Amanda Benbow Lunn: 0:09

Hello friends. Welcome back to the NC Deep Dive Podcast. I am your host, Amanda Benbow Lunn, and today I am honored to be speaking with Bryan Haynes as part of our 2025 Municipal Election Candidate Conversations. Bryan is running for re-election for the four-year seat on the Fuquay Varina Board of Commissioners. For this race, Bryan will be running against Gage Cook, Kris Vorren, and Nolan Perry. These races are nonpartisan, so there will not be any party affiliation, like an R or a D, next to their name on your ballot. You will be eligible to vote for up to two of these candidates for this seat on your ballot in this election. The top two vote getters will join Fuquay Varinas Board of Commissioners, Charlie Adcock, William Bill Harris, and Marilyn Gardner to make up its five-member body. In these candidate conversations, each candidate will be asked the same questions formulated by our constituent survey, observing community members in person and online, and fine-tuning with AI to keep them as fair, unbiased, and as open-ended as possible. Without further ado, my friends, let's dive in. Welcome, Bryan Haynes, to the North Carolina Deep Dive Podcast. I'm gonna allow you to take some time and introduce yourself, how long you've lived in the area, and what has inspired you to run.

Bryan Haynes: 1:36

Sure. Thank you, Amanda, for having me this evening. My name is Bryan Haynes. I am running for re-election in the town of Fuquay Varina Town Commissioner board. I am a lifelong resident, which is near and far between now with many people in the town of Fuquay Varina, but I'm still one of those natives around here in Fuquay Varina. That's awesome. I've matriculated through all the public school system in Fuquay Varina as well. The reason why I'm running for re-election is to continue what I started four years ago, continue to make sure that I achieve everything that I told the citizens that I was running on the last four years and continue to build on that. So that's the main reason why I'm running. I think we are moving in a right direction, but we have a long way to go still. See, you know, how our community continues to change and needs we need to address still. There's our community becoming more diverse. So we're meaning to make sure that we meet the needs of all of our citizens. My biggest thing with anything is make sure that we uh have a great quality of life for all our citizens. I tell people all the time, when you're running at large, you have to remember that in every vote you do is that when you make a decision, you're making a decision not just on a certain group or a certain area or anything. You make a decision based on every citizen in town of Fuquay Varina, which makes it difficult at times because you're thinking of everyone, these citizens, and you know, no matter what their you know, social economic background is, their race, anything, but you still have to make those decisions based on every citizen. So you have to think of every citizen when you're making a decision. So I'm one of those people in the community all the time. So I'm always trying to make sure I know what the needs of the community are because they change. You know, stuff that happened last week is different from this week. So I'm making sure we're understanding what you know, what our citizens want, what they need, the issues they have with what's going on in town or things they see that they wish they would have in town. So make sure we make all that stuff happen in our long-term plans as well as making sure that we're meeting the needs of people from day to day.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 3:22

Okay. Have you been an active voter, including in local elections?

Bryan Haynes: 3:26

Yes. Since I was allowed to vote, I don't recall ever missing an election. Even when I was out of school, when I was in West Salem for college, I drove back for election day. So I've always voted.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 3:36

Awesome. What do you feel is the role of a board commissioner?

Bryan Haynes: 3:41

The role is really one is to know what the needs of the community are. I don't think you can be an effective leader. I don't think you can be a definitely can't be an effective town elected official without knowing what your community needs, what your community wants. And so that's the main most important thing is one, listen to the citizens. Two, is educating citizens. A lot of time it can be simplest things from trash pickups or anything, just making sure that the citizens are educated on you know what to put in a trash can. Most people don't know you can't put a pizza box, you know, in the recycling bin. So you have to explain all this stuff. So a lot of education, education on how the budget is done, why your water bill might go up or your water bill might go down, or when tax rates come out, you explain that we don't control that. The county controls that. So doing a lot of education definitely is key. Making sure you're supporting so many initiatives and businesses and organizations, nonprofits, civic organizations, faith-faith organizations, making sure you're supporting all of them. I feel like it's very important because people need to see you, citizens need to see you, and not just, you know, for a photo operating thing, but just see you out there doing the work. I feel like the title is good, you feel upset, but you can't just, I feel like a town commissioner is more than just coming and sitting on a dais two times a month. It's about what you do when you're not sitting up there behind them doing votes. So that's that's what I think it is. I mean, getting involved, building relationships with not just your commissioners on your board, but also building relationships with your county, with your state, and even with your federal representatives. I think that's key to to continue to advance your community. Because if you don't have those relationships and those connections, you miss a lot of needed either resources, needed grant money, and so many other things. So make sure you're building those relationships as well.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 5:16

Could you explain a little bit further about how you build those relationships and what those relationships look like?

Bryan Haynes: 5:22

Yeah, so you know, for me is going outside the Fuqua y Varina, uh going to the General Assembly, speaking to your representatives, your House and Senate representatives. Every year I travel to DC with our National League of Cities, which is the organization that kind of represents all of the municipalities in the whole United States of America. So they have a congressional city conference in DC every year where we take one day where all the municipal elected officials that come in town go on Capitol Hill and talk to your federal representatives who represent your state. So going there, they're seeing your face, you're meeting their connections, meeting their aides, making sure they know what you need in your community. Because oftentimes they're looking at a big area. But if you go there, let them know what you need, what's really going on in the Fuquay Varina and the needs you need and how we possibly can help Fuquay Varina is key. Or at your county level, just talking, sitting down, having coffee. I think that's one of the simplest things, just sitting down, having coffee or lunch just to get to know them, for them to get to know you as well as know what's going on in your town. Because oftentimes, you know, they come in, they oftentimes come in town, but just really knowing what's you know going on the ground going on all the time is key for them to one help you meet some initiatives, especially if you need that funding. So definitely, like I said, you have to get out there and go meet them. Because oftentimes, you know, they might come once a year, but I feel like it's our responsibility to try to keep that communication throughout the year because that always puts you a little bit ahead of somebody else if you already have that communication, that relationship going on.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 6:39

True enough. What is your involvement within the community and town government and what qualifications make you prepared to maintain this role?

Bryan Haynes: 6:47

I'm involved in so many different things. I tell people it's not to brag or anything, it's just that's how I grew up. My mom was a single parent mom, and she literally worked, you know, a few jobs, but also made sure she was PTA president. She never missed a football game, wrestling match. She never missed a band performance. She was a surrogate mother for kids, kind of helping kids who didn't have that motherly figure. So, you know, I tell people my hustlers, I always gain that from her. So people like you, you're always doing stuff in the community. I'm like, I tell people, I that's what I grew up on, you know. And she still was sitting on other boards and everything. So that's me. One, I stay abreast of so many things, just running my nonprofit organization, Pine Acres Community Center, where you know, even during COVID, we stepped up and made sure kids are being fed and not just Fuquay Varina, but in Holly Springs and some of Apex and even some of Harnett County, make sure they're fed. And now we still feeding families each uh month. So that gives us a breast on what's going on and what the needs of the community is oftentimes. And oftentimes these are people who per se at times look or feel overlooked. So making sure we know what they need as well, because oftentimes, you know, we talk to our business owners, we see our business owners, we see a lot of the bigger people in town that you see all the time. But the people who oftentimes feel overlooked need to be heard too. So make sure that I sit on Rotary Club on so many civic organizations. My Masonic Lodge is here in Fuqua y Varina. We're celebrating 120 years.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 8:04

Wow.

