Wake Forest local politics reform starts with understanding the forces that shape our community. Part of my familyâs story is the story of the global supply chain. For three generations, we have built it, filled it, and patrolled it.
My grandfather was drafted at 18. He arrived in the Philippines during the final violent push to liberate it from Imperial Japan. After the surrender, he made his way to Japan as part of the occupation forces, stationed near Kobe to help clear the rubble of a shattered world. He was part of the generation that built a new global order from that wreckageâone based on rules, trade, and alliances.
Right now, Washington, D.C., is breaking the machine.
What we are seeing with the recent Executive Orders and the âTrump 2.0â strategy is not just political noise. It is a deliberate move toward something called Autarkyâtotal self-sufficiency. We are walking away from the system my grandfather built and my father operated.
You might think this is just high-level theory. But we just got the receipt, and itâs sitting on the desk at Town Hall.
The Receipt: A $36 Million Jump in One Year
This week, the Board of Commissioners reviewed the updated CIP. Last year, the townâs âidentified needâ sat at $496 million. That number is now $532 million.
In just 12 months, the cost to build the infrastructure, parks, and facilities required by our explosive growth has increased by $36 million. Even more striking is the immediate bill: The funding request for Year 1 (FY 2026-2027) alone is $91.7 million.
Why the jump? Itâs the âAutarky Taxâ in action. The global friction you see on the nightly news is now showing up in the price of steel for our fire stations and asphalt for our roads.
How the Breakdown Hits Home
This isnât just about government budgets. The breakdown of the global order is hitting every pillar of our community in Franklin and Wake counties.
1. The Town Budget (The Cost of Building)
The CIP reveals that we are moving from âmaintenanceâ to massive, expensive construction right as supply chains are knotting up.
- Fire Station #6: This is the big one. The plan allocates $17.3 million in Year 1 alone. Why so high? Fire stations require heavy steel and specialized electronicsâtwo categories hit hardest by new tariffs and trade barriers.
- Town Hall âMaintenanceâ: A sleeper item of $5.85 million for HVAC and renovations. When we cut ties with global suppliers, parts for massive HVAC systems become scarce and expensive.
- The Pavement Pause: Last year, road paving was an emergency. This year? The paving budget for Year 1 is slashed to nearly zero, pushed off to Year 2. Why? Likely because asphalt is oil and logistics, and in a volatile market, itâs easier to kick the can down the road than pay the surcharge.
2. The Builders (The Housing Crunch)
Drive through Wake Forest, Youngsville, or Franklinton, and you see frames going up everywhere. That growth is fueled by a supply chain that just got severed.
- The Trend: Builders rely on a global mix of materials: steel fasteners from Asia, specialized lumber from Canada, copper wiring from South America.
- The Risk: With the new âCompliance Firewall,â getting these materials will become slower and more expensive. A builder might quote a house at $400k today, but if materials spike 20% before the roof is on, they are underwater. We risk seeing projects stall or buyers holding the bag on âcost-plusâ contracts.
3. The Farmers (The Input/Output Squeeze)
Farming is arguably the most global industry we have in Franklin County. âAutarkyâ hits our farmers twice.
- The Input Crisis: You canât grow crops without inputs. Fertilizer often relies on potash and nitrogen from global markets (Russia, Morocco, Canada). Farm machinery is full of chips and specialized steel parts. As Washington cuts ties, the cost to plant an acre goes up.
- The Export Crisis: When the U.S. puts up walls, other countries put up walls. Soybeans, pork, and tobacco are export commodities. If China or Europe stops buying North Carolina crops in retaliation, prices plummet. Our farmers face a brutal squeeze: it costs more to grow, and they get paid less to sell.
4. The Faith Community (The Hidden Cost)
This is often overlooked, but it is vital to our area.
- The Mission Field: As diplomatic relations fray and the U.S. withdraws from treaties, the âpassport powerâ of Americans drops. Visas become harder to get, travel becomes more dangerous, and the logistics of sending aid become a nightmare.
- The Collection Plate: When the âAutarky Taxâ hits family budgets, when the car repair costs double or the mortgage goes up, charitable giving is the first thing to drop. Churches could see a recession in tithes just as the community needs their help the most.
Iâm not wearing rose-colored glasses about the global order. Wake Forest has the scars to prove that globalization is a double-edged sword. We remember when Athey built street sweepers here. We remember the shifts at Schrader Bellows and Weavexx. For decades, these plants were the economic engines of our town. Then, the winds of trade shifted, NAFTA passed, China opened up, and those engines went silent or moved away. We paid a heavy price during that transition. We lost the âmaking thingsâ economy and had to pivot to the âbuilding thingsâ economyâhousing, services, and retail.
But here is the hard truth: We cannot solve the problems of 1994 by breaking the economy of 2026.
Torching the supply chain today wonât magically reopen the Athey plant. That world is gone. What it will do is strangle the economy we have built in its place. The construction companies, the grocery logistics (like the one my dad managed), and the service industries that define modern Wake Forest all run on global fuel. We survived the factoriesâ leaving. I am not sure we can survive if the supplies stop.
Wake Forest Local Politics Reform: This Isnât Politics, Itâs Mechanics
I am not writing this to be anti-Trump or pro-Trump. I am writing this because Wake Forest local politics reform requires honest conversation, and because I know that if you blockade a port, the price of goods inside the city usually goes up.
Washington has effectively blockaded us. They have blocked us from the cheap goods and easy trade standards we have relied on for 70 years. They believe this pain is necessary to make America independent again.
Maybe they are right in the long run. But my family has spent three generations in this game. From the rubble of Kobe to the shelves of Food Lion, to the surveillance tracks over international waters, we know that changing the flow of the world is a brutal and expensive process.
Wake Forest local politics reform demands accountability. The Bottom Line: Washington has ordered the mission, but the farmers in Bunn, the builders in Franklinton, and the taxpayers in Wake Forest are the ones carrying the weight. We need to prepare, because the cost of âgoing it aloneâ is already showing up on the bill.
Tom Baker IV is the publisher of Wake Forest Matters, Wake Forest’s only independent local newsroom. A Wake Forest native, Navy veteran, and intelligence professional, Tom launched Wake Forest Matters to bring serious accountability journalism to his hometown. Tips and story ideas: publisher@wakeforestmatters.com