Taxpayer Subsidies: Not Needed Then, Not Needed Now.

Taxpayer Subsidies: Not Needed Then, Not Needed Now.

Taxpayer subsidies to developers are rarely, if ever, a good idea. John Kane is asking for public money to fund his proposed “Downtown South” development. Because of my concerns, I spoke to the Raleigh City Council during the public comments period of the...
Hwa Huang – Reparations in Raleigh – Part 2

Hwa Huang – Reparations in Raleigh – Part 2

Just a few weeks ago, Durham City Council took another step forward in their calls for reparation efforts as they voted unanimously to call for national reparations in order to start closing the wealth gap for its Black communities. To make up for all of the missed...
City Council’s Code of Conduct Demands Respect for Citizens

City Council’s Code of Conduct Demands Respect for Citizens

The Raleigh City Council has a formal “Code of Conduct” which defines acceptable behavior for the councilors.  One section of the code defines how the councilors are expected to behave in interactions with the public.   CONDUCT WITH THE PUBLIC Public...
Downtown South – My Letter to the Mayor and City Council

Downtown South – My Letter to the Mayor and City Council

Susan Maruyama, a resident of Raleigh, sent the following email to the Mayor and City Council on Wednesday, October 21.   Dear Mayor and City Council members, I listened to the City Council meeting yesterday and was struck by the cavalier attitude of Bonner...
Raleigh Community Engagement: Where’s the Beef?

Raleigh Community Engagement: Where’s the Beef?

It has now been 260 days since the Raleigh City Council abolished its support of Raleigh’s CACs (Citizen Advisory Councils). This was done in a surprise vote on February 4th that was developed in secret, with no community engagement, and with a demand for no...
Disinformation in Local Elections

Disinformation in Local Elections

On Tuesday, October 20, Raleigh’s News and Observer is hosting a webinar, “Disinformation in Local Elections: How to spot it and what you can do” I decided to write to the N&O on the eve of their webinar because I have three examples of the role...
City Council votes 7 to 1 to destroy Azalea Falls.

City Council votes 7 to 1 to destroy Azalea Falls.

At the October 6 Raleigh City Council afternoon meeting, David Knight led a spurious, yet successful effort to destroy Azalea Falls, one of Raleigh’s designated National Historic sites.  As usual, the development-driven Council majority voted 7 to 1 (David Cox being the lone dissenter) to perpetrate another environmental disaster in our community.