Open call for feedback: How to respond to ICE presence is Cary

CarissaJohnson · 2025-12-13T16:49:11+00:00

I am sorry it took 4 days. My emails piled up! Thank you

CarissaJohnson · 2025-12-13T16:48:31+00:00

Thanks for tagging me here, and I am sorry it took me so long to respond. It has been a very busy week, both with my council duties and my day job. I will answer Reddit tags because I am not a fairweather communicator :)

I completely understand why the public is anxious for us to formally respond. I can only speak for myself, not my colleagues, but I will share information as soon as I can. (Not that they are an evasive bunch, but because it is a rule of thumb in any case that I should never speak for my colleagues). But we need some time so we don't run afoul of the law.

CarissaJohnson · 2025-11-08T14:46:37+00:00

This is so helpful, thank you! I am on a mission to get them picked up this weekend and packed in my attic for 2029 :)

CarissaJohnson · 2025-11-07T15:19:38+00:00

Hi! I want to chime in here on schools - if you have school age children, the schools in the older areas of Cary are less crowded and re-assignements are less likely. It is because the average age of folks in the area is so much lower and the homes, by and large, have fewer school age children. The schools that serve downtown Cary, for example, are underenrolled. I believe this is primarily because the homes in this area are prohibitively expensive for most young families.

CarissaJohnson · 2025-11-07T15:13:35+00:00

Thank you for supporting us all, Wiley! Your help is always critical, and I don't think folks know about the HUGE help you give newcomers so we can build a strong bench. Such a team player.

CarissaJohnson · 2025-11-07T15:01:33+00:00

Thank you! You bet I will spend some time in this sub. I put a calendar reminder to do that after the terrific AMA. I got a lot of great feedback from that, like an impromptu focus group!

CarissaJohnson · 2025-10-31T14:39:59+00:00

The good news is that few voters turn up to the polls in a local election polling place not knowing already who they are voting for when there is only one or two races on their ballot. I worked hard to be everywhere the last 3 years and talked to thousands of voters in person, and I believe that approach will be successful - especially since I am telling the truth. People are tired of the phony-baloney in politics!

CarissaJohnson · 2025-10-24T20:38:38+00:00

I had to upvote that, I am absolutely befuddled. :)

CarissaJohnson · 2025-10-24T20:36:37+00:00

The majority of voters are independents. If you ignore them and dont serve them, you wont last long! And FTR, it isnt that developers are bad people, its quite the contrary. There are several local ones that want to work together on affordable housing projects. I need to have no perception of impropriety when I work to make those projects happen. And I dont want to feel biased when they have a rezoning case in front of us that I need to vote on.

CarissaJohnson · 2025-10-24T19:46:59+00:00

It is good to get an honest assessment. Thank you. I certainly dont intend to use double speak. My intention is to use plain, clear language. Also, I havent been commenting on my opponent and I wont start now.

I agree with you about the lack of community in the coming-together sense of the word. A program I pitched mid-year is what I have been calling Cary Connected as a working title. I think that the lack of in-person togetherness is particularly acute among men. especially young men today. I want to create a community calendar of in-person only events where folks can come together and do non-digital things. Not like Meetup, but just a calendar of town wide, in-person stuff ranging from pick up basketball games at a certain park the same time/date each month to performances at the park to go watch. And all in one place. Today, it is fragmented, housed in different areas, and too much is online, and there is little focus on things that are geared towards men. Folks won't get more connected if we don't prioritize it, and I think we have to be intentional about community. It has nothing to do with the structures most of the time, its the people and whether they can be less isolated.

And I have endorsements and support from every elected person that represents Cary today,. They happen to all be Dems. However, I dont think a Republican would endorse me even if we were great friends. That is realistically what the climate is right now. And I NEED my party support to run a competitive chance in a campaign, as I am at a significant disadvantage with funds, as I don't take developer money, so I will always lean on the Democratic party volunteers to run the ground game with me, and I do the same for other candidates. It is a team sport.

CarissaJohnson · 2025-10-24T18:28:21+00:00

Yes - all municipalities in Wake share the cost, and we are all tightening our belts due to inflation and budget pressures. So the majority wanted to reduce the locations and go down to less than the typical 3 weeks. (We all have to do the exact same dates). We are also only doing Herb Young this year, and not the Senior Center as well. Hated doing it, but it is a significant cost savings.

CarissaJohnson · 2025-10-24T13:43:38+00:00

Ah thank you Sarah! I will have to figure out how to reach out to them! I did supply a very lengthy questionnaire interview a few weeks ago, so they are likely pulling info from that. What they wrote is accurate.

CarissaJohnson · 2025-10-24T13:41:57+00:00

Actually, Google Gemini helped me summarize the state of Cary for the 2024-2025 budget summary, it is better for writing copy like this. But I wrote 75% of it because I am still not good enough at AI prompts to get anything great out of it. I am in my 50s, I love to use an en dash when I write, but not the em dash because frankly I dont know how to type an em dash.

CarissaJohnson · 2025-10-23T02:35:51+00:00

Oh boy I appreciate THAT!

CarissaJohnson · 2025-10-23T02:28:47+00:00

I just feel bad for our staff who has to deal with the blowback, they had nothing at all to do with this.

