Remarks by Wendy Jacobs
115 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 4 of 5
- Play at 53:11
“And again, thinking about, you know, our discussion today about, um, our violence reduction and focusing on youth. Do you know what the ages are of the opportunities for these are 18 to 24 year olds.”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 53:37
“Well, I think it's something to think about because we know that that's really, I mean, it would be a great thing.”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 53:55
“Okay, just thinking about our own youth being involved in that. Yes, absolutely. Thank you.”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 57:49
“I just want to respond to what, furthering the conversation about our Triangle wastewater plant. I, I really want to commend our staff because this is what serves RTP and we would not have, uh, all of the capacity, um, in RTP without it. And what's also, I want to commend the staff is that it's an enterprise fund. So all of these investments, all the items on our agenda today related to it are paid for. through the user fees so it's not a burden to our residents and um there are a lot of innovative practices that you all thank you practice around using recycling water reusing water also…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 1:06:18
“just want to echo commissioner burton's comments this is really amazing over 200 acres of farmland and again ties into our discussion about the um our updated farmland plan that we're going to talk about later today but i really first want to thank the families these are three historic durham county farm families that are making this commitment long term. I mean, this is permanent. This is in perpetuity, this type of commitment. And so I'm, first of all, really grateful to the families, the Eagles and the Sparrows and the Penny families. And secondly, also to our staff. for making all of this…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 1:08:39
“getting there so okay that did not really answer your question but it's we'll pull ryan in to get a more specific answer yes so um i'm actually chair of that okay well maybe you should tell me um would it work we are uh so kind of a leading question but um we are updating the falls lake rules right now and what's really exciting is that We have agreement, at least on some of the rules, and related to agriculture and also land conservation. The state is agreeing that land conservation will count towards Believe it or not, it hasn't counted towards necessarily towards some of the requirements.…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 1:09:53
“We're getting closer. Thank you. Very close. Thank you.”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 1:14:37
“i just had a quick comment i wanted to thank the city council for this contribution to food security i think this is a great example of how the city and the county work together we are the we are the ones that have the infrastructure around food security so it makes sense for us to fulfill Um, you know, this, uh, you know, put the spending into action and similar, we've done this with housing where we have contributed, uh, significant ARPA funding to the city for housing. And I think again, this something that relates to the, our conversations in our, uh, the rest of the work session today…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 1:18:43
“Yes, I think also related to the issue of the double bucks program is even more of a systemic issue because anyone who is participating in the double bucks program has qualified for SNAP. And so what I think we really, what I hope maybe in October we can actually have more of a overview of what's happening happening within durham county with our system related to federal snap and medicaid benefits what we see already is because of the new work requirements and having to re reapply every six months the impact on our staff in dss but also we're already seeing a decline of at least 20% already…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 1:31:14
“commissioners have comments go ahead uh commissioner jacobs um well i just want to say this is a great plan thank you everyone who was involved in it um and i think there's some there's a lot of good news in the plan i mean we we have seen a loss of let's see looking at the reduction in farmland we've lost 71 percent of our farmland in Durham, I guess, since, is that since 2009? Is that correct?”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 1:31:56
“No, that's, I'm sorry, since 1974. Okay, so 1974. to 2022 we've lost 40 000 acres of farmland 71 and the number of farms have declined 46 so that's the bad news right but we know that is a trend nationally and also we are a small county so we don't have a lot of land to begin with and that's very i mean it is It's shocking to see that kind of data. But I think the good news is that when we look at 2009 since the last plan until now, it was really great to see that we have increased actually the number of small farms and that we have not seen a big loss since then in the number of large farms.…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 1:36:12
“Oh, and the last recommendation was that the farmland board members have direct impact into the development process and you know that is a huge oversight because we have you know dost provides um input bpac you know the eab and the fact that the farmland board does not provide input is a huge problem and i want to note that the feedback in the report talking one of the big concerns not only about the land prices and development pressures, but the fact that even what's happening on the fringe of the urban growth boundary is causing problems for farmers. And I don't think that the city…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 1:39:01