Bryan Haynes: 8:04

I'm a local minister in the community as well. So I kind of have my hands in a little bit of everything, which I feel like helps me in this role to navigate pretty much anything that'll come across our desk. And then also statewide, serve on North Carolina Black Elected Municipal Officials Board of Directors. So I'm on the board of directors there, as well as for the National League of Cities, I sit on the Education and Family Advisory Committee as well as the Federal Advocacy Committee for Economic Development, as well as Small Cities Council. So I feel like those help me and preparing me to make sure that I'm being the best town commissioner I can be. And that's where that relationship comes back in handy, where I'm dealing with people on the state level with our state legal municipalities as well as our federal legal municipalities, which you're being able to talk to elected officials all over the country. So they have, and you realize that most of us have the same issue. It's just either they're smaller or they're bigger because of our population or either our budgets, but we're all dealing with the same type of issues. So we'll be able to share those issues, run those issues by. You can always call somebody. I can call somebody in California, somebody in Florida, somebody in Texas, and say, What do you think about this? I know you said you would y'all were doing this or y'all have done this or implemented this. What do you think about it? And how did y'all go about it? How did y'all go about the funding? And how did y'all get buy-in from the community?

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 9:14

That's awesome. That's really important feedback to be able to have and to be able to bounce ideas off of one another at all of those levels.

Bryan Haynes: 9:20

Exactly. I tell people you learn a lot, you know, you learn even more once you get into office, but still you're not an expert on everything. So you need to have people who you can call no matter whether it's for housing, no matter whether it's for public safety, no matter whether it's for education, no matter whether it's for traffic, you need to have people that you can always reach out to and get their professional opinion because uh have so much experience in it. So that's where that relationship comes back as well. Being able to call these people and ask them, and they're gonna give you an unbiased answer about everything and just like this is what it is, and how you might want to go about it, how you might want to look at it.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 9:52

Excellent. What's your long-term vision for the future of Fuqua y Varina?

Bryan Haynes: 9:57

Long-term vision, one of the biggest things is making sure that everybody can live who works in Fuquay Varina in Fuquay Varina. That's one of our biggest things. I know that's a hard thing to tackle and a hard thing to see happen, but definitely our police, our fire, our educators, but also our barbers, our beauticians, cosmetologists. So making sure everybody can live in the town Fuqua y Varina. Make sure that as we continue to grow and as we continue to become more diverse, making sure that we make space and opportunities for everybody to thrive and have a great quality of life. My biggest thing always is to make sure no kid goes hungry in Fuquay Varina. I'm very big on that. Making sure that at some point in time where we don't have to hear, we have traffic problems Fuquay Varina. I mean, we hear it all the time, but make sure the stuff we're doing now will impact us to the point where at some point in time we will be to the point where traffic is moving smoothly everywhere. And you know, that's kind of hard because we continue to grow. We're not gonna stop growing. The county as a whole is not gonna stop growing, and even our state is not gonna stop growing because there's so many people being attracted to this area. So definitely making sure we continue to expand our youth programming, our senior services, my long-term plan. I'm still one of the few things that I don't have. I tell people I went back and looked at my platform and I can pretty much check off everything I ran on last year already. So that's amazing. But I still have one thing that I'm working on that's public transportation. We're working on it, it's in progress because I understand that so many people don't have transportation all day long. People share cars, family share cars. So somebody might have it in the morning, somebody might have it in the afternoon. Some people don't have it at all. Our seniors need to be able to get around freely to their doctor's appointment, to the grocery store, to the pharmacy, and then even our young people will be able to have where they can actually ride on these transportation to get around town from school outside of riding a bus or to other activities, because now we have two community centers, one on our south side and one on our north side. So I want to make sure we have transportation so people can get to the north side community center because it's amazing, but we got to make sure people are able to get there.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 11:51

That's really great that you have the foresight to think not only do we bring this amazing community center here, but if you build it, people will come. But some people might not have that opportunity. So making sure you're being inclusive to make sure that everybody does have that opportunity to get there.

Bryan Haynes: 12:06

Yeah, I tell people I'm a very observant person. So, you know, I see the people walking to work or walking their kids to school or walking people different places. And, you know, I want to make sure that we can provide that opportunity to where they can walk safely. That's one of the biggest things to make sure we have sidewalks all around town. We're still working on that plan to make sure we have sidewalks everywhere. We had uh one of our elementary schools, I just kind of took some pictures during our what is bike to ride to school and show where people had to ride and bike in the street because there was no sidewalks coming from that area. So that's being addressed now, which we've gotten some state funding and other things, and that should be coming online very soon. So make sure we have those sidewalks is one thing we don't want to have is food deserts where people can't safely walk to somewhere to get food or to get their services. So that's another thing that long term to make sure we have that. Because people walking in the street, people don't watch like they used to watch to make sure our people can get around safely.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 12:57

And you had mentioned that most of your platform lists from the last time you have been able to check off. Do you want to share those things as well?

Bryan Haynes: 13:06

Sure. Last time, like I said, uh one of the things is public safety, make sure we continue to support and expand our public safety, which this past meeting, we just had our fire safety inspection come back rate in one, which is top. Only a few of the uh fire departments in this whole state of North Carolina have that rank, as well as our public safety, our police department as well make sure they just achieved uh North Carolina CALEA certification. We worked to get our own SROs outside of the county into our schools, so that was brought on. We got Tree City USA. I was pushing for that, so we got Tree City USA. I was pushing for our youth council to be re-implemented in town, and now we have two young people on the state board, and they are now their state-recognized youth council, as well as there's over a hundred and something kids in the youth council, as well as traffic. I tell people all the time there's gonna be a lot of projects going on all at one time, but we're working very hard on traffic, so you're gonna see cones going up everywhere. I tell people you're gonna see a lot of cones, but just know we're working. So making sure we've been pushing that all of our parks and recs continue to expand those. We're just getting another park online now at Wheeler Springs Elementary School. So all those things are in the platform that I can check off. Another thing was we never had any smoke ordinances at any of any of our facilities, straight across the whole city. So I went back and looked, I went and looked at all the other municipalities in Wake County, and we had nothing checked off. So now, because a lot of people don't want to smell cigarette smoke or cigar smoke or anything while they're watching their kid play baseball or soccer or football or anything like that. So now we have those where they're smoke-free at our parks and a lot of our government facilities and everything like that. Because you want everybody to have a quality of life and have an enjoyable time while they're out there cheering on their kids. So those are just a few things that I definitely focused on during the last election that those have become positive wins, and I was able to get buy-in from the rest of the board to get a lot of stuff approved and you know support them on so many of their initiatives as well.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 14:57

That's awesome. You've talked a little bit about it, but what would you say your top three priorities are for you Fuquay Varina now if you were to be re-elected?

