Fair Housing Attorney: Baldwin Tramples Truth about Equity and Housing Bond
Some people wouldn’t know what equity looked like if it walked up to them and slapped the mask off their face. Equity is not a word we just toss around in the air because it sounds good. Equity is about ensuring fairness in programming, local policies and outcomes.
UpZoning 101: The Money and Politics of Growing Raleigh
Even though Shelley Lake neighbors were joined by literally thousands of Raleigh residents in petitioning the Council to protect Shelley Lake Park, Council, by a 7 to 1 vote, continued its pursuit of density wherever profitable, regardless of the impacts. Here are 5 lessons the Shelley Lake neighbors learned, and what neighbors of future upzonings can expect from this Council:
Melton flip-flop
Let’s be very clear. There is one and only one reason the council abolished CACs. They wanted to eliminate the independent voices of citizens involved in rezoning cases as payment to the developers who paid for their campaigns.
Delivering for Barnhill
Hillsborough-Wade CAC Chair Donna Bailey spoke at the July 7 Raleigh City Council meeting on Mayor Baldwin’s conflicts of interest.
Raleigh City Council votes for a more powerful Police Advisory Board
We at Livable Raleigh are very pleased that the Raleigh City Council wants a more powerful Police Advisory Board. On Tuesday, the Council voted unanimously for a letter to be sent to all three branches of state government asking for additional powers. The Council wants authority to provide more transparency, oversight, and power to our community.
Nicole Stewart Wants to Hear the ‘Right’ Voices
Nicole Stewart consistently uses coded language such as ‘right-sizing’ voices to find ‘the right voices’. Her code words sound vaguely progressive, but her motive is not to expand and empower all voices, but to conceal and distract from her real political motive: to silence voices she doesn’t agree with.
Raleigh’s Affordable Housing Bond: No Commitments = No Accountability
A comparison of Durham’s successful $95M Affordable Housing Bond in 2019 with Raleigh’s proposed 2020 Bond reveals stark differences: Unlike Durham’s precise commitments, Raleigh’s bond lacks details required for accountability and for judging if the spending will address Raleigh’s most pressing needs.
Whenever Mary-Ann Baldwin calls for ‘flexibility’, what she wants is a backroom deal.
When Mary-Ann Baldwin recently called for “flexibility” in spending Raleigh’s proposed Affordable Housing Bond funds, what she really wants are fewer constraints on how the money will be spent, thereby creating more opportunities to parley taxpayer-funded development deals with supplicants in Barnhill’s back office.
In the “Save Shelley Lake” rezoning case, will Council do its job? Does it even know what its job is? (Councilor Buffkin: This mess is on you.)
It is the job of a conscientious City Council to mediate between profit-seeking developers and neighbors whose property rights — and quality of life — are in danger of being trampled.
NOW is Your Chance: Help Save Umstead State Park from that Giant Mining Pit/Quarry
This is likely your last chance to speak out and help save Umstead Park from the RDU Quarry.