Nick Hagan - Roanoke City Council Candidate
Campground Reopening: Are you committed to working with the National Park Service to reopen the Roanoke Mountain Campground for overnight access?
Absolutely, one of the things which I consistently hear said about Roanoke is how amazing our natural beauty is. Often when I have out of town friends visit, they are quick to remark how beautiful and green our area is. The outdoor recreational market and camping industry is a massive part of the economy which contributed over 450 billion dollars to the U.S. gross domestic product in 2021. It would be amazing to see Roanoke City grab a piece of that pie. As such, I am in support of working with the National Park Service to reopen the Roanoke Mountain Campground.
Greenway Completion: Will you use your best efforts to secure the right of way and commit to the necessary funding to complete the Roanoke River Greenway from Explore Park to Green Hill Park?
Yes, I already have good relationships with some of the Board of Supervisors and City Council members both in Roanoke County and the City of Salem. I hope to be able to work directly with them and their governments to help expand the greenway. Again, I see our natural beauty and outdoor recreation as a benefit towards tourism and business and have no issues with ensuring proper funding to expand the greenway.
Budget Prioritization: How do you envision balancing budget priorities between greenway development and other infrastructure projects? Will you advocate allocating a dedicated percentage of the annual budget to greenway expansion, maintenance, and improvement?
I see our region’s natural beauty as a benefit both in tourism and outdoor recreation dollars, so investment in our infrastructure including the greenway is a no-brainer to me. One of the things I have noticed in some politicians is that they love a ribbon cutting, but do little in the way of maintaining infrastructure. This is because generally maintaining is not seen as “sexy” or as politically advantageous as a ribbon cutting. However, maintaining is a way we can cut expensive overhaul costs down the line and as such maintaining infrastructure will always have a place in my view during budgetary negotiations. As for expansion, as I said, I hope to work with our local jurisdictions around Roanoke City to ensure the expansion and other improvements towards their portions of the greenway.
Economic Benefits: What are the long-term economic benefits of investing in our greenway system and reopening the campground, and how would you communicate these benefits to constituents who may be skeptical of the costs?
450 billion dollars annually is spent on outdoor recreation and camping. I suspect that as time goes on and more of our country grows and becomes more developed the areas of land which have been cultivated and conserved will become more and more scarce (e.g. the US population has gone from 106 million in the 1920’s to over 320 million today) as such, those who plan ahead and can ensure that we have access to outdoor recreational space will be able to gather a larger piece of that 450 billion dollar pie.
Community Engagement: How do you plan to engage with environmental groups and local residents to address concerns about expanding the greenway and reopening the Roanoke Mountain Campground? What strategies will you use to ensure transparency and public involvement in the decision-making process?
Show up and talk to people. I do love the community engagement questions because politics at its most basic is just talking with people about their concerns and issues. The fact that the candidates have gotten a variation on this question in every forum and questionnaire shows that there is a major issue around the fact that our current City Council is not communicating with residents or at the very least the communities do not feel like they are being heard. I intend to use every means available of communication to make sure that people know what Council is doing, when it is doing it, and to make sure that the times when Council discusses it are reasonably accessible to the largest amount of people. I am tired of only hearing about issues after Council has voted on them or a meeting about a particular issue was held at 2:00pm during a work day. I find the whole aspect of lack of transparency ridiculous and undemocratic.
Resource Allocation: How would you work with adjoining localities to secure additional resources for the region's outdoor recreation initiatives, including the greenway and campground projects? Can you support increasing the recreation budget to a specific target (e.g., from 2% to 3%)?
I have good relations with many members of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors as well as some of the members of Salem City Council. I have no doubt that after this year’s elections for Salem City Council and the special election in Roanoke County that trend will continue. As for how I would work with them, I would likely point out this is how much revenue that Roanoke City expects, how much revenue that the County could expect to see and how much Salem would see if we continue to make our region a haven for outdoor activities. I have no issue supporting an increase towards outdoor recreation as I am already on record of wanting to double as a percentage the Roanoke City Parks and Recreation Department’s budget which could be incorporated into the term “recreation”.