Thursday, December 10, 2009

BRANNON STILL DRUNK

So Yevonne Brannon, Chair of WakeUp Wake County's Board of Directors, suddenly got all righteous in the N&O today.

Let's review this new found righteousness exhibited by Mrs. Brannon as she recounted her tenure on the Wake County Board of Commissioners:

"We never experienced such lack of decorum ..."

"We all obeyed .... the unwritten rules of courtesy and integrity...."

"We are not serving our county when our excellent reputation is smeared weekly with political shenanigans that show little concern for our quality of life in Wake."

(News & Observer - December 10, 2009)

Gosh Yevonne, when did you have a reborn experience?

The highlight of your tenure on the Wake County Board of Commissioners was marked by your flippant disregard for taxpayers.

From the News & Observer:

The more the commissioners talked, the higher the proposed increase got. The figure reached 13 cents when Commissioner Betty Lou Ward was told that was roughly what corresponds to a $200 average tax-bill increase.

"Sold!" Brannon yelled as she leapt from her seat in a meeting room of Wake Forest University's Graylyn Conference Center. "Hey, you guys - the bar is open!"

(News & Observer - February 20, 1999)

Very impressive display of maturity there Mrs. Brannon.

Sober up Yevonne.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

GOT AN IDEA ON HOW TO WASTE MORE MONEY IN DOWNTOWN RALEIGH?

Got a great idea for Moore Square Park?
What do you like about the Park today?
What would you like to see in the future?

Bring your big – and not so big – ideas to the Moore Square Park Community

Open Call for Ideas

Wednesday, June 17, 20094:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. drop in anytime
Marbles Kids Museum 201 E. Hargett Street
Refreshments will be served

Saturday, June 27, 200912:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. drop in anytime
Chavis Community Center 505 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Light lunch will be served

Same meeting, different locations for your convenience

There will be activities and displays for all ages and perspectives:
Presentation to kick off the day on the Open Call Process and Moore Square Park Historic and current large-scale maps and images of the Park


Write a post card from the year 2030 about your visit to the Park
Participate in a tour of the Park
Work at tables with facilitators and drafters to translate your ideas onto Park site plans (participants also have the option to work on their ideas off site and bring them to one of the Open Calls)
Discuss your ideas with the City of Raleigh Planning and Parks & Recreation staff
Raleigh’s first-ever design competition starts with you!

Join us for the Open Call for Ideas.

Your ideas will help competitors design a Park that meets the needs and dreams of the community.To register (not required, but helps with planning), for more information or to post your comments: www.raleighnc.gov/greatplacesMooreSquare or call 919-807-8480

Future planned web developments: Community big – and not so big – ideas on Facebook and Flickr.

Check back often!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

RICHARD KAHLENBERG OF THE CENTURY FOUNDATION SAID A LOT OF THINGS

Last night, April 1, 2009 at the CCCAAC meeting in Southeast Raleigh.

One thing he did not say was the answer to Eric Blau's question.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

WANT TO KNOW WHO PARTICIPATED IN HKONJ?

Here's Raleigh FIST's latest endeavor - an active participant in HKONJ. They describe themselves as a marxist youth organization:

Raleigh-Durham F.I.S.T. presents:
Fred Goldstein, author of "Low Wage Capitalism," and Monica Moorehead, the author of "Marxism, Reparations, and the Black Freedom Stuggle" will be in Chapel Hill on Saturday at Internationalist Books (405 W Franklin St) to discuss their works. This will be a great time for folks to get a better understanding of the current economic crisis and how it greatly affects oppressed peoples, workers, and students, as well as what type of fightback is necessary to demand our rights to a job, an education, and everything else that is threatened by crises of capitalism.Start: Apr 4 2009 - 12:30pmEnd: Apr 4 2009 - 2:00pmFred Goldstein, author of Low-Wage Capitalism, will talk about his groundbreaking new book "Low-Wage Capitalism," which presents a Marxist view of the capitalist economic crisis. Critically acclaimed by both Howard Zinn and Michael Parenti, "Low-Wage Capitalism" provides a sorely-needed and easy-to-read analysis of the roots of the current global economic crisis, its implications for workers and oppressed peoples, and the strategy needed for future struggle. Goldstein explains how the dramatic impact of new technology and the restructuring of global capitalism contains the seeds of its own destruction.He will be joined by Monica Moorehead, the editor of Marxism, Reparations and the Black Freedom Struggle, a rich collection of articles from the pages of Workers World newspaper featuring Black Resistance, Katrina, History of Struggle and Anthology. Both authors will sign books following the discussion.For more info check out:
http://www.lowwagecapitalism.com/http://leftbooks.com/store/product211.htmlhttp://internationalistbooks.org/?q=node/300(any more questions contact scott@fistyouth.org)Fight Imperialism- Stand Together (FIST) is a Marxist youth organization. http://raleighfist.wordpress.comhttp://fistyouth.org

