Residents press Garner council for full‑time affordable‑housing staff; task force resumes work

Speakers during the petitions and comments period urged Garner’s council to act on affordable housing, and council members said the town’s newly reconvened affordable housing task force is working toward recommendations.

Katie Danaherdekarthanas (spelled as in the meeting record), a resident and former member of Garner’s affordable housing task force, told council she spent seven months on the task force and later was disappointed when the council declined to add a full‑time affordable housing staff position to the budget. She said she now serves with local housing providers and invited council to a county‑wide candidate education event on affordable housing planned for the coming Friday.

Mary Bridal, a Garner resident and longtime home health social worker, described residents who are ‘‘too wealthy to qualify for assistance, but not wealthy enough to pay bills’’ after rapid home‑value increases in town. Bridal described the strain on middle‑income seniors, retail workers earning low wages, and adults with disabilities, and asked the council to act to keep those residents in Garner.

Separately, Councilmember Elmo Vance reported that the town’s affordable housing task force met Oct. 6 and formed subcommittees focused on resource investments, partnerships/collaborations and community engagement. Vance said the task force intends to brief council more frequently and provide work‑session updates rather than “dump” a large packet at once.

Councilmember Dellinger (name as recorded) asked when the council would vote on adding the housing position after staff and the task force produced information the council had requested. Assistant Town Manager and task force staff said subcommittees would develop deliverables and bring recommendations to the full task force for consensus before returning to council.

Councilmember Singleton said he would place an item on the Oct. 21 agenda to discuss adding an affordable housing staff position. Singleton requested the recommendation come formally from the task force; other councilmembers said staff and task‑force work would continue through the fall. No formal council action to add a position occurred Oct. 7.

What happens next

The task‑force subcommittees will continue work this fall and return recommendations to the full task force and to council. Councilmember Singleton said he would place a discussion of a housing staff position on the Oct. 21 agenda.