Bryan Haynes: 15:05

Top three is one, keeping the momentum we're going. I think we're going in a great direction now. It's taking some time, but we're really working to where we are becoming a very proactive community and making sure that we're not being reactive to anything. So we're not just looking down the line five years, looking down the line 20 to 30 to 40 years, and even 50 years down the line, because even after we are all off the board, we want to make sure that we laid up the foundation for the people to come behind us to pick up and take it even further. One of the biggest things is making sure that just simple things is our traffic. Like I said, traffic is still an issue. You know, that's one of the first things you hear. Say if you went on Chat GPT, the first thing that's gonna come up when you see that asks what the biggest issue is in town of Fuquay Varina, and they go through it, it's gonna say traffic. So continue to make sure we're addressing a lot of those traffic problems, and some of those traffic problems and even street problems is sidewalk. So making sure we continue to expand our sidewalk programs so kids and families can be able to walk safely, continue to expand our greenways. We're so excited about connecting to Bass Lake and Holly Springs. That's gonna be an amazing thing. A lot of the long distance runners are so excited about that because they can run all the way to Bass Lake and run back. So a lot of my focus is on being regional. And we understand if we had to do a lot of these projects on our own, it costs us a lot of money. But if we can partner with our other communities around us to make these initiatives happen, it saves both municipalities a lot of money and even the county. So having regional partners around, making sure that we can partner on stuff, even with our water system. We're partnering with Holly Springs, we're partnering with Pittsboro, we're partnering with Sanford to get fresh water here and have water that we can have for the next 10-15 years. So making sure that happens, definitely when it comes to economic development, making sure that we are still focused on bringing some more big corporations in the community. Right now, most of our tax base comes from residential housing. We're very lopsided on that. So working to make sure we can bring some more commercial tax base to the town, which helps leverage and keeps your tax rates low. You know, we don't want to raise taxes by no means. So we try to do everything we can. So even with our budget this year, we didn't do a lot of the frills this year per se, because we want to make sure that we address what needed to happen. So we were more on a needs basis and not really the wants. We did some won't stuff, but we understand, and you know, when you're in this position, you have to make sure that you're addressing the needs that need to be handled not just today, but tomorrow and even next year with our budgets and even five years down the road. So we really focus on that, but also we didn't want to raise taxes. So that was really big. I mean, there's some stuff that we kind of had to raise, like our water bill this year, but uh we still have to continue to provide safe water and water for us is going up, costing us more to provide water to the town, as well as we have to spend our water system to continue to grow our community as well. So there's a few things that we hear a lot of times, but we try to address and make sure because at the end of the day, we all live in Fuquay Varina. So, you know, it's the same increases we're paying, those increases. So we understand and we try to keep everything to where cost is not going up because I know it's taxing on so many people.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 17:54

And you had mentioned the education piece and something that you just lifted up. Like maybe if I would have thought about it, I would have come to that conclusion, but I never had a moment to even think about it until you said that the town pays for water and your expenses are going up with that. Like, I don't know how I thought water got here or like where those fees all come and go. I know I pay the town of Fuquay Varina, but I didn't, I guess, as a resident, know that the town is paying whatever their fees are. And some of what we're seeing, we're paying a lot of those costs. So thank you for lifting that up.

Bryan Haynes: 18:25

Yeah, we get water from different sources. So we get water from Harnett County, we get water from other municipalities and other communities. Also, we get water from two river basins. We get water from the Neuse River, and we get water from the Cape Fear River. So we have to put that water back two different ways because those are two different water types. So that costs us even more to make sure the two different water systems are coming in to make sure they're clean for you to drink. So all of that costs us a lot more money. We're expanding our water treatment plant where for the longest time they were never 24 hours, but we're going to a 24-hour water treatment plant to provide safe and healthy water and clean water for our residents as well. So those are things that we're incuring the cost on, which is kind of cost us a little bit more. So, but we're doing that to make sure that we provide this quality of life as we all see it to the citizens. So that's costing us more money. I mean, even with simple things, I think a few years we had to raise our recycling and uh trash pickup, most of the time, but people didn't realize we were incuring the cost for recycling. But after a while, it got to the point where it was costing us way more money, so we had to share that cost, and that's where that education piece comes in. Oftentimes, even with say roads, they're like, Why you haven't got this road fixed? Even though it's in Fuquay Varina, that's a state road. The town had to contact our state DOT and address these issues, which it might take a little bit longer because they're addressing the need. So some roads are state roads, some roads a town maintain roads, even though we maintain all the roads and make sure they look good and they're cut, those roads are actually state roads oftentimes.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 19:48

Interesting. What do you feel is working well in the town today, and where do you still see room for improvement?

Bryan Haynes: 19:55

What's working great is we continue to grow with the times. You know, one of the things that we always focus on, especially me being a native, is making sure we still keep the Fuquay Varina charm that we all grew up and knew, but also making sure that we're being progressive at the same time and understand that our community is changing. Our community is becoming more diverse, our community is becoming at times younger. It goes back and forth. We still have a great senior population. We understand that a lot of grandparents are moving here to help take care of their grandkids. Also, we realize we have a lot of business professionals because for the longest time we've been a bare road community. So, you know, we've been meeting those needs, but now we need to make sure that the revenue that people are spending in other municipalities, we can keep it in town of Fuquay Varina. So continue to expand, like McWally's opening up was big. That's something people have been asking for for I don't know how long. So now we have something where people don't have to go outside of Fuquay Varina, go to Raleigh or go to all these other municipalities to go to. They can come bowl right here Fuquay Varina. They can play at the arcade games, they can get great food. So continue to, you know, expand those types of things from restaurants and when Gold Leaf Crossing uh shop center comes online, that's gonna help a lot keeping that revenue in town. The True by Hilton Hotel just broke ground last week. So making sure we have a quality hotel in town is key to as well, because a lot of revenue has been going to our neighboring communities on hotels and lodging. So making sure that we're keeping up with the times as we continue to grow, making sure that we're meeting the needs of these different communities who are joining us. In the last few years, we've had a growth in our Indian community, which they have been amazing. Our Hindu community, our Islamic community, our African community. So, you know, making sure that we're having opportunities to let these different cultures showcase their culture, making sure that we're still continuing to strengthen these partnerships. We have amazing nonprofits, we have amazing businesses, we have amazing faith-based communities, civic organizations, but just make sure we're all working together to get to one goal. So those are the biggest things that we see us going in the right direction, but continue to make sure that we're putting what we need to do in play to make sure it keeps going ahead. And like I say, I tell people, you know, I brag on our town all the time. Every town has issues, but to be able to talk about how just simple things of, you know, how our board, even though we don't agree on everything, we get along. That's awesome. I see so many other boards who so much other stuff happens in their board meetings outside of board meetings, but you know, we might not agree on a situation or a vote or anything like that. But five minutes down the road, we're still asking, How are your kids or how's a family doing, or something like that. So that's key because if you don't have a board that's a functioning board that's working together, there becomes more issues. And I will say that, you know, we have a board that's been really working hard. You really care about everybody, you know, you make sure everybody's family is good, you ask those questions, you see their family, seeing their kids grow up and grandkids and everybody else. So just to make sure all that. So, like I said, well, as we grow, making sure that we're putting what's need to be in play to make sure that our town grows in the right, safe, and quality direction.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 22:48

Yeah, and I think that also contributes to the small town charm, is when your board can get along and model the behavior and it just seems more accessible and friendly, easygoing. So kudos for that. Do you support the current town budget? Where would you advocate for changes, including any adjustments to taxes or spending priorities if needed for fiscal responsibility?

Bryan Haynes: 23:11

I fully support our budget. We have multiple budget meetings. The town, when they come to town board meeting and present it, that's a short end, but no, we're sitting in a room for three, four hours where they lay out the budget. But I'll tell people our budget for next year is being worked on now. We just approved the budget at the end of June. But as soon as that budget was approved, we're already working on next year's budget.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 23:29

Oh wow.

Bryan Haynes: 23:30

And then also during our town strategic retreat, we bring other things that we look and we talk about and discuss and make sure we're going in the right direction from what the numbers are showing. So we bring what we're looking for, what we need as a board to the budget as well. I tell people by March, we already have a budget ready, really.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 23:47

Oh wow.

Bryan Haynes: 23:47

And we're just tweaking that budget. In April, we get presented a budget. So by the time June comes, I tell people our finance staff, our management work very hard on that budget. And then that also, in turn, one, keeps all our ratings low. So if we do need to get loans or you know, borrow money, our borrowing power is so good because we're able to sow that fiscal responsibility. We always get top tier, we always get high rankings and all this. I mean, we're getting an assessment going on right now from all of our rating agencies, and we've been top tier and top excelling on that. And that in turn is where we don't have to raise taxes. Because at the end of the day, the county raised taxes, and because we didn't raise taxes, helped a lot of families, you know, because they wouldn't have to incur taxes from us as well as the county at times. So, you know, we look at all that and put all that in play as well. So our budget was really fiscally responsible because uncertainties with going on above our means, we had to make sure that we were good as a community and make sure that we can provide all the resources and part of life things that we have to provide and not put ourselves in any kind of bond as well from a town standpoint. So we were looking at all these different things.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 24:48

Okay. Oftentimes it feels like government waits until a specific need is critical before taking action. Do you support being more proactive and how and in what ways specifically?

