Exit interview: She’s led Charlotte’s affordable housing push. Now she’s retiring.
At the helm of addressing one of Charlotte’s most pressing challenges — a dire lack of affordable housing — Pamela Wideman has seen the city morph and grow several times over.
Wideman, Charlotte’s director of Housing and Neighborhood Services, will retire at the end of the year. She has led the department, which manages the city’s Housing Trust Fund, code enforcement and the CharMeck 311 service request line, since it was created in July 2017 from what was the Neighborhood and Business Services department.
Her tenure leading that department is part of a longer career with the city of Charlotte that began in 1999.
The city’s involvement in affordable housing has greatly expanded in recent years, most notably with the expansion of the city’s Housing Trust Fund, which is funded with voter-approved bonds every two years, from $15 million to $50 million in 2018.
Since then, Charlotte voters overwhelmingly approved another $50 million in November 2020.
As she wraps up her time with the city, Wideman reflects on how the conversation around housing has changed, and what challenges remain to provide enough affordable housing for everyone in Charlotte.
This interview was condensed for clarity and brevity.
How has the conversation around affordable housing changed in your tenure?
It’s a lot less contentious than it used to be, Wideman said.
Early conversations, whether with local doctors or in wealthy parts of south Charlotte, have turned into affordable housing commitments attached to big development projects like Ballantyne Reimagined and the Atrium Innovation District.
Wideman: “I used to joke and I say, ‘When affordable housing becomes a sexy topic, I would have done my job.’ I believe it’s become a sexy topic. I think I planted a lot of seeds over the years.
“This mayor particularly has been a champion for affordable housing (and) probably championed it more than any other mayor during my tenure. The city council, almost every one of them ran on affordable housing. And that is very different than years past. I used to have to go in the chamber and the conversations were not easy.
“One of the things I’m proudest of is educating people about the benefits of having an adequate supply of affordable housing and what that means to our city. I’m most proud of people that we serve, and the people who get to benefit from those affordable housing. I don’t feel like the conversation is as combative as it used to be.”
What is the biggest obstacle to having enough affordable housing for everyone?
Wideman: “Adequate supply is not necessarily the (only) silver bullet. It’s jobs. Companies have to pay people more so that they can obtain housing. Even before you can get people into a shelter, oftentimes you have to deal with with mental health issues, substance abuse issues.
“As Charlotte grows, we’re always going to be trying to keep up with that added supply. I don’t know, honestly, that any growing city will ever get to a point where you say ‘Oh no, stop. We don’t need any more affordable housing.’”
Where would you like the city’s housing situation to be in five or 10 years?
Wideman: “I would like to see us continue the work that we’re doing, particularly the $50 million (for the Housing Trust Fund). I think we have to ask ourselves the question as Charlotte changes, as the market changes: Is $50 million the right number?
“We have close to 5,000 units in the pipeline that will be coming out of the ground in the next two years as a result of that $50 million. I tell people all the time, we didn’t get in this problem overnight and we won’t get out of it overnight.
“We have to continue to stay laser focused on it.”
So, is $50 million enough?
Increasing funding would have to balanced with other needs, Wideman said, like transportation. And it would have to fall within North Carolina’s requirements to have a balanced budget. But she sees a need for greater investment.
Wideman: “No, it’s not enough. It’s great, but it’s not enough.”
Why was this the right time to step away?
Wideman: “I’m taking the Michael Jordan approach. You know, you just go out on top. And you know that you’ve done the best that you can do and feeling confident that you’ve made a meaningful impact on your community ....
“This work for me has not only been a job, but it’s been a calling. I truly believe that service is the rent we pay for living on this earth. It’s just been a privilege for me to have been a part of this work in Charlotte, working with this mayor and the city council and to have this city recognized across the country as a best practice city in the affordable housing business.”
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