...days since Raleigh City Council discontinued Citizen Advisory Councils (CACs) with NO REPLACEMENT.
Time until the 2021 Raleigh City Council election:
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Read up on our latest news…
TAKE ACTION – Tell City Council This Lady Deserves a Bench to Sit On!
Ms. Lenora Southerland, age 82, poses for a portrait at the bus stop near her Raleigh home on Wed, April 14, 2021 (Photo: JULI LEONARD JLEONARD@NEWSOBSERVER.COM) Can you imagine yourself sitting on buckets at a bus stop until a bus arrived? If you were a...
What’s Wrong With This Picture?
Ms. Lenora Southerland, age 82, poses for a portrait at the bus stop near her Raleigh home on Wed, April 14, 2021 (Photo: JULI LEONARD JLEONARD@NEWSOBSERVER.COM) Dear Friends, Handwritten note from Ms. Southerland attached to the buckets at the bus stop...
Nicole Stewart is No Environmentalist
Mayor Pro tem Nicole Stewart has long been labeled the “environmentalist” on Raleigh’s City Council. Her career as a fundraiser for the North Carolina Conservation Network doesn’t make her a champion for the environment. It simply makes her successful enough at...
Sign the Petition to Oppose East End Market Planned Development
I am a resident of one of the townhomes on Cotton Exchange Court, which is the 11 unit townhome community off Wake Forest Road at Whitaker Mill. The Planning Commission is currently reviewing a pretty aggressive development proposal for the land surrounding our...
Bob Geary on Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing
Bob Geary, resident of Raleigh’s District D and member of the Wake County Housing Justice Coalition, delivered the following remarks about Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing to City Council on Apr 6: I’m speaking again on behalf of the Wake County Housing Justice...
Raleigh’s Redline Revival
Raleigh has revived our nation’s now despised legacy of explicitly race-biased policies aimed at destroying Black neighborhoods.
The truth about Raleigh’s CACs
Since the February 4, 2020 surprise vote by the Raleigh City Council to abolish City support of CACs, you may have heard that Raleigh's Citizen Advisory Councils were not diverse or representative of Raleigh's population. This is simply not true as the above photo...
Must See Video on NOAHs: Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing
Believe it or not, Raleigh has some Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing and we believe these properties should be supported and protected. The Wake County Housing Justice Coalition (WCHJC) hosted an informative webinar on NOAHs on March 31st. They provided five...
Rezoning Cases — A Look Behind the Numbers
The graph below comes from a Triangle Business Journal article contending that developers are “flooding” the current council with rezoning requests because they are confident that their requests will be quickly and easily...
Adding density does not ease escalating housing costs, but does just the opposite, by driving up land values
The widening gap between housing costs and most incomes is caused by escalating land prices, not construction costs or zoning rules.
Indyweek on Citizen Engagement, Raleigh-style: Out With the Old, In With … a Plan to Have a Plan? (Maybe With CACs! Just Like the Old Plan!)
In his 18-page report to the city council last week, Mickey Fearn—the consultant the city hired to study and make recommendations on how the city can best engage its residents with government processes and initiatives—all but suggests resurrecting CACs, or “community...
Council once again ignores Planning Commission, engaged citizens, and Raleigh’s Comprehensive Plan
At the March 16 City Council meeting, Council voted 5 to 3 to approve rezoning case Z-45-20. Councilor David Cox, who represents the District, was joined in his opposition by Councilors Branch and Forte. The up-zoning of this property allows greater height and reduces...
When a Community Climate Action Plan is just a veneer
Lynn Edmonds spoke at the March 16 meeting of the Raleigh City Council. Her remarks are below. Lynn is Outreach Director for Public Schools First NC. A native of Durham, NC and 30 year resident of Raleigh, she is a longtime public school advocate and...
Tax Increment Grant (TIG) – A Community Conversation – Video, Slides and now UPDATED WITH Q&A DOCUMENT !
If you participated in our Community Conversation and want to share what you learned with others. Or, If you weren’t able to participate in our event live but want access to the information, here are the resources from the event:...
The cost of a TIG…. Millions and Millions? Not according to Mayor Baldwin
At the March 2 evening City Council meeting during Public Comments several speakers addressed the Tax Increment Grant, or TIG, that Kane Realty has requested for its Downtown South project. Mayor Baldwin was frustrated by the figures being quoted by these speakers,...
Kane’s Stadium: The “Benefit” Is All His. Whereas Affordable Housing Would Benefit the Community — With No TIG needed.
Q: What's our take on Kane Realty's plan for a soccer stadium/"entertainment venue" in his Downtown South project? A: It's a bad idea, especially when you remember that South Wilmington Street is supposed to be a corridor for Bus Rapid Transit -- and affordable...
Do claims made about Downtown South and a possible TIG stand up to scrutiny?
A recent article about a possible Tax Incentive Grant, or TIG, for Downtown South developer John Kane included several claims. Let's examine them to see if they measure up to a reality check. The article is here Raleigh City Council Considers a Program to Save...
Patrick Buffkin – Withheld Videos Revealed
District A Councilor, Patrick Buffkin, has held three virtual Town Hall meetings since the pandemic has shut down in-person gatherings. The first was April 28, 2020. The second on Sept 29, 2020. And, the most recent was Feb 11, 2021. All other councilors who have...
The NC Justice Center Opposes a TIG for Private Development
The NC Justice Center has written to the Wake County Commissioners and the Raleigh City Council expressing their concerns about the possibility of approving a Tax Increment Grant for the Downtown South project especially in this current environment of a pandemic and...
A taxpayer giveaway for a stadium right now is indefensible
For those who want to learn more about TIGs, please join Livable Raleigh this Saturday at 10am for a free community conversation with a panel of experts.
You can register at bit.ly/TIG-forum