Susan Burgess is serving her second term on the Charlotte City Council member at Large. She previously served as a member and chairperson of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Board of Education. Burgess also is chairperson of the NC Teaching Fellows Commission.
She holds a masters degree in public health from University of Alabama-Birmingham and BS in Health Science from Florida International University. Burgess is past president of the Rotary Club of Charlotte South and is an ordained elder at Covenant Presbyterian Church, where she previously was on staff as Director of Community Missions.
She has served on numerous boards, including Girl Scouts, Hornets Nest Council, Council for Children and Youth Homes, Inc. She and her husband, W. Patrick Burgess, MD-PhD are parents of 4 children and 5 grandchildren.
CLI: Center for Local Innovation, Director, Chad Adams
Burgess: Susan Burgess, Charlotte City Council member at Large
CLI: Since you have been on the Charlotte council (both before and after running for City Mayor) what are some of the most substantive changes that you’ve seen in the Charlotte/Mecklenburg area?
Burgess: In a word: GROWTH! Our region’s extraordinary growth brings with it both opportunities and challenges. There are economic opportunities for jobs and investments, but serious fiscal challenges on how to pay for infrastructure and services for all these new folks moving here. We are challenged on how to maintain the quality of life that attracted them here in the first place.
When I joined the City Council in 1999, the city was afloat with money. I was amazed that the Council spent $1 million on two different occasions on items that were not even on the agenda.
Another real change in Charlotte is an erosion of trust that our citizens have for city leaders, an unfortunate situation resulting from the building of our new arena. Before I was in office, the Council voted to build the arena after the referendum defeat. Many people were livid, including some of Charlotte’s most faithful boosters. Frankly, that is one reason I ran again for Council. The arena issue was the worst managed local government action I can think of ever, anywhere.
The City Council acted like they were in a desperate position, and they were not. The Council at that time voted on a contract they didn’t have time to read, since it was being copied during the agenda discussion. We discovered details we did not know about, like the expense to the city for police services during arena events totaling nearly $1 million a year.
I do not fault Bob Johnson (owner of the Charlotte Bobcats) at all; he is a savvy businessman. But I think the community’s lackluster interest in the Bobcats to date is a result of the process of arena building. (This is coming from an NBA fan who bought 4 season tickets.) Now that we have a beautiful arena, we may as well enjoy it, because it sucked up money for other public amenities.
CLI: The Center for Local Innovation recently ranked Charlotte/Mecklenburg as the most heavily taxed area in NC for the second year in a row. What would you say is the main cause of the current tax burden and do you think it is an appropriate one?
Burgess: The primary cause of our tax burden is the County Commission’s annual whopper property tax increases, mostly to pay for school construction and renovation and mandated social services.
Because the city shares 85% of the same constituents with the county, I have been a strong advocate for NOT raising the city tax rate. This year’s budget was a real struggle to balance, however, and was achieved by eliminating donations, delaying much needed road projects, increasing some user fees, and slightly decreasing service levels. I wanted to use this year’s budget to get back to the basics, squeeze out unnecessary spending, and align expenditures with the level of government responsible.
I am proud that the council’s Democrats voted unanimously for our back-to-the-basics, no tax increase budget that focused on community safety, while all Republicans curiously voted against it. Go figure. It is my opinion that moderate Democrats have the right approach to governing. I am aligned with the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, the source of many of my local innovation ideas.
CLI: Many cities and counties across the state are working more closely than they have in the past. Mecklenburg and Charlotte even have metro law enforcement in place. How do you see the relationship between the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg county? How could it be better?
Burgess: I believe the city, towns and county should have a tax summit to figure out how we can better work together to coordinate policy and taxes. For example, the City’s growth policies and re-zonings are creating the extraordinary school capital needs, but until this week, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools did not weigh in with the impact of each zoning petition.
CLI: Charlotte has become the front line of the transit debate in N.C. with the introduction of the downtown trolley. Now both Raleigh and Charlotte are seeking to get into the light-rail business. The costs seem exorbitant and yet critical discussions seem to fall upon deaf ears. Do you think light-rail will solve Charlotte’s congestion problems, and is it worth the price?
Burgess: Charlotte’s mass transit plans have never claimed to solve congestion problems, but to only reduce the expected increase in congestion. That’s a hard concept to swallow when the ultimate price tag for all 5 corridors is $6 billion and growing.
With our transit-oriented planning policies, growth will be concentrated near transit stations, creating a critical mass for those commuting into the center of the city. This should allow the wedges between the corridors to remain less dense and greener. Our local citizens are paying for 25% of the cost of construction and operation, mostly through our transit-dedicated half-cent sales tax. I wish we could use some of this for roads!.
The state has committed to pay 25%, and the federal government 50%. Most of the management and policy decisions are made by the Metropolitan Transit Commission (MTC), but the Charlotte City Council has the ultimate say on the budget.
I believe criticism seems to fall on deaf ears because the public generally does not understand the decision making process. We are at the point of no turning back on the South Corridor, which as been online since around 1998. Thus, we can test not only viability, but affordability, economic and environmental benefit, if any, of the whole system. I, personally, will be very leery of developers seeking subsidies around the transit stations.
CLI: Charlotte is the largest city in N.C. with some of the most interesting challenges in city government. As a member of the Council, what do you think are the most innovative approaches being used in the city of Charlotte and what are some of the approaches you would like to see in place?
Burgess: Charlotte has been a recognized innovator in managed competition, or privatization of services, which has saved us a lot of money over the years. I believe government should be entrepreneurial and more business-like in the way we manage.
One filter I use to make decisions is by posing the question, “Would this be done in private business?” I think that the funding of building projects and the improvement of roads. We are not using strategies that have been successful in other cities and states like demand-driven tolling, e.g. HOT lanes, debt financing as GARVEE bonds, and credit assistance.
CLI: As a leader, what do you foresee as the single largest issue facing the future of your city? What do you think should happen?
Burgess: In addition to meeting the demands of growth and rebuilding trust in government, I believe one of the largest issues we face is keeping the power of government in the hands of the people and not in control of special interests.
I am particularly concerned with the growing demands from businesses to provide tax incentives for relocations and retentions and for future tax forgiveness for individual developments. It is beyond me why we give away the people’s money to incent growth when we already have so much. It is hard to manage and afford. I routinely vote against these, along with one other Council Member.
As General Patton said, “If everyone is thinking the same thing, someone is not thinking!” I am not shy about being that lone voice out there if I think it is right for the people of Charlotte, whom, and only whom, I serve.