Former City Councilor Considers Run for Mayor

David Cox, PhD, a three-term District B representative on Raleigh’s City Council from 2015 through 2022, submitted the following “Guest Blog” to Livable Raleigh for publication.

I first ran for and won a seat on Raleigh City Council in 2015. In total I was elected three times and was honored to serve District B and the City for seven years. In 2022 I decided to not seek re-election. By next year’s election I will have been off Council for four years.

Despite not being on Council I continue to hear from people. There is much concern about the direction of the City and many have asked that I consider returning to Council. As with the first time I ran, I need good reasons to run. I take serving seriously and never had a desire to run just for the sake of running.

I want to be clear that I have not made a decision to actually run. If I do, I will run for Mayor. And here are some of the reasons why (in no particular order).

First, I believe that growth of the City should be guided by a Comprehensive Plan. The City does have a Comprehensive Plan that was developed after many public meetings and with extensive input from citizens. Having a Plan isn’t the problem. The problem is that City officials are misinterpreting the plan. They are cherry picking the Plan to promote high density development particularly in places never envisioned to have such development.

The current zoning case Z-12-25 is a perfect example. The Comprehensive Plan is clear that tall buildings should occupy the core of the City on Fayetteville street. As you move away from the core, the heights of buildings taper down until they reach the edge near existing neighborhoods such as Mordecai and Glenwood-Brooklyn. Yet, City planners have determined that a 30 story building far from the core adjacent to Glenwood-Brooklyn and, to a lesser extent, Mordecai, is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. Folks, the Plan is not rocket science. To make such a determination is a blatant disregard for the Plan. I want to be a Mayor that respects the Plan because it reflects the will of the people and the vision that citizens of Raleigh agree with. Z-12-25 should have never gotten this far. That rezoning should be denied.

Second, I am also concerned that tax dollars are being mismanaged. Since 2020 – in five short years – the City budget has exploded from $1 billion to $1.7 billion. That is a 70% increase. Has the City hired 70% more employees? No. The number of City full-time employees has remained flat at around 4100. What has been happening with all the extra revenue? There is a lack of transparency about how the money is used. Transportation projects such as the Six Forks Road project are being cancelled. Indeed, many of the projects identified in the last transportation bond have been tabled. Despite a growing population, the sizes of our police and fire departments have been stagnant. When people call 911, they are being placed on hold for the lack of personnel. Better managing our tax dollars and improving the efficiency of City government is a second major reason for running.

Third, I am very much pro-democracy. Yes, we elect representatives to serve on Council. Citizens don’t get to vote on every issue that comes before Council. We rely on Council members to make those decisions. Unfortunately, despite enormous growth over the past 50 years, the size of City Council has not increased. There are only five districts in the City. Each district Council member represents about 100,000 people. Each district is the size of a small city. I have long advocated for increasing the size of Council to allow for ten districts. Each district would be about 50,000 people and half their size geographically. Rather than a district like District B extending from I440 to Rolesville or Wake Forest, we would cut the size in half. This has important benefits for democracy. Anyone thinking about running for Council can do so much more easily. It is much easier to represent 25,000 households and it is much easier to cover the size of a smaller district. Smaller districts also allow for a more diverse Council with more people on Council coming from more areas of the City. I would also eliminate the two at-large Council seats allowing the size of the Council to grow modestly from 8 (5 districts, 2 at-large, and the Mayor) total to 11 (10 district Council members and the Mayor).

Filing to run happens in December. I will keep you posted if I do decide to run.

Thank you for considering my message.

David Cox, PhD
Former Member Raleigh City Council

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