Roberta Seavey has been a resident of North Hills for nearly 2 decades but frequently came to shop and dine from Durham in the 1990s
Roberta delivered the following remarks at the January 13, 2026 City Council meeting:
I would like to address the difficulty I have witnessed in trying to participate in City Council. I have more technical experience than most my age, but I am frustrated with my interactions with the Council. The process of interacting, attending meetings, and using the website must be streamlined. Just signing up to speak tonight was a challenge. The directions on the website are incorrect, and many links to forms do not work. I had to call and get the directions, which are: you go to the City website, then type in city clerk, then hunt for public comment, and scroll through several pages before being able to click on the right date and finally sign in.
These directions are not provided anywhere. With voter turnout being abysmal, the Council needs to work to make both the issues and processes transparent. You do not encourage voters to participate when they sign up, attend meetings, and then have them thrown out of the building because 1 speaker took 2 minutes too long. I do applaud you for bringing the CACs back into City Government. It was shameful to cut out this grassroots voice of our neighborhoods.
I’ve followed the issues I care most about: environment, LGBTQ equality, affordable housing, parks, libraries, and transportation.
I did not agree with many of the decisions made, but I was proud of the Comprehensive Plan for 2030. The level of growth and building was terrifying. But having a plan to manage the density, provide housing while capping the buildings at 12 stories, gave me comfort that I could age in place once the infrastructure was upgraded and the safety of 6 Forks Rd was improved.
The fact that the Comprehensive Plan has been dismissed by this and past City Councils is frustrating and isn’t being a steward of our taxpayer funds that paid for its development and the 1000+ people who gave input for the plan.
When a developer asks for support from council, there were to be significant benefits to the community, but we the voters get only Astroturf, artwork, and a bench? Other cities have received ice skating rinks and, at a minimum, public bathrooms. The council needs to get developers to provide infrastructure and get significant benefits as it says in the plan.
It seems easy for you to say no to voters, so try exercising some of that courage with the developers. I got more involved during a rezoning issue and then The Missing Middle. It’s exhausting fighting a plan that has literally rezoned every piece of property in Raleigh without even notifying the neighbors on the block.
I would like to see the Missing Middle disappear, develop better sharing of information through the website and media, respect shown for voters by extending comment time, allowing the press into ALL community meetings held, and consideration for the quality of life for current residents as we also provide a safe and welcoming home for the new ones.
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