Patty Cheng, candidate for town council in Morrisville, NC

There are three different Morrisville Town Council races in this year’s elections.

Incumbent Steve Rao will face challenger James “Jim” Semmens for the one at-large district seat on the council.

Patty Wei-Pei Cheng is challenging incumbent Vicki Scroggins-Johnson for the district 4 town council seat while Donna Fender is running unopposed for the district 2 seat.

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: Patty Cheng

Age: 55

Residence: 304 Millet Drive

Occupation: IT Business Analyst, NC DOR

Education: B.S. Industrial and Systems Engineering, NC State U., M.S. ISE Virginia Tech

Political or civic experience: Morrisville Citizens Budget Performance Assessment Panel (2011-14); Morrisville Board of Adjustment (2017-20, Vice Chair 2020)

Campaign website: Patty4Morrisville.com

In August, Morrisville Mayor TJ Cawley Day ordered a mask mandate unlike some other Wake County towns. Do you agree with this decision?

Yes, while I would prefer Wake County provide citizens with references to conclusive, better peer-reviewed studies on the effectiveness of face masks, all seven of Morrisville’s Town Council members voted to join in with Wake County’s mask mandate because Cary and Durham already had similar mandates. People need to be aware of the many situations when face masks are not required. And there are also individual cases for face-mask exemptions that will supersede the mandate. For example, face masks prevent people who lip-read (deaf/ hearing impaired) from being able to receive communications from others. We can error on the side of caution, but our citizens also need to be sensitive to those who have reasonable exemptions.

Do you plan to vote in favor of Morrisville’s $37 million bond package for parks, public safety, streets and sidewalks?

No, Morrisville Taxpayers already paid $6 million for Parks and the Community Park Improvements in 2012. The Town overspent the $3 million MAFC allocation by $5 million. Our Parks and Recreation policy is so poorly crafted that residents have to pay $800,000 per year to subsidize the cost of the pool that is often not available to the taxpayers who fund it as the lanes are often occupied by the Durham and Cary residents who we must subsidize based on the Morrisville’s “give away our public funds” policy.

The $4.5 million park to be built in swampland is an unnecessary waste of public funds to destroy what little green space we have left.

The Town of Cary has a fire station for every 20,000 Cary residents. Morrisville already has almost twice as many fire stations per capita than Cary. Why do Morrisville taxpayers need to be burdened with having to pay for yet another fire station to fight the at most, two fires per year in Morrisville?

What is Morrisville doing right, and wrong, on managing growth?

The thoughtful debate about the development of what long term locals called Scion’s Hill (the Staldymer Property) was very well done. The owners were not denied their right to develop the property but they also agreed to 15 well thought out conditions regarding traffic impact, green space preservation, sidewalks, and even a Civil War memorial to commemorate the last cavalry skirmish near the intersection of NC 54 and Morrisville-Carpenter Road.

What is a specific need within your district? And how would you address this issue, if elected?

Town Council has overlooked the Impact of widening of Morrisville-Carpenter Road on local residents. The main entrance of the Carpenter Park Homes and Preston Creekside Condos at Kudrow Lane is to become Right-Turn Only with No Accommodations provided for 234 Homes to turn left onto a four-Lane State Road at Millet Dr - Gratiot Dr, an intersection where we once had a child fatality. Then Morrisville plans are so poorly coordinated that we are expected to pay again for the Tennis Courts that three adjoining neighborhoods never asked for at the end of Kudrow Lane, after a median is placed at the entrance to that road. I would expect Morrisville staff to address the chaos they intend to create in my neighborhood. We have easy access to excellent Tennis and Pickleball Courts nearby. Why cut down more trees to reduce green space for more courts when our four existing courts are rarely used to capacity?

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

(1) Communicating the Impact of major projects to Morrisville residents before increasing taxes

(2) Promoting smart growth - balancing growth with development projects that are focused on preserving green space and promoting owner-occupied housing.

(3) Re-evaluating town policy for recreational facilities - so that once the facility is built the income from the swimming pool, baseball, cricket fields, and tennis courts should attempt to break even on the cost to maintain the facility.

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

I bring a fresh perspective, having been born halfway around the world, I have been outside of NC to reference how things are done elsewhere. Yet, my family settled in the Raleigh-Durham area 50 years ago, so I know more history of the local area than most people.

I am NC Certified, NC State U. Engineer, naturally fiscally conservative, with knowledge of logistics management, engineering economic analysis, and statistical data analysis to provide well supported reasoning for decisions that will affect many people. I am a Certified Business Analyst (CBAP, IIBA) so I know how to gather and collect good supporting data for sound decision making.

I care about people, our community, our resources, and the future of Morrisville. We don’t expect to please everyone all the time but, it’s time for the quiet Asian women who have never before had a voice on Morrisville Town Council to have the opportunity to provide input and be considered in our decision-making process.

This story was originally published October 16, 2021 at 12:07 PM with the headline "Patty Cheng, candidate for town council in Morrisville, NC."