Welcome & Ballot Basics

Amanda Benbow Lunn 0:27

Hello friends, welcome back to the NC Deep Dive. I am your host, Amanda Benbow Lunn, and this episode features one of our candidate conversations for the 2026 general election. By my best accounting, it looks like we have 18 contested races with 46 candidates in Southern Wake County, specifically running in Holly Springs and Fuquay Varina. There are going to be a few other races that have only one candidate running, but we will not be including those that go round in our candidate conversations. Of course, the races on your particular ballot will vary based on your address and the specific districts your resident falls within. You can always find your jurisdictions and eventually your sample ballot by searching NC voter search made available by the North Carolina State Board of Elections. Once you get to the page, you'll fill out your information. It will populate with all of those who share your name or the information you provided. You're going to scroll down until you find yours. Click on it, verify that it is indeed your name and address, and then you can scroll down to the appropriate sections you're looking for. Since there are so many races, your ballot will likely have both a front and a back. So make sure you flip it over when you're voting. And if you are short on time, you can see each episode of transcript at www.ncdeepdive.com, or you can search each episode to after titles for the particular questions that interest you the most. For this episode, we are delving into the Wake County Board of Commissioners rates for district two. There are two candidates running, and you will have the opportunity to vote for one of them. The two candidates running include John Adcock representing the Republican Party and Safiyah Jackson representing the Democratic Party. Without further ado, my friends, let's dive in.

John Adcock: Intro, Why, & Experience

Amanda Benbow Lunn 2:05

On this episode, I am honored to be speaking with John Adcock, who is running for the Wake County Board of Commissioners for District 2. Thanks for joining me, John. And if you want to take a moment, introduce yourself, and then you can go into why you're running for this office and what experiences have prepared you to serve in this role.

John Adcock 2:24

Sure. Thank you, Amanda. Thank you for this opportunity. Yes, my name is John Adcock, and I am a pretty much a lifetime resident of Southern Wake County. I grew up on a farm here and I'm married of almost 34 years, two adult children, and I just love Southern Wake County. I run a small business in Fuquay Varina. I have been for over a quarter century. And yeah, I'm blessed. I love this community, and that's my passion for this community, is what drives me to run for office. I live and work in the community every day. I have a small law firm and it's been a family business, but I'm very familiar with the issues facing Southern Wake County and have been. And I've been involved on multiple levels, working through these issues. So that's, you know, when you ask me why, that's why. I love Southern Wake County. The only reason I ever got into politics was because of my passion and love for Southern Wake County and my belief, and I believe many members of our community believe, that for some time now we have not had effective representation for Southern Wake at the county level. And part of that has to do with, I suggest, the way our representatives have been elected. This is the first election cycle, which will be a district-only vote for Southern Wake representative. For all the all the districts in Wake County now have transitioned to a district-only vote. Previous to this cycle, the entire county voted on each district representative. So it's a big change. And so having that opportunity to represent this community that I'm so passionate about is what drives me to do this. And also I'm confident that I have a good understanding of the issues we're facing. I am I've been practicing law for over 25 years in my own law practice in Southern Wake, running a small business. I am a graduate of the Wake County Public School System. My wife is. Both of my kids they went to Holly Grove Elementary, Holly Grove Middle, and Holly Springs High. My sisters are graduates of the Wake County Public School System, as well as my parents. So I've been involved with the Wake County Public School System for a very long time, and I'm very proud of the Wake County Public School System. It's been very good to me. I'm a board certified specialist in commercial real estate law, and so that's a primary practice area for me. I also deal quite often with local government regulations, land use regulations in particular. And I am on the board of directors of the North Carolina Turnpike Authority. I'm also the representative for the Turnpike on the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, otherwise known as Campo. These are, of course, are two transportation boards, which transportation is a really big issue for me and I believe for our community. I've previously served in the House of Representatives for the Southern Wake, and I've served on various boards. I've served on the Triangle Community Coalition Board of TCC. I've served on Capital Area Preservation, our Historical Preservation Board here in Wake County, and other various boards for the town of Fuquay Varina and for the Fuquay Varina Chamber of Commerce. So I've been involved in community a long time, and that's because of my passion. I believe when you're passionate about something, you should be willing to serve and try to make things better. And so that's what's driving me. And also I believe we're challenged right now with some issues that are not adequately being addressed by the County Commission. One in particular is property tax, and we'll talk about that more later. But transportation. County is not participating in improving our transportation system. So that, you know, that's why I'm running. I love this area, and I believe I'm well equipped to uh make a difference for Southern Wake, a positive difference.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 5:38

Excellent. What do you believe is the most important issue or challenge facing the people you would represent?

John Adcock 5:43

First and foremost is having an effective representative for us in Southern Wake County, someone that prioritizes the needs and issues of Southern Wake. So when I'm elected, every issue that comes before me, my first level of analysis will be how does this affect Southern Wake? That's number one. Number two, affordability and particular property tax. I represent many small businesses, and the Wake County Board of Commissioners just raised property taxes for the fifth consecutive year. They justify it based on a few dollars a year for the average homeowner. But that doesn't begin to describe the effect of it. What you're seeing is not only are we having an increase in property taxes, but also the reevaluation process has gone from eight years to every two years, and that compounds the effect of the property tax increase. So you're seeing people's tax bills skyrocket, especially those that run small businesses that have investment properties. And I was at a forum early this week about health care, and I've been running my practice 25 years. I'm sure I provide health insurance. My health insurance premium for my law practice and my family just increased by 22%. So I started shopping around. I've never shopped around, really. I've been the same insurer for 20 years. And I was talking to other small business owners to see what they were doing, and I was taken back how many told me they're not carrying health insurance anymore because of the cost of doing business, the fixed cost of operating your business. So these increases in property taxes are having an adverse impact across the board, and it can't be justified or explained by stating it only affects you a few dollars a year. And the other things I ask voters to do is to look around and see what benefit we are getting from these property tax increases. What are the tangible benefits? So that would be uh representing Southern Wake effectively, bringing greater physical responsibility at the county level. And another very important issue for me is transportation. A unique issue to Southern Wake is that we're on the perimeter of the county. So yes, we are growing, and the growth does generate traffic, but we have a lot of traffic that originates outside of Wake County coming through Southern Wake County to go to Raleigh and other places for work and other reasons. And the county does very little if anything to help improve our transportation. And I believe I'm confident there are ways, there are things the county can do without raising taxes that can have a tangible benefit to our transportation system. And that's a very important issue for me and something that I will prioritize. I'm always prioritizing what I call the essential functions of government, public safety, education with a focus on the classroom, the learning space. And so, in general, those are the areas that I will prioritize when I'm elected.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 8:13

All right. You kind of hit a little bit of the next question.

