{"id":11582,"date":"2024-02-22T20:00:12","date_gmt":"2024-02-22T20:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=11582"},"modified":"2024-02-22T20:11:02","modified_gmt":"2024-02-22T20:11:02","slug":"meet-the-candidate-nida-allam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2024\/02\/22\/meet-the-candidate-nida-allam\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the candidate: Nida Allam"},"content":{"rendered":"

Until her senior year at North Carolina State University, Nida Allam was envisioning a future in STEM. As a member of the first class to graduate from N.C. State University with a degree in sustainable materials and technology, Allam was trained to look at everyday materials \u2014 a pencil, for example \u2014 holistically. Where do the various components of a pencil \u2014 wood, graphite, metal \u2014 come from, and what happens to these components once we\u2019re done using it?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"But on February 10, 2015, three of Nida\u2019s closest friends \u2014 Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, and Deah Shaddy Barakat \u2014 were shot and killed by their neighbor, Craig Stephen Hicks. Originally, local media and many politicians labeled the cause a \u201cparking dispute.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing how the media ran with it \u2014 all of our politicians just ran with that narrative and ignored the pain and suffering that the Muslim community had gone through \u2014\u00a0was what really made me realize that we needed to step up and get more involved.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Allam then became involved with Bernie Sanders\u2019 2016 presidential campaign. From there, she was elected vice chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party and successfully ran for county commission in 2020, becoming the first Muslim woman ever to hold North Carolina elected office. She also made a go at running for Congress in 2022, but lost in the primary with 37% of the vote to U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee, who won 46%.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, with four years of experience as county commissioner, Allam says her studies in college helped shape her into someone who sees the bigger picture \u2014 how a certain policy will affect various aspects of Durham residents\u2019 way of life. At times, she feels elected officials work in \u201csiloed\u201d ways; an education issue, for example, is seen purely as an education issue. Allam, trained to see things holistically, thinks differently.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe way we invest in our education is going to impact our workforce 10 years down the road.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With so many companies opening offices in Durham and across the Triangle, Allam wants to be sure that Durham County residents can compete for new job opportunities. For her, this means continuing to build Durham\u2019s educational system, from pre-kindergarten through high school.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe holistic-lifecycle side of me is like, \u2018Okay, we start at that zero to three, but then what\u2019s the next phase \u2014 middle school, high school.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Allam is also closely watching the Durham Public Schools\u2019 payroll crisis. After classified staff were given pay raises in October, the Durham school board learned in January that the cost of the raises was $9 million over this year\u2019s budget. The county commissioners, who provide much of the funding for local schools, may be asked to help with the shortfall. Allam said she and her colleagues are working to understand the situation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe County Commissioners and staff are doing our due diligence reviewing information received by the Board of Education on the classified employee\u2019s salary budget gap,\u201d Allam said. \u201cAs stewards of county tax dollars, we are being judicious in our review to gain a confident understanding of the short- and long-term funding gaps identified in the report.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Generally, though, Allam wants to help create apprenticeships and other partnerships with Durham\u2019s newest corporate residents, to help students envision their own careers and reduce dropout rates. Allam also wants to create scholarships to send high school dropouts to Durham Technical Community College to earn certifications and enter the skilled workforce.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a pregnant mother of a one and a half year-old daughter, Allam resonates with young parents. She is the youngest county commission chair in the state at 30.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, a big thing is breaking those barriers and stereotypes about what women can do, what pregnant people can do, and being able to open doors for our future generations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Allam is a reserved leader and rarely the loudest in the room, often leaving her questions or comments for emails or phone calls after board meetings, an approach that has helped her reduce lengthy meeting times. As chair of the Board of County Commissioners, she encourages one-on-one communication between colleagues between meetings to work through disagreements.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In her first term, Allam helped secure county funding for a new immigrant and refugee services coordinator position working with Javiera Caballero, a member of the Durham City Council. Caballero, the first Latina member of the council, admires Allam\u2019s drive to advance her agenda.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe has a toughness and resiliency to her. She\u2019s determined to do a thing and see it through because she knows it\u2019s a good policy and it\u2019s aligned to one of her values.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, Allam and Caballero are leading the charge to create a full office for immigrant and refugee services. Allam also helped establish a tax relief program to offer assistance to low-income county residents during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite resistance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Duke Research Professor of Mathematics Paul Bendich said Allam is \u201cboth aware of what people think the limits of the powers are but also not able to accept a simple \u2018no\u2019 as an answer.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Allam often finds herself seeking workarounds because, as she said, \u201cthe state legislature strips us of so much of our power.\u201d Such was the case with the tax relief program, which she hopes can be a model for future policy goals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a student, Allam would wonder about everyday objects and their life cycles. Where are materials extracted, who extracts them, who uses the objects and then disposes of them, and, in all this, how is the environment affected? Allam would draw connections between objects, people, and the environment. As she thinks ahead to the coming term, she\u2019ll be taking the same approach to policy, looking for connections that might not be obvious, looking at things \u201cholistically in this revolving circle of life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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