Jay Adams

Questionnaire from The Chamber of Catawba County

Please tell us a little about yourself and what prompted you to run for office.

I am a lifelong resident of North Carolina; Graduate of The Citadel (B.S. Education; attended CVCC -studied mechanical drafting and computer science; married to Donna Adams, two children, James & Elizabeth; moved to Catawba County in 1975.

My interest on politics evolved from my experience in commercial real estate brokerage and my involvement with local governments. A vacancy in the North Carolina House required a candidate in 2014 which I ran for successfully.

What experiences, skills, or perspectives have best prepared you to serve in this role?

Adams Commercial Real Estate Services, LLC

• Established January 1991

Chamber of Commerce

• Transportation Committee-Chair 1992

• State Government Committee-1992

• Local Government & Transportation Committee-1993

• Highway 321 Task Force Committee- Chair 1993, 94, 95

• Catawba Ozone Action Group-1999

• Future Economy Council

• Government Affairs Committee

Western Piedmont Council of Governments

• Metropolitan Planning Organization

• Unifour Air Quality Committee

• Regional Roads Committee –Mecklenburg County

City of Hickory

• 1993 Hickory Horizons Committee –Co-Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure committee; Chair of the Transportation sub-committee

• Center City Study 1998

• Hickory by Choice Committee-1999–2001

• Small Business Development Committee-2009

• Brownfield Advisory Group-present

Mecklenburg County

• 1998 Environmental Summit (14 counties)- Steering Committee

Catawba Valley Wildlife Club

• Past President 1999-2000

• established 501(c)(3) - 2000

Oakwood Elementary School

• Co-Presidents of PTA - 1998

Peaks to Piedmont Girl Scout Council

• Board of Directors 2012-2014

Rotary – Paul Harris Fellow

If elected, what would be your top two priorities?

Continue the policies that have resulted in broad economic growth in North Carolina and placed our state at the top of rankings for business development, job creation, economic opportunity and quality of life. Develop legislation which will facilitate our ability to cope with the rapid growth that impacts our schools, our transportation system, our environment, our medical capacity and virtually all services and systems. The things we have done to make our state more attractive have succeeded, now we must evolve in a manner that manages that success.

Elected officials often face difficult decisions involving competing priorities, limited resources, and differing perspectives. How would you approach those decisions and work with people who may see an issue differently than you do?

When dealing with complicated scenarios one must have the ability to develop an understanding of the various elements and a willingness to see issues from other’s perspectives. As new information is introduced the pathway to a decision evolves. It is important that one’s point of view follows that evolution. My experience in commercial real estate transactions, property tax appeals, contracts and condemnation appeals for nearly 40 years was good training for my service in the North Carolina House. Those years of dealing with personalities and the complicated details that emerge when piecing together the interest of buyers and sellers, tenants and landlord against the requirements of county and municipal ordinances and doing it all withing the regulations set forth by state and federal authorities has been a remarkable learning experience! And one that I have enjoyed!

Being respectful is a key element in dealing with the issues and priorities of others. Nothing is gained by trying to establish “the upper hand” in a negotiation as an understanding of the issues is being established. Questioning, observation and establishing relationships lays the groundwork for unified decision making. I often develop new strategies as the discussion proceeds. I frequently find pathways to satisfactory decisions that are quite different from my initial thinking. Exchanging ideas is a better and more durable resolution that having a dominate position and produces a clearer understanding of the issues.

Underlying the negotiation is the understanding of the issues. One cannot simply rely on the facts presented; it is essential that deeper research into the current issues be completed. Many times, the conclusions, or resolution, comes from sources that initially had not been considered.

North Carolina needs reliable funding to build and maintain roads and other infrastructure as the state grows. What infrastructure investments should the state prioritize, and how should North Carolina fund its long-term transportation needs as fuel-tax revenues become less dependable?

Reliable funding for road construction and maintenance has been a looming issue for many years. As gasoline tax revenue diminishes due to more fuel-efficient vehicles and the cost to build and maintain roads increases will have a serious effect on funding. Population growth increases gas tax revenue but it also increases demand for new roads, modification to existing roads and maintenance. Many ideas are offered and they all have significant trade-offs. Raising gasoline tax is counterproductive. For instance, much of the population of our largest metro area has a short drive over the state line to South Carolina to avoid NC’s higher gasoline tax, I-85 and I-95 are pass through interstates (less than 200 miles) so that motorist can fill up in Virginia and South Carolina and avoid NC’s gasoline tax. Vehicles that consume more fuel benefit from these tactics.

