Raleigh’s Planning Director recently described a year-long series of public meetings that will underpin our city’s 2050 Comprehensive Plan growth vision. But if the January 11 city sponsored meeting pictured above is typical of what’s in store, that year’s worth of city meetings will be a waste of our time and tax dollars, and the resulting 2050 Plan will be a slanted, cut & paste job. The contrasting volunteer-led photo above proves that if given a real opportunity, Raleigh residents will show how much they care about Raleigh’s future.
The two meetings shown above were held in the same room, on the same topic, only a few days apart. The stark contrast between the volunteer-sponsored overflow turnout versus the city-sponsored empty room speaks volumes about how the Baldwin Council has suppressed the public and stunted the Planning Department, versus how much Raleigh residents really care about our city’s future.
The good news about the public’s role in the upcoming 2050 Plan process is that Baldwin’s corrosive influence is waning. The proof is in Council’s recent vote to overrule Baldwin and reinstate the CACs.
As the new Council leaders work to restore government transparency, integrity and trust, we hope they’ll encourage the Planning Director to take a closer look at his scope of work for the 2050 Plan. The new scope should seek out the best consultants, the best Comp Plan models (like Minneapolis), and the best practices for empowering resident input. We need each 2050 Plan meeting to look like the photo of the full house, not the empty house.
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