IF YOU NEEDED ANOTHER REASON ABOUT HOW POOR THE N&O IS ....



You can find it in the Life, etc. section this month.

The News and Observer, in the spirit of March Madness decided to compose a "Music Madness" tournament. Simply put, they matched up 64 musical groups and indivduals over the course of pop music history and invited readers to participate in deciding who is the greatest pop music act in history.

So why bring this up today, April 1st?

Yes it's the birthday of arguably the greatest soul musician ever - Marvin Gaye.

And guess what? He's not on the list.

Nope, but somehow the O'Jays, Isley Brothers, and Sly and the Family Stone made the list? What braintrust over at the N&O put together the soul pairings for this? Were they even over 30 years old?

How in the world does this not make the list?

Weak. You can see the N&O list here.

WEDNESDAY'S JOURNAL - APRIL 1, 2009

Today's overview:

CAMPO AND TRIANGLE TRANSIT MEETING IN NORTHERN WAKE TO PUSH FOR MASSIVE TAX INCREASES FOR FLAWED TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM

DEL BURNS PLAYS MATH GAMES WITH SCHOOL BUDGET, CALLS MILLIONS BASED ON GHOST STUDENTS A CUT

BURNS GIVES UP RAISE, NOT MILLIONS SPENT ON FLAWED DIVERSITY BUSING PROGRAM

MILLBERG ON A ROLL - MORE FEIGNING CONCERN FOR WAKE PARENTS

ST. AUG'S TO HOST COMMUNITY DAY - GOOD LUCK GETTING MEEKER DOWN THERE

IT'S NOT JUST FOR RALEIGH ANYMORE - MEEKER & CO. ATTEMPT TO CONTROL GROWTH IN OTHER LOCAL TOWNS

YET ANOTHER CONVENTION EXPENSE - N&O REPORTER RIDES R-LINE .... ALONE

CARY'S LOUD FLUSHING SOUND (LITERALLY)

Not as senseless as Raleigh's garbage disposal ban but ranking right up there is Cary's toilet buyback progam.

Apparently not only are guns the only danger that municipalities must buy back.

Toilets .... the killer among us.

You can read David Bass' great article here.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

DEEP THOUGHTS BY STAN NORWALK

Fresh off of labeling parents as segregationists at the Coalition of Concerned Citizens for African American Children, Stan Norwalk is at it again. When we last caught up with Stan at the CCCAAC meeting, he rambled around for about ten minutes incorrectly citing the Leandro decision as the landmark case for the Mecklenburg school system.

And now this.

Leave it to Stan. He doesn't let facts get in the way.

And who is to blame for the reassignment mess? Chuck Delaney, Del Burns, Central Office, an unresponsive school board? Nope. Lo and behold it's

Drum roll please....

The home builders once again. While you're at it Stan, why not blame them for the spread of malaria in Africa as well.

By the way Stan, you cheapen real issues of racism and segregation that occurred 40-50 years ago by trying to put the Bull Connor label on parents justly concerned about the quality of Wake County's public school system.

Might I recommend a book for you? It's called Blood Done Sign My Name by Timothy Tyson. I know you are not from the South originally so maybe you ought to brush up on your Southern history rather than just spouting out self-righteous drivel and throwing labels around. In case you think it's a right wing book, it was chosen by the folks at UNC-Chapel Hill for the Summer Reading Program. The same folks that forced students to read Approaching the Quran.