Bryan Haynes: 24:59

Always. I feel like that's where every board should be. That's and definitely for me, I don't want to wait till we're in a situation to have to handle it. I'd rather be looking down the road. So that's why I said our focus is down the road. So we're already looking at where trends are going. We're already looking where what issues might arise or what areas are hot spots where growth is going to happen. So, how can we make sure that infrastructure is there before they get there? So it's not a big incurrence on us, and people don't realize it. Say we had a project bid now or some type of project, six months from now, that project might be a hundred to two hundred to three hundred thousand dollars more.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 25:32

Wow.

Bryan Haynes: 25:32

So making sure that we're planning ahead because we know the stuff, the cost of everything keeps going up. So being proactive in everything you do is very key. But I also, in turn, the only way you can be proactive is if you know the needs of the community. So that goes back to listening to your citizens. You got to make sure you listen to your citizens. What do your citizens need? What issues are they seeing? I mean, it's small things that people bring up to you, but those are issues that at some point in time become problems. So if we address them now, they won't become problems. I've I've had a few phone calls a day, and so I'm working on those to make sure we don't have to see somebody, you know, possibly get hit uh pulling out of a driveway or somebody pedestrian walking across the street. So those are things that we can prevent now. You know, we can make sure that we provide that safety for our community all the way around.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 26:14

Excellent. What new initiatives or attractions would you champion to boost revenue and community pride?

Bryan Haynes: 26:20

Initiatives, you know, I'm always big on shopping local. I'm big on that. As a business owner myself, I understand that vibrant downtowns need a vibrant community as in general. I just met a young lady who family who were opening up a new learning center in the town. So I'm like, people go support her. So making sure you're pushing that because that helps our economy, that helps our community grow. So pushing those things where it comes to supporting downtown, go to your local coffee shops, your restaurants, supporting any initiative goes on, no matter whether it's your food, pantries, no matter whether it's your clothing, shelters, anything. So that's what creates community. I'm big on community. I've always been big on community, making sure that we are the community that we don't like what we look on just on paper, but when people come into community, they feel that they see that, and it keeps them here. You know, I hear it all the time. I ask people all the time, how in the world did you first find Fuquay Varina? I mean, I have people coming from Los Angeles, California, Washington, state, you know, Washington State, so many other places. I'm like, how do you find it? And you have hear the weirdest stories ever, how people found Fuquay. One of the easiest things is people look at the education system in Wake County. They look for what are the safest towns in North Carolina. And a lot of people, when we were the safest town in North Carolina, people actually moved to Fuquay Varina because of that. So make sure our public safety is to the point where they can have those resources and be ranked to that point. It's key to bring new families in town. There's some still some errors. I know I hear people talking about we need a seafood place, we need a steakhouse, we need all these things, other steakhouses. We need uh this and that. So this community is seeing what they want to see in the town, always continue to support our parts of rec department as they create initiatives, bring in more concerts in town, which brings everybody together. We have an international festival coming. Uh, even with that, making sure that we are highlighting all the cultures that have moved into town, Fuquay Varina, so they can be highlighted in the international culture fest. So just making sure that we're meeting the needs, make sure, and not just, you know, like I can tell people, it's easy for anybody. You work, you live, you're in certain areas, but you got to make sure as a town, especially at large, that you are make sure you listen to all of your citizens. So most of my grocery store runs can turn into uh five, you know, uh an hour-long conversation, but I feel like that's your responsibility to sit there and ask a question. Like I said, a lot of times it's just education. People are like, well, how does this happen? Simple things is when railroads close, they're like, why'd it happen? I said, Well, for every one railroad that opens up, you have to close two railroad crosses.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 28:43

Oh, really?

Bryan Haynes: 28:43

So that's what happens. People didn't know. They was like, Oh, I never knew that. I said, Yeah. I said, That's stuff I didn't know either. So that's where the education piece comes back as well. Make sure people understand that, you know, that's stuff we have to abide by as a town, as a municipality, that we have to adhere to from state and federal government. Interesting.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 29:01

Have you ever disagreed publicly with a current town decision or policy? And if so, what was it and how did you handle it or how will you handle it if you were re-elected?

Bryan Haynes: 29:11

I've disagreed with some zoning stuff at times, but it's just because I wasn't a fan of the project in general or how it was being built or how it would affect the community. One of them is being addressed currently, but I feel like when you see those things, I tell people we take those agendas and really look at them days before, and we get the extended agenda. So we really have to look at this stuff. Oftentimes I encourage you riding by these areas and seeing the property itself or seeing where this might be built or seeing, you know, how this will impact that also involves you asking the citizen, what do you think about it? There's been times where I kind of at first didn't vote for it, and it was because I needed more research, I needed more data, I needed more information. Issues turn sour at times, not because of the issue, but it turns into something totally different. So sometimes you have to ease that off and bring it back to the board. Later, but I feel like a lot of it is seeing the numbers, seeing how it worked, and again, going about talking to people when there's issues coming around businesses or anything like that. You have to go sit down and talk to these business people. There's a certain community. You have to ask people in that community, what do you think about it? Oftentimes they have no idea and really don't care, but still it's the point that you reached out to them to find out what do you think about it? How do you feel about this? What issues do you think would arise or could happen, no matter whether it's a lot more traffic in their community, no matter whether it's you know, they feel like it might be some loitering or anything. You really have to ask. So we get that agenda, but then it takes us to have to go out, ask questions, you know, reach out to our management. And like I said, we have straight across the board, I brag on just our management, our directors, our staff all together, you know, to hear your staff, people rave, you know, citizens rave about our staff. You know, we hear it all the time about sanitation and people be leaving them gifts and everything, which is amazing because they work so hard and they care and they they give you a smile. You know, that's a big thing. We got to make sure we're retaining these great employees. So making sure that we continue to look at cost of living, make sure they have good insurance, you know, health insurance and everything else, making sure they have time off if a family member gets sick or you know, loved ones. So make sure all that happens and make sure, you know, we're keeping up with you know what everybody else is paying around our municipality and even the state to make sure that we are giving them what they need to provide for their families as well as provide for the town. All that comes into play when it comes to the budget as well. You know, we want to bring a whole lot more employees in, but we also understand that fiscally we can't put all these employees in place until we have those resources financially to make sure that we can cover that and not put any burden on our citizens.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 31:40

When you hear smart growth, what does that mean for our town in practical terms?

