A view of the city

Hillsborough Street: Already 100% happier

Well, it's true: As long as former councilors Jessie Taliaferro and Joyce Kekas had their fangs in Hillsborough Street's neck, no initiative for that street on the part of Mayor Meeker or his supporters could go anywhere.

But since Monday, a 7 to 1 city council majority for re-investment and revitalization of this important urban corridor -- the front door to the state's flagship land-grant university -- is in play.

Word's in from the first meeting of the Hillsborough Street Partnership since the new City Council was sworn in Monday night:  The mood was encouragement -- relief -- and renewed hope that Raleigh's long-neglected main street will soon be on the mend, with the institutional buy-in that's now possible with a working, pro-Raleigh majority on the city's elected board.   

Change won't take long, either.  In May, construction will begin on the first two Hillsborough Street roundabouts, along with landscaping, parking, and median improvements.  The ugly aerial utilities will come down, and streetscape improvements to sidewalks and other street furnishings will be installed.

Next up for consideration, on December 11: choices for another roundabout, at Morgan Street. 

The last time Council looked at the question, it was still mired in the same voting deadlock that impeded progress on so many other issues in the last two years. 

Meanwhile, at the staff level, the highway dinosaurs in the city's Public Works department (and the consulting engineers they hired) were still advocating for a high-speed thru lane to circumvent the roundabout -- as if Hillsborough Street were just another Taconic State Parkway. 

Expect a different approach next week.  And over the next two years. 

Side note:  Woe betide those city staffers who don't shift gears (or perhaps we should say, match their stride) to the new council's more inclusive, pedestrian-friendly approach.   

 

Bread and butter

City Council candidate Jessie Taliaferro received the overwhelming majority – 77 percent – of her campaign funds from developers and their allies in the real estate and building community, campaign filings with the Wake County Board of Elections reveal.

Moreover, in the most recent month of September, Taliaferro received 93.8% of her campaign funds from developers and the real estate industry.

Taliaferro’s filings with the Wake Board of Elections reveal that the vast majority of her contributions in the 2006-2007 campaign cycle came from developers, developers’ lawyers, spouses of developers, and others in the real estate and development industry.

Developer John Kane and his wife, Willa, contributed a total of $2000 to Taliaferro’s campaign. Taliaferro has been criticized for supporting Kane’s proposal to build a private parking deck for luxury condos using $75 million in taxpayer funds (Independent Weekly, August 15, 2007).

Developers’ attorneys Clyde Holt, Elizabeth Trahos, Mack Paul, and Isabel Mattox were among those who contributed at least $250 each to Taliaferro's campaign. They have appeared regularly before the Raleigh Planning Commission to advocate for rezonings and other development approvals on behalf of real estate interests.

The analysis, performed by the Rodger Koopman campaign, was based on public record filings for the current election cycle.

The campaign contributions that Taliaferro received from developers help to explain the incumbent’s position in favor of development interests, such as the Kane parking deck subsidy.

Taliaferro also opposed the mayor’s proposal to increase impact fees so that development would pay more of its own way, leaving Raleigh taxpayers paying 75% of the costs of growth according to an independent study performed for the City of Raleigh by Duncan Associates (News & Observer, April 19, 2006).

The election is on October 9.

Unverified

This just in, via email:

If you haven't heard, Mary Ann Baldwin recently had a fundraiser hosted by Elizabeth Dole's Treasurer (Brent Barringer). Folks, he raises money to defeat Democrats. He's supporting Mary Ann Baldwin because she is bought and paid for by the real estate and development industries. Unfortunately, the other main Dem candidate, Paul Anderson, was also listed on the invitation. The stakes are high.

We have not had an opportunity to verify this intelligence.  Perhaps one of our Gentle Readers would care to comment on its accuracy?

Update: Gentle Reader "J" confirms the story.  See comment below.  

Just Faux

This new blog is in shockingly poor taste.

At large and dangerous

It's a crowded field out there for just two at-large seats on the Raleigh City Council.  How to know where your vote should go on October 9, Election Day?

A busy person hardly has time to keep track of the issues.  (And the candidate's own "brand identity" may be somewhat misleading.  An oak leaf on a candidate's sign doesn't mean she's green.) 

But there's one simple question that stands in for a host of complex issues. 

Where do you stand on a $75 million subsidy for John Kane's parking garage at North Hills? 

The answer to this question can only go one of three ways:  yes, no, or I won't say.

And that answer tells you, the voter, quite a bit. 

It tells you where the candidate's loyalties are -- to developers, or taxpayers.

It tells you how the candidate feels about massive public subsidies to private development.

It tells you a lot about the candidate's ideas of fiscal responsibility.

It tells you whether an influential bigwig has that candidate in hand, or whether Raleigh citizens are in charge. 

It tells you about the candidate's spending priorities:  parks?  streets?  sidewalks?  the arts?  drinking water?  public safety?  recreation?  ... or private shopping-center parking decks?

And if the candidate won't commit to an answer, that, too, should tell you all you need to know.

Sploosh

Raleigh City Councilor Russ Stephenson takes an accidental plunge in the Neuse River.