Bryan Haynes, candidate for board of commissioners in Fuquay-Varina, NC

Three candidates are competing for two seats on the Fuquay-Varina Board of Commissioners.

And there is guaranteed to be at least one newcomer who joins the board. Commissioner Blake Massengill is running for the open mayoral seat.

Incumbent Jason Wunsch has served on the board since 2013 and is competing against newcomers Bryan Haynes and Tracy Watson.

Early voting in the Nov. 2 election begins Oct. 14 and runs through Oct. 30.

To find polling places and full details on early voting, visit wakevotesearly.com or contact the Board of Elections at 919-404-4040 or voter@wakegov.com

Name: Bryan Haynes

Age: 36

Residence: 407 McLean St.

Occupation: Project management and business owner

Education: A.S., Fayetteville Technical Community College; B.S., Winston-Salem State University; M.A., Liberty University

Political or civic experience: Chairman, Board of Director, Pine Acres Community Center; past chairman, Fuquay-Varina Parks and Recreation Advisory Board; associate minister, Bazzel Creek Missionary Baptist Church; site supervisor, Wake County COVID Food Security Site, Fuquay-Varina; site supervisor, WCPSS Lunch Feeding Site; Southern Wake, Leadership Fuquay-Varina Class of 2015; Board of Directors, Project Reverso; past master, Golden Star Lodge #150; member, Kabala Temple #177; appointed Complete Count Committee, Census 2020 Fuquay-Varina,

Campaign website: www.choosehaynes4fv.com

In August, Fuquay-Varina Mayor John Byrne decided against ordering a mask mandate like some other Wake County towns. Do you agree with this decision?

Yes, In agreeing with the decision, I want to be clear I believe it is each citizen’s responsibility to protect the health and well being of your fellow citizens. I personally still wear a mask and require it at the community center where I am director because of my personal experiences working for a local funeral home where I have seen firsthand the effects of COVID in so many ways. Until you have seen the hurt and pain in a spouse who will never get to say goodbye to their spouse because they were in the hospital fighting for their own life.

Do you plan to vote in favor of Fuquay-Varina’s $38.5 million bond package for parks and transportation projects?

Yes, I am in favor of the bond because the funds will fund projects that are needed for the future of the town. Having been the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board chair, another community center has been talked about for years as the northern part of town was projected to grow as we are seeing now. Also, our current community center is at capacity of what it can do in the current building and we have to keep up with the growth of the town’s athletic program. If it passes, I do want to go back and revisit the active adult center component to make sure we are providing our growing senior population with an adequate space that meets their needs.

The funds for road improvements are needed as well to continue to keep up with the growth of our town. The goal is to make sure that we are using these funds to make sure we are addressing the major problem areas and road surfacing needs of the town.

What is Fuquay-Varina doing right, and wrong, on managing growth?

What is FV doing right to manage growth?

FV has a new form-based code project that is an example of doing something right as we face exponential growth. The older, conventional code is based on land use segregation. Form-based code is created based on what a community needs and wants. The most successful use creates communities with walkability, diverse neighborhoods and close access to what residents need: jobs, groceries, health care. It can be a good way of helping rural communities create opportunity from growth.

What is FV doing wrong?

As our community faces explosive growth, we need to make sure we preserve land with highway access to attract clean industry and good jobs. We also need to include the input of family farmers on preserving and protecting farmland in our ETJ. We need to preserve wildlife habitat. These concepts can work together, as we plan for the growth we are facing.

If elected, what would your two or three priorities be during your first year in office?

▪ Plan for affordable housing for seniors, teachers, first responders, veterans, and young families

▪ Plan to increase connectivity throughout town with shuttles and sidewalks.

▪ Collaborate on regional transportation solutions; solving local parking problems.

What unique skills or life perspective would you bring to city governance?

During COVID, I have been in every part of Fuquay-Varina making sure that every student and family had food and other resources needing during the pandemic. This helped me to understand the needs of all the diverse communities in our town and how some feel as if they are undervalued. I went into neighborhoods where houses were $500,000+ and people had been laid off due to the pandemic. to apartment complexes to mobile home parks. I worked with hundreds of citizens, teachers, bus drivers, counselors, cafeteria workers, safety assistants, social workers, businesses, churches, civic organizations, many departments in Wake County government, WCPSS, and county and state representatives to make sure that southern Wake County had all the resources they needed to make sure they were taken care of.

This story was originally published October 14, 2021 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Bryan Haynes, candidate for board of commissioners in Fuquay-Varina, NC."