May 4, 2023, SECAC held our first in person meeting since covid and it was a packed house. The interest is still there and CAC’s are needed. Why? Because it keeps you connected with City, RPD, Wake County Sheriff and everything that’s happening in y(OUR) community.
The Hillsborough-Wade CAC held its first in-person meeting in over 3 years! The meeting and program was a huge success. We had over 50 residents in attendance, and the program included two City Councilors and staff from Raleigh’s Community Engagement Office.
Let’s stipulate a couple of points up front. Missing Middle, done well, is a good thing. But….What the previous Council produced is MM done deviously, and sloppily. Much of it, in fact, undermines the whole premise of MM, which is to offer an increased number of affordable-housing options than would exist without it.
CACs were important resources because they provided a one-stop-shop for staying informed. At monthly meetings attendees would hear a police report, a Parks & Rec report and City Staff reports about current issues. You would hear Planning Department topics. All the information brought to one meeting for you.
INDY Week published a story about the recent City Council decision allowing CACs access to meeting space in 5 specific city community centers. We respond with a few points of clarification. The highlighted statements are quotes from the INDY Week article.
In the three years since their abominable vote, the City has continually promised to bring forth new and revolutionary citizen engagement opportunities. We’re still waiting. But now we have some reason for hope. With your help, four new council members were elected in November who value restoration of community engagement as a high priority.
Three years ago on February 4, 2020 Mayor Baldwin and her City Council majority voted to stop supporting Raleigh’s Citizen Advisory Councils (CACs). Three years later that void still exists. There are no new community organizations run by Raleigh residents with City support. Fortunately for Raleigh residents there are quite a few Citizen Advisory Councils that survived the sneak attack on February 4, 2020. Even without City funding and support, these survivors have continued on with their mission of two-way communication between Raleigh residents and their City government.