Community Organizers have Reactivated Raleigh’s Central CAC!

Community organizers from South Park to Boylan Heights have reactivated Raleigh’s Central CAC!

Hi Central CAC neighbors,

I’m pleased to announce that your Central CAC has officially been reactivated as of this past week! During last Monday’s meeting, attendees voted to approve the CAC’s board nominations (from the second organizing meeting) and the CAC bylaws. The new Central CAC Chair, Brian Rineer, has completed the online application to join Raleigh’s Engagement Network. And Lance Shinholser with the City of Raleigh’s Community Engagement Department has approved the application.

Now the Central CAC can get City support for:

• Meeting sites
• Funding
• Multimedia resources/IT
• Training of officers
• Access to City staff support

All these benefits are available to the reactivated Central CAC, while your CAC (like all CACs) stays independent from the City. For instance, at future Central CAC meetings your board and your neighbors can discuss and vote on amending your CAC bylaws to suit the unique needs of the Central CAC. (From conversations at the previous organizing meetings we know this is an important issue.)

The new Central CAC’s Board members are:

Chair: Brian Rineer

1st Vice Chair: Rob Russotti

2nd Vice Chair: Sylvanus Simmons

Secretary: John VanWagner

At last Monday’s meeting we had the following agenda items:

• Presentation on the Chavis-Dix Strollway 
• Octavia Rainey told the audience about the Ligon Magnet Middle School rebuilding plans, and an effort by Carmen Cauthen to document and collect artifacts that tell the story of Ligon. If you have something to share or questions, call 919-737-1955 and/or email admin@researchandresource.com. See one of the below photos with Octavia holding a poster about Ligon.
• Chris Crew alerted the audience about a rezoning case in South Park where the applicant is asking for the properties to be removed from the South Park Neighborhood Conservation Overlay District. (See below map image about this case.) Right now I suspect very few South Park neighbors know about this rezoning case. This is why CACs are so important and need your participation. As most of you know, prior to the City Council voting to stop supporting CACs in February 2020, this kind of rezoning case would have automatically been brought before the Central CAC so neighbors could find out about it, have discussions, and let the City know what South Park neighbors thought. Now CACs have to be vigilant, find out about these cases, and ask for the developer and City staff to come to a CAC meeting and make a presentation. Perhaps your new board can do that at a future meeting.
• Nominations for the new Central CAC board were presented and voted on unanimously.
• The CAC bylaws were also approved unanimously.

Thanks for everyone’s commitment to real community engagement,

Michael Lindsay
Chair of the Hillsborough-Wade CAC

If you are interested in restarting a CAC chapter, here’s how

Any Raleigh resident or group of residents interested in restarting a CAC chapter can email a request to the RCAC chair (currently Robert Rice, robertrice919@gmail.com). The RCAC Chair will acknowledge request by email and begin the process with the RCAC Committee. For complete information about the process, click here for a 2-page PDF that explains the process. For more information about Citizen Advisory Councils, click here for a 19-page PDF of the CAC Guide Book.

Click here for more information about Citizen Advisory Councils on the City of Raleigh’s website.

Click here to see how your address relates to the boundaries of CACs.  Once on the map page, click on the arrow symbol to the left of “All items” under “Citizen Advisory Council Boundaries”. Then click on the individual CACs to see their boundaries.

For a full list of the original CACs and their status, click the link below

Raleigh’s 18 original CACs

By participating in your CAC, you have a say in decisions affecting your community.

Learn more about CACs in the video below:

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