Ephraim Brodsky is challenging Mayor Emery Doughtie for his seat on the Roanoke Rapids City Council. Jerry McDaniel is also seeking the office.

The following is Brodsky’s answers to questions submitted by rrspin.com:

Occupation: Healthcare Finance (I work remotely from my house)

Civic organizations, church organizations, board memberships, or volunteer organizations you belong to: I am a member of the Manning Elementary School PTO, the Friends of the Roanoke Rapids Public Library, and I recently served a term on the Library Advisory Committee. I applied to be on the new Main Street Advisory Committee. Over the past four years I have coached youth sports at Lookin Up (Tee Ball), Calvary Baptist Church (Basketball), and the Optimist Coach Pitch Baseball League.  My children are regular participants in many local activities: youth baseball, basketball, soccer, tennis, football, chess club, swimming, karate, and they regularly take classes at the music schools and the art school.

Why are you seeking the office or why are you seeking reelection?

I’m seeking office because I believe that the citizens of Roanoke Rapids deserve better.  Roanoke Rapids has incredible potential, and I believe that I can help us reach it.  I would like the opportunity to help move our city in the right direction.

Do you have any liens, foreclosures, or unpaid taxes?

Not that I know of.

Do you have any actual conflicts of interest or perceived conflicts of interest that could hamper your objective judgment on decisions that impact the city?

I value the lived experience my family brings to city life and the perspective it gives me on our schools, library, and neighborhoods. It would be difficult to find a viable candidate in a city of this size that does not have any conflicts.  To some degree, all elected officials in our municipality, including the current mayor, have perceived conflicts of interest.  My wife, Leigh Ann Brodsky, is the only librarian at the Roanoke Rapids Public Library.  My father-in-law, Rex Stainback, serves on the city council.  I believe that my exposure to the inner workings of the city government will assist with my objective judgement rather than hamper it.  I would like to assure the voting public that I am not a political pawn and that my ideas are entirely my own. My priority is delivering results for all residents, not protecting private interests.

What are the biggest issues affecting the city and how would you address them?

Different people name different top problems — crime, parks, services, taxes, roads — but what connects them is the need for leaders who explain why decisions are made and show how changes will help everyday families. I will listen to neighbors, I will ask hard questions of staff, and I will work tirelessly to translate community concerns into specific steps that improve safety, lower unnecessary costs, and fix infrastructure faster.

The council just recently approved the 2030 strategic plan. What are your thoughts on how you  would carry out its objectives?

Honestly, whenever we’re discussing a better future, I’m all for it.  The irony of the 2030 strategic plan is that there isn’t an actual concrete plan there, it is simply a framework for how the city can start planning for the future.

Why are you qualified to be mayor or continue to be the mayor of Roanoke Rapids?

I didn’t end up in Roanoke Rapids by accident — I moved here because I believe it’s a great place to raise a family. People see me at school functions, youth sports, and community events, and I make it a point to talk to people I haven’t met before to learn what works and what needs fixing. I speak Spanish fluently and use that to connect with more residents. As mayor I’ll keep showing up, listening first, and turning those conversations into practical steps that bring jobs, improve parks and schools, and make our city a place people want to stay or return to.

What would you do to attract industry and business to the city? What kind of businesses and industries should the city try to recruit?

I would love for us to utilize one of the grants from the One North Carolina Fund to bring more white collar / knowledge based businesses to our town, much like the recent development in Edenton .

Many local politicians are reluctant to support a tax increase because of its potential impact on taxpayers. First, would you support a tax increase to fund necessary improvements to city infrastructure? Why or why not? Secondly, if your answer is no, what are your alternate solutions to a tax increase and how would you go about soliciting support for your initiatives?

First and foremost, I did not agree with the most recent tax decrease.  I believe that it was an extremely reactive response to the property tax revaluation, and the short-sightedness of the rushed decrease led to a $2.2 million withdrawal from our fund balance used to subsidize operational costs while our infrastructure continues to crumble.  I think that instead of looking at the tax rate so granularly, we need to consider what we are getting for our money.  Our general fund should not be used to fund operational costs; we need to be able to run our city without stealing from the fund balance.  The reason that our infrastructure is crumbling is because for the last 16 years, our city government has been focused on growing the fund balance to keep taxes lower rather than spending from the fund balance to make necessary repairs to our parks, buildings, and recreation facilities.  I think that looking at our tax rate, it is surprising that we can do as much as we are able to do while charging a rate lower than the county rate.  On the same token, I believe that our county taxes are way too high compared to the county’s investment in Roanoke Rapids, which is minimal at best.  My primary objective is to see that the county starts making visible investments in Roanoke Rapids because most of our local tax money goes to the county.

