Who is Rob Kidwell, Huntersville Board of Commissioners candidate?
Name: Rob Kidwell
Age: 48
Campaign website or social media page: www.voterobkidwell.com
Occupation: General Manager of a Manufacturing Company
Education: Bachelors in Psychology
Have you run for elected office before? (Please list previous offices sought):
Huntersville Commissioner 2013-2017, 2021-current
Please list your highlights of civic involvement.
Saving historic buildings in Huntersville
Worked to protect farmland
Representing the town at CRTPO (Charlotte Regional Transportation Organization)
Never voting to increase taxes
Changing town ordinances to control high density residential growth
Interacting and working with residents from all backgrounds to make the town better
Working with Veterans and make sure they could meet with the liaison from the VA
What one professional or political accomplishment are you most proud of?
Being able to be a voice at CRTPO, to help bring over 7 million dollars in infrastructure improvements to Huntersville.
Traffic is an issue in Huntersville while a few critical road projects, such as the widening of N.C. 73, have been delayed by NCDOT. How would you tackle the town’s traffic problem?
We have a tremendous amount of projects going on in Huntersville both locally and through NCDOT and unfortunately, the next few years in Huntersville will be a mess, with construction. We need to continue to work to move projects up at CRTPO, by buying the cost down for them, allowing us to get more money to complete the long list of projects on our long term capital improvement plan.
What are your ideas about how the town should recruit and retain more police officers specifically? And all town employees more broadly?
We, as an elected board, can only hire the Town Manager, Town Clerk, and the Town Attorney. Some of my colleagues say we need to pay more, and while offering more money is an attention grabber, a positive work environment goes the distance as well. While we continue to look at how we can be competitive against other municipalities we also need to make sure that our employees, want to come to work because it’s a good place to work.
Huntersville has experienced rapid population growth over the last few decades with the approval of hundreds of new homes. Do you think the town should control growth in some way or keep expanding? Why?
Over the past few decades, Huntersville has seen the approval of thousands of new homes. This has happened while we wait for the roads and the schools to be improved or built. The state and CMS have an archaic way of addressing those issues, waiting for the problems to happen, before they do anything, and then it’s too late. We must control our growth and towns future by being smart on what we can allow and not being afraid to tell people NO, when they want to increase the density of a project.
Why should voters choose you over others who are in the race?
I am a registered independent, putting the people over political parties. I believe in focusing on what we can do as a legislative board, that allows our town to remain one of the safest communities in the area, while controlling our growth.