Priorities For District 2

Amanda Benbow Lunn 8:16

If elected, what would you prioritize and what specifically would you hope to accomplish during your term?

John Adcock 8:22

First, greater physical responsibility at the county level and putting a halt to the annual property tax increase. Greater transparency. We're just still ongoing is this Wake Med Atrium Health merger that has been playing out over the last several months. In my opinion, I believe this merger is one of the most important issues, healthcare issues to face Wake County in a very long time. Wake Med has a very special purpose for Wake County. And yet the Board of Commissioners placed this on a consent agenda back in May and conceded the pressure to actually go through a transparent process, which is now playing out. So greater transparency, and again, I talk about transportation. We have to invest, we have to have effective investments in transportation. And it is true that counties, typically in North Carolina, have a limited role in making transportation investments, but we can. And this county's tax base is growing at about 10% a year. So we're continually growing our tax base, which generates tax revenue. We need to prioritize putting a percentage of that new tax growth into the road system. About 10 years ago, the Wake Transit Plan was implemented, which is a countywide plan to implement public transportation. I am not, I'm not against public transportation, but I have been against the Wake Transit Plan from the beginning. I will say that for Southern Wake, at best, it's been ineffective, and at worst, it's been a failure. Almost everything you purchase in Wake County, you pay a half cent sales tax to the Wake Transit Plan. And this plan is generating about $150 to $60 million a year in tax revenue. And it's the cornerstone of the plan, the most capital-intensive part of the plan when it was created, when it was implemented, was commuter rail. And commuter rail is dead and has been dead for many years now. But we're continuing to pay this tax. So my point is that is an ineffective investment in transportation at the moment. I'm not against planning for public transportation. It's very important. But we have current needs that are critically important to address. And so I believe moving away from prioritizing investments in public transit now and putting that in the road system while at the same time planning for public transportation improvements in the future is something that's critically important. So I would I will definitely look to address uh the Wake Transit plan when I get elected and focus on having the county make effective investments into our transportation system.

What Should Be Preserved

John Adcock 10:38

Amanda Benbow Lunn 10:38

Okay. What do you believe Wake County is doing well that should be preserved?

John Adcock 10:42

I think we're doing a better job of preserving open space. My sisters and I still own a farm. Family farm's been in our family for almost a hundred years. We're still farming. I'm a big believer in private property rights, but also I like the idea the county has implemented a system of trying to obtain property for preservation for open space in park. I think that's been very good. You know, the public school system is again proud graduate. My kids had an outstanding experience in the Wake County Public Schools. And but there's aspects of it that need to be addressed. And so there's parts of that I believe the county is doing well. I'm running to bring change to the Wake County Commission. That that is that is one of my purposes is to bring change. We need a new voice on the commission, a new perspective. And so while the county is doing things, some things well, I think we definitely need a new perspective, a new voice on the commission, and that's what I will bring.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 11:28

Okay. That brings us to the next question. What

What Would You Change

Amanda Benbow Lunn 11:31

county policy or practice would you change if elected?

John Adcock 11:34

Well there are several. First of all, regarding public safety, the county has a strategic plan that the commissioners state that they utilize to base their decisions on. One component of that strategic plan states that by year 2029, 80% of emergency phone calls, 911 calls, will be addressed in an appropriate and timely fashion. And so I'm not satisfied with the 80% for that being the goal. It's complicated. I have talked to members of the law enforcement community, of the EMS community. Wake County gets thousands of 911 calls, literally on a daily basis. It's complicated. But to me, there's nothing more important for a government to do than provide outstanding public safety and emergency service. And we do a good job with that. I'm not saying the people that do that are passionate about it and they do a great job. My law office is right down the street from Fire Station 1 and Fuquay Varina. Love those guys and gals. They're doing their doing a great job. But we have to have a we have to have better goals for public safety than that. Number two, I would seek to implement a 10-year plan for investing in transportation, particularly the road system of our county. And that would include creating what are called transportation improvement zones, where when you have areas of our county, which we have in Southern Wake, that are vacant, undeveloped properties that most likely will develop in the future, that we draw a zone around those areas. And when new tax base is created within those zones, we allocate a percentage of that new tax revenue directly into the transportations. I would also look to make changes to the Wake Transit Plan. Again, I think it's a very ineffective plan, specifically for us in Southern Wake County, and also the areas outside of the more urbanized areas, most definitely would seek to put a stop to the property tax increase. And when you have a county that's growing as we are with 10% growth of tax base a year, we have to find a way of managing a budget such that we utilize that new growth while not taking more from the taxpayers of this county. And that's critically important. To me, when you raise taxes for five consecutive years, you're operating in a budget deficit environment because you're spending more than you're taking in for five consecutive years. There needs to be a change to that. And we can do that. We can run an effective government in Wake County without continual tax increases. When it comes to education, my focus is always on the learning space. So any education issue that comes to me, my first analysis is going to be how does this affect the learning space? And that is the teacher-student-parent interaction in the classroom, outside the classroom, but wherever that learning space is, that's where I want to focus my attention. And I believe that the county has put emphasis outside the learning space that's adversely affecting the learning space, such as creating layers of bureaucracy that are not effectively improving the education system of Wake County. So I would like to see nothing more than teachers to want to be here. Many of them do, most of them do. Again, proud graduate of the Wake County Public School System, but I want this to be a place where teachers still have a great experience living and working here. And that means they need resources in the classroom. And that's something that I will focus on, including their pay.