In Defense of Diversity
Posted 03-28-2009 at 04:11 PM by
StanN

In Defense of DiversityThe rallying cry of the coalition promoting the reversal of WCPSS’ diversity policy is “neighborhood schools” aka “community schools” The coalition consists of three Political Action Committees (PAC’s) involving irate parents who are supporting four candidates for the Board of Education (BOE) in this falls election. Other individuals supporting vouchers and private schools have attached themselves to the PAC’s.The unstated message of “Neighborhood Schools” is “keep your poor kids in their own schools, not in ‘our’ schools.” Rather than re-segregated neighborhood schools we need a new commitment from all levels of government to raise the academic bar for all children. Irate parents have been led to believe that reversing the school board’s (BOE) diversity policy would resolve their legitimate concerns, i.e. the pain of frequent reassignments, lengthy bus rides and the inconvenience of mandated year round schools (MYRS). However, rolling back the diversity policy will not address these grievances and may make them worse. The false choice of raising the funding level for schools with high concentrations of needy children will eventually fail as it require an increase in property taxes - including the 70% of voters who do not have children in public schools.The understandably irate parents are aiming at the wrong target. WCPSS’ diversity policy plays a minor role in their grievances. Rather the BOE’s use of these measures results from decade’s long mismanagement of growth in Wake County. For twenty years both the State and the County have been unwilling to insist that growth must be connected to new school infrastructure (read: an Adequate Public Facility Ordinances) and that growth must pay for growth. (read: impact fees on new residents.) Too few in the State legislature and the County Commission are willing to vote against powerful special interests opposing widely used solutions.As a result, Wake is has over 25,000 seats in trailers, (1170 trailers) over-crowding campuses to the point where schools must be capped and children assigned to more distant schools. Inadequate funding leads to MYRS and lengthy bus rides. Worst of all, taxes from existing residents are used to pay for constructing schools rather than educating the children they house.All students are impacted. Teacher intensive, specialized courses are the first to go when funds for education are tightly restrained.NC is 44th in the nation in support of K-12 classroom education . Likewise, Wake’s schools are 85th (of 115 school districts) in the state (not counting the costs of constructing schools. Source NC DPI). Focusing on reversing the diversity policy will not resolve these deplorable facts. Wake’s children are caught in the crossfire of a blame game between the BOE, the County Commissioners, and state legislators – and now, misinformed parents.Concentrating poor children in segregated schools will not address parents’ grievances. Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s experience in re-segregating their schools resulted in more bussing; abysmally low academic performance in re-segregated schools; “brain flight”; shifting resources from more affluent area schools to pay for education in poor ones and higher property taxes for all. It has taken decades of mismanaged growth to dig the hole for our schools. Especially during a deep recession there are no silver-bullet solutions to undo the damage of those decades. Growth will return and we should remember the need for real reform. For now, let’s avoid taking giant steps backward. Rather we should focus on using limited resources to advance academics.Rejection of funds to advance academics for our growing school population, we result in lower graduation rates. There will be more citizens who cannot find adequate employment. Then we will spend much more money fighting gangs and building jails.Consider that Wake’s success in attracting high-paying jobs is based on its concentration of brainpower. Wake’s competitive advantage needs nurturing. Constantly raising the academic bar attracts quality jobs and prepares the next generation for such jobs. Diversity is a given in the worlds of business and government. Do we really want to teach our kids that diversity is unimportant? Dealing with the challenges in our schools requires leadership with a long range vision and a focus on what’s critically important. It requires courage to resist powerful special interests and the “critical many” rather than the critical few. Leaders need to find common ground across organizational, ideological and party lines.Past great leaders have fought and for diversity in schools. Some even died in the effort. Where will Wake’s citizens stand this fall?Stan Norwalk is a member of the Wake County Board of Commissioners. His views on diversity are his own. He can be reached at stann@nc.rr.com

TUESDAY'S JOURNAL - MARCH 31, 2009

Today's overview:

LOCAL STATISTICIAN SHOWS WAKE ED PARTNERSHIP'S DIVERSITY EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES

WAKE SCHOOLS CONTINUE FLAWED YEAR-ROUND BUT MOVE FORWARD TO FIRE TEACHERS

ROSA GILL JOINS PATTI AND LORI - FEIGNS CONCERN FOR WAKE PARENTS

Thursday, March 26, 2009

REV. BARBER - THE NEXT TIME YOU'RE ON JONES STREET...