Bryan Haynes: 31:45

So, smart growth is one, you have to look and see where the hot spots where your growth areas are going, making sure from our standpoint is that we have the infrastructure there. Because when you don't have infrastructure there, that bogs down other areas, which causes issues in other areas. And it can literally be one stop light up. And because we haven't made sure that infrastructure is to where it needs to be, that can cause traffic jams, cause water issues, making sure that if we're going to install this infrastructure, we're adding, say, you're adding housing to this community, making sure the water pressure is up to people's liking and make sure the water pressure is good. So we have to look at all that, and that's constantly always evaluate. We have stuff that goes down. A lot of times people don't know there's a lot of on-call people in our town. So when water issues, sewage issues come up, we have people on call who literally go out middle of the night, storm happens, people on call, departments on call, and they have to go out and handle that. So make sure we're providing infrastructure. That's one of the biggest things from an elected official standpoint is make sure we have the infrastructure to provide smart growth. Making sure that we're looking at the plans and make sure that we're providing for me different types of housing when it comes to smart growth as well, at different price points to make sure it's attainable for all citizens. So for the longest time, the model for years is only we either had apartments or single-family homes, maybe townhouse, but we're having looking at more options to make sure that we can provide those different price points, as well as land is becoming more scarce in Fuquay Varina. So making sure that we understand that it's some stuff is gonna have to become more dense over time to make sure that we have that housing and provide that quality of life, people. So looking where we can not all the time expand out, but expand up. Smart growth is bringing on this parking deck because we hear all the time that downtown doesn't have enough parking. So working to get that going. So bringing on things like that is smart growth. You know, smart growth for us was is going into this big water project to make sure that we have that water to provide for the new businesses that are coming in town and new residents to come in town. So looking at all that is smart growth as well as you know, when you're looking at that, you have to look at where do we need to put our next fire station. Right now, our police department is busting its seams. So we need a new police department, the building itself. So looking at that, and do we need to put substations around town to make our response times even shorter? So all that is smart growth as well. You know, all the times people talk about smart growth and it goes straight to housing, but it's a lot more than complex smart growth because if you don't have the infrastructure and the public safety and fire, police, and all these other things, you're still not providing smart growth because you have areas that you're missing. I mean, it's amazing that we're getting Wake Med building the new emergency center there because we have resources on our northern side, but now we'll be able to go to that northern side to our west, but now we'll be able to meet the north side Fuquay Varina so people will be able to get to emergency services even faster that way. So that's smart growth as well, looking at where those trends are. Um, you know, we're already looking at areas in our ETJ, and even further than that, where Fuquay is looking to expand in the next 20 years. And how are we gonna be able to address that now? So we already have all the infrastructure plug and play whenever people start moving that way. I mean, and then also protecting our corridors, our main road corridors for our commercial properties and commercial businesses to come in so they're able to access those main roads and get to our major highways. So trying to attract them into our major corridors is key too. And then also mixed use is key. It's amazing when you can live somewhere, walk downstairs, get a slice of pizza, possibly walk to the grocery store, you can go to a little corner store. So looking at that as well, that model of mixed use property where you can come downstairs and shop, eat, and even play at times. Most of our communities now have parks, little amphitheater areas, playgrounds, dog parks. So make sure they have all those amenities right there where they can come downstairs and never even have to get in the car.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 35:30

And that is super keeping it local. So, how would you ensure new development maintains our town's character while remaining affordable for residents?

Bryan Haynes: 35:40

One, I serve on the affordable housing subcommittee for the Central Pines organization, which is an organization where municipality is Wake County, Orange County, Chatham County, most of our area counties serve and we kind of meet together. So we're trying to look at how we can address this from a regional standpoint. Because if you go to any town now or any state, it's just across the board. Even when I'm in my national meetings, you know, housing is at the forefront of all conversation. But I tell people it's it's not one thing that we can address as a town, town board by itself. It's gonna take us bringing developers, builders, other experts, as well as elected officials all together to really address this issue, which I feel like we're starting to kind of start turning the table and find some solutions. And it's not an easy thing. And if you ask anybody, there's not a plug-and-play type thing where that's an easy answer you can really address and go from there. So I develop that's the conversation. We got to keep this conversation going and look at how certain things can be addressed to make the cost go down from what we can do to help these developments keep their costs down on our standpoint, no matter whether it's I guess how long it takes for them to get all their processes and their permits and everything else, which at the end of the day that costs money each day. So at the end of the day, they're gonna have to tack down to the cost of a house or if the infrastructure is there, how we can look at it that way. So, like I said, it takes a conversation between all of us. And if we as a board just try to address that, you're never you're gonna we're never gonna go anywhere. Um, so it has to be a conversation and a collaboration between everybody to really get to a point where straight across the board, no matter what municipality, this is how we can handle it. I tell people that's still a working document. It's something that we're all looking at constantly, how we can keep costs down to make it affordable for our residents, because land is going up, your supplies are going up. I mean, just you you can just watch the the price of sheet rock or the price of plywood, you see how the price is is elevated from 18 years ago to now. So you see why stuff is costing more. Like I said, that's one of those things where we really have to tackle this as a group.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 37:40

Mm-hmm. Our town is growing rapidly, putting pressure on infrastructure like water and roads, public safety, parks and recreation, and housing affordability. If you had to prioritize only one of these areas this year due to limited funding, which would you choose and how would you communicate that decision to residents?

Bryan Haynes: 37:59

So I'll put infrastructure up under a big umbrella. So if we tackle the infrastructure that helps everything in infrastructure means the traffic, your water, your sewer, because you know, our town has been around a long time. So we're replacing piping throughout town to make sure it's up to code, uh replacing lines for our fire hydrants to make sure that they have the pressure to when our fire engines hook up to that fire hydrant, they have the pressure they need, and as well as making sure we have the water coming in. So all that infrastructure kind of is up under one big umbrella for me, just focusing on it. That's the key thing because if we have handle the infrastructure, everything else will come and follow. But we have to make sure we have that one is running good, we're able to expand and we're look 10 to 15, 20 years down the road, everything else falls into play. So then you have, then you're able to make sure that you have a great, you know, parks, make sure you have great facilities. You know, we have to make sure we're looking at where we're gonna run this infrastructure because at some point in time we know we're gonna have to bring on more parks, we know we have to bring on more greenways. So we haven't looked at all this, but all this goes back to infrastructure. And everything at the end of the, like I said, it goes back to infrastructure. So make sure we have that infrastructure already in place where it's more of a plug-and-play and not, okay, they're gonna do this, and now we gotta bring the infrastructure in. And that in turn costs more money.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 39:11

Mm-hmm. You've mentioned it a little bit, but once you make these decisions, how do you communicate that to residents?

Bryan Haynes: 39:18

If something gets voted on, I try to reach out to those organizations or whoever and tell them, you know, what how we voted. I always kind of share what's going on in so many different ways, conversations. I meet with citizens on an almost daily basis. People reach out. So then I'll reach out to other citizens of groups and ask them, let them know what's coming ahead, what might be coming in their community or what might be on the horizon, how do they feel about it? So trying to keep that communication line helps me educate people pretty fast. A lot of times people really reach out to me because they don't understand. Say they get a public hearing notice in the mail, they reach out and like, well, what does this mean? You know, they're changing your zoning, they're changing this, and then I kind of explain to a lot of different citizens on what this means and how this affects them. If it doesn't affect them, um, oftentimes when new projects of developments come, they're like, even when it comes down to annexation, you know, we can't force you to annex in the town of Fuquay Varina. But when people start seeing a lot of activity or a lot of development around their property, they feel like they're gonna be the next one to get annexed. And I'm like, no, that's not the case. You have to voluntarily annex in the town Fuquay Varina. We can't force you to do that. And then they're like, okay, that makes sense. Now we're putting infrastructure where you can annex in the town, and most times we can get provided water and sewer if it's in that area and even trash pickup, but it's your decision to do that. So being able to educate people when stuff like that happens, and that's being able to engage with the community, so people feel free to call you or text you or email you and ask you those questions on what does this mean makes it more effective community and make you more effective leader as well.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 40:48

I would agree. Do you feel we already adequately meet the needs of any of these, the infrastructure, public safety, parks and recreation, or housing affordability?

Bryan Haynes: 40:57

I feel like we're moving in the right direction, but in every area we can always get better. Even from a governmental standpoint, we can always get better as a board. Each one of us can get better. We're probably areas where we're not engaged as we should be to make sure we're engaging these different areas and make sure we're being better leaders. So I feel like our departments and everybody are doing great, and they're always striving to go higher as well. You know, people in the departments, they are going for gaining more education, getting more certifications, make sure that we are abreast, you know, even small things of having all the offices, crisis intervention training, and different things like that, where we're trying to improve all the time. I feel like that's key. You can't get stagnant as a town. If you get stagnant as a town, your town will stop growing. So make sure we're doing it. Like I said, even with our downtown associations and our uh chamber, they're always, you know, taking the next step and trying to be proactive in everything they do to attract more businesses, attract more people, attract more people to stay here in town. So all that's key. All of us are always working to get better on a daily basis. So I feel like we all can approve, but we're definitely going in the right direction and doing great things. I mean, even just our survey satisfaction of just living in Fuquay Varina is always ranking high. So make sure we continue to do that to get an even higher grade next time we ask citizens how we're doing.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 42:11

Mm-hmm. As the population grows, what strategies would you prioritize to address the roads, utilities, and other infrastructure challenges?

