Candidate Profile: Carolyn Campbell (Hampton City Council)

Biography:

Why Run for Council?  Carolyn has always had a passion for service, and has volunteered wherever she could throughout her entire life. While raising her two sons (and on top of a full-time career), she volunteered with her local church, school, and Boy Scout troop. After her sons had moved out, she volunteered even more with environmental projects and local non-profits. Now, she’s looking to do even more, and Hampton City Council is a great place to fulfill her passion for service!

Born and Raised in Hampton.  Carolyn was born and raised in Hampton, and has lived here all her life. Her father was a cabinet maker and a police officer, and her mother stayed at home to make sure she and her sister were taken care of. She attended Hampton City Schools, and then pursued an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration from Virginia Peninsula Community College (VPCC – formerly TNCC). She then attended Virginia Tech and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science.

Career.  With her degree from Virginia Tech, Carolyn pursued an IT career as a government contractor working with Wyle Labs, NNS, and SAIC. After 25 years in the industry, and opportunity arose to rehab houses, and she transitioned to her own company, Cornerstone Investors Inc In 2007. Getting her hands dirty with a hammer and paintbrush, she found the work to be incredibly fulfilling as the houses transitioned into beautiful homes for families to enjoy. On top of her busy and successful career, she also prioritized her family.

Family.  Carolyn married her college sweetheart, John, in 1987 , and they have two sons in their 37 year of marriage. She and her family enjoyed many years of Boy Scouting, encouraging her sons to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout with many weekend campouts, fishing, hiking, biking, and canoeing. They also enjoyed spending time on the Hampton River, helping the high school sailing teams during the week and relaxing in their little powerboat on weekends. 

Giving Back to the Community.  Carolyn has been an integral part of her community and local church her entire life. She leads by example to show her sons the importance of serving others and helping the community at large. She began working with the Chesapeake Bay team through her membership as part of the ELECA Stewardship group, which planted a tree grown from an acorn off the Emancipation Oak near the Hampton River, and created an oyster reef to help clean the river. She remained an active leader in her local Boy Scout troop for a decade after her sons aged out of the program to help other kids learn and grow, actively volunteering for local projects at Gosnold’s Hope Park, churches, schools, and environmental projects like building and installing osprey nests and bat houses. She is an active member of YSV, dedicated to teaching life skills to middle and high school youth and their families through sailing programs, inspiring learning, personal growth, and leadership. 

Why are you running for this office?

As a business owner, entrepreneur, program manager, and technology executive, I plan to use my expertise and experience to ensure financial efficiencies with our tax dollars, and to support new and ongoing small businesses to supplement our tax revenue for further citizen tax relief.

As a lifelong resident of Hampton, I plan to focus on crime by supporting our law enforcement officials, the future of our youth by supporting a positive relationship with our school board, and our environment to ensure our 100+ miles of waterfront are accessible and clean.

What is the top challenge facing Hampton, and how would you address it?

There are two aspects of challenges I believe can be addressed: short-term challenges that need to be addressed right now, and longer-term challenges that need vision and planning to prepare for the future.

Economy. In a post-COVID shutdown economy that was supposed to last “2 weeks” and lasted “2 years”, people are struggling financially. Listening to the citizens and addressing their financial pressures by providing tax relief where possible is a critical step for the citizens right now. For the longer-term solution, we need to support small businesses to create more local jobs, and update outdated rules and regulations that stifle innovation with the goal of “Hampton, the city where small business goes to thrive!”

Crime. In our city, crime is a key topic of discussion among the citizens. Speeding, gunshots, and shoplifting are some of the recurring issues raised among neighbors. Listening to the citizens, they are concerned for their safety right now. Policing in our community needs to be supported with full staffing and resources, and our local businesses need to be supported to minimize the financial impact of crime to keep them viable in our community. For the longer-term solution, we need to develop our neighborhood watch teams as a key means of facilitating communication and teamwork among the citizens.

Environment. Flooding is a continual discussion that goes along with living on a peninsula. Listening to the citizens, they are frustrated with the constant flooding and lack of maintenance of resources used for water runoff. For the short-term solution, we must maintain our marshlands, gulleys and runoff resources to reduce the flooding among our homes and roadways. For the longer-term solution, we need to continue the resiliency efforts that will help us determine what we need to plan for in the future.

What is your view on addressing the affordable housing crisis?

I favor long-term solutions vs short-term fixes.

As a long-term solution, I favor the model of providing affordable housing used by Habitat for Humanity Housing Development. The homeowners and the homes are matched and the following premise is followed:

• The home is sized appropriately for the homeowner.
• The home amenities and building materials selected make the home affordable for the homeowner.
• The homeowner must contribute time to the build of the home in whatever way they are able so they have “skin in the game.” This develops pride in their home to encourage upkeep and beautification of the property.
• Being “part of the community” in a home the homeowner helped build provides a supporting network of neighbors to encourage success.

As an interim stop-gap measure until the long-term solution can be accomplished, vouchers can be provided to residents for a limited time with a requirement to be working toward the long-term solution. The time limitation encourages avoiding a “voucher-dependent lifestyle.”

What is your view on Hampton’s Short-Term Rental Ordinance that limits rentals citywide?

As a strong business advocate, including STRs, I agree with the city’s approach to start somewhere and improve. I do not believe density of the rentals will be the issue. The key issue will be the behavior of the renters and upkeep of the property. The goals of the STR program should be to keep houses occupied to avoid blight without local residents having to serve as “neighborhood landlords”, to provide renters with options for supplemental housing without impacting the local hotel business, to promote small business, and to generate more tax revenue for the city than it costs for first responder or city staff to respond to complaints. Tracking measurable goals via smart metrics should guide whether the program is successful and should continue.

How do you view potentially using general fund money to continue commercial air service at Newport News Williamsburg Airport?

I support funding fiscally viable business, not just providing funding to sustain a business because it “has always been that way”. Any funding from Hampton taxpayers would have to be evaluated for a plan that has a successful vision for sustaining the business for the long-term so that the taxpayer money is not wasted. I would have to see the business case for the long-term vision, the plan for sustaining a customer base that will provide a profit-based business, and the benefit to the City of Hampton for a Newport News/Williamsburg resource.

What is your view on taking money from individuals who will likely have business before the city?

Integrity. Donations and financial support are given and received as part of our economy. A financial transaction may seem unrelated to future business initially, so it is up to the recipient to identify conflicts and recuse themselves from any further influence of a decision by the council. I intend to operate with integrity as a council member at all times.