Travis Groo: Running for the 2 Year Unexpired Seat for the Holly Springs Board of Commissioners aka Town Council

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 0:12

Hello friends, you are listening to the Holly Springs Deep Dive podcast, soon to be called the NC Deep Dive. I am your host, Amanda Benbow Lunn, and today I am honored to be speaking with Travis Groo as part of our candidate segment for the 2023 municipal election for Holly Springs. Travis is running for the two-year unexpired term seat for the board of commissioners for Holly Springs, also known as Town Council. He will be running against Annie Drees, Scoop Green and Brian Norman. You will have the choice to vote for one of these candidates on your ballot in the municipal election. As with all the candidate podcasts, I am taking their introductions directly from their website as an effort to be as fair and non-biased as possible.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 1:02

Travis Groo is a principled and self-motivated human and a proud dad of two wonderful kids who believes that hard work always pays off. He works towards a free, peaceful and prosperous world where every individual has the opportunity to pursue their unique vision of a rewarding and enriching life. Travis and his family moved to Wake County from Atlanta back in 2013 and he doesn't recall a single day in all these years living here that he wasn't grateful they made that decision. He says we have almost everything good about Atlanta here and not much of what's bad, while growth and change are inevitable. Travis is motivated to help preserve what's great about our community for his family and neighbors here in Holly Springs. Without further ado, my friends, let's dive in. What does democracy mean to you?

Travis Groo: 1:55

Democracy means to me, great question. To me, it means fair elections, transparent elections, where the people are heard and they're able to vote for the candidate that most fits their viewpoint, and that every voter and citizen gets an opportunity to vote for and elect what is most important for the community.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 2:17

Perfect, all right. How long have you lived in the area?

Travis Groo: 2:21

I've actually only lived in Holly Springs since March. Okay, I moved here from Cary, so not very far. I've been in Wake County for nine years, though, okay, but I'm new to Holly Springs and I love it. I was living in an apartment in Cary and I decided to upgrade to a house, so now I live in a house in Holly Springs and I've thoroughly enjoyed it.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 2:45

Awesome. So let's say you win your election as a member of the town council, do you feel your job to make important decisions should be based solely on your own thoughts, your political parties thoughts or, as representative as possible, of every single one of your constituents and why?

Travis Groo: 3:03

That would be the latter. I'm so happy that this is a nonpartisan race because it shouldn't be about party agendas, personal agendas. It really is about the community listening to your neighbors, your friends and the community and move forward in responsible decisions that the community wants and translating that into what the town council can do to keep the constituents and the community happy, because I believe a happy community is a healthy community.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 3:35

How do you intend to gather input from the community before casting important decisions?

Travis Groo: 3:41

Well, I want to be as transparent as possible and invite as many neighbors and friends to town council meetings as possible, said their voice is heard and pay attention to the agendas and pay attention to the voice of the community. So asking a lot of questions, being transparent and inviting people to let their voice be heard and always be listening rather than barking orders. I want to listen to the community

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 4:11

So why have you decided to run for our town council?

Travis Groo: 4:13

I believe I have something to offer which is individual responsibility and individual freedom and returning the power back to the people and not letting the power reside within the government officials. It's the community that should be running their community. They know what's best for their community and I want to be sort of a conduit for that voice.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 4:35

Perfect. What do you believe are Holly Springs's strengths?

Travis Groo: 4:41

I really love the downtown area. For me, it's important to keep it walkable, to keep it multimodal. So we have sidewalks, we're allowing for scooters and multimodal transportation. You have a hoverboard kind of a joke, but you know allowing for multimodal transportation. Keeping it a destination point is important to me, and even making it more of a destination point, because this city is extremely popular and growing extremely fast and I think it's very important that we grow responsibly Healthy. That's an extremely important thing for me is that we allow for the community to determine what. What we want, and I believe the town council has done a great job with that and I want to just continue on that path.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 5:30

Okay, what do you believe the benefits are of being a destination, for Holly Springs to be a destination place?