Growth & Infrastructure

Amanda Benbow Lunn 14:37

Okay. As District 2 continues to grow, how should Wake County address existing infrastructure and service needs while ensuring that future growth is matched by the capacity needed to support it?

John Adcock 14:48

The county does not operate any countywide infrastructure facilities. There's no public water, no county public water, there's no county public sewer. They invest very little in the transportation system, and most of those obligations fall on the state and the local governments, the towns, the municipalities. So, as I've said previously, it's important for the county to make an effective investment in our transportation system. Also, I would like to see the county to work with the municipalities to work towards a coordinated public waters. That's complicated. We have Wake County has multiple river basin watersheds in it, the Cape Fear, where we are in the south. And then also in our area in Southern Wake, we have the Noose watershed. And there's there's laws that restrict how water can move across those watersheds, where the water can be discharged if it originates in the Cape Fear, if it cannot be discharged in the Noose. There's exceptions to that, but I would like to see Wake County to focus on working with the municipalities to see if we can come up with a better coordinated water system. And that would go the same with sanitary sewer. And one of the things I see in my law practice is that when you have municipalities that are operating separate utility systems, which, you know, that that's what they do. Oftentimes, specifically in Southern Wake, you see a property that's being utilized, developed, and it's part of one jurisdiction, but the most feasible connection to utilities is in the other jurisdiction. So you basically got a jurisdictional boundary in the way of making a more feasible connection to public utilities. Well, the result of that is that the cost of building new homes, renovating building, is driven up because you're having to run utilities a much further distance than you would if you had access to the other jurisdictions. So trying to build a level of cooperation between the municipalities to see if there's a way of coordinating these systems such that it really goes to the cost of housing. How can we reduce that cost of housing? It's a big issue. And so I think that's one thing I would like to prioritize. I'm going to touch on transportation again because this is important for Southern Wake. The Department of Commerce put out a report last year looking at commuter patterns in central North Carolina. And I can't recall the specific number, but the number of private sector workers in Harnett County that are commuting out of Harnett County every day is substantial. And I would suggest most of those people are coming into Wake County to work. And so not only do we have pressure on our transportation system from growth within Southern Wake County, we also have immense pressure originating outside of Southern Wake County, outside of Wake County. And so one of the things I would prioritize regarding infrastructure would be we need to start talking with the people in Harnett County. We need better coordination between the local governments of Fuquay Varina and Holly Springs. I know many of the leaders in both those governments, they're great, they do a great job, but the county needs to facilitate more coordination between the local governments and the Southern Wake situation with Harnett County in trying to do a better job of planning investments. One of the challenges we have in North Carolina as a state is funding transportation. Most of the funds that are used to improve the transportation network of North Carolina are generated from the gas tax. Well, we now have a system where the vehicles are getting better gas mileage. We also have electric vehicles. So the funding mechanism for the transportation system at the state level faces big challenges. And while that's going on, we're in a state where many people are moving to, and specifically in our area. So we have to find innovative ways, explore innovative ways of supplementing what is received from the state, supplementing what you know Holly Springs is spending on roads, what DuPoy Varina is spending on roads, what Garner is spending on roads, and Apex, the county needs to come in and supplement those funding mechanisms to help. It does two things. One, it may help us get our transportation projects prioritized, move up the priority ladder, what's called the STIP, the state transportation improvement plan. So if you show more funding going to a project, it can elevate it up that list of priorities. So that's important. The other thing that it does is we have projects in Southern Wake that you have sort of what we call fees in lieu. When a developer does a project, they're required to do a traffic impact analysis. And as part of that, DOT, the town, and the developer kind of get together and decide what improvements are required based on this new development. Well, many times there's percentage impacts assigned to intersections from that development. In other words, hey, this development is going to affect this intersection a mile away. But with legal limitations in place, what you can require the developer to do, they only pay what's called a fee and lose for that intersection. So they basically put money on that intersection. The local government holds it, and at some point the money builds up and the town comes in and gets the improvements done. Well, what I would like to see happen is Wake County, we have those intersections that have fee and loses paid to them. Wake County comes in and supplements that without raising taxes and with taking new tax revenue based on new tax-based growth, investing on those intersections, contributing to what's already there as far as the financial contribution and getting these things done. So this is an innovative approach. And that's what we have to do in a growing community. Growth creates challenges, but I would much rather have the challenges of growth than I would of a community that's not growing. I see those communities and my law practice representing folks in other parts of the state. And look, I get it, traffic congestion, it's an issue, but we have ways of dealing with this. We're just not getting enough from the county to help us get these projects done, and we need an innovative approach, and that's what I plan on doing.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 20:06

All right. Do you feel like we're getting enough from the state, or do you feel like really it is the county that should be picking up the slack? Like where is that balance?

John Adcock 20:16

I believe there has to be a change at the state level. There's discussions, I'm not involved with them, and it's nothing I've focused on. I mean, I am on two transportation boards. Well, let me put it this way: this is what I see. In this area, we have a list of needs from a transportation standpoint that are just the list is just extremely long, right? Every municipality has got their needs. And what you're seeing is that the estimated funding for these needs over the next 10 years is only going to capture or help facilitate a very, very, very small portion of those needs. So we've got a transportation funding issue from the state. Now, look, there's other things that play into that, right? I told you about the declining or stagnant gas tax revenue that's coming in. But we're also in a growing community, a growing state. So the needs are statewide. So we're having an increase in needs, and at the same time, we're seeing funding that while we were not growing to the extent we are, then we may have sufficient funding to deal with the needs. But we just don't. And I'm not casting blame on anybody, it's just a fact. And the state needs to pick that up and deal with that. And so what I'm saying is I know that, I see that, and I also see the county that when you're growing, when your tax base is growing, that results in tax revenue growing, and we need to dedicate a part of that new tax revenue into the transportation infrastructure system of this county. And the county can do that, and we can do that without raising taxes, and it takes a layered approach. I mean, it's not just one solution. We need to evaluate and be innovative and find ways of investing in our transportation system. And I'm confident we can do that, but there has to be a focus on that at the county level, and I don't see that.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 21:53

Okay. If the pace of development exceeds the ability of the county or municipalities to provide adequate infrastructure. Services, what do you believe should happen?