Bryan Haynes: 42:20

That goes back to going ahead and having that infrastructure already on the ground and already done. If we do that, we can address the growth coming in. Because like I tell people, we're about to hit 50,000, which consider it's technically not a town per se anymore, but was it's actually a big town or a small city. So making sure that we have that infrastructure ready. Simple things to make sure that we're, you know, attracting grocery stores in different areas of town, attracting restaurants in different areas of town, attracting shopping stores, and so making sure we're strategically looking at where these growth areas are and making sure that we are developing not just from a residential standpoint, but from a commercial standpoint, as well as as a public safety standpoint. So we're looking at fire station number five and already kind of looking at where we possibly do a fire station number six. We're looking at where we can put up another business park in the town of Fuquay Varina where we can purchase land to have a shovel-ready property where the next corporation will come in and say we want to move to town Fuquay Varina. And we can say, Well, we have this shovel ready property already ready if you want to purchase it, and they can move in and start building day one. So having all that in place helps us with the growth that's gonna come. We're projected to grow by leaps and bounds in the next 10 years, shall make sure we have the housing. I mean, really, honestly, we're still in a housing shortage in Wake County, but we still have to make sure that we have the housing people can obtain and afford for all different price points, and that means that we have to have different types of housing for everybody to make sure everybody can live. Because a lot of people don't want to cut grass anymore, they just want to literally come home, they want somebody else to handle it. You need to have that for them. You still need to have your rent-style homes before your grandparents is moving in because they don't want stairs. So you have to look at all those different types of housing as well, even our assisted living and senior living facilities. Make sure that we're attracting those, making sure that we have at some point in time have a senior living facility where everything is in-house. I visit some other seniors and other municipalities where everything is in-house. They don't even have to go outside the door, but everything is there to make it easy for them. Make sure our young people have facilities, activities that meet our needs of all of them, no matter what their background is, no matter, you know, uh anything. Where we have something for everybody to thrive.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 44:26

Awesome. As our town grows, farmland faces pressure from development and some residents struggle to access fresh food. How would you support local farmers, protect farmland, and help ensure everyone has access to healthy, affordable food?

Bryan Haynes: 44:39

Farmers in general. Um I even have a classmate whose family I shop from them all the time with the Fuquay Varina Growers Market. So I try to support our local farmers at all costs. Even with my food program that I run at Pine Acre Community Center, we shop local with everything, no matter whether it's buying meat, no matter what's buying produce. We shop local from all these farmers to make sure that we're supporting them. And then also at Pine Acres, we uh partner with Wake County where we did a community garden as well. So I've become to have a green thumb over the last seven, eight months. We are now about to start tilling up land to plant turnip greens and collet greens and different things that grow through the fall and winter. So it's been an education process for me. Just got done with squash. We pulled so much squash, and I just picked 50 jalapeno peppers.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 45:24

Oh wow.

Bryan Haynes: 45:25

We're looking at where we can one get that project to the point where we can start providing people with gardening classes so they can start growing their mini gardens at home and at some point in time have a master gardener's class there so people can become master gardeners as well. So that's how I focused on that area, making sure that one, people can start becoming and growing stuff on their back porches, showing they don't need a lot of space. But as long as they have two, three pots, they can grow some herbs, they can grow some tomatoes, they can grow, you know, eggplant, they can grow so many different things and educate them on what grows this time of year, what doesn't grow this time of year, how to water, and then also we can teach our young people as well.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 46:02

Mm-hmm. That's fantastic. Our police sometimes receive requests from outside agencies while also addressing local needs. How would you set priorities for public safety with limited resources?

Bryan Haynes: 46:15

People oftentimes ask why do we spend so much money on public safety? And I tell them, I tell one thing, I tell them if something goes on in my house, I want to call and they're gonna be there in no time. Uh but but say for fire, people don't realize the more resources we give to our fire department, that actually keeps your insurance ratings down on your house. So your insurance rate on your house depends on your fire department. A lot of people don't know that. So the better your fire department rates and rates the um from from call response times, everything, they keep your insurance rates down. Interesting. So your police, we focus a lot on that because we want to make sure that we have support in any avenue. So whether we have a you know an accident or a wreck, we have enough police officers and officers to respond to that, as well as we took over having SROs in the school to make sure that we're building those relationships at an early age from a Fuquay Varina police uh department standpoint. So as kids grow, they'll know to feel safe and know they can come and talk to officers that have on Fuquay Varina Police Department uniform. So we took that on to where we have officers in that, and we keep expanding that at some point in time. We'll have officers in every single one of our schools, and we have uh just expanding that again as well. So those, and then also uh making sure that our officers are not just trained for policing, but make sure they're trained for crisis intervention, no matter what's domestic disputes, no matter whether it's standoffs, anything. So providing them with the resources as well as even with our fire department, make sure uh with our new fire department, we put it to where uh carcinogens have hindered and hurt a lot of uh firefighters throughout the years, which many of them got lung cancer and different cancers from the carcinogens they breathe in from fires. So now in fire station number four, they can take off their turnout gear, wash it out there, wash the truck outside in another unit in another facility where they never have to bring that back in the firehouse where they're laying their heads and they're arresting between calls. So providing those resources for them, one in turn keeps both our departments strong as well as making sure they're staying safe because at the end of there we we care so much for our employees, so make sure we take care of them while they're taking care of us.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 48:17

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. How can the town better support small businesses and connect with their needs?

Bryan Haynes: 48:23

I think the biggest thing is showing what they offer and showing that you support them, showing that you're going in these stores and they see you in these stores, seeing you going to these stores. Um, all of us try to shop local as much as possible. I love my days when I get haircuts where I can go get a haircut downtown, I can walk around the corner and get coffee, I can walk the other way and get something else. I can have another meeting at another coffee shop or another restaurant. So definitely promoting that at all costs, definitely supporting a downtown association uh who does amazing work pushing for it, letting people know we have two downtowns. A lot of people don't understand that because we're rare. We have two downtowns. So letting people know what's offered in those downtowns is key. I think us having those concerts also lets people know what other businesses are in downtown as well. I know downtown association has started some other initiatives to make sure they're good with downtown to make sure that people know all of the businesses there. Having events, you know, we really focus on having events in both downtowns so people see what both downtowns look like. And then also supporting small business. I mean, I don't have a per se storefront, but both of my small businesses are supported from so many organizations in town, highlighting them and also making sure that we're helping to create more small businesses. I think that's the key. Make sure that we're with our chamber and different other organizations, making sure when people want to start a new small business, make sure that they have a small business foundation and structure and business plan and everything to not just start it and die in five months, but get it to work and maintain and hopefully be a brick and mortar at some point in time. Make sure we're supporting initiatives that support those resources as well. So that's why we partner with the Chamber of Commerce and Downtown and Leadership Fuquay and Innovate Fuquay. So make sure we're always supporting all these initiatives as well. Continues to build our small business. Fuquay was built on small businesses, and a lot of these small businesses will turn big-time businesses like Dr. Lane and like Bob Barker and like John Deere, all these different companies who even aviator, look at Aviator, how Aviator has grown over the years. So looking at those businesses, how they expanding, we have multiple businesses in Fuquay Varina that started Fuquay Varina, have expanded in other municipalities. So that's how we support small businesses. And then when they have hirings, send quality people towards them.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 50:30

Mm-hmm. What approaches would you take to foster understanding and collaboration amongst residents with differing perspectives?

