Terry McGuire For City Council
Urban Heat Island & Tree Equity - The 2040 Comprehensive Plan Harmony With Nature states that we need to bring our tree canopy to 60% with 40% coverage needing to be met per city block.
What specific measures will be implemented to maintain our current tree canopy, as well as guarantee tree equity throughout the whole city?
ANSWER
I address this as one of my top priorities on my website, so I appreciate the question! I believe the largest hurdles to restoring our tree canopy as quickly as possible are lack of political will and a resulting failure to adequately fund our Urban Forestry Division. If I am elected, I will make it a top priority that we increase funding for the Urban Forestry Division so they have the staff and resources needed to protect and expand our tree cover. I will also use my platform on Council to continue educating my colleagues and the public about the important public health and economic benefits that result from increasing urban tree cover.
Regarding equity, I will advocate that we work with the experts and scientists to prioritize our efforts in the areas of Roanoke identified as most vulnerable to extreme urban heat. I will also recommend that Urban Forestry hire a full-time Tree Stewards coordinator whose job is solely to work with and support neighborhood groups, businesses, and residents in supporting community plantings and ongoing young tree care.
Lastly, and this overlaps with another of my priority areas around youth engagement, I will advocate for summer youth employment and internship programs that create opportunities for juniors and seniors to get hands-on experience in city government and earn income. As it relates to urban forestry, summer is the most perilous time for street trees. We lose a huge number simply because of a lack of capacity to water. Summer is also a vulnerable time for many of our youth. I envision an Urban Forestry summer internship program that is mutually beneficial, providing needed assistance caring for young trees and offering youth valuable experience and summer income. Black and Brown folks are historically under-represented in the forestry field - and yet more vulnerable generally to extreme urban heat and air pollution - so there should be intentionality behind recruiting students from those communities.
Flood Resilience
Downtown Roanoke was built on top of wetlands and tributaries to the Roanoke River. The topography of the region makes downtown Roanoke vulnerable to the stormwater runoff from bordering localities. There are state and federal funding incentives to encourage localities to be flood resilient.
What is your plan to protect Roanoke from another catastrophic flood like the Flood of 1985?
ANSWER
For starters, I will adhere to our 2040 Comprehensive Plan's recommendation that we protect what remains of our green space and prioritize development on under-utilized and vacant commercial and industrial areas that are already connected to infrastructure. One of the most impactful things we can do to protect downtown Roanoke is to preserve and protect the green spaces and parks in our city that act as a sponge to restore our groundwater and mitigate stormwater runoff.
I would like to support continued stream restoration projects, such as what's been done in Washington Park with Luck Run and around Ore Branch on the site of the former Franklin Road Ramada Inn. To protect downtown, we need to alleviate the rapid deluge of stormwater runoff that is created by extreme weather events. We can help do this by restoring the riparian areas around the streams and tributaries that flow into the Roanoke River.
I will also advocate for increased investments in green infrastructure, such as replacing impervious surfaces with pervious where possible and installing green roofs where possible on city structures to demonstrate our leadership, encourage citizens to follow suit, and provide a living laboratory for students and roofing apprentices. I will also use my platform as an elected official to encourage citizens to explore measures in their own yards and gardens, as I have done, that will mitigate runoff and provide financial relief from stormwater fees.
Roanoke River & Tributaries - The Roanoke River and 11 of the 13 tributaries are currently impaired and are on the 303(d) list for exceeding safe levels of either bacteria (E. coli), sediment, temperature, and PCBs or a combination of these pollutants since 2006. Over the next year DEQ will be conducting another Benthic Clean Up Study of the Roanoke River, Tinker Creek and Wolf Creek.
Regarding the restoration of the cleanliness of our waterways and mitigation of stormwater runoff, please outline the specific initiatives that you intend to implement
ANSWER
In addition to the measures and initiatives mentioned above regarding stream and tributary restoration, I believe we need to convene a regional task force to focus on the health of the Roanoke River and identify key action steps needed by each locality to address each's largest source of contributing pollution. While Roanoke City contributes significantly to a decline in the river's overall health, we are not the sole sources of degradation and we need our neighboring jurisdictions, particularly upstream sources of pollution, to come to the table and work with us on solutions that deliver a cleaner river for everyone to enjoy.