John Adcock 22:02

Well, I start with there are certain legal limitations on local government. These are constitutional, right? U.S. constitution, North County Constitution. So there's certain constitutional limitations on how you can regulate somebody's property. Okay. So I start with that. Those legal limitations are there. I am a believer in private property rights, but at the same time, and let me say this, I didn't give this in my background statement, but I worked as a land use planner before I went to law school. So I have a degree in urban planning. And so I'm very comfortable in that environment. And I practice land use law. In my land use law practice, I represent churches, nonprofits, farmers. I mean, it's a wide variety of clients that I represent. So we have the legal limitation, but each community adopts a land use plan, right? The town of Holly Springs has a land use plan, Fuquay Varina has a land use plan. Every local government here in Wake County has a land use plan. And that's a legislatively adopt plan. So the Board of Commissioners of each municipality, they don't do it every year, and maybe they need to do it more often. But a land use plan is adopted, and that is the vision for how these areas are to grow. So you have a plan that's adopted. And so the mechanism for regulating the growth, again, remember you have legal limitations, constitutional limitations, but the mechanism is you have the vision, which is the land use plan, which public input is absolutely critical to that. And then the implementing scheme is called the unified development ordinance or the land development ordinance, basically the zoning ordinance. So you have a vision with the land use plan that the local government adopts. It's a legislative process. And then you implement that plan by means of the zoning ordinance. And so, you know, it's a community-driven process. And so that's what I rely on. I think, hey, the community has an opportunity to create a plan, the vision for how they want to grow. And that needs to be updated on a continuous basis based on changing conditions. And part of that process should be and is that when you develop that land use plan, you look at the infrastructure that you have, you look at the forecast of improvements for the infrastructure in the future. And so that's part of that process of developing that plan. So, yes, infrastructure is critical. We are in a situation here locally that our road system is behind. And I'm not casting blame on anybody, it's just that's the circumstances we have. But I'm confident to tell you that the process of growth in these communities is being driven by land use plans that were adopted by the local government. And so that's going to continue. So taking into account the infrastructure we have now, taking into account planned improvements in infrastructure, what does that land use plan need to look like? And that process, and I strongly recommend and advocate for all citizens to be involved in that land use plan process. And so that's critically important for how our areas grow. But I will say this for me, we have to again look at innovative ways of investing in transportation. And we can do that, and we can make tangible, material, positive impact across Southern Wake County, with the county itself coming in and supplementing, providing supplemental funding to address some reasons.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 24:57

Okay. Wake

School Funding & Wake County's Responsibility

Amanda Benbow Lunn 24:58

County provides significant local funding for public education. While the elected school board is responsible for operating the school system, what do you believe the county's financial responsibility to Wake County public school system should be, particularly as District 2 and the county continue to grow?

John Adcock 25:14

Sure. Number one, as I said earlier, when it comes to a matter of education, my first level of analysis is looking at the learning space. This year's county budget was about $2.28 billion, I think. And I believe almost half of that went to the Wake County Public School System. And let me give a little more background. So last year, the County Board of Commissioners approved about $700 million of bonds to be issued for school facilities in Wake County. We're going to have on the ballot this November a bond for $680 million, I believe, for school facilities. So we've got about $1.3 billion that if this bond passes within about a 12, 14 month period that's been approved and allocated for school facilities. So not only is the county putting almost half of its $2.28 billion budget into the school system, there's also going to be about $1.3 billion most likely that flows into the school system from these bonds. So there's an enormous amount of money being placed in the school system. And again, myself, my wife, my kids, my parents, my sisters, all graduates of the Wake County Public School System, very proud of that. But there has to be greater accountability from these schools. And in the Wake County Public School System, the enrollment numbers are stagnant and perhaps even declining. And of course, part of that is because of the opportunity of school choice. For we have the role of charter schools, we have the role of private schools, we have the opportunity scholarships that the state has approved. And there's a lot of complaints about that, how that affects public education. And my ultimate goal, and I think we should all share the goal, that what we want to see is the best education system we can produce. And so I come at it from that perspective. And again, focusing on learning space, excellent education, but there has to be more accountability from the school system for the funds they receive. And one of the things that's been pointed out recently is, and this is one issue, but I think it's an example of the school system's problem is air conditioning, HVAC, right? I mean, they've had problems with keeping HVAC units running in school. And to me, that's a critical part of what we provide because you want a facility that is safe, secure, and is healthy. And if the air condition is not running in central North Carolina for part of the school year, that's a problem. That disrupts the learning space. And so I question why the school system not have the funds to address these issues. When you own real estate facilities, you need to be prepared when things like this happen. And with the money they have received, it's my position that they should have sufficient funds to deal with this. But apparently they do not. And again, I love the Wake County Public School System. It's been very good to me and my family. But my focus with education is really two parts. One, I want to have an excellent education system. And I believe that having opportunities for students to go to other schools, such as a charter school or a private school, I think if that's what the parent and the child agree is best for that child's education, they should be allowed to pursue that. Now, but that's something that's decided at the state level, right? The county has nothing to do with that. These opportunity scholarships came from the General Assembly, not from Wake County. But there's always going to be the need for more investment in education, but those investments need to be directed to the learning space and the facilities surrounding the learning space. And that's the way I look at education, how we should address those issues. But one of the things I will ask when I'm on the board is I'm going to be asking for more accountability. I want more information from the school exactly how they're spending the money they're receiving and holding them accountable for what they receive.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 28:42

Do you have thoughts towards where they're spending too much? Or do you feel that just overall they're receiving enough income from both the county and state levels?

