The late great James West served on this Council from District C for ten years. Dr. West said “It is not the duty of City Council to ensure developer profits. The duty of City Council is to serve all the citizens of Raleigh, to improve their quality of life.”
It would be reasonable for you to believe that once Silver was elected to City Council in November 2024, just one year after being paid to represent the West St property owner, he would feel obligated to recuse himself from any future City Council actions related to this property. But, Silver has stated publicly that he has no intention of recusing himself from voting on this rezoning case when it comes before the City Council.
Councilors cringed at Baldwin’s childish bullying. But, most voted with her anyway, packing one last council meeting full of developer approvals while cancelling the public’s last comment opportunity. So much for improving public engagement councilors!
In the race for the top developer donations, Raleigh City Council candidates Jonathan Melton, Mitchell Silver or Corey Branch, are the clear developer favorites. Livable Raleigh’s analysis of NC Campaign Finance Reports show that more than 50% of these candidates’ donations – over $88,000 for Melton and $72,000 for Silver – came from development industry donors alone, with many individuals giving the maximum $6,400. One thing is certain: developers don’t hand out thousands of dollars in donations unless they expect serious payback. And sadly, it shows.
A large majority of what the City Councilors are responsible for are decisions related to development. These are the candidates that the development industry is supporting. It’s up to you to decide how you want to factor this information into your voting decision.
This chart shows you the contributions made to the candidates for this election cycle through June 30, 2024. There will be MUCH MORE money poured into these campaigns before election day. But, you will have to wait to see that data. We are currently analyzing it from the most recent reports that were filed by the candidates on Oct 1, 2024.
If you are looking for the candidates’ financial reports to review who is funding their campaigns, we have the step by step instructions showing you how to find the data on the Wake County Board of Elections website. Start by going to the Board’s Home page here: Wake County BOE
When elections finally occurred in 2022, Knight was ousted by the voters, and 4 new members of Council were elected, each with Livable Raleigh’s support.
Raleigh is growing rapidly. Where are we headed? Most Raleighites like the idea of growth that is more economical, environmental and equitable. To succeed, we’ll have to grow in ways and in locations that bring fewer cars, more trees and more equitable prosperity.
Speaking before Council Tuesday, Nov 7, Mitchell Silver repeated a false claim he previously made at the Planning Commission – that the Glenwood-Brooklyn neighborhood cannot have Transition Area protection from 30-40 story buildings without first completing an expensive city-mandated Area Plan. But when a Councilor asked city staff if Silver’s Area Plan requirement was true, the simple answer was ‘No’.
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