Travis Groo: 5:38

The benefits are people do not have to go to Raleigh or Cary or Apex to have fun, to live, work and play, so keep it walkable. Allowing for the community to have breweries and music venues, community gardens, community events, so we can build here instead of having to travel, which also cuts down on traffic. So allowing Holly Springs to become a destination and, even more so, cuts down on even environmental issues like paying for gas and have to go somewhere else. And cutting down on traffic and making it a fun, happy place to live. That's important to me.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 6:19

One of the benefits is that consumers would be spending their money here in Holly Springs, and so that helps build our small businesses and larger businesses.

Travis Groo: 6:29

Absolutely, and I love supporting locally owned and locally run businesses. That's so important to me to not have to always go to a corporate store and a big chain. I love local venues, local bars, local art shops, local coffee shops. I think that is so important to allow for that kind of development and allow zoning for creativity, to allow for more local action to happen here. That makes sense.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 6:57

It does, it does. What do you feel are Holly Springs's weaknesses?

Travis Groo: 7:02

I believe we have traffic issues here that is getting exponentially worse. But I also want to make sure that the DOT plans line up with the community plans and that people's properties aren't being overtaken by road expansions, property assumptions, and that, although we do need to expand our roads, that we do it in a fair and ethical way and we're not running people out of house and homes with property taxes. So capping property assessments is important so that people can afford to live here. People live in their homes that they love and they're not having to move somewhere else because property taxes went up too much. And then Wake County housing affordability is an issue, but I also believe housing affordability is an issue in Holly Springs how popular it is it is. It is important to allow for developers to be creative with the types of homes that can be built, like duplexes and triplexes and granny flats and even Airbnb issues. We should allow for this so people can afford to live here, because it is an issue.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 8:17

Can you tell me a little bit more about what the property tax capping means to you?

Travis Groo: 8:22

Yes, and I came up with a number that I'm willing to to negotiate on. But I do not believe that property assessment taxes should go up any more than 3% in one year, because property assessment actually has nothing to do with the value of the home. That has to do with how much taxes the city and county is going to take. Where I've seen an issue I've seen in some cases Raleigh's taxes have gone up 10% in one year or 12% in one year, and when you're on a fixed income that can really hurt someone. So when we can help people stay in their homes by being able to afford them, that's important. So capping that is one way to do it.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 9:07

Alright, and when you say that you are speaking, you might, overall, believe it, but, as member of town council, what you're speaking towards is limiting the Holly Springs portion of the property tax to 3%?

Travis Groo: 9:20

That's correct. I know a lot of it is run through the county and Holly Springs has as a portion of the property taxes. But in our city and town taxes I don't believe it should go up any more than 3% a year.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 9:33

Okay, all right. Many voters seem to be unhappy with the influx of growth in the area and its ramifications, like traffic and a lack of prepared infrastructure. What does sensible growth mean to you, and how do you intend to achieve it?

Travis Groo: 9:47

Well, the growth is inevitable. We live in an extremely popular area. People are flocking here from all over the country. Wake County is one of the fastest growing regions in the United States, so it's inevitable. People are coming here because of the beautiful scenery and the so-called affordable living compared to some areas. So I don't think that's going to stop. However, allowing for developers and getting rid of zoning restrictions will actually allow homeowners and builders to be creative with how they handle their own property. So the 540 construction is only going to make things expand even more, even though that's a federal DOT issue. It's inevitable that Holly Springs is going to keep growing at a rapid pace, so keeping the community happy would be allowing for them to be creative with their property, and not having so many zoning restrictions and keeping property taxes as low as humanly possible will keep the community happier. But people are still going to be moving here. It's inevitable. There's no way to stop it.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 11:01

All right. Could you speak more about what zoning ordinances you'd be looking to get rid of?

Travis Groo: 11:07

If there is any restrictions on allowing for granny flats or new construction on your own property let's say you want to build a 900 square foot garage with the living facility for a mother-in-law or to Airbnb I believe that should be allowed on your own property. Property rights are extremely important to me, so if you own your property, you should be able to do whatever you want to on your own property, so long as you don't violate your neighbor's property or infringe on their property. So allowing for community gardens and educational horticulture type of outreaches for the community to grow food and plants in a sustainable way of life is important. So home gardens and home farms should be allowed 100% so you can have some goats or some chickens or a garden to be able to grow your own food to either give away or sell. It's your property. You know what you want to do on your property. Just don't infringe on other people's property. Mm-hmm, don't want to get rid of those types of restrictions on private property.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 12:20

Okay, what are ways you have served the town and its people prior to running for office?