John Adcock 28:53

Well, what I hear often is that the federal government and state government is not providing enough fund. And I'm a small business owner. I've been running a business for 25 years. I've been through the ups and downs, the Great Recession. And a critical part of running a successful organization business is hey, when things outside of your control are affecting what you do, you need to go advocate for change, right? But ultimately, those things are outside of my control. I cannot do anything about it. I can complain about it, which produces enough. I can try to go advocate for changes, which that's what we should be doing. But ultimately, we have to deal with what we have in front of us. And so the fact that maybe the state and the federal governments are not providing the funding, you know, there's good arguments for that. But my position is we have to deal what's in front of us. And I believe that our school system puts too much priority on the bureaucracy of education, the central office. I think it's too heavy there. The priority is being more so in that realm as the classroom. And so I want to see teachers paid. I want to see the facilities in excellent condition, secure, and I want a learning space where the purpose of that space is actually come to fruition, is providing excellent education. And that's my priority is looking in that learning space on every issue regarding education. And I believe the county has put too much emphasis in the bureaucracy of education.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 30:11

Okay, one question for you. You mentioned with the water, for instance, you would like to see the county work more broadly with municipalities and surrounding counties to try to create a better system of sorts. Do you see the bureaucracy and the higher office administration in that same role in the school setting? Do you think that those levels do indeed potentially save money by not having the individual schools operate on their own in those ways?

John Adcock 30:42

I mean, there's a role for management in the school systems. I'm not suggesting otherwise. So you're asking when I was talking about the water system, the county facilitating more cooperation between the local governments. Your point is that do I see that similar to having a centralized management system for the county school system to help facilitate the relationships between the schools themselves? Is that

Amanda Benbow Lunn 31:03

Yeah, so like I imagine that there's an HR that has to have enough people to kind of facilitate all of the school systems. I think, if I'm remembering correctly, we're the fourth largest school system in the nation. So I imagine that takes a lot of funding just in and of itself and probably requires a number of people to be able to handle that capacity. So I guess I'm asking, are there positions that you would like to see eliminated, or where is that balance for you of when it might be beneficial and needed to help the schools work together to maybe source one place instead of the schools paying for it individually versus kind of what it is now, if that makes sense?

John Adcock 31:47

Sure. So I know Wake County is a big county, and yes, it is one of the largest school systems in the country. And there's obviously a level of management that is needed for coordination amongst the schools. What I would suggest, and honestly, this is something that as you ask the question and responding to it and thinking about it, I would be willing to evaluate whether or not we should look to perhaps, I don't want to say break the school system apart by any means, but perhaps having districts that are managed more on a district, sub-district basis, right? So, like we have with the Board of Education, you have a district member, right? And that district member has schools that's in that district. Perhaps focusing on coordination amongst the schools in that district, having this level of management coordination that's more at that sub-district level, I would suggest would be worth considering to see if that would provide benefits. I don't know that it would, but I would give that an opportunity. Wake County's big, right? I mean, you know, you got Wake Forest is an hour plus north, 50, 60 miles north. So I'm a big believer that local issues need local solutions. And so I look at all issues such as that, and I think that maybe there's a possibility, and again, I'm suggesting I would be willing to evaluate this is to give the school management more of a local uh flavor, right? Instead of having one big office in Raleigh looking over everybody, there's there's a certain level of that that's going to have to occur, right? But maybe relinquishing some of those management duties and obligations of the central office down to the sub-district level. But I've been signing the front and back of my paycheck for over 25 years. I went through the Great Recession. I don't know how we got through it. My wife had just quit her job. We had two young children. And so I'm just a big proponent of fiscal responsibility. And now, does that mean you just start cutting things left and right just to cut things? No. It means you have to evaluate what's effective and what's not. And specifically, when you are taking money that taxpayers go out and earn, they either work for somebody or have their own business, but they're earning this money and the government is taking the money from them. And look, there's an obligation to pay taxes. I'm not suggesting otherwise, but when you're asking more and more and more and more every year, which is what's happening in Wake County, five consecutive years, they've asked for more. You have to practice some fiscal responsibility and say, we need to step back a second. Let's see what's really being effective and what's not. And if there are things that are not being effective and don't serve an essential function of government, then we need to look to scale those things back and focus resources in the most effective areas of government. And I would look at that the same way from an educational standpoint. You know, hey, I want to hear from the Wake County School Board. I want to see you report to the County Commission, which provides a billion dollars a year, basically, or more. I want to see some type of analysis performed that you show me, okay, here's things we're doing. We feel like this is most effective for educating our children. And maybe it's a third-party analysis, right? Maybe it's somebody from outside. Of course, that would cost money. I get it. But I would want to have that evaluation done as a part of the budget process for the county, that we can take that information and make better decisions about funding all matters in the county.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 34:49

Okay. What

Housing Affordability & Homelessness

Amanda Benbow Lunn 34:50

should Wake County's role be in addressing housing affordability and homelessness, particularly in rapidly growing area like District 2, what can the county realistically control?