Bryan Haynes: 50:39

I tell people, I think the biggest thing is education. People don't ask a lot of questions. People don't like to sit down and talk about things. So I tell people, you might not always like or agree with everything that people have going on. I feel like if we have conversation enough, we can understand each other in different groups and different circles and different everything. But oftentimes we don't want to have conversation. We turn, you know, the blind eye or you know, or already are turned off by certain type of group or anything without ever having conversation with them to find out. And I'm a pay I'm a people person. So I, you know, I look past a lot of, you know, you look past a lot of stuff, and like, you know, I tell people that I'm always about what's you know, the heart of a person. And a lot of people find out they have a lot of things in common when they actually have conversation. Um, it's more things in common than differing, different opinions and issues. So I think as a the town board member is fostering that conversation where you can bring different groups that you might think are differing to have conversation to find out where they can have a better understanding on where they're coming from, you can have a better understanding, and sometimes you have to agree to disagree too. But still, I feel like for me, you always have to make sure that you you're treating everybody like you want to be treated one thing. And that's big. I tell people I always heard Reverend William Barber preach on America has a heart problem. And if we can address the heart of people, that we can find more community, find more love for everybody, no matter whether they have different opinions and everything like that. So I'm always focused on the person itself with anything. So that's how you have to go into your voting as well. You have to always remember that you're making a vote based on every citizen. Now you don't agree with every citizen, and you don't agree with how every citizen thinks, you don't agree how every citizen lives. But at the end of the day, you represent those citizens. And you have to always go back. I say that a lot when we come to votes a lot of time, is when you know when we're making votes, please understand that we are representing every citizen, no matter their race, color, creed, economic background. It doesn't matter. We still represent them.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 52:29

How will you ensure diverse voices and those most impacted are not only included but truly embraced in decision making?

Bryan Haynes: 52:37

Continue to create opportunities for this different people to one, create more, I guess, committees or boards to address things that people have, needs that we still need to meet, but also bringing people to the table to participate on different boards when it comes to different decisions. Oftentimes comes about collaboration between different groups, coming to one common, say it's just an event. Let's bring some different groups into these events to give us a more diverse outlook on how we can approach this event or how we can approach this initiative or how we can support each other on different issues. Goes back to bringing conversation, goes back to bringing people to the table with most things. And when we do that, we can come up with some great ideas, but you know, conversation and really bringing everybody to the table is always key. So if we can do that, we can definitely develop this community that we all want to see.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 53:26

Do you support a non-discrimination ordinance or policy? Why or why not?

Bryan Haynes: 53:30

Well, I'm big on nobody being discriminated. I don't care what anything. When it comes to those at times, you know, we have to look into that because it's a lot of legality behind a lot of different ordinances now. Also, as your town grows, you have to take the approach of a progressive approach on how you're thinking. And that oftentimes comes back to education, having to educate people. With me growing up in Fuquay Varina, I understand Fuquay Varina has been as a town. Just it doesn't matter where you were at in town, how a lot of citizens think and how other citizens feel. So it takes time with some different things that you might want to help and support or even look at. But like I said, it comes with more education, comes with more conversation to show or to help people understand why a certain group or certain this or certain anything feels this way and why they feel like they might be not looked, not seen, not heard in a community. And it just takes time, it really does. A lot of times we feel like it's something that can happen overnight. And as people, it's hard for people to grasp newness times, it's hard for people to grasp different opinions, it's hard for people to grasp different ways of seeing things. So, you know, we as a board have to educate each other, we as a board have to continue conversation to talk about different things, and oftentimes people think we don't talk about a lot of stuff, but a lot more stuff gets talked about than people think it does. It's just how do we approach it in a way that works for everybody and the citizens, and that's where it becomes, goes back to being at large where you still represent every citizen in F uquay Varina. And those decisions are hard at times, and people don't agree with all your decisions, but it's one of those things where you have to look all the way across the board at everything and just say what is best for the town in general. But I never want anybody to feel like they're either unseen, unwanted, unneeded. You know, nobody feels like they're just, you know, they should be discriminated against no matter anything. But we're still trying to educate people, still trying to bring more people to the table, bring more conversation so people can start understanding a lot more.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 55:22

Excellent. Have you gained any endorsements thus far? And if you gain more, where might voters find that information?

Bryan Haynes: 55:29

I haven't released any endorsements. My most important endorsements are to citizens. I mean, it's fine, and I'm thankful for the endorsements I've gotten. It definitely and the ones that possibly come and the ones who I don't get. But the biggest endorsements are your citizens and how they support you and what they say about you. So you'll see more of those endorsements from just citizens than national and state and county and all these other things before I put those out. You'll see more of those types of endorsements, which I've already been getting coming in from just local citizens because that's who people want to hear from. It's good to have all these organizations support you, but at the end of the day, it's about the citizens of Fuquay Varina. But all that'll be on between uh my website, choosehaynes4FV.com, or my Facebook, same thing, choose Haynes4 FV, or Instagram, same same handle as well. So that's what all those will come by. But like I said, I have received some endorsements and some more will be coming in, but I don't really reach out to all the state officials and all this stuff. I'm big on it's a nonpartisan race, so I I kind of keep all the partisan stuff out of it. I don't, you know, I'm big on that because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what the pothole looks like. It's not a Democratic pothole, a Republican pothole, a libertarian pothole, a non-affiliate, it's a pothole. It gotta be addressed. So that's how I look at every decision I make. I'm not putting any type of party affiliation when I come to voting on anything. No, this is what is best for the citizens of Fuquay Varina as a whole. So try to stay out of that type of stuff as much as possible, um, as well. So I really stay away, really don't kind of promote all that stuff or try to put all that stuff up there. At the end of the day I want people to understand who I am, why I'm running, that I'm really here for you, and that I have a heart for the community. And then, like I said, what the citizens say about that's the most important.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 57:09

All right. And residents can go to your website, ChooseHaynes4FV.com, or to either Facebook or Instagram to learn about upcoming events and ways to get involved as well.

Bryan Haynes: 57:23

Mm-hmm. Yep. Or either call or other information is on the town website and they can call the number and email this on there at my town email on there as well. So any of those ways they can reach out to ask any questions or meet up or want to have coffee or anything like that, they can reach out to me and we can sit down and talk.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 57:40

Okay. Do you have any final thoughts that you'd like to share with those voting in the upcoming election?

Bryan Haynes: 57:45

Just thank you for having me on tonight. I enjoy my conversation. Definitely ask for your support coming up in November. Be a re-elected, continue to keep keep this uh momentum and this progress moving forward. I'm definitely here for the citizens. I have no personal agendas or anything else like that. I'm just a regular person who's running, a small business owner, and a person who loves the town of Fuquay Varina. And I'm definitely gonna do my hardest to do everything I can to make this town better. People don't even know. I kind of I made a decision almost a year ago now where I had to to continue to support and provide the resources and everything else for the citizens and be available to the citizens. I I stepped into small, it was to a full-time entrepreneurship to make sure and stepped out of a job that I've been working for 15 years to support the citizens. And that was a decision that I haven't looked back on. Thankful, I was able to do that. But those are things where I tell people, you know, this is not something that I'm just doing just for a resume building thing. I really do this because I love this community and love the citizens and love seeing citizens thrive and grow and enjoy and seeing the new people who move in here.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 58:48

That's awesome. And that's really cool to hear. All right, so we're moving into a lightning round. This is just kind of off-the-wall questions to build a little humanity and kind of get away from politics and the town a little bit. Feel free to answer whatever comes to mind. There are, of course, no wrong or right answers. What's something you do that helps you to recharge?

