It’s Thursday, May 2.
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Good morning, readers.
This fall, Raleigh voters could see two resolutions on their ballots that would change the way their city council members are elected.
The first resolution—to prolong council members’ terms to four-year staggered terms with primaries—was studied and recommended by a council-appointed study group. The second resolution—to add three district seats to the current five-district city council—was not.
The move to add three districts to the council has some support from current council members who would like to see their districts shrunk so they’re not representing so many people, and a poll of more than 1,000 Raleigh residents found that more than half of respondents were in favor of adding more district seats.
But, unlike switching to four-year staggered terms, the impacts of adding districts haven’t been studied as extensively. Some research shows that having more district seats, as opposed to maintaining a balance of district and at-large seats as most of Raleigh’s peer cities do, could dilute the vote of minority residents and suppress housing supply.
Raleigh District C council member Corey Branch, who is running for mayor this fall, says he doesn’t support adding three more districts to the council because with more at-large seats, or a balance of district and at-large seats, voters can select more council members than they could if there were more district seats.
“I would love for us to help people keep that option, where they can vote for at least half, or close to half [of the council], and have a voice,” Branch says. “But if you have eight districts, you take that [option] away.”
In the coming weeks, the council could vote to put both resolutions before voters, just one, or neither. Residents who have thoughts about proposed Raleigh City Council election changes are encouraged to email the council or speak at an upcoming public hearing.
Have a good Thursday.
—Jane
Durham
A Duke professor was among those arrested at the Gaza Solidarity Encampment at UNC during a dawn sweep on Tuesday.
Wake
Michele Morrow, the GOP candidate for state superintendent who mounted an unsuccessful campaign for Wake County Public Schools Board of Education in 2022, is following Steve Bannon’s playbook.
A Wake County judge ruled that NC State must turn over documents related to, and allow outside investigators inside, Poe Hall, the site of dangerously high levels of carcinogenic PCBs.
Orange
Photoseries: Police confront protesters at UNC’s Gaza Solidarity Encampment.
Members of UNC’s Faculty Executive Committee called interim chancellor Lee Roberts’ actions during the Tuesday protest, where he showed up to campus flanked by police officers, “not a good look.” Meanwhile, Republican legislative leaders, including House speaker Tim Moore, praised Roberts’s actions and said he should be made permanent chancellor [paywalled].
The UNC administration has indefinitely closed the Campus Y following the protests on campus.
North Carolina
Republican lawmakers want an additional $463 million in spending on school vouchers in the state budget.
There are bipartisan efforts to boost HBCU spending in the state budget, including for St. Augustine’s in Raleigh which has been struggling financially recently.
Today’s weather
Sunny with a high of 90 degrees.
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