John Adcock 35:00

Sure. Well, first property tax. And I say that I want to make sure I fully describe my point about property tax. One of the reasons I'm sitting before you today and running for office is over the last few years, I have had a long line of small business owners coming to my law office for help because most of them were leasing property for their business and their landlords were taking the rents up dramatically. And every time one of these small business owners came to me with that issue, I said, well, let's look at the tax bill for the building. And in one particular situation, it stands out to me, but I've got more examples. Because of a revaluation and because of an increase in the tax rate, a tax bill for a building went from $5,000 a year approximately to over $17,000 in one year. Okay. That building is now 50% vacant because the tenants that were there left. And so when you talk about affordability, right, those were people that live in Wake County where they lost their livelihood. So their opportunity to have housing, to pay for housing, was just , it vanished. The other thing I say this about property taxes, I think all the listeners, if you have a mortgage on your house, most likely part of that mortgage payment is called escrow, which is when you borrow money for primary residence, the bank most likely is going to not only collect for you the principal and interest of the payment to pay back the debt, but they're also going to collect one twelfth of the tax bill each month and one twelfth of the insurance premium for the home each month. So basically dividing that premium up in 12 payments once a month. Well, I we we have a residential real estate practice, and those numbers of escrow have jumped up dramatically. So talking about a housing affordability, that's absolutely one thing the Wake County can do is to practice better physical responsibility, stop demanding tax increases. And I want to point this out. If this bond passes in November, a tax increase next year is going to be automatic. So that'll be six consecutive years of property tax increase. So that's number one. Number two, regarding homelessness, it's a growing problem. And I'm a man of faith. My faith is my compass. I'm challenged to live it every day, but it's my compass what directs me each day. And my faith tells me we have to care for those, specifically those that are in need. And so the county, then that's a role of government to play. It's a role for government to play to assist those in need, specifically those people that are potentially disabled, either mentally or physically, have things outside of their control that have rendered them in a time of need. So the county definitely has a role in that. What I also will say to that is one of the great things we have in this community are great nonprofit organizations. And I think the county does a good job with this. I'd like to see it expanded potentially, but working with nonprofit organizations to provide assistance to those in need to help them find housing, maybe temporary. But ultimately, housing affordability comes down to how much it costs to build a housing and supply and demand. And so we definitely can look at things, as I said earlier, better coordination potentially between municipal utility systems, where if you have a new development, it doesn't have to run utilities two miles down the road when you it only needs to run at 300, 400 feet to get to a utility connection. Those things add up over time. So to definitely the property tax stopping, putting a halt to these property tax increases will definitely have a positive impact on housing affordability. And the county most definitely has a role to play in helping those in need. And I would suggest that we also need to be very uh have great relationships, which I think we do with nonprofit organizations and expand those relationships and but hold them accountable, you know, because providing them financial assistance, we want to make sure that it's being used effectively. But utilizing that to address these issues, I think is critically important.

Approach to the Responsibilities and Decision-Making Authority of this Office

Amanda Benbow Lunn 38:28

Okay, how would you approach the responsibilities and decision-making authority of this particular office?

John Adcock 38:34

Well, as I said at the beginning, the driving force behind the money is my passion for Southern Wake. So when it comes to decision making, every issue that's put before me will be analyzed from how does this affect Southern Wake County. Number two, transparency. Government should be completely transparent. Look, I have worked as a government employee for municipalities, counties, the state, and the federal government during my professional career. So I have a lot of experience in government from that standpoint. And one of the things my belief, and this is nothing personal, this is just my observation that the current board of commissioners collectively are operating as an echo chamber. You know, there's no unique voice on the board. They're all great people. Look, I know many of them. I'm not, I respect them greatly. But collectively, we need a new voice on that board. And I think that new voice needs to focus on greater transparency. I go back to the Wake Med Atrium Health merger. I mean, I was out of town when that was announced. It was announced on a Friday afternoon. This is a $2 billion merger regarding one of the most important health care resources in our county. It was put, it was announced on a Friday afternoon. It was on a consent agenda for the following Monday at the county board level. Okay? Now, a consent agenda, for those that don't know, that is a list of items on a legislative body's agenda where there's no discussion, there's no presentation, there's no opportunity for the public to speak. It just gets rubber stamped approved with everything else in that consent agenda. This is one of the most important decisions in the history of Wake County regarding health care. And they put that on the consent agenda. I was out of town, I learned of it, got back in town, saw the agenda item, reviewed it, and was just blown away by how much governance the county was going to give away to HRM Health, the lack of guarantees from Atrium Health on what they were promising to do. And I spoke, I believe it was May 4th, it was on the consent agenda. And before I spoke, before the public speaking opportunity came about, because of pressure, the county board of commissioners pulled it off the consent agenda. So my point is, how did we get to that? How did we get to a point in government where one of the most important decisions affecting health care, and this is not a partisan issue, when I spoke and the other hearings they've had, there has been bipartisan across the board, folks from all different types of backgrounds, races that have come together and said, what is this process? So this consent agenda item that they pulled off the consent agenda, then it led into the county commissioner sending 100 questions to Wake Med and Atrium Health. Then it led to the County Commissioner having a special hearing about it. I think two. And now, just last week, Governor Stein's office sent a letter to WakeMed with questions. And if you have the opportunity, I believe it's on YouTube when I spoke on May 4th. Many of the same issues I brought to light at that hearing are addressed in the governor's letter. So my point in saying all that is that is bad government. Okay, when you're an elected official, you are working for your constituent. That is your obligation. And it has to be absolutely transparent at all times. And that is critically important. You have to have the trust of the people that you represent. So I'd give that as an example of how this board has operated. And that is just not an appropriate way of doing business in government. And I will, as a priority for me, will be completely transparent. And another thing I'll point out, and I'm not suggesting this is a deficiency with anybody on the board or the board collectively, but I've always believed the most important part of communication is listening to me. And so I am never going to claim to be the smartest person in the room, but I am so proud of Wake County. The intellectual firepower we have in this county, this is a great place. We have some really smart people in this community, countywide, with the university system we have here. Wake Tech is such a great place. We have just some great intellectual firepower here. So we need to hear when there's an issue, we need that input. We need input from people. And then we take that into a consideration and we listen to it. To me, that's critically important and something I will focus on when elected.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 42:25

Okay.

Budgeting Philosophy with Competing Priorities

Amanda Benbow Lunn 42:26

When priorities compete or resources are limited, how would you decide what takes precedence?

