Todd Lange
♦ Age: 64
♦ Address: 222 N. Mulberry Street, Statesville
♦ Education: Public Policy and Administration/Liberal Arts, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
♦ Professional Background: Former Sales and Project Executive at IBM, currently a Real Estate Broker and small business owner
♦ Elected experience: None, but I have years of civic experience, volunteer and community service experience.
Q&A
IFN: What motivated you to run for this office? If you are elected, what will your top three priorities be? What can the council do to move the needle in these areas?
LANGE: We have a lot of council members who are not running for re-election. I believe we need candidates who have experience navigating city hall and are locally rooted in Statesville. I’ve served on several boards over the last few years, including as Chairman of the Planning Board. I also served on the 2045 Statesville Land Use Planning Committee and the Historic Commission. These experiences, when partnered with my business background and longtime residency in Statesville, make me uniquely qualified to step into the role of serving on the Statesville City Council in an At-Large capacity. I believe our priorities should align with what I hear from our community.
Those top 3 priorities are as follows: 1) Public Safety – we need to keep our community safe while making sure first responders have the resources they need to do their jobs. 2) Supporting our Local Economy – we need to make sure that we encourage policies and investments that set Statesville apart to attract new employers and support the growth of our local businesses so we can keep and create good jobs right here at home. We can do this in a way that increases the tax base without raising taxes. 3) Growing Statesville in a smart manner – Smart growth means putting Statesville first with responsible development where we want and need it, while ensuring our housing is affordable and available so our residents stay here. My diverse background in business, civic leadership and my history as a collaborative problem solver are what’s needed at this time. These issues can be addressed by the council through budget solutions, increasing our tax base, and making sure key benchmarks of the 2045 Plan, Transportation Plan and Greenway Plan are met in a way that benefits Statesville as a whole.
IFN: Voters want their elected officials to understand their lived experiences as they consider policy/budget decisions. Tell us about your family (spouse/partner; children/children; parents/grandparents) and how your family’s experiences in Statesville has shaped your views on major issues where the city council can make a difference.
LANGE: I met my wife Sheila forty years ago in Winston-Salem and have been married to her for more than 37 of those years. Our careers took us to Baltimore-Washington, where we had two of our three children (Colette, 1988 and Keaton, 1991). My career with MCI (now Verizon Business) and IBM allowed Sheila to postpone her career to focus on family and home. It also enabled us to experience life in several other communities across the country, but family and North Carolina held our hearts and we returned home for good in 1995. We decided to foster and then adopt our third child, Howie, in 1998. We chose to move from Huntersville to Statesville in 2008 for its character and sense of community, our historic home and the excellent quality of life, which we can attest to based on our experience. Our life in Statesville has been one of engagement, connection, joy, loss and change including our respective mothers both developing Alzheimer’s and us becoming full-time caregivers in our home, losing a career, starting a new one and welcoming my 91-year-old father as a new roommate. So, you ask how our experience in Statesville shaped our views on the issues? These events are simply part of life. Being able to carry forward with grace, humility, resolution and compassion is about the people who share these experiences with you. Based on our experience, it is this sense of community and willingness to support one another through good and bad that is unique to Statesville. The issues we are passionate about then are those that encourage growth yet maintain connection, compassion and the unique authenticity of Statesville.
IFN: The City Council has or will soon approve the rezoning and annexation for the massive Compass Data Center project. This project will add an estimated $1 billion or more to the city’s tax base and generate millions of new tax dollars for the city. What will be your priorities for spending this money? As part of your plan, will you support a reduction in the property tax rate to give homeowners some relief?
LANGE: The additional revenue has to be put towards funding improvements and betterment of our city. We need to audit our resources across public-facing departments like our police and firefighters and make sure that the resources available match the growth Statesville has seen. That is the first step in making sure that families in every corner of Statesville feel safe. Next, we should complete projects that fall to the responsibility of the city, like local road improvements, infrastructure updates and quality of life investments to encourage new, private business investment and job growth. This will also ease the starting of revitalizations efforts in neighborhoods families would be proud to call home. I do support a modest reduction of property taxes in Statesville, but only if it is not at the expense of investments that should be made towards projects and/or services that lead to an overall increase in the tax base. I have no intention of supporting a tax increase and am a believer that new taxes do not solve old problems. Making it easier for families and individuals to buy homes helps keep people and jobs in Statesville which keeps our local economy strong over time.
IFN: The cost of housing, including monthly rent and purchase prices for starter homes, has increased dramatically in the last five years. As a council member, would you support the use of taxpayer dollars to help first-time homebuyers? If so, what is your vision for such a program? If not, do you have any ideas for helping residents struggling to pay rent or buy their first home?
LANGE: This is where using additional revenue and expanded revenue base will benefit Statesville citizens. In addition, I believe our ordinance and development standards should place some responsibility on developers to allocate a percentage of every project towards housing stock to be sold conventionally at less than market rate to qualified workforce buyers like Police Officers, Firefighters and other public or private wage earners. This approach will have the added benefit of beginning to mitigate concentrations of poverty and potentially reducing crime in those areas. We should also look at neighborhood revitalization throughout Statesville–improving historic or rundown neighborhoods, repairing crumbling infrastructure, and making sure public safety is prioritized. This allows us to expand available housing options and adds more affordable homes to the Statesville market.
IFN: Iredell-Statesville Schools previously asked the City Council to help fund a pre-K classroom for low-income children to ensure that they are ready to begin kindergarten. The cost was in the neighborhood of $200,000. The council declined to provide funding. If elected, would you support such an initiative? Explain your decision.
LANGE: Our next generation in Statesville is our greatest resource. The council needs to collaborate and communicate with Iredell-Statesville Schools to help improve education gaps in the community, especially in low-income areas. I support the initiative because I want to see Statesville continuing to become a place where everyone can thrive. With additional revenue and opportunities coming into Statesville, we need to make sure our school system is performing so we can keep families living in Statesville instead of moving to other areas.
IFN: There are six candidates running for two seats in this race. What makes you the best candidate to represent the interests of ALL Statesville residents during the next four years?
LANGE: Experience matters in this election. For years, I’ve been civically involved with our community and it has allowed me to have a unique perspective when it comes to serving on the Statesville City Council. I’m a business-minded individual who knows how to implement strategy and collaborate with others. This comes from my years of experience by working at IBM and now in the real estate field. When partnered with my civic engagement like serving as Chair of the Planning Board, I have a set of skills that gives me the ability to navigate the challenges we face while also bringing fresh ideas and leadership. Statesville is in the midst of new opportunities. We have new jobs, career paths, and a community that is set to thrive. Statesville is a community where people are proud to call it their home, raise a family, or start a business. We need strong, confident leadership who knows our city, its people, and the challenges ahead. I’m confident I can be that for Statesville and bring real solutions to the City Council.