“So we haven't turned anyone away at this point, not turned anyone away at this point.”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 1:39:27
“Well, that might be something for us to think about, is that that's been a flat amount since the beginning. And I did note, you know, as land prices go up, we may need to look at how we adjust that a little bit. Was that kind of a...”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 1:41:03
“And it was also related to the unified development ordinance as well.”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 1:41:38
“kind of make sure they understand what is needed in the new LDC and I feel like their voices have been heard early on before they put a stall on that I guess one of my questions would for the county manager is just we've been stalled out implementing the LDC and whether we need to look at just focusing on an or amending our current ordinance that um to address the issues that were identified related to farmland protection because it is again not something we can it's it's time it's time sensitive and we're up against a lot of challenges and um you know this is one of our priorities for durham…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 1:42:50
“And also related to that is how we can make sure that the Farmland Board is providing direct advice and input into the development process.”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 1:43:23
“both um and the the thing is the the comment needs to be included in the staff reports if it's if it's going to be officially part of the planning process then the comments have to be included in the reports that the city council receives or if it's coming to the county commission either way”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 1:46:41
“really lifts up a lot of things for us to keep building and I want to thank Durham residents who go out and go to the farmers market. We have so many farmers markets now and our local restaurants who buy from our farmers and I also want to just thank our Durham County departments because there's a lot of discussion today about people not collaborating and things being in silos and um fragmented but i really feel like our durham county departments whether it's public health um you know our soil and water cooperative extension our open space and real estate and you all are really working…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 2:50:57
“uh i just want to say thank you all you are the a team right here i feel like i'm looking at the a team right now um this is one of the most important things that we have been doing in durham county focusing on economic mobility uh it's it's one of the most important things um i think it was i was like looking trying to look back at data 2010 Our poverty rate in Durham was 18.4% and 2024 it was 11.3%. And, you know, to me, this is, this is part of the work that we are trying to do to address poverty and our community. And the fact that Durham County has the highest wages in the state of North…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 2:59:50
“Thank you. Nicole, thank you for Novo Nordisk being a real role model for everybody in every way. I wonder with you, your experience with companies, what are your thoughts on what more do you think can happen in terms of the partnership and the engagement and just thinking about when we do these our own contracts, our economic incentive contracts with companies, things that we can layer into them and, and like Abby, like over 700 jobs coming. Uh, we have such an opportunity, like what, um, what, what, what more do you think we can be doing?”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 3:02:09
“That's something we should follow up on. Another question I have is one partner who's not in the room is the city. And the city of Durham has the Office of Economic and Workforce Development. We actually, AbbVie will be one of the first projects economic development projects we're partnering with the city on um so and they have more actually resources than we do in this in this area what are your thoughts on how we can really pull”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 3:03:54
“That sounds great because that's another pipeline, that's another on-ramp into this pipeline that we're creating here. Unless I just want to mention one other thing is I do want to highlight again that the jobs that we have in Durham County, in RTP, and in Trayburn are not to be taken for granted. And they're here because of very, very deliberate, uh, policies and decision-making and investments that have happened over many, many years. You know, we know RTP goes back, you know, late 1950s. Um, and you know, we, everything is changing all the time. We're impacted by global and national and…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 3:16:04
“It might be we could just do a working lunch. We could grab our lunch since people are sitting here. and take a few minute break and then bring our lunch and come back.”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 4:18:37
“Well, first of all, I just want to say I appreciate all the collaboration that has gotten us to this place. Great to see all of you sitting here. the city and the county working together, and we need to move forward. I hear the urgency from the community. I hear the frustration, and I share it. Since I've been sitting in this seat, I spent years on the Gang Reduction Task Force, the Violent Crime Roundtable, I've been here to see MBK, my brother's keeper, come and go, Bull City United come and go. I've sat in with conversations with the sheriff trying to start Project Safe Neighborhoods,…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026