John Adcock 42:31

I will focus on the essential functions of government, public safety, education, and infrastructure. So when times get tight, and again, I go back to my small business experience, running a small business. I mean, I don't mean to belabor this, but I'm gonna tell you this is the truth. During the Great Recession, 2008, 9, 10, I mean, there were months when my business did not have revenue. And I said my wife had just quit work, come in the office to work as the office manager. And so that just builds in you this, you know, this level of scrutiny on everything. I mean, when things get tight, you're like, okay, you have to be ready for when that happens, right? You can't just wait until it happens. You can't say, oh, times are tight right now. We need to make changes. You need to have a plan when that happens because it's going to happen. It's going to happen. The economy's going to have ups and downs. So that's a big part of what government needs to do and the legislative body needs to do is we need to make sure that our staff and that we are looking at, okay, you know, what's our plans when something doesn't go right? Here's another issue. And we thankfully, and I hope we don't, knocking on wood, you know, we have hurricanes here. And I don't know, it's you know the worst ones during my time here with Fran in '97, I think, or '96. And it was a disaster here. I mean, we had trees down everywhere. And the reason I bring that up is, you know, we have things like that come along. So we have difficult challenges. We need to be out in front of those, planning for those. And then when they do happen, we have to implement those plans with some flexibility. But what we always want to focus on the essential functions of government need to be delivered in an excellent manner. And again, I go back to public safety as being at the top of that list and our infrastructure system as well as education. So those will be the things that I focus on. And again, I go back to my analysis earlier that I mentioned, you know, we always have to be evaluating what is effective and what is not. And things might be effective when implemented, but over time they become less effective. Well, we need to address that. We always need to be focusing on what is effective and accomplishes the goals that we have.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 44:23

All right. And you

Thoughts on Property Tax Amendment

Amanda Benbow Lunn 44:25

had mentioned the property tax amendment that will be on the ballot. So that amendment is looking to place limits on how the counties can levy those property taxes. So my question to you trying to get in as a commissioner, what are your thoughts on that amendment? Does that worry you? Do you feel like the state, and I mean, I guess the people would be voting on it one way or the other, but do you think that that could hamstring you as a county commissioner when you have certain obligations and investments that you're trying to run, even when being fiscally responsible?

John Adcock 44:58

Sure. Well, first, North Carolina has a system of government, which is a little bit unique. Local governments, the municipal governments, the county governments derive all of their authority from the state. So you have places like California where you have municipalities that have greater flexibility. In North Carolina, we have something called enabling legislation, which means when the General Assembly passes a law that is enabling legislation, that enabling legislation enables a community to adopt rules and regulations in accordance with that. So I don't like the idea of having an amendment that limits a local government's ability and how it levies its taxes. I don't like the idea of that. My preference would be for that to be a decision to be made by the local government. The problem, and I think one of the main reasons, and I'm speculating here because I don't know, but I would suggest to you that one of the reasons this amendment has come about is because of, by way of example, what we see in Wake County. We're seeing governments that are failing to exercise fiscal responsibility. Let me tell you something. If I get elected and I have success in getting things done, we're not going to need the amendment because we're not going to raise taxes. We're going to use the new tax revenue that we get from the growth in this county to do what we need to do and to be very prudent with it. So it's not going to affect my mindset because I'm not going to vote to raise taxes. We're going to use prudent physical responsibilities in getting things done. So I don't like the amendment because I would prefer those decisions to be made at the local government level. I suggest to you that part of the reason for it is because of what we see in Wake County and other counties and other municipalities where there's this continual growth of government, and that growth of government exceeds the essential functions of government, and it just takes more and more money to do that. I think that's part of the reason you see this amendment. But when I get elected, that amendment, it's not going to affect me because I'm not going to raise taxes.

Accountability: What & How

Amanda Benbow Lunn 46:40

Okay. What should voters hold you accountable for if you're elected and how?

John Adcock 46:44

Well, I want to be available to people. And I live and work in this district every day. When I was born, my zip code was 27540. That is my zip code today. My business zip code has been 27526 my entire career. I have a three and a half mile drive to work. So every day I'm in this district. I don't tune out and go to work. I'm here. And so I'm going to be available to the residents of Southern Wake County. I'm in this district every day. I will make myself available. And they should hold me accountable for that. I haven't given specific thought to it, but I definitely will have, you know, a calendared, consistent meeting time where I'm, hey, I'm going to be here. Come talk to me. Let me hear from me. Transparency. If I was on the board of commissioners with this wake med atrient health matter, and I let it get to the point where it did, they should hold me accountable for that, for lack of transparency. That's just an example. Putting Southern Weight first, I mean, putting authority southern weight first, hold me accountable for that. And look, you know, this district I seek to represent is, I would suggest 250,000 people, maybe 200,000. It's a big district. And within that area, you know, you've got a lot of different opinions about things, right? And I respect that. And that's one thing I would emphasize too, from my perspective. I mean, we need open dialogue. We need productive dialogue. It's okay if people disagree with each other. I'm okay with that. I just ask that I'm going to respect someone, even though I may disagree with everything they're talking about. I'm going to respect their opinions. We're all products of our own experiences. And that's one thing that's ingrained in me when I deal with people we're all from different backgrounds, we're all from different experiences, we've all been through different things. And I'm going to respect somebody's opinion about matters. I'm going to hear them out, but it doesn't mean I'm going to agree with them. And I am not running a partisan agenda here. I'm a this is a purpose-driven campaign. This is about getting things done. What we've got in this country, in my opinion, is Marco Rubio said, I think, if politics has made us all crazy. I don't think that's, I don't take that literally. But the national political issues, big statewide issues, these are things that to me, I'm not engaging in that on the county commission level. I want to build roads. I want to pay teachers. I want to be physically responsible. So I'm a purpose-driven guy. And so to your question, hold me accountable, if I start jumping out on some heavily partisan agenda, yeah, call me out on it. But now let me tell you this. As I said, we have differing opinions. And I think that's a benefit to me. I keep saying that to people, and I truly mean it. When we have disagreements, we have dialogue, opposing ideas, that's what makes this country great. That's what's so strong for us. That's how we how we become the country that we have. We have other problems, we have our problems in our past. But it's still the greatest country in the world. And I believe that when you have those opposing points, opposing positions, that respectfully debate those matters, have dialogue, listen to the other side, and then make a decision based on what you think is best for your constituents and in the best interest of Southern Wake County. And so that's something that I will always focus on. And so hold me accountable to being available, hold me accountable for transparency. And, you know, I look forward to talking with people and listen to opposing opinions on matters. And I believe out of that comes potential for compromise. And that's something as a tax lawyer for 26 years now. You know, I have certain values that I will not compromise on. But we have to get things done, we have to find compromise. And again, I one of the things that's such a great positive for Wake County is we just got some really smart people. I mean, we have incredibly smart people in Wake County. And so, man, what a resource we have to take all these opinions, talk them through, and let's find solutions. And it might, you know, I might come up with a solution that you're not gonna make everybody happy, right? But I promise you that I always listen to opposing views and take those into account, evaluating what's the best thing to do going forward.