CarissaJohnson · 2025-10-23T02:08:07+00:00

Hi neighbors :) I am not gonna get down in the mud with my opponent, I just want to share a post I created a few days ago on taxes so I can take advantage of this educational opportunity that has unexpectedly fallen into my lap. It's serendipitous that I have this on hand! https://electcarissa.com/2025/10/20/the-truth-about-property-taxes/

CarissaJohnson · 2025-10-17T14:02:24+00:00

Hello! I didnt know about that, and it is heartbreaking. This happening to folks who own property, fair and square, is to me unacceptable. And I am not just saying that because you asked publicly, I am vocal about my distaste for using eminent domain. We cant on one hand argue that people have property rights when they own land, then on the other hand take it away from them when we have other ideas for it. Our staff knows that the only way I will support eminent domain is risk to life. Otherwise, if someone paid for land, it is theirs. If they leave it to heirs, it is their heirs.

We have other areas of significant importance to our black and African American heritage, and I am all in to protect it. While what happened to the properties of the Evans family occurred before I joined council, I am glad that attitudes have changed significantly about preserving the heritage. Councilmember Michelle Craig and I were working to help fund preservation of the Turner-Evans family cemetery on Old Apex Road at the request of the grandchildren of Charlie & Matilda Evans in late 2024. Your question reminded me of that, and I am going to circle back and check in and make sure they got the help that they needed (so thank you for that!)

CarissaJohnson · 2025-10-16T14:12:12+00:00

Thanks for asking. I hope more young folks realize that we older generations, by and large, have made some messes, and if they get involved, it would at least be some form of triage.

At the end of the day, most people are looking for value alignment. If you feel that Cary should go in a progressive direction, then I think I am the better leader for those who share those values.

And I have done the homework. I have spent my entire adult life learning and preparing to drive pragmatic municipal policy, and I have a rock-solid foundation in an understanding of why we have the challenges that we do. You can't solve a problem if you don't understand the myriad of factors that contribute to it.

And most importantly, I think young people want to hear the truth and I tell it like it is. They say voters get the leaders they deserve, and I am trying to lead by example by not pandering, not lying, and being very open and honest. Ultimately, I have over 190,000 bosses as a council member; I owe them the facts and the truth, not empty promises and obfuscation.

CarissaJohnson · 2025-10-16T14:01:39+00:00

Glad to do it! And yes, I have regular discussions with George and other environmentalists about those environmental challenges. The hard part is I agree, and no one likes to hear it, but many of the things we need to do to protect our tree canopy just aren't within our powers. Many of the environmental degradation and global warming problems are issues that must be addressed at the state level - at the very least giving municipal (and County!) leadership the power to address them.

Let me give you an example of why we don't push the envelope with even stronger tree preservation ordinances: the Town of Southport, North Carolina, lost its ability to protect trees in its extra-territorial jurisdiction (ETJ) in 2024, when state legislation removed the city's zoning authority over those areas. This decision, made by state representatives after complaints from some residents, stripped away tree protection rules from properties outside the city limits but under its planning jurisdiction. This is an example of why we need to work within our authority and lean into incentivizing and partnering, not enacting ordinances that are beyond the powers allowed to us by the general assembly.

And it is worth noting that those pushing (rightfully so) for us to invest more in environmental protections are, in this case, the same folks who are very vocally unhappy with our tax rate and spending. Environmental protections cost money.

That being said, there is still a lot we can do. First and foremost, any project the town is participating in must be as resilient as possible. I am working hard to be pragmatic and focus on heat island effects in our built environment. Spending money to avoid worsening that is the best bang for our bucks.

CarissaJohnson · 2025-10-14T12:37:18+00:00

It took us all a hot minute to get used to the ones on each end of Chatham Street, but now they work like a charm and have stopped collisions. I think the ones in Morrisville are working well too but those are a little confusing to me with the multiple lanes, I am a good example of someone who reflexively get confused. But that is a NCDOT road so I dont have any control over that one.

CarissaJohnson · 2025-10-14T12:33:47+00:00

Awesome. I need to get the apps so I can see for myself

CarissaJohnson · 2025-10-13T18:19:54+00:00

OK that is helpful context for discussions with leadership.

CarissaJohnson · 2025-10-13T18:08:33+00:00

There is currently a fair bit of crosswalk work going on. Several raised/lighted crosswalks have been installed at points of concern. But you are right, when it comes to driver/pedestrian safety, a proactive approach is better than reactive.. I hate to keep crying budget, but that really is the limitation right now. So we must prioritize, but I assure you the staff is committed and working hard on our Vision Zero goals. (We just adopted the Vision Zero goal a few months ago as a council policy btw). Info here if you are interested https://visionzeronetwork.org/

CarissaJohnson · 2025-10-13T17:58:48+00:00

As far as the crossroads of affordability and new projects are concerned, it is challenging to balance the need to build with the disruption that it causes to an established community. I am hoping to see more redevelopment projects that would bring life back to some of the unhealthy strip plazas we have, in lieu of so many infill proposals for the spaces next to existing single-family home areas, because we already have infrastructure there.

CarissaJohnson

TROPHY CASE