The Main Street program is now a city department. What do you want to see accomplished under this agreement?

I would like to see significant collaboration between the Main Street Program and the Halifax County Tourism Bureau, a bureau that is funded by an occupancy tax on hotels that are mostly located in the Roanoke Rapids city limits. To me, this collaboration is a no-brainer as a strong Main Street program will bring tourists to our historic downtown district, and we should be encouraging the county to invest more of its resources towards our city.  I have applied to serve on the Main Street Advisory committee, and I would like to offer to build them a better, more functional website, free of charge.

The Premier Boulevard extension is now open. What do you see as its potential? How would you like to see it developed?

If you ask my kids, they would tell you that we need a family fun center like Urban Air, fast food places like Raisin’ Canes or Dave’s Hot Chicken, and fast casual restaurants like Olive Garden and Buffalo Wild Wings.  While I agree that all of those businesses would be a welcome addition to our community, we have a real opportunity to find a strategic partner and build something worthwhile that can lift our community.  I would like to see a satellite campus of a four-year university from the UNC system move in there.  This would bring fresh opportunities to our residents and would serve as a magnet for young, educated people that would hopefully stay here long term.

The demolition of dilapidated structures in the city has been a constant issue and is discussed at times during council meetings.  How would you go about securing funds to see this accomplished?

Isn’t that the $3 million dollar question. I used that very specific number because since 2010, our city has paid the county over $3 million dollars in fees to administer the county 911 program which we were not required to pay.  In theory, the money that we are saving by not funding that program anymore should more than pay for the city to proactively bulldoze these uninhabitable buildings and then go after the property owners for restitution after the fact rather than continue waiting for a disaster to happen. Our city needs to be proactive, not reactive.

Would you do anything to win at all cost, including buying a web domain with your opponent’s name only to see it being a website with your own campaign information? 

I was very excited to read about Mayor Doughtie’s campaign when I saw his sign out advertising a website – doughtieformayor.com. I was really looking forward to reading about what his plan was for the next four years, because he hasn’t had to campaign in many years; there isn’t much available online regarding his platform.  I went home and typed doughtieformayor.com in my browser and received a “This site can’t be reached” error message.  My first career was in IT and I consider myself to be generally tech savvy.  I looked up doughtieformayor.com to see who registered it, and it turns out that the domain had never been registered.  I took a screenshot on 10/3/25 (after he put the sign out) and attached it here.  I registered the domain for $14 and left a message there so that people looking for Mayor Doughtie’s campaign info would understand that they didn’t type in the incorrect address.  I would be happy to give him the domain if he reached out to me directly.  Mayor Doughtie knows how to get in touch with me, we’ve spoken privately before and he knows where I live.  

Please provide a summation on what the city government in Roanoke Rapids would be like under your leadership and what voters who elect you can expect

Under my leadership, the city government would get considerably younger.  I am 46 years old, and if elected I will be the only member of city government with school aged children that attend public schools in Roanoke Rapids.  I want to serve as a voice for parents of school aged children because in order to grow, our city needs to attract more working parents of school aged children.  The children are our future, and the parents are our primary tax base.  I respect the experience and wisdom that comes with age, but our government should represent a snapshot of the demographics of the entire city and not be limited to just one portion of our population.  I will bring new ideas and a fresh perspective.  

My goal is to get to the why of everything.  Why do we do the things that we do?  Why do we own the things that we own? I want to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of all our departments, services, and real estate holdings and figure out how best to move forward for the future of our community.  I plan to document every question that I ask and every answer that I receive for the public to see.  I want our community to understand what is going on behind the scenes in city government – to see how the sausage is made, so to speak.  My efforts may not always succeed, but they will always be documented for the public to review, discuss, and provide their input.  I’m approachable and easy to talk to,  I will encourage and embrace more civic engagement because an engaged group of people can see anything accomplished.  We are stronger when we work together to achieve our common goals.