The biggest ripples in the October 10 Raleigh City Council elections have come from a candidate who elected to sit this one out. When five-term at-large member Mary-Ann Baldwin chose not to run again, it meant that the other at-large incumbent, Russ Stephenson, would face a field of six challengers, with the top two vote-getters […]
Thomas Goldsmith
Posted inNews
Raleigh Pollster Dean Debnam Wants to Show Wake Commissioners That Their School Funding Vote Could Have Consequences
To focus votersand the all-Democratic Wake County Board of Commissionerson how school funding might affect their reelection bids next year, Raleigh pollster Dean Debnam released a survey Monday that says 82 percent of likely Democratic primary voters think commissioners should have fully funded the Wake school board’s budget request, which they did not. Debnam owns […]
Posted inNews, Housing
Consultants: Solutions to Wake Affordable Housing Crisis Will Require Cooperation, Cash
Solutions to Wake County’s growing affordable housing crisis could require substantial new revenue and changes to county land-use policies, according to a draft presentation on the topic received Monday by the Board of Commissioners. A study by consultants HR&A Advisors found that the county experiences a net loss of between 800 and 1,300 affordable units […]
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Public Policy Polling Survey: Some Wake Commissioners’ School Funding Vote Means They’d Lose to a Hypothetical Woman
With the goal of focusing voters and the Wake County Board of Commissioners on the 2018 elections and school funding, Raleigh pollster Dean Debnam released a survey Monday that says 82 percent of likely Democratic primary voters think commissioners should have fully funded the Wake school board’s budget request. Debnam owns the nationally recognized, Democratic-leaning […]
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Mayor McFarlane Will Not Be Turned Away from Democratic Party Events, Spokesman Says
In one corner, here’s Nancy McFarlane, candidate for a fourth term as Raleigh mayor, unaffiliated politically, but supported by many Democrats in previous elections. In the other corner, here’s mayoral challenger Charles Francis, a proud Democrat who won the endorsement and enthusiastic support of his local party leadership. In this context, when word got out […]
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Bonner Gaylord Campaign to Hold City Council Fundraiser at Home of Julia and Frank Daniels Jr.
Bonner Gaylord, the incumbent Raleigh City Council member in District E, is holding a fundraiser Tuesday at the home of former News & Observer publisher Frank Daniels Jr. and his wife, community leader Julia Jones Daniels. With a top ticket of $5,000, the event targets the same level of giving as that at a July […]
Posted inHousing
The Saga of Forest Hills Apartments Ended Last Week. Wake County’s Affordable Housing Struggle Continues.
The residents of Forest Hills Apartments in Garner, no longer neighbors, left the complex for good Thursday and headed to new addresses throughout the Triangle and beyond. But their storyof being run out of their longtime, subsidized homeshas left a mark on the public debate about affordable housing in booming Raleigh and Wake County. City, […]
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The Beltline Will Be a Rough Ride Between Walnut Creek and Lake Boone Trail Starting in 2018
No matter how they slice and dice it, the coming renovation of the 440 beltline between Walnut Creek and Lake Boone Trail will mean hell for West Raleigh. Eric Lamb, Raleigh’s transportation planning director, said Tuesday that plans call for pairing the three-year road-widening project for 440 with additional projects including routing Blue Ridge Road […]
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External Auditors Confirm $2.3M Missing at Wake Register of Deeds Office, Cite Neglectful Management
External auditors hired by Wake County say that overrides or neglect by management could have been at fault as $2.3 million went missing from the Register of Deeds office between June 1, 2008, and March 31, 2017. The firm Elliott Davis Decosimo said that it is Wake County’s responsibility to maintain internal controls over cash […]
Posted inNews, Housing
Last Residents Leave Forest Hills in Garner; Complex Readies for Business Under New Name
The last departing residents of Forest Hills Apartments spent an angry, emotional final day at the Garner complex, which is taking on a new name and a new set of renters. When a reporter visited the Garner complex in the early afternoon, bleach was being sprayed against the complex, spreading into the open air, and […]