Livable Raleigh’s new 2024 citywide poll of registered Raleigh voters conducted by nationally recognized professional polling firm Public Policy Polling was published Tuesday, July 23. You can read our press release here: Voter confidence falls
There are some disturbing trends highlighted in the results in 2024 as compared to 2022. Here we compare 5 questions that were asked in 2022 and asked again in 2024:
Mayor Baldwin Caught Red-Handed Suppressing Free Speech
An email dated March 1, 2023, shows communication from the Raleigh City Clerk to the Raleigh City Manager detailing a timeline of events that resulted in two speakers being removed from public comment at Mayor Baldwin’s request. On June 6, 2022 Mayor Baldwin asked a deputy city clerk to remove two speakers signed up to speak about community reparative justice, under the guise that the city would schedule a public hearing on the matter “soon.” During the March 21, 2023 afternoon council meeting, Councilor Jones directly asked Mayor Baldwin if she had indeed authorized the removal of two individuals from public comment with the promise of a public hearing that, to this day, had yet to occur or be scheduled. Mayor Baldwin simply stated “no,” which is in direct contradiction to the email authored by the city clerk.
Raleigh facing issues similar to Durham
As density increases, the need for conscious, deliberate stormwater and other utility planning also increases. Instead, three years ago, the city decided to allow individual developers to do as they please “as of right.” Now the city denies any responsibility for the predictable mayhem that is resulting. My neighbor’s flooding is just one real-world example of the problems that occur when the city abandons its responsibility for strategic growth planning and oversight, and instead deregulates development.
If It Matters, It Gets Measured
My request is simple: for the council to ask for a staff report on the affordability of the missing middle developments under administrative site review since the ordinance has been introduced in Raleigh. Please include both approved and in process developments.