How about taking time to urge that someone with state government remove this sign.

You did your HKONJ rally right beside a plaque honoring a woman who can rightfully be blamed for the ecological genocide of millions of Africans.

Who is it?





Rachel Carson. Somebody your environmental buddies who participated in the HKONJ march probably worship at the feet of.

She was quite successful in eliminating the use of DDT to fight malaria - particularly in Africa - thus resulting in the deaths of millions of Africans that continues to this day.

Thanks for propping up the leftist environmental movement Rev. Barber. It sure seems to be serving your brethren in Africa well.

DANTE STROBINO AT RALEIGH FIST IS ....

A. Not a good liar
B. Blind
C. Very poor counter
D. Juvenille leftist
E. All of the above

In Dante Strobino's blog post at Raleigh FIST, with the nifty Che Guevara picture clearly identifying them as real socialists, he stated:

Almost 10,000 people gathered in Chavis Park before the march....

If you even had 1000 people down at Chavis Park, that would be stretching it. I guess if you call the rally HKONJ (Historic THOUSANDS on Jones Street) then you can just say 10,000 and assume people won't know better.

You had over 80 leftist groups together with paid activists and you could not get beyond say, 10 - 15 per group?

You can see the real crowd photos here:

Or if you like, you can count below. These photos were taken at the peak of attendance at Chavis Park.








PATTI AND LORI - THE DOUBLEMINT TWINS

After being two of the bigger proponets of disrupting the lives of parents and children through a disastrous reassignment process and trying to force mandatory year-round schools for a flawed socio-economic diversity experiment, what did they have to say about opening school earlier and changing adjournment times?

But the school board is considering the move's potential hardships on families, such as increased childcare costs.

"All of us agree that planning time as a regular commitment is a good thing," said outgoing school board member Patti Head. "But it's all these side issues we have to balance."

Raleigh News & Observer, March 25, 2009

"This is going to be difficult for parents in the community to make this adjustment," said school board member Lori Millberg.

Raleigh News & Observer, March 25, 2009

Spare me.

THURSDAY'S JOURNAL - MARCH 26, 2009

Today's overview:

NEW BOOK CALLS THE WAKE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM A BEACON OF HOPE

RALEIGH'S COMPREHENSIVE PLAN PUSHES SOCIAL ENGINEERING IN THE WAKE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM

"BUY" YOUR COPY NOW

Here's a book you can put on your bookshelf right next to Bill McNeal's and Tom Oxholm's "A School System's Journey to Mediocrity."


According to the product description, the Wake County Public School System is a "beacon of hope."

Just check out this review:

In Hope and Despair in the American City, Gerald Grant has written a profound book about American cities and their schools. He combines far-ranging scholarship with lively field research, autobiography, historical narrative, and an expert grasp of demographic data and the winding mazes of legal opinion. The result is a big and ambitious portrait, through the story of two cities, of our nation's greatest educational problems and possibilities for school reform in the metropolitan U.S. today.

--Joseph Featherstone, Michigan State University

Field research? He apparently missed thousands of parents annually outraged by the flippant disregard the Wake County Public School System has shown them and their children.

Demographic data? I would love to know what data the Wake County Public School System provided him to make his case. Nobody in Wake County can seem to get any data out of central office. Maybe he can share it with us.

You can read the review here.

WE COULD ONLY HOPE A DIVERSITY RESOLUTION FROM THE RALEIGH CITY COUNCIL WAS THE ONLY THING

As Meeker, WakeUp Wake County, the Wake County Public School System and others continue to impose transit and diversity agendas upon Wake County citizens, we can only wish that a Raleigh City Council resolution in support of diverse schools was the only thing.

