As the newly elected District 32 representative in the N.C. House, Bryan Cohn said he sees plenty of opportunities to work in a bipartisan fashion to preserve and strengthen the economy, natural resources and more for his constituents in Vance and Granville counties.
Cohn narrowly defeated incumbent Frank Sossamon in the November general election, but with the early January swearing-in in Raleigh and then a ceremonial swearing-in on Sunday, Jan. 19 at McGregor Hall, Cohn said he is ready to get to work.
About 100 supporters attended the second swearing-in on the afternoon of Jan. 19, during which the new state legislator shared his vision.
“It was a message of optimism and a message of hope,” he said on Tuesday’s TownTalk, “and really a message of gratitude to everyone who contributed their time and effort into this campaign.”
He called running for office “a humbling experience” and said he told those supporters on hand two Sunday afternoons ago that he will “represent them … and make sure we continue to listen to what they have to say and advocate appropriately in Raleigh.”
Among several priorities for the freshman legislator are expanded access to health care, taking care of seniors and keeping an eye on the regional water system.
“The ongoing expansion of water and sewer infrastructure upgrades is going to continue to be a top priority in this region,” Cohn explained.
Attending to those issues, among others, will also help foster growth in the district, which leads to economic growth for the region.
Expanding business and industry in the district will increase the need for an educated workforce, so he wants to make sure public education is up to the task.
Cohn said he is making the rounds throughout the district, adding that talking to leaders and others in the community is part of a “discovery phase” to help him get the lay of the land and be better equipped to be supportive of the various needs.
Although he said he was “unapologetically delighted” to be able to break up the Republican super majority in the N.C. House, Cohn said no one party should rule with absolute authority. He said he looks forward to working with Republicans Rep. Matthew Winslow and State Sen. Lisa Barnes, for whom he said he has great respect.
“Leaders should listen and take stock from what they are being told,” Cohn said. “We may not always agree,” but he said he suspects there are likely many things that they can agree on.
In his role as a commissioner for the City of Oxford, Cohn said he realized that municipalities and county officials are limited in what they can and cannot do, based on state laws.
“It makes it really difficult when you’re trying to plan for future growth,” he said or trying to put in place policies that talk about zoning or other issues faced by local governments.
Cohn said he feels some laws created last year around zoning issues need to be looked at to provide cities and counties more clarity, saying they created “a lot of gray area.” The language in those bills needs to be adjusted to better define what is allowed and not allowed.
He said he would like to see bills spend more time in committee to create a more polished product that spells out clearly for landowners, developers and local governments what the bill entails.
You don’t always need a sledgehammer to get results, Cohn said. Sometimes it takes a scalpel.
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