Last Thoughts & Where to Learn More

Amanda Benbow Lunn 50:17

Okay. As we wrap up, is there anything we haven't discussed that you would like voters to know or anything from our conversation that you'd like to expand upon or clarify? And for voters who want to learn more about you, your platform, your campaign endorsements, and priorities, where can they go to find that information?

John Adcock 50:33

Sure, I'll answer that first. My webpage is adcock4wake.com, and that four is number four. So it's my last name, adcock4wake.com. My email address, if you would like to reach out to me, is john.adcock.mc at gmail.com. My social media, if you look me up under my name and Facebook and my other platforms are under vote adcock. So I am running with a purpose. This is not political ambition for me. This is not a stepping stone for me. I'm 58, I've been blessed with 58 years, and I'm at a point in my career where I'm kind of looking to slow things down. And doing this is not slowing things down. But my passion for Southern Way, my knowledge that we have not had effective representation at the county level for Southern Wigs, these things drive me to do this. It's purpose-driven. And I have a clear purpose. We're gonna exercise greater physical responsibility, we're gonna stop these property tax increases, we're gonna build improved roads, and we're gonna enhance public safety and invest in the classroom. Those are my purpose. And what we have on the board currently, and again, I respect the board. I mean, I truly mean that. I know members on the board personally, I respect anybody. We might disagree about everything on the face of the earth, but if you're willing to serve in that capacity on at any level, you get a lot of respect because it's a sacrifice. And so I have great respect for the County Board of Commissioners. Collectively, however, they become an echo chamber. There's no dissenting voice. Most of the votes are unanimous or close to it. And I want to be a new voice on that board. Again, respectful, but bring a perspective of someone that has a long history here, that lives and works in the community every single day, and to bring the experience I have professionally as well as my experience in transportation. So I was raised on a farm here in Wake County. My sisters and I still own it. We still run a farm. I run a small business. I've been blessed with a great family. I've served this community in multiple ways. And again, this is not a stepping stone for me. This is all about representing my community and bringing the toolbox of experiences that I have of my past and my present professional experiences, bringing that to the table and seeking to make Wake County, Southern Wake in particular, address the issues of common sense road solutions.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 52:33

All right. Well, thank you so much, John, for joining us today. I appreciate you taking the time and trusting me to put this out for you. And I wish you the best of luck on your campaign.

John Adcock 52:43

Thank you, man. I really appreciate you doing this and providing a great service to the folks in Southern Wake County by doing this. Thank you.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 52:49

Thank you.

Closing Reflections & Voting Info

Amanda Benbow Lunn 52:50

Democracy is built on participation. Politics can sometimes feel distant or abstract, but the decisions made by our elected officials at the county, state, and federal levels have a profound effect on the communities we call home and the way we live our lives. From the roads we drive on and the schools our children attend to public safety, parks and recreation, housing, health care, taxes, the economy, and the many other services and amenities that make up our communities. Government plays a role in shaping both our everyday experience and our future. That makes taking the time to understand the choices on your ballot and the people asking for your vote an important part of being an engaged member of your community. Early voting for the 2026 midterm election begins October 15th and runs through October 31st. In Southern Wake County, there will be early voting locations at the Hunt Center in Holly Springs, the Hilltop Neimore Town Park Clubhouse in Sequoy Varena, Beach Bluff County Park, and Southern Wake Tech Campus close by. Election Day is November 3rd. A general reminder that you will need a valid photo ID to vote, the regular voter registration deadline is October 9th, although you may still register when you vote during the early voting period. Please note that you cannot register to vote on Election Day itself, and that that day you will absolutely have to vote at your designated precinct location to have access to your full ballot. And because there are so many races and ballot measures this year, your ballot will likely be double-sided. It can be helpful to start on the back so that you don't accidentally overlook anything. You'll vote for the races that apply to your jurisdiction along with statewide amendments and for Southern Wake County voters, local Wake County bond referenda. Voting is one of the ways we take part in the communities we share. You don't have to agree with your neighbors or even with the candidates you've heard here to recognize that our communities are shaped by the people who show up, ask questions, learn about the choices before them, and pass their ballots. So please take the time to get informed, make your voice heard, and encourage the people around you to do the same. Your vote matters, your voice matters, and you absolutely matter, my friend. And with that, this episode of the NC Deep Dive has come to an end. Please feel free to check out this episode show notes at ncdeepdive.com for further information and relevant links for this candidate along with general election information. As always, if you have any topics or thoughts you'd like to share, you can find us on social media or email us at ncdeepdive at gmail.com. If you found value in this episode, I'd love for you to subscribe, rate, and share it so that others may more easily be informed. Please make sure to stay tuned for all the relevant candidate amendment and referenda episodes for the 2026 midterm election by visiting ncdeepdive.com, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, or wherever you currently listen to your podcast. Until next time, my friends, Nama ste: The Love and Light in Me sees and honors the Love and Light in You.