Raleigh used to have stores that were open 24/7, but not anymore. Our economy is stagnant and NONE of our City Council members have addressed a plan to bolster the economy. Downtown Fayetteville Street looks like a ghost town daily. The outer areas are booming with new full time remote workers, but to kick start our city again we need people living downtown fulltime.

Affordable Housing – First let’s make sure everyone understands, you cannot make housing affordable until you make it available. We need to start converting underutilized commercial space which is truly the most cost effective way to create homeownership in an urban setting. I have already spoken to members of our General Assembly about removing Central and Women’s Prisons from Downtown Raleigh, we simply need the space. Central prison has 44 acres of land, women’s prison has 189 acres of land. These facilities can be relocated in areas that have much cheaper land and areas that good state paying jobs will bolster their local economies. We missed the boat on Dix which could have had SOME of its area designated for housing, but most of the underused state properties need to become housing (townhomes/rowhouses/condos). We need livable taxable properties to keep our city strong and vibrant.

Casino – Yes I said it. One of our future projects should be bringing LEGAL GAMING to Raleigh. We have 100s of ILLEGAL gaming facilities in the area now that pay nothing in gaming taxes. Our General Assembly has proposed gaming in other parts of the State that would TAKE MONEY FROM RALEIGH to support those towns. As the host city to State Government and as a draw to future sports organizations like the MLB, it would be a MAJOR MISTAKE by our City for NOT giving legal gaming a chance. Also we should support Native American organizations such as the Cherokee who have done wonderful things for their people with gaming revenues such as free healthcare, free college education and no property taxes on their boundary. My goal for our taxed gaming revenues would be to FUND our Public Safety needs without raising a dime in taxes.

Arts – Let’s face it, one “word” I’m tired of hearing is DPAC. We shouldn’t have Raleigh’s citizens constantly funding Downtown Durham’s show schedules. We’re going to actively promote Duke Energy Center (Memorial Auditorium), Raleigh Little Theater and both our great amphitheaters. NCSU has great performances as well on their campus. As a former college theater major, my administration will support the arts and entertainment, it’s a healthy part of a well-balanced community.

Parks – I think the City should keep all of its current park commitments, but take no further actions towards acquiring new park lands until we can stabilize our workforce and housing situations. When you go to the top of the Wells Fargo building and look out, the one color you see more than anything else is Green. We’re going to keep our city clean and green, but not overlook needs in a changing population nor focus merely on one sector of city responsibilities.