Bryan Haynes: 59:07

Something I do to recharge. One is travel, two is get on the road and drive. Music. I'm a big music person. I went to school on a band scholarship, so music is always a thing. And then I then well, my biggest thing is what's turned into a business was uh was barbecuing. That was just my piece and my stress reliever was getting outside. That's something I can always control. I can control the grill at all times. So just getting out there sitting out all night cooking a pig or cooking something, that turned into a business. So that's my biggest thing. So yeah, so that's my biggest recharge at times.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 59:40

Okay. What's a hobby, talent, or fun fact about you that most people don't know?

Bryan Haynes: 59:44

Well, a lot of people didn't know I played tuba. I got a band scholarship to play tuba in college, so I could play the tuba, the trombone, and a uh bass guitar.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 59:53

Oh, okay. What's something that is difficult for you?

Bryan Haynes: 59:56

I'm saying no, I guess. I don't know. Well, like I said, I've been on this weight loss journey, so that's been difficult. But uh we're working on it. That's helped me to become more disciplined. I think, you know, there's lessons and everything, and with it being so difficult and focusing on it and staying consistent with it, oh, that helps and everything else and all the other areas.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 1:00:17

What book podcast or TV show are you enjoying right now?

Bryan Haynes: 1:00:21

I'm a binge watcher on TV shows. So I usually watch a whole series when I do because I rarely watch it on TV. I'm all into like the crime type shows and everything. Oh, one of the my most interesting shows I watch is How to Catch a Smuggler. It's very interesting on how people get all this stuff, customs and everything else. So that's very interesting to me. It just, I don't know, it just makes you think on how people think so in-depth to make all this stuff happen and get all this stuff into across borders and everything else. So that's very interesting. Books was oh, uh last book I read was How to Be a Badass. Yeah, that was my last book. Yeah, that was the last book I read. And podcasts, I'm very random on podcasts. Whatever kind of comes about, whether I'm thinking about business or thinking about anything, I just listen to podcasts in general.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 1:01:13

Awesome. Who's your favorite superhero?

Bryan Haynes: 1:01:16

So hard. I like what I call their superpowers. I need different superpowers at different times. Which is funny is my favorite superhero really wasn't a superhero, but he was a superhero. Was I nspector Gadget because he had all these different gadgets that he did use. So he could kind of handle any situation. And he always had an idea how to figure something out. So I feel like that's kind of and he was always able to adapt to any situation. So that's what made me like him so much.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 1:01:41

I feel like you have just earwormed me for the evening with the theme song. It's been a hot minute since I've heard that. What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?

Bryan Haynes: 1:01:52

I guess it's just how I live life. It just gotta love the hell out of people. I do that every day. I was told that by my old pastor when I was growing up. He said if you handle that, you know, you can always see the good in everybody, no matter whether you agree or disagree with them. And then that's how you do it. You show kindness to people where even people don't show kindness to you, you show kindness to them. And then, like I said, just you know, greet people with a smile. You just never know what people are going through, what kind of day they're going through, or what they're dealing with, just being available and you know, opening the door, saying, Hey, how you doing, stuff like that changes people's life, or you never know when somebody could possibly be, you know, thinking about ending their life and just while you saying hello or how you doing, you know, changes their outlook on life.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 1:02:33

What's one guilty pleasure that you secretly enjoy?

Bryan Haynes: 1:02:36

French fries.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 1:02:37

Nice.

Bryan Haynes: 1:02:37

That's why I stay away from

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 1:02:39

like chili fries, like regular fries.

Bryan Haynes: 1:02:42

I love crinkle fries, fries in general. As long as it's hot and have the right season, I'm good on them. I try to avoid them, and I've been avoiding them.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 1:02:49

Okay.

Bryan Haynes: 1:02:49

I haven't had fries in per se in really in months. So I try to avoid fries.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 1:02:55

Wow. Okay. What's a simple thing that always makes you laugh or smile?

Bryan Haynes: 1:02:59

My friends sending me memes and everything on Instagram and social media. They always catch you at the time when you need it the most, it's a good laugh, and they'll send something because everybody knows each other and uh they'll send something that makes you laugh or you know, or just yeah, just you know, small things like that. Simplest things for me are always the best thing. I don't need big things.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 1:03:21

Coffee or tea?

Bryan Haynes: 1:03:22

Coffee, team coffee all day. I love tea too, but uh I like coffee no matter whether it's gas station coffee or coffee from one of the amazing coffee houses in Fuquay, but I love coffee and it has to be strong.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 1:03:35

Morning person or night owl?

Bryan Haynes: 1:03:37

I'm a night owl because I literally have to print shirts for the next few hours. But I become a morning person by going to the gym, doing 5 a.m. workouts in Durham at a gym. I just love so oh wow. That means I leave Fuquay Varina at four o'clock to get to Durham by 4 45.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 1:03:51

That is commitment. Wow. Mountains or beach?

Bryan Haynes: 1:03:55

Beach. I like mountains too though. I like those too. I just don't like driving.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 1:04:00

Book or podcast?

Bryan Haynes: 1:04:02

Book, I'd rather read it, see in person. I need to look at it.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 1:04:05

Dogs or cats? Dogs. Perfect. All right. Well, that brings this candidate conversation to a close. Thank you so much, Bryan, for being with me and trusting me to handle this podcast and put this out for you. And I really do wish you luck in the election.

Bryan Haynes: 1:04:19

Well, thank you so much for having me. You have a good rest of your evening.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 1:04:22

You as well.

Bryan Haynes: 1:04:23

All right, have a good one.

Amanda Benbow Lunn: 1:04:25

Local elections are where democracy lives closest to home. The decisions and actions of our mayors, the Holly Springs Town Council, and the Fuquay Varina Board of Commissioners influence the services we rely on each day, the safety of our streets, the character of our neighborhoods, and even the future direction of our communities. Democracy is at the heart of all we hold dear. Our local governments set priorities that touch everyday life. They pass ordinances, fund our fire and police departments, set property tax structures, and shape the look and feel of our towns. Because turnout is often lower in municipal elections, every ballot cast carries even greater weight. Here's what you need to know for 2025. The voter registration deadline is October 10th, unless you register at an early voting site. Early voting begins October 16th at the Wake County Board of Elections office in Raleigh. Additional sites open on October 25th, including the John M. Brown Community Center in Apex and the Avery Street Recreation Center in Garner. Those two will be the closest to us in Holly Springs and Fuquay Varina. Early voting concludes on Saturday, November 1st. Please note that this year only includes two Saturdays, October 25th and November 1st, and one Sunday, October 26th. The last day to request a mail-in absentee ballot is October 21st, and election day itself is Tuesday, November 4th, where you'll need to cast your vote at your assigned precinct. Please remember you will need a ballot ID to vote. That wraps up another NC Deep Dive candidate conversation. You can find all of our 2025 municipal election interviews at www.ncdeepdive.com, as well as on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible, or wherever you currently listen to podcasts. Show notes will include links to candidates, voter resources, and election information. If you find these conversations helpful, please subscribe, share them with friends or family, and consider leaving a rating or review. Spreading the word in your local spaces helps strengthen informed participation across our communities. If you have thoughts or topics you'd like us to explore, reach out on social media or email us anytime at ncdeepdive@ gmail.com. I'm grateful you spent this time with me today. Staying informed is how we shape communities worth calling home. Your choices matter, your perspective matters, and you matter. Your ballot is your voice, and both carry more power than you might imagine. Democracy isn't passive. It only works when we each show up. Thank you for helping me to make it thrive. May we continue to work together to build stronger, more vibrant communities to live, work, and play in. Ones we can all be proud to call home. Until next time, my friends, Namaste. The Love and Light in Me sees and honors the love and light in you.