City Hall Update – Week of April 13, 2020
Livable Raleigh
Several new blogs have been posted in the past week:
- Show Me The Money!
- N&O Reporter notes Citizen Engagement is Worse Under New Council
- What's Happening to Citizen Engagement?
- Delay April & May Council Meetings
Raleigh City Council’s April 7 “Virtual Meeting”
During this public health crisis and time of economic hardship, it’s important to acknowledge when things go right, but equally important to spotlight problems and inequities.
Raleigh’s City Council held a “virtual” meeting on April 7. Many of the new Council majority publicly called it a “raging success.” While the City can be applauded for investigating alternative ways to continue serving the community during difficult times, not everyone agreed that the meeting was a “raging success.”
There were a number of people who signed up to speak remotely, either at the public comment period or during the public hearings, but it appeared that around 50% or more of the potential participants did NOT show up. Why? We don’t know if those people simply changed their minds or if they experienced technical difficulties. Were they distracted by health issues or by economic concerns? Were they unaware of or uncomfortable with the alternative format?
The Council announced that they were deferring some of the more “controversial” public hearing items until May 5. But it isn’t clear that public meetings will be allowed to take place at that date, so we could be facing the same issues with barriers to public engagement.
And it also isn’t clear who is making decisions about which items are deemed “controversial.” At the April 7 virtual meeting, all 11 agenda items were approved, even though one was heavily opposed by the North CAC, which voted 32 to 4 against it, and another did not have a CAC vote at all.
Without CAC or neighborhood meetings taking place to allow public input on rezoning requests, the Council should cease moving forward on these items until options for public engagement are back in place.
Many Raleigh residents would prefer that the Council focus now only on matters that directly relate to the COVID-19 crisis and routine governmental functions while delaying rezonings and new expenditures until after things are better controlled and we are able to return to what will be a new normal. A new normal which will necessitate an austerity budget and some tough decisions about future expenditures.
Concerns about transparency in government decisions also have been raised. At the April 7 meeting the Mayor announced a decision to defer holding a parks bond this Fall, but said plans would move forward for an Affordable Housing bond. It’s not clear how or when this decision was reached. Was it a unilateral decision by the mayor? Shouldn’t there have been a public council vote?
Concerns about equal access to government have also been raised. Recently the HomeBuilders Association (big supporters of most of the newly elected Council members) shared that they are setting up Zoom meetings with City staff to advocate for changes in the UDO. Shouldn’t those meetings include representatives from the general public as well? Especially now that the City Council has abolished CACs, how is the public supposed to have an opportunity to make their voices heard?
To be fair, we do want to applaud the City Council for taking action to adjust water rates now that people are sheltering in place and using more water at home. Special shout-out to Council member David Cox who forwarded constituent emails to staff on that matter, resulting in the change in policy.
We can also applaud City Council for allocating $100,000 to relief efforts. However, $100,000 pales in comparison to the need. Surely we have more discretionary funds available to help our most vulnerable residents. And while it is true that basic needs for shelter are typically the responsibility of the county, these are atypical times and we should be looking to augment the County’s support.
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Calendar
The Raleigh City Council has cancelled all council meetings, council district meetings, council committee meetings, and boards and commissions through April 30.
Wednesday, April 15
- 12n – CAMPO Executive Board Meeting via WEBEX
Friday, April 17
- 11:30am – Affordable Housing Bond Advisory Committee Conference Call
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Please stay safe and follow official government guidelines during this public health crisis.
- Your best sources of reliable information during the COVID-19 public health crisis are official government websites.
COVID-19 information from Wake County: http://www.wakegov.com/covid19/Pages/default.aspx
COVID-19 information from the City of Raleigh: https://raleighnc.gov/news/covid-19-information
- Resources for people experiencing homelessness or a housing crisis: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/NCRALEIGH/bulletins/2821263
- Link to City Manager’s Weekly Report: https://raleighnc.gov/services/government/city-managers-weekly-report
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