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February 15, 2022 City Council Meeting
Highlights City Attorney reaffirms her position that hybrid meetings would be illegal DESPITE the fact that Cary Town Council was holding hybrid meetings even before the pandemic. Mayor Pro Tem Stewart says they are hearing from the same people in remote meetings as...
Buffkin Pushes Alternative Facts
Councilor Buffkin says Raleigh's new district maps were created in public view and with public input. Nothing could be further from the truth. Councilor Buffkin sent out a newsletter making this claim: "the Council’s decision marked a momentous occasion: the end of...
Falls Lake Watershed – Our Drinking Water Source Must Be Protected
A zoning case to add density in the protected Falls Lake Watershed, an area with little to no access to public transit, threatens the safety of Raleigh's drinking water. Bob Mulder, a former chair of Raleigh's Planning Commission, sent the following...
Mayor Baldwin Launders the Facts thru the Spin Cycle
Mayor Baldwin claims moving 55,419 voters out of their current districts is less disruptive than moving 7,760. Mayor Baldwin's spin to the media: “It was the most balanced that I felt we could do,” Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said of option two, the preferred map...
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road… and Raleigh Residential Neighborhoods
Jennifer Irving Kochman is a researcher and editor. Her family has lived in Raleigh for 15 years, and she is the parent of one son who attends a public high school in Raleigh, and another who went through the WCPSS as well, and now attends UNC-Chapel Hill. Early in...
City Council Work Session – February 8, 2022
Mayor Baldwin announced that a decision regarding Raleigh’s mask mandate will likely be made in a couple of more weeks after additional data is gathered. Staff presented some proposals on Tree Conservation options. Despite staff telling previous councils that NC...
Focus housing plans on lifting people out of homelessness and housing insecurity
Joshua Bradley delivered these remarks at the February 1 City Council meeting. In recent times this Council has gone out of its way to approve dense luxury housing, often at the expense of low-cost housing and the environment. The prevailing wisdom on this Council...
Reinstate the CACs and help them improve
Edie Jeffreys is chair of the Five Points CAC and spoke at the February 1 City Council meeting. I’m Chair of the non-city supported Five Points CAC We’ve met every other month on Zoom for the last two years after the city withdrew its support. Our meetings are...
Two Year Anniversary of CAC Vote: the Void is Still Here
It’s been two years since the Raleigh City Council voted to abolish City support of CACs (Citizen Advisory Councils). They promised to replace them with a much improved community engagement system. After two years, that still hasn’t happened. Why the slow progress?
City Council is making decisions in SECRET AGAIN!!!
Mayor Baldwin and her City Council majority selected one of three options presented to them for new election district lines without any public discussion of the merits of those three options. They refused to provide the public with any reasoning for their decision....
CITY COUNCIL MEETING HIGHLIGHTS – FEBRUARY 1, 2022
HIGHLIGHTS 45-day extension granted to Planning Commission on TC-12-21 regarding Accessory Commercial UnitsCommunity Engagement Manager Tiesha Hinton presented plans for a Community Engagement Board which will be operational in 2023, three years after City withdrew...
I get two minutes to save my largest investment; it takes longer than that to order and pay for a coffee
Shane Collins is a concerned citizen who has lived in two different areas of Raleigh since 2001. He likes to work and volunteer in the community and loves a good walk around his area. Shane and his wife have looked and lived in other areas and states and are happy to...
A Haiku for the City of Oaks
Raleigh’s stately oaks
slain by greed and apathy
fall with silent screams
— Terry Snyder
Council poised to eliminate residential zoning
Jennifer Irving Kochman is a researcher and editor. Her family has lived in Raleigh for 15 years, and she is the parent of one son who attends a public high school in Raleigh, and another who went through the WCPSS as well, and now attends UNC-Chapel Hill. Early...
The Community wants to work with Council — please let us!
RCAC Chair Christina Jones spoke at the January 18 City Council meeting: The Raleigh Citizens Advisory Council is made up of all Active CAC Leadership teams and meets on the 3rd Wednesday of every month on ZOOM. Council members are always invited to attend and...
Survey Results for Council Term-length and Compensation recommendations
The City's online survey collecting your opinions of the recommendations of the Study Group on City Councils Terms and Compensation has completed and we have the results for you here. The following are each of the survey questions and the results of those who agreed...
January 16 2022 Letter to the Editor of the News & Observer
RALEIGH GROWTH The writer is former chair of the Raleigh Planning Commission In his Jan. 10 column, Ned Barnett argues that leaving growth management solutions to localities worsens the problems associated with rapid growth. An understatement for sure. Click on image...
Highlights of City Council Meetings – January 18, 2022
HIGHLIGHTS Voted 5-3 to provide $10k in temporary funding to Iglesia La Semilla’s COVID efforts while the organization is vetted for a $56k request.Public comments focus was on engagement, affordable housing, police, and priorities.Community engagement related to...
A New Year’s Resolution: Engage with us! Negotiate for us!
Dear Mayor and City Council, As we start a new year, it is typical to make resolutions for self-betterment and better times in the upcoming year. I am no different. However my resolutions are for the Mayor and Council as we move forward in 2022. On behalf of the...
Gatekeeping: Raleigh City Council Making the People Even More Powerless Through Changes to Elections
Is council grabbing power for themselves without regard for the "little people" who serve them? Hwa Huang is currently a grad student at NC State University’s Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Science Department. He is an advocate for vulnerable communities, and an...