We have come here for years asking for accountability measures to be put in place for the Raleigh Police Department. And have got nothing. However these folks who had a perfectly good transportation system had an entire new one implemented on them. All kinds of resources put into creating something no one wanted. Political will!
They keep scheduling meetings at locations where they can’t provide online access and they make no effort to record the events for later viewing. They continue to refuse to provide the same level of access they demanded from the CACs. These are CHOICES they are making. And they are CHOOSING to provide the minimal amount of public access required by open meeting laws.
So it’s easy to apologize. But to mean it is something else. An apology without meaningful action to correct a wrong, is not only insincere, even disingenuous, but hypocritical and does not represent the best interests of Raleigh.
Listen, if you ask for my input, I expect you to take some action. Deliberate and specific action. How can you not see this as an opportunity to make some modifications? Instead, residents are starting to take matters into their own hands by applying for text changes to try and curb the harm MM has and will continue to have on the character of Raleigh.
By imposing restrictions on speaking time, you are excluding valuable input and shutting down important conversations that need to take place. Each member of our community deserves the opportunity to be heard, NO MATTER HOW LONG IT TAKES.
Join us on Sept 14 to hear two of Raleigh’s most important leaders in urban design and social justice discuss the keys to making Raleigh a World Class City.
Highlights from work session and afternoon session
I am here tonight to request that the City prepare a study to re-open the Jaycee Park Recycling Center at Wade Ave and to hold a referendum, at the next city-wide election, to allow Raleigh residents the opportunity to vote to re-open the Jayce Park to receive “Allowable Recyclable Items.”
This survey is in essence a “Report Card” for the previous City Council that served from Dec 2019 thru Nov 2022. As far as the results for the previous City Council go, Raleigh’s scores declined in 71 of the 98 categories that were surveyed.
Join us on Sept 14 to hear two of Raleigh’s most important leaders in urban design and social justice discuss the keys to making Raleigh a World Class City.
A message from Robert Steele. Councilman Jonathan Melton has submitted his mid-year campaign finance reports, and as expected, it’s more of the same. 50% is developer and real estate money. In almost every email the Councilman sends out, he toots his own horn on affordable housing, but can we trust him to have the interests of housing strapped residents at heart when HALF of his campaign is funded by for-profit, and not for-people, developers? I don’t think we can. That’s why I won’t be accepting developer money in my campaign. I want you, the residents of Raleigh, to be absolutely SURE that I am not bought and paid for. We can’t say the same for Councilman Melton.
John Kitto and his wife live in Raleigh’s Woodcrest neighborhood. He spoke to City Council about the unintended side effects his family will experience from the Missing Middle policies.
A more sensible approach would’ve been incremental, introducing MM reforms in neighborhoods where actual frequent transit service is available within short walking distances. As frequent transit routes are added, MM’s application could be expanded.
Reining in the worst aspects of this MM giveaway to the development industry is a big test for the new Council. Hope they’re up to it.
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.
Well, as a labeled dissenter of the Mayor of Raleigh by a newspaper, I would like to congratulate the grassroots groups that worked hard to ensure a check in power on the way Raleigh grows going forward. It was disheartening to see journalists and certain nonprofit groups describe the fight to be included in development decisions as “anti-growth.” These anti-democratic statements came often from ostensibly progressive / liberal people who even called those demanding affordable housing NIMBYs.
This development illustrates, once again, the misapplication of the Missing Middle in Raleigh. It reflects the conclusion of the nonprofit Urban Institute that Missing Middle type zoning changes, in cities across the country, do nothing to increase the housing supply for middle, or lower-income citizens. Nor do they reduce rents. The changes have proven to have only a small effect, which is to increase housing supply for the most affluent.
We commend Councilor Branch for recognizing that the Missing Middle policy is not working as intended and that there are problems with it that need to be fixed. We challenge Branch’s fellow councilors to join with him to take positive action to stop these undesirable, incompatible projects.
In response to the 17,000 unit deficit I noted that between Dec 2019 and Mar 2023 Raleigh’s City Council approved zoning cases for over 70,000 residential units. Over 4 times the reported deficit. Unless those cases were speculative and only to raise the property values for resale purposes, Raleigh is NOT lacking the entitlement to build residential units.