Nicely tucked into Raleigh's Comprehensive Plan is a plan for Raleigh, in conjunction with the Wake County Public School System, to socially engineer Raleigh neighborhoods to "reduce the need for busing."

"The need for busing."

Could Mitch Silver and his illuminati buddies at Raleigh "central" Planning tell us what "need" there is for "busing?" Do tell. What "need" is there to force a poor child to get up excessively early to get on a bus to drive across the county to go to school?

Birds are chirping. Please tell us.

You can read our previous post about it here.

While there might be other legitimate reasons to locating affordable and other types of housing throughout Raleigh, this whole proposal reeks of 1960s nonsense.

1. There is no need for busing. None. Nobody can produce a shred of evidence that all this outrageous nonsense even works - at a time when it saddles Wake County taxpayers with huge costs and disrupts the lives of parents and their children. The Wake County Public School System refuses to study the issue. Refuses.

2. Once again - Raleigh has no business in this. Councilman Isley is apparently the only person who understands this.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

HOW TO LOSE AN ELECTION - MARY ANN BALDWIN STYLE

How do you lose an election? Well pretty much drag yourself into matters that do not even pertain to Raleigh governance and make thousands of parents across the city loaded for bear. Parents will vote on one issue this fall and that's school reassignment. Period.

That's what Mary Ann Baldwin did at the March 17, 2009 meeting of the Raleigh City Council. Not only did Mary Ann Baldwin vote for the resolution, but she also presented the resolution to the council.

Another school diversity flavor aid drinker, Councilman James West, praised the socio-economic diversity experiment, stating "diversity and those kinds of things proven that they have worked." Of course, he does not offer any proof of this - just like his buddy Chuck Delaney over at WCPSS.

You can watch the video
here. Go to E 3 on the menu.

Also, you should send an email to Councilman Isley, thanking him for his no vote. He appears to be on the sole voice of reason on the Raleigh City Council. He can be reached at
pisley@boyceisley.com. The resolution passed with 7 members (including Mayor Meeker) voting in favor of the resolution with Isley casting the lone no vote.

Any parents that would like to "thank" the Raleigh City Council for turning their backs on you in your battles against an unresponsive school bureaucracy, you can reach them
here. I personally recommend you thank them on October 6, 2009.

Here's the resolution:

RESOLUTION NO. (2009) 842

A RESOLUTION EXPRESSING THE SUPPORT
OF THE RALEIGH CITY COUNCIL
FOR THE WAKE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM

WHEREAS, the Wake County Public School System has consistently provided our citizens with one of the best school systems in the state and the nation, providing a solid educational foundation for our children and contributing to our County's economic prosperity; and

WHEREAS, the upkeep of our Wake County schools is imperative for our continued educational, economic, and cultural sustenance and growth.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA THAT:

Section 1. The City supports the current district elections of the Wake County Board of Education as a means of ensuring minority and district representation, and controlling campaign costs, and the City supports the school's diversity policy to ensure a balanced and equal education for all our City's children.

Adopted: March 17, 2009

TUESDAY'S JOURNAL - MARCH 24, 2009

Today's overview:

WAKE COMMUNITY NETWORK: WHERE YA BEEN BRAD - PALLING AROUND WITH RACIAL GENOCIDE PROPONENTS?

COSTLY LAND DEALS + ARGUMENTS OVER PROPERTY DEED TRANSFERS = YET MORE CUTS FOR WAKE SCHOOLS

STAN NORWALK SAYS DO AS WE SAY, NOT AS WE DO

AFTER RECORD DROUGHTS, MEEKER FAILS TO EVEN PRODUCE A SATISFACTORY DROUGHT PLAN

WAKE COMMISSIIONERS SPEND $25,000 TO STUDY HOW TO DO A FESTIVAL - NOT ACTUALLY CONDUCT AN EVENT

Monday, March 23, 2009

WHERE YA BEEN BRAD - PALLING AROUND WITH RACIAL GENOCIDE PROPONENTS?

