22 Accomplishments in 2022!

In celebration of me finishing my first year as a City Councilmember, as well as the fact that at 22-years-old I am the youngest elected official in our entire state, I've decided to pinpoint 22 projects that we've been able to accomplish in the year 2022. These initiatives range from improving the inner-workings of our local government, to projects that will have long-lasting impacts on our community for years to come.

LET'S GET STARTED...

1. Dedicated a historic marker to honor the Adkin High School Walkout. In 1951, over 700 students at Adkin High School staged a walkout in protest of inferior school conditions in comparison to Grainger High School across town. This historic marker is located on the corner of Washington Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard.

2. Opened a daily vaccination & testing site at Holloway Recreation Center at the height of the Omicron wave, and hired a COVID-19 coordinator. We utilized a Community Development Block Grant to increase access to COVID-19 vaccinations and testing to help protect our community, and I created a COVID-19 coordinator position to manage these programs. Governor Roy Cooper visited our vaccination & testing site and also applauded Kinston Teens for their COVID-19 response efforts in partnership with the State of North Carolina.

3. Implemented an economic development utility incentive program to make Kinston more attractive for industries to start operations here and utilize our electric system. This incentive will make our electric utility more competitive with Duke Energy and help attract new large industrial businesses to utilize the City of Kinston for electric power.

4. Led the creation and adoption of the Emma Webb Master Plan, helping it to receive $1 million in funding for park renovations. Through a partnership between Kinston Teens, Kinston-Lenoir Parks & Recreation, and the American Flood Coalition, I helped lead the creation of a comprehensive plan for seven-acre Emma Webb Park. The City Council formally adopted this plan in February and by August we secured $1 million dollars in funding for the renovations.

5. Developed proposals for the City Council to fund projects that address housing, community development, and food insecurity in East Kinston. I developed and presented these proposals to the City Council in May of this year as the City deliberated how to spend the $6.3 million in American Rescue Plan funds.

6. Completed renovations at historic Holloway Pool. Utilizing Community Development Block Grant funds, we embarked and finalized more than $200,000 in renovations at Holloway Pool—making this pool more handicap accessible as well as adding other enhancements such as striping, in-pool stairs, and new entry/exit points.

7. Provided free at-home COVID rapid tests at City Hall and parks & recreation facilities. I secured more than 5,000 rapid antigen tests that were distributed to City employees as well as made available to the public at City Hall and our recreation facilities.

8. Began recruiting developers to rehab the Glen Raven Mills property on the Neuse River. The City acquired this property from the McConnell family several years ago and is exploring the possibility of a major development at that location—potentially to include retail, residential, entertainment, and more.

9. Implemented pay raises for all of the City’s employees. In February, we unanimously approved a pay scale change for all of our full-time employees to help with recruitment and retention across all our departments. In June, we implemented a pay increase for our part-time employees that went into effect in our FY2023 (July) budget.

10. Added three streets in East Kinston to the 2022 road improvements project. Initially, not a single street east of Queen Street and south of Vernon Avenue was included in this year’s road improvements plan. After bringing it up with our Public Services department, we were able to identify three streets in East Kinston that could be resurfaced. These streets were completed in October.

11. Met with and toured our Police, Finance, MIS, and Human Resources departments, learning about their functions and how they contribute to our community. I started these tours and meetings on my first day after being sworn-in back in December 2021, and have continued working with and learning from our departments.

12. Stopped a punitive juvenile curfew from getting implemented. Mayor Don Hardy introduced a strict curfew between the hours of 9PM and 6AM. I raised a concern that this curfew would do more harm than good for the youth of our community, and that the majority of shootings this year occurred before 9PM.

13. Initiated the city manager search and hired a permanent city manager. After months of delay, I amended our January meeting agenda to include moving forward with the recruitment of a permanent city manager. We conducted a national search with more than 50 candidates and selected Rhonda Barwick as the city’s permanent manager. Barwick, a Kinston native, has held various positions in city operations in a career spanning over 28 years.

14. Spoke at NC Black Elected Municipal Officials Conference. This conference, held annually, brings together Black mayors and councilmembers from across North Carolina to discuss best practices in local governments and topics of interest such as public safety, affordable housing, and economic development. I served as a keynote speaker for the conference’s luncheon in Beaufort.

15. Participated in numerous community beautification projects with local organizations and city departments. From supporting beautification projects downtown and on Queen Street, to working with city departments to clean up around the Holloway neighborhood, this has been a busy year keeping Kinston clean and vibrant!

16. Invested $2,020,506 in infrastructure replacement on Vernon Avenue, paving the way for NCDOT to move forward with resurfacing the road. The NC Department of Transportation plans to have Vernon Avenue repaved in 2025, but if the City completes our infrastructure work sooner they will work to move up their resurfacing schedule.

17. Introduced and passed a policy to make it easier for citizens to acquire real estate from the City through the upset bid process. The City owns several hundred vacant and underutilized properties, many of which are in East Kinston. This policy streamlines the upset bid process for our citizens and mandates that a list is published of what properties are available for bid.

18. Supported the development of more than 540 units of new middle-market housing. The City has worked on agreements with four different developers for new single-family homes. We anticipate nearly a million dollars in new annual revenue from these projects.

19. Allocated $675,000 for enhancements at Historic Grainger Stadium, including a new state-of-the-art scoreboard. This significant investment will enhance the game-day experience for the Down East Wood Ducks and fans near and far, while also showing our strong commitment to keeping baseball in Kinston.

20. Amended our Unified Development Ordinance to allow for tattoo parlors downtown. Historically, tattoo parlors had not operated within the city limits. With this new change, we issued a special use permit for House of Ink Tattoo Studio to open at 111 North Queen Street.

21. Became a facilitator for Rochelle Middle School’s leadership program. Launched by Principal Terry Wooten, this program engages community leaders and Rochelle’s students in monthly sessions on leadership and character development. I facilitate lessons with a class of 7th graders each month.

22. Launched a ‘city council office hours series’ across Kinston for citizens to meet with me and find solutions to their problems. The first was held on November 17 at the Lenoir County Council on Aging. Various members of the City’s staff will be invited and may be available to answer questions from citizens.

I look forward to continuing to work hard on behalf of the citizens of Kinston in 2023. Thank you for your prayers, support, and encouragement!