At their Tuesday February 6, 2024 meeting, by a unanimous vote, Raleigh’s City Council reinstated support for CACs after four long years without them.
Livable Raleigh has employed a running counter (seen here to the right) on its website tallying the number of days the city has been without a replacement for the CACs. With today’s decision we are delighted to be able to retire the clock.
See our full press release below.
Before the vote Councilor Jones, formerly the Chair of the RCAC, read a heartfelt statement and then made the motion to reinstate recognition of CACs.
In a shocking display of a complete lack of self-awareness, Mayor Baldwin asked that in the future all council members be made aware of motions. This brought audible groans from knowledgable members of the audience who are fully aware that it was Baldwin four years ago who plotted the sneak attack on CACs without notifying Councilor David Cox of the motion that was coming. You can read reporting from the time at Without Public Input or Notice.
Only three members of the current council were part of the council four years ago when CACs were defunded. Councilor Branch voted against the move while Mayor Baldwin and Mayor Pro Tem Melton both voted for defunding the CACs that had been established in 1974.
In a statement before the vote today, Melton noted he had to be talked into voting for the move four years ago. Further, he said now that the Office of Community Engagement has created multiple other forms of engagement, he can support reestablishing a relationship with CACs.
In fact, ALL THE EXCELLENT WORK the city has done to expand the outreach methods now used for Community Engagement could have been done WHILE CACs REMAINED IN PLACE. This was never an either/or situation. It should always have been a both/and solution.
Livable Raleigh, a citizens group advocating for effective community engagement on city issues, congratulates City Council for its decision today reinstating Citizens Advisory Councils.
The decision pushed by Mayor Baldwin four years ago to cut off the CACs was a mistake, and the vacuum it created has been apparent in the years since then. Today’s decision begins to rectify that mistake.
Livable Raleigh’s website went live for the first time in 2020 shortly after the decision to gut CACs, and we have featured a running clock on the website that today reads “1,458 days since City Council disbanded CACs with NO REPLACEMENT.”
With today’s reinstatement, we are happy to take down the clock!
About Livable Raleigh: Livable Raleigh is an all-volunteer non-profit organization with the mission to educate, inform, and engage Raleigh residents about issues that impact the quality of life in Raleigh. More information about Livable Raleigh’s accomplishments and how we spend our money is available at: We Make a Difference
Media Contacts
Tim Niles, [email protected], 919-389-5326
Stef Mendell, [email protected]
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