Travis Groo: 12:26

I'm a big volunteerist so I've done many volunteer events from community banks to community gardens to trash clean up on the side of the road, and I truly want to encourage more volunteerism. So doing community volunteer events will be something that is part of my platform and part of my part of my agenda moving forward, because the more we volunteer as a community and as neighbors and as friends, the less we have to rely on taxpayers to do the same job for them. So doing community trash pickups and, like I said, I want to push for community gardens and food banks and situations like this where we don't have to rely on public funds for it because we have such a volunteer community that's thriving that the community is happier. And I believe the more you volunteer, the more you invest your time and energy into your neighborhood, the happier you are. Giving and volunteering makes you a happier person.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 13:30

Alright. Have you previously been on any of the town's committees?

Travis Groo: 13:35

I have not and, like I said, I've only been here since March. I lived in Cary prior to this, which is not very far. But I will say the reason why I want to make it more of a destination point is because I really never came down to Holly Springs, living in Cary, because there wasn't really events that were attractive or maybe concerts or music venues that were really attractive to make someone want to come spend their money in Holly Springs. But I have not been involved with any Holly Springs community events or anything like that yet. I have not, but I plan to.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 14:11

Awesome, have you been a consistent voter in town elections.

Travis Groo: 14:15

Absolutely yes, and I do know that most municipal elections end up with low voter turnout. I want to promote this a little bit more. I believe that all politics are local. We can't change anything in DC, we can't change anything on a federal level, but we can change things in our neighborhoods, in our communities, in our backyards, and when we allow for that freedom, your community thrives. So I truly believe all politics are local and I have participated, since I've been in North Carolina, in local elections.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 14:49

Okay, when did you move to North Carolina?

Travis Groo: 14:51

2013. I moved up here from Atlanta Georgia.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 14:56

Alright, I have family down near Macon.

Travis Groo: 14:58

Oh nice, very familiar with that area.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 15:01

What are your areas of focus for your campaign?

Travis Groo: 15:05

Well, like I said, a few things like keeping property taxes reasonable and extremely affordable as possible, allowing for home farms, home gardens and removing zoning restrictions that limit the types of homes and living facilities that the community wants, because housing affordability Is a real issue and we should be a diverse community I'm a big person with diversity. We should allow for affordable housing and we should allow for communities that aren't skyrocketing through the roof, where nobody can live here and work here at the same time. I believe if you live in your community and work in your community, you should be able to afford it, and inflation is a real problem right now. So whatever we can do to help our community thrive by not gouging them is important.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 16:01

Alright, and that brings us to the next question what does housing affordability mean to you and how will you address its lack?

Travis Groo: 16:09

Well, big thing is there's a difference between housing affordability and affordable housing. I'm not necessarily pushing for affordable housing, which is basically government subsidized housing. I'm not necessarily pushing for that. I'm pushing for people to be able to afford to live and stay in their house and buy homes here that aren't 100% over market value and aren't too affordable where you can't even live here If you work here. So housing affordability is determined by supply and demand, so we obviously need more supply. So allowing for townhouses, diverse types of living, will make the community happier and more affordable and it will fix the supply and demand issue, thus driving down the price of homes in our community.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 17:02

Okay. When making important decisions, sometimes you have to make compromises or choose the least sucky thing. In the following scenarios, which would you choose? Decreasing lot sizes of homes in order to allow a greater number of homes to be available at a lower price point, or increasing lot sizes to decrease the number of homes available lowering the environmental and traffic ramifications of having more people in a given area.

Travis Groo: 17:32

That's a tough one because those are tough choices. Everyone wants a big lot and a large amount of land, but, as my previous statement was about supply and demand, the only way to create more supply is to build more housing. So I would go with number one and that could be focused on certain areas. If some people want a little larger lot, you could zone for that. But I do believe we need more housing and the only way to do that is to go up and also to decrease lot sizes.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 18:07

Okay. The next scenario having fewer amenities and knowing many constituents may not be able to participate in those amenities because there's not enough space, in order to avoid raising the town's taxes. Or would you be more prone to thinking ahead and feel it might be better to raise the town's taxes to a certain point in order to be reasonably proactive with the growing population and amenities here? That could be utilities, it could be law enforcement, fire safety, it could be parks and rec whatever the town provides for its citizens.