On the matter of water temperature, we need to work aggressively to replant trees and riparian vegetation around the river and its tributaries, as well as press our elected officials at every level to use every lever of government to act on climate change.
Airport Pollution & Runway Extension
The Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport “Master” Plan is to extend one of the runways for safety reasons. The plan is focused on creating more growth opportunities based on the increase of air travel. Small jets typical of the ones that land at our airport usually are older and use lead gasoline. Levels of airborne lead in the United States have declined 99% since 1980, but emissions from aircraft that operate on leaded fuel may still pose risks to nearby communities. Airport air pollution can also disproportionately impact sensitive subpopulations. Henry et al. (2019) studied impacts of several California airports on surrounding schools and found that over 65,000 students spend 1 to 6 hours a day during the academic year being exposed to airport pollution, and the percentage of impacted students was higher for those who were economically disadvantaged. The airport is near William Fleming High School, Round Hill Elementary, and Roanoke Area Math and Science Elementary as well as being surrounded by predominantly Black communities that have already been harmed by urban renewal.
How will you protect Roanoke citizens, especially marginalized communities, from more noise and air pollution that could be created by an increase of more air traffic to our area? Will you support an investigation of how the current pollution created by the airport is impacting public health, especially the children?
ANSWER
I am concerned about the potential for increased levels of air and noise pollution from an expanded airport. My background includes 13 years of experience working in environmental policy focused specifically on the Clean Air Act, so I am very aware of the dangers that still exist from small engine aircraft that continue to use leaded gasoline.
I absolutely support investigating impacts to public health from any proposed expansion, to include examining current pollution levels. I would support two measures immediately:
1) Voluntarily test all Roanoke City kids and young adults under 18 years of age for blood lead levels, to determine where we may already have high exposure rates,
2) Install low cost air quality monitors on all Roanoke City schools, prioritizing those closest to sources of pollution like industrial zones and highways. These should monitor criteria pollutants and adhere to any best practices and recommendations on equipment as outlined by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Good data is foundational to advocacy and is critical to property informing and mobilizing the public.
Community Engagement - Which initiatives will you lead and implement to ensure that our marginalized communities, inclusive of public housing residents, are effectively engaged with?
ANSWER
I believe we need to totally overhaul how we do community engagement, to ensure that communities are actually involved and informed at the outset of decision-making. I would support hiring at least one more Neighborhood Services Coordinator, to help with outreach to marginalized and historically underrepresented populations. I think ideally we would have one coordinator for each quadrant of Roanoke.
Parks & Recreation
Parks & Recreation is an important necessity for the City and aides in mitigating stormwater runoff with tree equity, flood resilience, climate change and community participation and engagement. There needs to be equity to ensure that the public, including marginalized communities, have access to natural areas to improve their health and well being.
What measures will be implemented to ensure that the Parks and Recreation Department has the necessary financial resources to fulfill its duties and operations?
ANSWER
I recently completed a four year term on the Roanoke City Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, serving as Chair for my two final years. As you point out, funding for P&R is critical, particularly considering the Urban Forestry Division is housed within P&R.
One of my top priorities on Roanoke City Council will be increasing overall funding for the Parks and Recreation Department. I have not seen the numbers in the latest budget, but in recent previous years we have allocated less than 2% of our overall city budget for parks and trails maintenance, recreation centers and youth programming, and urban forestry. I am committed to seeing these overall department numbers lifted to at least 5%.
A related top priority for me on City Council is increased funding for after-school programming and youth engagement. I will work to ensure increased funding levels translate into increased after-school programming and youth engagement activities, prioritizing these activities in historically underinvested and lower income communities. It is critical we provide young adults with safe, supportive environments where they can engage with their peers and safely enjoy the outdoors. In addition to addressing youth crime, this will also benefit working families by helping with childcare costs and concerns. It's a win-win for our city and neighborhoods to increase funding for Parks and Rec so that we can reopen shuttered recreation centers and again provide our youth with meaningful opportunities to play and recreate in a structured and supervised setting.
To learn more please visit https://www.terryforroanoke.com/
