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Community engagement: where are we after 3 months?
On Tuesday, September 15th I spoke with the City Council about Mr. Mickey Fearn’s community engagement presentation from September 8th. I watched Mickey's presentation to City Council that day, and then watched it again several more times during the following week....
Council Plans an Environmental Disaster to Benefit a Construction Conglomerate
Despite overwhelming evidence that this upzoning should not go forward, this Council seems determined to approve the destruction of our most precious environmental assets for the insignificant benefit of one of the largest construction conglomerates in North America.
Courtney Napier Challenges Raleigh’s Affordable Housing Bond
In the current issue of INDYWeek, Courtney Napier challenges the Raleigh City Council to center their Affordable Housing Bond on our city’s most pressing housing needs rather than on development profits.
City Council “Acts” to Fix the Affordable Housing Bond. Their Action Was Little and Very Late.
“My quick analysis is that the recommendations are better than nothing, but they fall far short of what’s needed to help those in the greatest need. … Raleigh, we STILL have a problem.”
City Attorney clarifies that developers may meet with CACs
City Attorney clarifies that developers may meet with CACs
Feedback From an Attendee of our Affordable Housing Bond Webinar
I attended Livable Raleigh’s recent webinar on Raleigh’s 2020 Affordable Housing Bond to educate myself on our city’s affordable housing needs and the upcoming $80 million bond package that will be on the November 3rd ballot. Admittedly, housing is not my area of...
Dear Mayor and Council: Your Time Is Running Out to Fix the 2020 Affordable Housing Bond Proposal
Unless you act, voters will be forced to guess what the bond is for, because you will have failed to tell them. Specifically, how will the $80 million help Raleigh residents with the greatest need for safe, affordable housing?
Mayor Pro Tem Branch: The Time Is Now to Lead on Inclusionary Zoning for Affordable Housing
Now is an opportune time for Mayor Pro Tem Branch to spearhead an effort which results in Raleigh’s City Council presenting a unified front, advocating at the proper levels of North Carolina state government, for changes in state law in order to allow inclusionary zoning.
Will Raleigh Join its Progressive Sisters, Asheville and Durham, and Take Action on Reparations?
Asheville and Durham leaders take decisive action to confront and eliminate the damage of systemic race bias while Raleigh leaders have yet to offer more than token gestures. On July 14, 2020, the Asheville City Council marked an historic moment by holding a unanimous...
What’s in a Text Change? The Case of TC-4-20, an Effort to Weaken Residential Infill Development Standards. (You expected something else from this Council?)
The City is on the verge of changing our rules about residential infill, and not in a good way. That’s our short take on TC-4-20, a “Text Change” that would amend and loosen the city’s zoning code – the so-called Unified Development Ordinance, or UDO.
David Knight, Trying to Have it Both Ways on the Quarry, Fails His Constituents and His Convictions
As a candidate for City Council, David Knight campaigned on opposition to the RDU Quarry. He made his position clear in statements to both INDYWeek and the News & Observer. To INDYWeek he said: INDYWeek Candidate Questionnaire - David Knight To the...
An LR List: Top-10 Reasons Why City Manager Ruffin Hall Is Bailing on Mayor Baldwin.
Speculation, of course. But would Ruffin quit with Raleigh in turmoil, the city looking to him for leadership, and no new job in sight, unless his working conditions were intolerable?
Weasel Conditions: A Zoning Tool for False Council Promises
Weasel Conditions. This is a case study of how the Z-41-19 zoning applicant and complicit Councilors falsified the meaning of zoning condition #8 to create a misleading narrative, suggesting it offered significant environmental protections, when in fact, it did not.
UpZoning 102: Making Your Community’s Voices Heard
Based on the collaboration of neighbors facing the upzoning Z-41-19 near Shelley Lake Park, here are 7 Actions developed by WeLoveShelleyLake that you can implement to make your collective voice known to city leadership and advocate for responsible, equitable development of our city.
Courtney Napier Weighs In on Forte Appointment and Gentrification
Posted here are some excerpts from Courtney Napier’s recent op-ed for INDY Week. Why did Raleigh City Council give Carmen Cauthen unanimous support, then turn around and vote six-to-one for Stormie Forte to take the District D seat vacated by Saige Martin?
Fair Housing Attorney: Baldwin Tramples Truth about Equity and Housing Bond
Some people wouldn’t know what equity looked like if it walked up to them and slapped the mask off their face. Equity is not a word we just toss around in the air because it sounds good. Equity is about ensuring fairness in programming, local policies and outcomes.
UpZoning 101: The Money and Politics of Growing Raleigh
Even though Shelley Lake neighbors were joined by literally thousands of Raleigh residents in petitioning the Council to protect Shelley Lake Park, Council, by a 7 to 1 vote, continued its pursuit of density wherever profitable, regardless of the impacts. Here are 5 lessons the Shelley Lake neighbors learned, and what neighbors of future upzonings can expect from this Council:
Melton flip-flop
Let’s be very clear. There is one and only one reason the council abolished CACs. They wanted to eliminate the independent voices of citizens involved in rezoning cases as payment to the developers who paid for their campaigns.
Delivering for Barnhill
Hillsborough-Wade CAC Chair Donna Bailey spoke at the July 7 Raleigh City Council meeting on Mayor Baldwin’s conflicts of interest.
Raleigh City Council votes for a more powerful Police Advisory Board
We at Livable Raleigh are very pleased that the Raleigh City Council wants a more powerful Police Advisory Board. On Tuesday, the Council voted unanimously for a letter to be sent to all three branches of state government asking for additional powers. The Council wants authority to provide more transparency, oversight, and power to our community.