Travis Groo: 18:43

Right and I'm definitely going to go with option one. I believe the community will supply what the community wants without coercion and the coercion of taxes and without the coercion of force taking from the community for amenities that they may not even want. So I believe in the free market and if the community wants something, they should be allowed to build it, create a situation that is optimal and usable for them. So I do not believe in the raising of taxes in order for the council or the town government to supply an amenity that maybe some people don't want. So to me it's coercion and it should not belong. I believe that the free market will allow for the needs and the wants of the community when they are allowed to be free.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 19:35

Okay, last scenario allowing commercial property owners their rights to remove trees on their property as they will, or trying to maintain some sort of tree buffer to allay environmental concerns, town aesthetics and cleaning the airways, especially because of the landfill odors.

Travis Groo: 19:54

I am most definitely a tree person. I love trees. I believe when you plant certain types of trees you can actually correct irrigation issues, you can actually beautify the land. But I also believe private property and private property rights trump any type of legislation that somebody else wants to make up for you for your own property. You should be able to cut down whatever trees you want on your own property. I would never advise it, but I also don't own that property. So if you own that property you obviously want it to be a certain way for you and that should be allowed. Maybe not recommended, but allowed.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 20:41

Okay. Follow-up question to that If property owners are allowed to make decisions for their property being on the town council and someone responsible for the town and community as a whole, if there are problems like irrigation or, we'll say, smells from the landfill, certain environmental concerns, how do you believe you or the town can achieve those goals, which might also be necessary, while also allowing those property owners to have their rights to use their property as they wish?

Travis Groo: 21:16

Great question. Well, I really believe in surrounding myself with people that are smarter than me. So we can voluntarily consult some environmental, some private environmental agencies to help us make the best decisions to remove some kind of water drainage issues or some odors because I know we do have a landfill nearby and to allow for, allow and to promote property owners to maybe plant certain types of trees that will actually knock out some of the odors. Or we can consult with professionals to solve the problem through community input and through community efforts. Again, you have a right to your property. You have a right to your body. You have a right to make decisions on your own. So eliminating that is a violation. So we can offer suggestions, we can offer ideas, we can offer what we believe is a solution, but ultimately, if it violates your property rights, we can't force that on anybody.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 22:23

Okay, we've discussed this before but I'll have you answer again, i s there a limit to what you feel may be responsible if a situation warrants increasing taxes during your term?

Travis Groo: 22:34

No, I do not believe in raising taxes on anyone and when we can keep property taxes and the living taxes low, obviously going to create more growth, which creates more tax revenue. So if you get more people moving here, you can actually lower taxes and bring in more income, believe it or not.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 22:54

Do you feel there are major areas where the town is inappropriately allocating resources?

Travis Groo: 23:00

I have not looked at the financials closely, I have not studied the agendas too closely, but if there is an area that I feel there's waste and you know additional theft from taxpayers and additional areas of waste, I would address that immediately because I don't support it. I guess you could call me a viscally conservative person. I don't want waste and I don't want people paying for things that they do not want, I do not care about, and just spending money just to spend it. I don't agree with that.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 23:38

All right. Do you have any creative suggestions on where to get alternative funds for the town to support the town's growth?

Travis Groo: 23:46

I believe we can do community events and volunteer events where we can have, if the community wants to donate towards, let's say, an amphitheater or let's say some greenhouses or some community gardens or green spaces or even parks, the community, if it's so important for the community that they will support that. I don't believe we need bonds to do that. Bonds are nothing more than a tax increase. I don't believe we need bonds to do that. I believe when the community feels something is valuable, they will pay for it because it's important to them. Again, it's voluntary donations towards something and if it's not important for the community, we shouldn't take money for that and spend it against people's will. So we could actually have fundraising drives towards, let's say, a new park and raise money for it. If it's important for the community, it will get funded. If it's not, it will not get funded.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 24:46

Okay, Many times people, including those who may be your fellow Town Council members, have varying opinions. How do you approach a situation where there is a major difference of opinion?