--- On Fri, 3/6/09, Cheek, Patricia wrote:


From: Cheek, Patricia Patricia.Cheek@ci.raleigh.nc.us
Subject: Raleigh City Council Meeting---Tuesday, March 17 @ 1:30pm
To:
Date: Friday, March 6, 2009, 9:54 AM

Dr. West has asked that you make every effort to attend this Council meeting if possible. We look forward to seeing you there.

Do you think the Raleigh City Council should make JOBS and NEIGHBORHOOD SAFETY in Southeast Raleigh its FIRST PRIORITY?

Do you want Southeast Raleigh to have access to $$ funds from Obama’s Economic Stimulus Program?

Do you think our community needs LESS CRIME and MORE YOUTH PROGRAMS?

BE THE CHANGE!

Come and support the Southeast Raleigh Quality of Life Coalition!

Where: Raleigh City Council Meeting
City Council Chambers
222 West Hargett Street
When: Tuesday, March 17 @ 1:30pm
E-mail Brad Thompson at bttsr@aol.com
to get more involved!

Patricia Lynch Cheek
http://us.mc01g.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=patricia.cheek@ci.raleigh.nc.us
Community Services Assistant
Community Services Department
831-6100
Community Services Homepage

Dear Brad,

We here at Wake Community like to think we closely follow issues regarding Southeast Raleigh. We've reported on murder after murder on Bragg Street and Tarboro Road. We've criticized Mayor Meeker for his utter "benign neglect" of your community's serious crime issues while pumping millions of dollars into Fayetteville Street for yuppie intellectuals.

One thing that's been missing in all our coverage and the stories we've followed?

YOU.

Haven't heard from you in a while. Where ya been?

We just heard your glowing presentation of passion and concern for Southeast Raleigh. (You can view it here.)

Apparently you've decided to assemble all the Southeast Raleigh groups together for your "quality of life" coalition.

You sure did use a lot of resilient words in your presentation. Very passionate I must say.

You spoke of:

"... common commitment to do whatever we can, to make it stronger."

"... but we don't want to bury our heads in the sand."

"... situation that cannot be tolerated."

"... explosion of crime, particularly violent crime, that is intolerable."

"These problems cannot be left behind."

We just would love to know where this passion was recently as Southeast Raleigh rotted, as violent crime skyrocketed, social ills prevailed and shopping centers like Longview lost businesses.

We can observe one thing though. You seem all about some stimulus cash and making sure your hands are in the cookie jar. Suddenly you're on the scene.

You spoke that the".. stimulus package represents an opportunity for community investment." and that Raleigh should "... aggressively pursue the resources in the stimulus."

You ran through a whole host of social programs and services for Southeast Raleigh. Any of this stuff have a proven track record of working? Or are we burning yet more money on failed social services endeavors. Not sure why we should be too hard on you though - the Wake County Public School System spends millions on this annually and refuses to show any proven track record of success.

Don't get us wrong. Southeast Raleigh faces a lot of challenges and we've made it abundantly clear that Mayor Meeker's "benign neglect" is shameful.

The money was there to address serious problems in your community - but Mayor Charles "livable streets" Meeker chose not to invest in your community, but rather to pump millions of dollars into Mint restaurants, tear up Fayetteville Street and build City Plazas. And he continues to do so.

If you are serious about helping out Southeast Raleigh, then we would welcome your voice in criticizing Raleigh's misplaced priorities. Will you criticize Mayor Meeker?

One last thing. You went to the 1995 Million Man March in DC. Folks like former Sheriff John Baker spoke clearly when they said:

"All right, you are going to Washington. Then what?" Baker said. "What are you going to do the next day?" (Raleigh News & Observer - 10/18/95)

What did you do the next day, and the day after and the day after until March 17, 2009?

It's also interesting who you traveled to DC with for the March.

"It was kind of overwhelming -- a whole sea of people," said Bakari Kambon, who went to Washington with his father, Kamau Kambon, and Brad Thompson, a Raleigh city councilman. (Raleigh News & Observer - 10/18/95)

For those who don't know Dr. Kamau Kambon, he called for the extermination of the white race at Howard University in October of 2005. You can view the video here.

Part of the problem with our minority youth in Southeast Raleigh are the influences they come into contact with.

