Nick Walsh, Huntersville commission candidate, answers our questions
To help inform voters in the Nov. 5, 2025 election, this candidate questionnaire is available to be republished by local publications in North Carolina without any cost. Please consider subscribing to The Charlotte Observer to help make this coverage possible.
Name: Nick Walsh
Age: 67
Campaign website or social media page: www.votenickwalsh.com Occupation: Retired
Education: St Petersburg College
Have you run for elected office before? (Please list previous offices sought or held) Town Commissioner 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023
Please list your highlights of civic involvement I was a past President of the Wynfield HOA. I served on the Huntersville Ordinance Advisory Board. As Commissioner, I served on: Huntersville Regional Chamber of Commerce, Visit Lake Norman Board, Centralina Regional Council, Greenways Trails & Bikeway Commission, Parks & Rec Commission, Public Art Commission, Communications Liaison, Huntersville Police Liaison, Charlotte Area Regional Transportation Organization (CRTPO), North Carolina Power Agency #1 (ElectriCities), and Workforce Housing.
What are the most important issues facing Huntersville today, and how would you address them? Public safety is a priority. We created our first municipal fire service and we purchased land for a new Fire Station 5. For HPD, we approved 10 net new officers, 2 new SROs, and 4 Civilian Crash Investigators. Infrastructure continues to be a challenge. We have literally dozens of road projects in the works. We are aggressively building new sidewalks. To address affordable housing, we have commitments from developers for affordable apartments, ownership units, and a new co-op building.
How would you ensure Huntersville’s growth doesn’t outpace its infrastructure? Growth has already outpaced infrastructure. Many people think we can control growth with a moratorium. While they might be legal in other states, they are basically illegal here. There are also many of these projects that can be built by-right (meaning no approval from the Town Board needed). When a rezoning is required, we work with developers during the process to ensure we get the best possible outcome for Huntersville. This includes road improvements, design, and community amenities.
How would you work to improve traffic and road congestion as Huntersville continues to grow? Most roads are the responsibility of NCDOT. The town is usually responsible for the neighborhood roads. Dozens of local road projects are underway and we are partnering with NCDOT to accelerate their projects including using town funds. We continue to make more projects shovel ready as we look for funding. We also focus on non-motorized transportation. We are building sidewalks, partnering with the county on greenways, and looking for ways to make biking in Huntersville safer.
Do you support implementing a local sales tax to fund transit improvements? Why or why not?
Yes, to the P.A.V.E. Act. We will get all components (rail, bus service, and roads). There is no way to build enough roads to end congestion. Its passage will go a long way to relieve congestion in Huntersville. Busses and the new Red Line will help get cars off the road. There will also be millions of dollars each year in direct funding for town roads. This will help fund those shovel ready projects. It will also allow us to start moving more road projects up our long priority list.
Why should voters choose you over others who are in the race?
In collaboration with my fellow commissioners, we accomplished a lot over the last 2 years. We enhanced Public Safety (both police & fire), accelerated infrastructure projects, managed growth, started to address issues of affordable housing, and continue to work on Downtown Redevelopment. We do all this while continuing to invest in our people and being good stewards of taxpayer’s money. Huntersville is the 16th largest municipality and has the lowest tax rate at the top 25 municipalities.