Travis Groo: 24:58

Boy, aren't we used to that. So being able to be a good listener and being a person of empathy is important as a Town Council member or any type of public official and be able to understand where someone is coming from. We may not be able to agree on the means to get there, but I'm pretty sure we all want to get there. It's how we get there that differs, and I always say good ideas do not require force. So if it's a good idea, the community will want it. If it's a bad idea, we can't force that on someone else. That's coercion.

Travis Groo: 25:35

Good ideas do not require force. When you run into a situation where you disagree fundamentally how to get there, it's important to be a good listener and then explain in a reasonable, professional way another option on how to get there, and if it's a good idea, people will adopt it. If it's not, then it will not get adopted. But ultimately it's up to the community to decide what the community wants and what your neighbors want, and not having an agenda or an idea forced upon a community, because then the community becomes unhappy.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 26:13

All right. Do you feel the town could be more inclusive?

Travis Groo: 26:17

Absolutely. We could always be more inclusive. We should not be exclusive towards any person, and earlier in this interview I mentioned diversity. I love diversity and the more inclusive and accepting we are with ideas that may not be our idea, but it's their idea and it's just as valuable as our ideas. So, being inclusive and accepting to new concepts and new ideas, I think that's so important for a thriving community.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 26:47

Yes. Do you feel all constituents are feeling like they are seen and heard when it comes to town matters and issues they may be facing like discrimination?

Travis Groo: 26:56

I do not believe that everyone feels that they're heard no, but I do believe it's extremely important for them to be heard, and that is why I would promote more involvement at town council meetings, so the community can be heard because, ultimately, it should be the community running the community, and the town council is just the means to get there.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 27:17

Okay, and would you be willing to sign on to Wake County's non-discrimination ordinance? Why or why not?

Travis Groo: 27:24

Just depends on what it says. I haven't read it. I believe sometimes non-discriminatory letters are in fact discriminatory. So it depends on how it's worded and how it is presented. I obviously do not support any type of exclusivity at all, so more than likely, yes I would, but I'd also want to read it first. But I don't see why I would not sign off on it. But government has created discrimination through non-discrimination movements, so I believe government has actually been the cause of discrimination. Okay, and the community should be the ones that say no, enough is enough. We're not discriminating against anybody and we're sick of government discriminating against people, so it just depends on how it's worded and what it says Before I would.

Travis Groo: 28:16

I would. I'm not going to sign off on anything I disagree with.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 28:21

Have you gained any endorsements thus far and if you gain some after the recording of this podcast, where might voters find that information?

Travis Groo: 28:30

I have not been officially endorsed by any organization. Some of the forums haven't even started yet. I've been invited to like the housing builders forum and some of the Chamber of Commerce forums and whatnot. We haven't had any yet as candidates, so I don't know if anyone's really been endorsed by these folks yet. But if I do get endorsed, I'm working on my website right now, which is going to be GrooForNC. org. You can find it there. I will post it, or on my Facebook, which is GrooForNC. I would definitely post any important endorsements because I do think that's important.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 29:10

Okay, and you just mentioned a little bit, but if you want to highlight again, where can listeners connect with you and find out all the latest information regarding your campaign?

Travis Groo: 29:19

Again, I'm still working on changing up my website from when I ran for House 41 about four or five years ago, so I'm changing over the content. But it is GrooForNC. org or Facebook at GrooForNC. Either one of those places you can connect and talk to me, ask me any questions. I always want to be the type of person to listen to people's wants and needs and desires and listen to the community and our neighbors and our friends.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 29:47

Okay, and just for a piece of clarity GrooForNC is that the word for or the number four?

Travis Groo: 29:53

F-O-R spelled out yes

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 29:56

All right. Do you have any last thoughts you'd like to share with those voting in the upcoming elections?

