Mitchell Silver – Trendy Pitch Man

On May 31, LIvable Raleigh submitted the following LTE / Op-Ed to the N&O as a response to their opinion piece that ran on May 30. The N&O has not published our response, so we are publishing it here. 

The N&O has twice [April 15 & May 30] quoted Livable Raleigh describing council candidate Mitchell Silver as a “development lobbyist.”

Here’s why:

He’s a former Raleigh Planning Director, recently hired by developers to lobby for 30-40 story towers next to an historic neighborhood near downtown.

Speaking to Council in November, Silver repeated a false claim he made at the Planning Commission: Glenwood-Brooklyn cannot have Transition Area protection from 30-40 story buildings without completing an expensive city-mandated Area Plan. When a Councilor asked city staff if Silver was right, the answer was ‘No.’ 

Livable Raleigh supports growing better, not just bigger.

That was Charles Meeker’s vision for Raleigh long before Silver arrived. It was Meeker’s commitment that guided Raleigh’s 2005 downtown revitalization and rebuffed John Kane’s $75M taxpayer subsidy pitch for North Hills East in 2006. Meeker’s commitment to integrity, transparency and even-handedness has been missing from Raleigh’s leadership in recent years.

Unlike Meeker, Silver has always been a trendy pitch man. That’s fine when he’s on your team, but now he works for a big development firm, like MaryAnn Baldwin working for Barnhill Contracting while mayor or for the developers on the board of First Tee.

Raleigh residents have every right to question where Silver’s allegiances lie. Just ask the Glenwood-Brooklyn neighbors who were hit twice with his trendy but false pitch for 30-40 story towers next door.   

If you appreciate the kind of reporting we bring to you