Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin says she will seek reelection this fall.
In an exclusive interview with the INDY, Baldwin said she plans to seek another term to accomplish her “moonshot” goals for the city blunted by the coronavirus pandemic.
“I still have my moonshot out there and those are things I still want to get done. I think that having continuity and consistency through COVID and social justice will be important,” Baldwin told the INDY. “I think somebody new walking into this would be very difficult.”
Baldwin’s first year in office was a rollercoaster. While her pro-development voting bloc on council has accomplished a litany of common-sense reforms, including legalizing short-term rentals and allowing accessory dwelling units by right, it was also fraught with controversy. Her close colleague Saige Martin was ousted in June amid sexual misconduct allegations. Then, during the city’s Black Lives Matter protests, she gained the scorn of many activists by issuing draconian curfews to avoid further property damage downtown by rioters.
Those weren’t easy decisions, Baldwin says.
“With the protests, this wasn’t just something that happened in Raleigh. This happened nationally and I don’t think any of us were prepared for the enormity of the issue,” Baldwin said. “There are a couple of things I have said I regret; one is not calling for a curfew that second night in May when the protest occurred.”
Raleigh’s municipal election is slated for October 2021.
This is a developing story,.
Oh, hell no.
Mayor Baldwin used her new job as Mayor to line her own pockets with a lucrative new private sector job with a developer. She is not the type of person we need as Mayor. Literally ANYONE who doesn’t work for a developer should be Mayor before her….even David Cox himself.