Travis Groo: 30:01

I would just like to add please consider voting for me if you want your rights protected and your individual rights protected and your property rights protected. It's something that's very important to me. I want to make this community affordable, livable, sustainable and grow in a responsible manner, and let the community determine what's important for the community. That is what I will stand on, no matter what.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 30:25

All right, and now I have kind of a lightning round of questions that are not politically related. So whatever comes to mind, you can just kind of shout that out, and there aren't absolutely no right or wrong answers. Perfect. What is your favorite book?

Travis Groo: 30:41

Don't Hurt People and Don't Take their Stuff. By Matt Kibbey.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 30:46

Awesome. Who is someone you look up to and view as a role model?

Travis Groo: 30:51

I would say my buddy, David Ulmer, who was chair of the Wake LP prior to me being elected as chair. He's always been sort of a mentor for me and really pulled me into this political movement. Anyway, his name is David Ulmer.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 31:07

ould you let us know what that stands for?

Travis Groo: 31:09

It's the Libertarian Party.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 31:11

Perfect. What is your favorite way to relax and let go.

Travis Groo: 31:16

Honestly, probably the gym. I try to go to the gym as much as possible and for me, after I get through with the workout, I just feel better and more relaxed and it helps me unwind Awesome.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 31:27

What's one thing that fills your heart with joy?

Travis Groo: 31:31

Hiking. I love hiking in the mountains. I really do.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 31:34

Awesome. What is your greatest weakness?

Travis Groo: 31:38

I'm probably too empathetic and giving and it's just the way my mom raised me, so I'll do anything for my friends. So sometimes it can be taken advantage of, but I'm waking up to that and setting boundaries so it's helping a lot.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 31:56

Boundaries are so important. What was one thing you wished for as a kid?

Travis Groo: 32:02

I always wanted a dirt bike and I never got one. For some reason, my mom would never let me get one. She thought I would kill myself.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 32:10

As a mom, I can sympathize with her there. What's something that's on your bucket list?

Travis Groo: 32:17

To get elected as town council of Holly Springs. I think that would be a huge step forward and I believe that I would give it my all, and it's something that I'm passionate about.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 32:29

Very cool. What is your favorite thing about yourself?

Travis Groo: 32:34

Probably the fact that I'm kind and empathetic and care about people and I want to treat others as I would want to be treated. The golden rule is something I just live. It's not something I just talk about. I actually live it.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 32:49

You've just kind of brought up some theory that I personally have, that sometimes our greatest strength is also our greatest weakness, and the boundaries are what are important.

Travis Groo: 32:59

Exactly. Sometimes the opposite can happen when you're strong in one area, there's usually a weak hole, and that's why boundaries, like you said, are so important to recognize that, to close those holes, so that you're a more well-rounded individual.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 33:17

Well, thank you, Travis, for participating in our candidate segment. I appreciate you trusting me to kind of be vulnerable with these questions, and may you have the best of luck winning the election.

Travis Groo: 33:27

Thank you so much, amanda, I really appreciate your time.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 33:31

Absolutely. Democracy is at the heart of all we hold dear. Our local governments have the influence to decide our community's priorities. These offices have a major impact on our daily lives and can have real consequences. They create and enforce local ordinances, fund our local fire and police departments, create the structure and ambiance of our communities and decide our local property taxes. Your voter turnout in local elections means your vote has even more of an impact.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 34:05

Early voting starts October 19th at the Wake County Board of Elections and begins October 28th and will run through November 4th at the John M Brown Community Center in Apex and the Avery Street Recreation Center in Garner. During early voting, you may go to any of these early voting sites. Election Day will be Tuesday, November 7th. On Election Day, you have to go to your designated polling site. Please remember you will need a valid ID to vote. This year, the voter registration deadline is October 13th, though you may also be eligible to register at the voting sites during the early voting period.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 34:44

And that brings this episode of the Holly Springs Deep Dive Podcast, soon to be called the NC Deep Dive, to a close. Make sure you check out all the other relevant candidate episodes for the Board of Commissioners, also known as Town Council for Holly Springs and Fuquay Varina, at Thank you for engaging in today's episode and becoming a more informed citizen. Democracy is a team sport. Together we make democracy work and our communities a better place to work, live and play. Your vote absolutely matters, your voice absolutely matters. You, my friend, absolutely matter. Until next time, my friends, namaste: the love and light in me sees and honors the love and light in you.