Some of the deficit can be made up by fees but this has its limits too. We can only collect those fees from North Carolina residents. Is it appropriate for North Carolinians to pay for road construction and maintenance that so many folks from out of state use? A mileage tax only captures the miles traveled by North Carolina motorist. Finding a durable and equitable solution is one of our greatest challenges. One possibility would be funding, or partial funding through the general fund. That would be a dramatic change and has some significant problems. Improving efficiency in design and implementation of road projects could reduce cost. However, a trip through the back roads of our neighboring states will confirm the value of having well maintained roads.

The question includes “other infrastructure”. Water and sewer infrastructure, natural gas, gasoline delivery, energy production, the electrical grid and other systems are also areas of concern. Several years ago, Moore County was without electricity for several days because of an attack on an electrical substation. I am conferring with other House members to consider a separate agency to oversee the security of these important infrastructure assets. We will consider how such an agency would operate; what the agency’s responsibilities would cover; how much would it cost; what source of revenue would be involved and do we have the capabilities to implement the proposition. This is forward thinking governance and collaborative thinking. We have a remarkably diverse and complicated state where “one size fits all” routinely fails. Solutions are elusive, trade-offs are necessary, data is important but insufficient, well founded institutional knowledge is necessary for reliable strategies. Commitment and discipline will be necessary to see decisions through.

Employers continue to face challenges finding and retaining skilled workers. How should the state support K–12 schools, community colleges, career and technical education, and other workforce programs to better prepare North Carolinians for available careers?

We are changing culturally. More families are considering their options for educating their children. The cost of College/University education is being weighed against the job opportunities offered by Community College job training. Economics is becoming more of a factor in education at all levels.

Education, K-12, Community Colleges, and the University System dominate the state general fund budget. Almost 60% of the budget is devoted to education for soft cost. County budgets are supposed to cover hard cost, and many are unable to accomplish that requirement. Presently there is an audit underway to examine the Education Lottery to understand it’s performance.

Meanwhile the public market for education is changing. Things changed during the pandemic. People that depended on public schools were suddenly dealing with children at home and remote education was found to be unprepared and unacceptable to some folks. We are in a state of educational flux. We are adapting to Artificial Intelligence and its impact on learning as well as its impact on the jobs that it will remove and the ones it will create. The Education landscape has experienced an earthquake, and we are in an evolutionary moment. Our capacity to adapt will be tested.

In recent years we have observed a significant movement from Public Education to Private Schools, Charter Schools and Homeschooling. In my opinion this competition can ultimately improve K-12 education by diversifying educational methods and choices. It remains to be seen how homeschooling will evolve. It should be noted that as these educational options develop there will be a variety of new opportunities for teachers.

Beyond K-12 education community colleges are generally considered the “best bang for your buck” and Universities and private colleges are going to have to rethink their curriculums. Recent graduates that are bearing the burden of college loans and discovering the education they received will not produce the income needed to meet the financial obligation.

I am a Baby Boomer, and I wonder what was it like in the 1950’s when the avalanche of kids in my generation hit the school systems? Somehow, they managed and we will too. It will take innovative thinking and collaboration. We have a legacy structural problem, and we are dealing with several evolutionary impacts that must be understood. It will take time, commitment and patience to cope with the future of education.

We may be coming to a moment where businesses create test for employee applicants. Such an arrangement would determine whether our educational apparatus prepares our children to work, or not. From that model the test created by business could provide feedback to identify the successful educational pathways. This is real world testing rather than applying test created within the education establishment. Essentially a “pass, fail” assessment of employee capabilities for the education system that prepared them. From that information we can see where we succeed and where we fail to prepare our children and, hopefully, improve our educational methods.

As North Carolina grows and energy demand increases, what policies should the state pursue to ensure businesses and residents have access to reliable and affordable energy?

