A founding member of Young Professionals of High Point, 26-year-old Will Armfield is part of a cohort of candidates intent on injecting new energy into the High Point City Council and steering the city in a more business-friendly direction.The High Point City Council has held the line on taxes for three years straight and this year made some of the same difficult spending cuts faced by most municipalities across the state. In Armfield’s opinion, they didn’t go far enough.
Armfield questions why, if the city found places to pare back its budget this year, it couldn’t have made those cuts before the recession caused a revenue shortfall and forced it to do so.
“A business owner would have already made those cuts,” Armfield said. “A business owner’s job is to try to squeeze as much profit as possible out of a business. That’s the way a city should operate, too.”
A native of the city and graduate of High Point University, the candidate comes from a family once renowned in the furniture business before they divested in the 1970s. As a financial analyst with Edward Jones investment company, Armfield is a resident of the city’s northeast corner, whose growth has been tied more closely to Piedmont Triad International Airport than to the traditional furniture sector.
The incumbents would likely disagree, but as an example of how the sitting council lacks sensitivity to business owners, Armfield offered as an example a time the council considered increasing fees on businesses before thinking better of it.
“The fact that they thought that was a viable idea to raise revenue, I don’t think that’s a good option,” he said. “We should cut expenses before we drastically raise fees or taxes. Is $1,400 going to make or break a business? No, it’s not. The principle is raising fees for our best citizens, the ones that create jobs.”
Armfield also faults the incumbents for focusing on the providing services rather than on reducing the tax burden.
“They look at it from a different lens,” he said. “A lot of the incumbents have looked at it as, ‘how can we provide you with services? Your trash was picked up. When we had the tornado, we took care of it right away.’ That’s true. But if we spent 3 percent less every year, I’d say that would be a good idea. And yet when we have a jump in revenue, they find a way to spend it. If you knew that you were going to get money back in taxes, wouldn’t you want to live here?”
During a lunchtime interview today at the Mad Greek Grill at the Palladium, Armfield said he was recruited to run for council by a friend, Geoffrey Shull, who is a candidate in a three-way race to represent Ward 5.
Armfield initially filed to run for the Ward 6 seat being vacated by John Faircloth. Jason Ewing, who works for Faircloth’s real estate company, also filed. It was Shull who initiated contact with Ewing, but Armfield found himself impressed.
“He sat down with Jason Ewing when he found out that he was running,” Armfield said of Shull. “He was telling me about Jason. I said, ‘Geoff, Jason sounds like me. He has all the same ideas. I think I can win at-large.’”
Armfield is endorsing a change slate of youngish businessmen in other council races. Shull, who is challenging Ward 5 incumbent Christopher Whitley, is also 26. Ewing is 33. The other candidates supported by Armfield are 42-year-old Jay Wagner, who is seeking to oust mayoral incumbent Becky Smothers, and 46-year-old AB Henley, one of two candidates vying for the open Ward 4 seat.
Armfield finds himself in a crowded race, which also includes incumbents Latimer Alexander IV and Mary Lou Andrews Blakeney, along with fellow challengers Regina Chahal, Britt W. Moore and Ed Squires.
Armfield disputes the notion floated by his political elders that a position on council requires a level of expertise that is beyond the newcomers’ grasp.
“A lot of what you hear from incumbents is that ‘it takes more than you think,’” Armfield said. “The only thing that I don’t have experience in is the operations and procedures of the council. I can learn that. When we actually get down to making decisions about economic incentives and improving the view of city council with businesses, I think I can provide a better discussion on these decisions.”
He added, “Where I have expertise is in analyzing financial information to figure out if it’s a net positive or a net negative. That’s what I do.”
Armfield argues that electing a businessman like himself would send a signal to businesses that the city of High Point is ready to be more accommodating of their needs. Similar to an argument made by retired Greensboro City Councilman Mike Barber when he was running for reelection in 2007, Armfield argues that his city could streamline regulations to lower barriers for business owners.
A lot of his friends and college classmates, who are well educated entrepreneurs capable of starting businesses, have moved to Charlotte or Raleigh to pursue their careers, Armfield said.
“We’re a city based on entrepreneurship,” he said. “All these furniture manufacturers started out as small businesses. What we have not seen is the continuation of starting new businesses. We have all the pieces: the Fed Ex hub, the interstate, but when it takes three months to get a building permit, that’s too slow.”
The city council could also be more aggressive about recruiting new businesses, Armfield said. With the Federal Express developing a distribution hub at the airport, the candidate suggested that council members should travel to Memphis, Tenn., where the company was founded, and find out what types of businesses relocated there to take advantage of the company’s shipping capacity. Once those related businesses are identified, the city of High Point should actively court them.
Armfield said he would also like to see the different parts of High Point become more cohesive, although he doesn’t see a need for additional spending on infrastructure to make that happen.
“There are really three High Points,” he said. "There’s the south side, which is really struggling because of manufacturing jobs leaving. Northwest High Point is generally the higher end. The majority of people who live in northwest High Point either work in Greensboro or own small businesses. Northeast, that’s the newer growth — some younger folks. The only connection they feel to the city oftentimes is their tax bill.”
Armfield offered as an example of how to bring the city together his involvement with Young Professionals of High Point, which rotates its events around all six wards of the city and patronizes locally owned restaurants and other small businesses.
“I’ve lived in all three [parts of town],” he said. “We need to make sure that our decisions on council aren’t always benefiting one piece of town. How can we make the city grow together, including getting people to work, eat and socialize in other parts of the city?... It will take time and energy. It shouldn’t take money. It shouldn’t take tax incentives. We need people on council with that in mind out speaking.”
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