This did not feel like Engagement

Kesha Monk is a nationally recognized voiceover artist and longtime radio personality whose voice has been featured on stages like the Tony Awards and the Kennedy Center Honors. She currently serves as Communications Director for the Biltmore Hills Neighborhood Association in Southeast Raleigh and is a fearless community advocate known for speaking out on equitable development, housing affordability, and government accountability. Kesha brings a powerful mix of national experience and grassroots leadership to her work, using her voice to ensure the community is heard and respected.

Kesha spoke to City Council April 14, 2026:

Good evening Mayor and Council,

My name is Kesha Monk, and I’m here on behalf of Biltmore Hills and the surrounding community. I’m not here to debate bike lanes. I’m here to talk about how this decision was made… and who it actually serves. Because this did not feel like engagement. It felt like a decision…followed by a presentation. We showed up to the meetings you held. And we told you clearly:

This is not a transient neighborhood. This is a legacy community.

We have seniors.
We have families.
We have a school.
We have a bus stop sitting right in the middle of this design.

We told you this would not work. And then you did it anyway.

And what you installed was not just dismissive of our concerns, It was incomplete.

You placed these bike lanes without clear roadway markings. No clear direction. No clear separation. Just confusion on a street where confusion can cost someone their life.

So let’s call this what it is: That’s negligence.

And what you prioritized is visible.

Bright green paint. Clear markings. For BIKES.

But for the people who live there, especially seniors who walk that road because there are no sidewalks in the adjacent block?? There is no clear path. No defined protection.

So what message does that send?

That cyclists were planned for and residents were expected to adjust.

And we’ve seen how this city operates elsewhere. In Five Points. In North Hills. In Cameron Village. There is early engagement. Multiple meetings. Adjustments before installation. Residents are treated like partners.

But in our community? Late communication and limited outreach. And changes only after backlash… if at all.

Residents are treated like respondents. That’s not a coincidence. That’s a pattern.

We understand that projects like this are often tied to funding, timelines, and broader planning goals. But those constraints do not justify unsafe implementation or ignoring the lived reality of the people who use this street every day.

So tonight, we are asking for:

• • Immediate correction of roadway markings
  • A full safety review
  • A pause on further rollout
  • And equitable engagement across all communities

Because what you cannot do is experiment on a legacy community and call it progress.

Thank you.

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