The North Carolina General Assembly has passed and is considering legislation that should increase energy production and stabilize energy cost going forward. We will consider all energy production alternatives. Everything from solar, wind, hydro to nuclear fission and ultimately, nuclear fusion. We have removed the goal of achieving a 70% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, it was simply not economically feasible. We have maintained the 2050 target of carbon neutrality. A sensible trade off. Presently we are working on legislation that will protect rate payers as we move into a greater energy demand environment due to data center, other industry demands and population growth. The cost of energy and its reliable availability is key to economic growth and quality of life. Energy production must be accompanied by a more robust energy grid and a more security for the associated systems. I am working on a proposal to create greater security for our energy assets. As a result our state will benefit from these developments. To understand the cost of energy; and for that matter, the cost of all goods and services, we must understand the loss of purchasing power of the dollar since 2020. But that is another subject…

Housing availability and affordability can affect workforce recruitment and economic growth. What role should the state play in expanding housing options, and how should state policy balance financing, regulation, infrastructure needs, and local decision-making?

The cost of housing has many contributing factors. Interest rates, material cost, inflation, water and sewer infrastructure, market availability, construction capacity and regulations are a few that come to mind. Government can assist but it cannot cure the problem. We can create “affordable housing” for a first-time home buyer, but the sale of that home will be at market price, so the first-time buyer (and builder) is the only beneficiary. We can pass legislation to protect from predatorial lenders, and we can relax home construction regulations at the state level. I do not support state government intervention with local County and municipal governance unless necessary. Local ordinances and permitting apparatus can be crafted to reduce cost and improve delivery of housing. The League of Municipalities and the North Carolina Association of County Commissions could play an important role in facilitating housing efficiency by overseeing local methods and procedures. If legislation is required those organizations have the capability to produce legislative solutions for consideration. The General Assembly is not a place to originate solutions for local land use and zoning matters.

North Carolina recently established a statewide floor for child care subsidy reimbursement rates. What additional steps, if any, should the state take to improve the availability and affordability of high-quality child care and address its impact on families, providers, employers, and workforce participation?

To make effective changes to improve the availability and affordability of childcare it is important to measure and quantify the results of steps that are already in place. I favor an incremental approach to the “next step” in refining a system. We are in a dynamic economic and population growth period and as the situation evolves it will require careful review of the relative impacts on the families, providers, employers and the cost-benefit relative to workforce participation.

My point of view is derived from the experience of raising two kids and observing how government tends to operate. It’s been about 25 years since my wife and I experienced the cost of our children’s childcare. Since then, we have put them through public school, private school and college. Debt free! There are a lot of expenses associated with raising children and making ends meet requires diligence and discipline.

That said, childcare, particularly, high quality childcare is a challenge. Whether it is in home or otherwise. Childcare at home require the sacrifice of a parent being absent from work (assuming there are two). This is a family economic challenge, but the “care” is controlled by the family. It’s a tradeoff. Is the nurture of the child worth the sacrifice of the income? Childcare from this point of view is one of family interest and economics.

Childcare by service providers moves into a much more complicated environment. (To understand the economic complexity simply spend some time on the Subsidy Rate Calculator). The definition of “high quality childcare” is highly subjective. Regulations will evolve with the expanding service industry. Asking a legislative body to define those regulations is perilous at best. (Recall there are legislators that are stumped when asked to define what a “woman” is, and their opinions will be considered). We must accept that “one thing leads to another” and “all things lead to the Legislature”.

Then there are the regulatory agencies that will be tasked with creating suitable regulations to define the environment where, and how, this “high quality childcare” will be provided and the requirements for the people that will administer the activities involved…and then there are the “activities”; which will generate many opinions…

On the other hand, is this purely a work force issue? Will the childcare be available to families where two parents will be available to the labor force or will it be made available to single parents with one, two, three or more children? Where will the lines be drawn and who will draw them, realizing that they will be erased and redrawn over, and over again?

As I said, this issue is complicated and childcare has evolved considerably since it was a component of our family life. Philosophically, are we better as a culture when we are self-sufficient as a family or is it necessary, worthwhile and reliable for us to depend on government to make things work? Remember the pandemic?

One thing is certain and constant; the care of a young child is critically important. Events of a child’s formative years have a lifelong effect.