Listening sessions with no action eventually lead to lack of resident belief that resident needs are indeed being heeded which results in demoralization of residents, or perhaps that is the intent.
As an over 50 year resident of Raleigh, I write in opposition to the action taken yesterday afternoon by the council to give a mid-year raise to the city manager of a whopping 10% to her already $323,977 annual salary. As a taxpayer and Raleigh resident, this huge mid-fiscal year raise, while our city’s public safety and first responder workforce are in critical need of human resources and competitive compensation, along with the embarrassing lack of action for a year on the highly public and negatively media focused parade permitting process is embarrassing at the very least while sending very negative, questionable signals to city employees and the public of what the Mayor, City Manager and Council value most.
Wouldn’t you like to be seen as the heroes who saved our parades, rather than the Grinches who canceled them. Please direct staff to allow vehicles.
Highlights from December 5, 2023 Council Meetings
In my view, the UDO adopted in 2013, perhaps inadvertently, opens a back door to undercut the zoning rules.
In the recent N&O article “Missing Middle, median income and more: The housing jargon you need to know” a mistake was made in the description of missing middle housing. The article conflated housing types with housing prices.
You could have negotiated to include the same number of 56 affordable units as a community benefit for the increased entitlement given to the applicant while allowing them to benefit financially from 254 additional market rate units. Maybe even go crazy and ask them to increase from 56 to 60 affordable units while still gaining 250 units at market rate. A WIN-WIN for everyone.
Ultimately, the transformative capacity of affordable housing extends beyond providing a roof over one’s head. It acts as a catalyst for community wide improvements, positively impacting crime rates, mental health, incarceration rates and childhood learning. This isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s essential and it’s a key requirement for a thriving community.
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’.
I am here tonight to talk about noise. In Glenwood South we have been very suspect about the numbers being reported by the city. And we were right to be suspect as we now have evidence that the city has downplayed and grossly under-reported noise complaint calls. Every citizen and every news outlet who unwittingly reported the city provided incorrect statistics to the public should be outraged.
Highlights from the November 21, 2023 Work Session and Afternoon Session
Counselors: You are the responsible party. The ability and duty are yours. YOU are the key players in insuring that the history of Raleigh, its culture, its communities, its monuments, and its traditions survive for the benefit, edification, and pleasure of future generations.
If this work can start now and be completed before March, why wasn’t it started last December and completed in time for this year’s parades? There’s been no answer.
If you weren’t able to attend our Community Conversation on November 16, 2023 for the discussion of Raleigh’s BRT Promises, the video and slides are now available on our “Community Conversations” page where you can find all of our previous events as well.
One year into the terms of the four newly elected Councilors, and with Mayor Pro Tem Branch having filed to run for Mayor, I offer the following thoughts. By now, even our new Councilors own the positions by which Raleigh is currently governed. Your current record and what you do to distinguish yourself over the coming year will determine your perception by the voters in the election one year from now.
Highlights from the November 14 City Council meeting.
In 2016 Raleigh’s Planning Director promised Raleigh’s BRT would serve “some of Raleigh’s lowest-wealth communities .. [and] ensure that these investments benefit rather than displace households and families.” At the New Bern BRT Kickoff Meeting, a senior city planner pledged the city would “make sure the BRT benefits … are shared equitably … so that existing residents of the New Bern corridor … are going to be there to benefit”
I’d like to talk to you tonight about how the city of Raleigh has declined under the leadership, or lack of leadership, with Mary-Ann Baldwin.
Highlights from November 7, 2023 City Council Meeting
Raleigh City Council is doing another survey about election reform. We say another because they did a survey on the topic and published those results in January 2022. But, they didn’t like your answers. So, they are commissioning another survey and this time they are wording the questions differently to try to get answers they like.