We would welcome your formal denouncement of Dr. Kambon. Your silence will speak volumes.

MONDAY'S JOURNAL - MARCH 23, 2009

Today's overview:

MINORITY GROUP SEEKS TO PRESERVE SYSTEM FAILING MINORITY CHILDREN.

MEEKER TWISTS FACTS IN SUPPORT OF PORK SPENDING IN DOWNTOWN RALEIGH

BEYOND $10 MILLION FOR THE HILLSBOROUGH STREET ROUNDABOUT, RALEIGH CITY COUNCIL SPENDS ALMOST $400,000 TO PRETTY UP HILLSBOROUGH STREET

LOOK HOMEWARD ANGELS - TEA PARTY FOCUSES ON DC - PLENTY OF MEEKER'S PORK JUST DOWN THE STREET

ROLESVILLE LOOKING TO EXPAND ITS EXTRATERRITORIAL JURISDICTION

Friday, March 13, 2009

CROWD SOURCING COMING SOON!

What is crowd sourcing, you ask?

You can read a generalized Wikipedia definition here.

Essentially it is taking a task typically given to a specific person - be it an employee, staff member, contractor, etc. - and putting it before the large unnamed public for review.

We hope to harness the knowledge and experience the greater Wake County Community possess.

Each week we will crowd source a document(s) or item(s) for public review and comment. We will encourage you, the Wake County community, to apply your wealth of knowledge and experience and provide us your thoughts and observations.

We will keep all sources for information confidential to encourage as much input as possible.

We hope through this to provide a better educational service to the Wake County community.

Likewise, if you have a document or idea for "crowd sourcing," we welcome suggestions. Please send them to us at wakecommunity@bellsouth.net.

Thanks. We look forward to hearing from you.

FRIDAY - MARCH 13, 2009

Today's overview:

TONY ASION OF EL PUEBLO - "CRIMINALS AREN'T CRIMINALS"

WILL MAYOR CHARLES “BENIGN NEGLECT” MEEKER RUN AGAIN

NOW STUDENT SOCIAL ENGINEERING NOT JUST FOR WAKE SCHOOL BOARD - LOCAL JUDGE ORDERS PARENT TO STOP HOME SCHOOLING - SEND CHILD TO WAKE'S SCHOOLS OF EXCELLENCE

TWO RALEIGH BRIDGES AMONG STATE'S WORST - BUT WE SURE DO HAVE A PRETTY FAYETTEVILLE STREET

APEX ECONOMY BETTER THAN EXPECTED - MAYOR WEATHERLY SAYS NO TO TAX INCREASES

Thursday, March 5, 2009

THURSDAY'S JOURNAL - MARCH 5, 2009

Today's overview:

ATTEND WAKE SCHOOLS COMMUNITY ALLIANCE MEETING

DEL BURNS BUDGET ACTUALLY A $6.4 MILLION INCREASE

WAKE NCAE GOES INTO CHICKEN LITTLE MODE - WHERE WAS THE CONCERN WITH WASTED MONEY IN THE PAST

NO CATASTROPHE FOR MEEKER - PASTRY SHOP CLOSES BUT IT'S FAR ENOUGH AWAY FROM DOWNTOWN

ATTEND WSCA MEETING

Next Meeting: March 5, 2009 @ 6:00pm - Wake Forest

This meeting is for ALL Wake residents interested in challenging the WCPSS reassignment process and other severe problems within our school system.

Location:The Forks CafeteriaWake Forest - www.forkscafeteria.com

Time:6pm, Dinner available to purchase

Meeting starts @ 6:30pm

Seating is up to 120 people. Those who attended in Holly Springs are welcome, but this month's meeting is to welcome citizens from Northern Wake to join our cause!

**Attendees at this meeting include Mayor Mayor Ronnie Williams (Garner), Mayor Frank Eagles (Rolesville) and County Commissioner Joe Bryan**

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

MARRIAGE AMENDMENT RALLY PHOTOS - MARCH 3, 2009







TUESDAY'S JOURNAL - MARCH 3, 2009

Today's overview:

CUT COMMISSIONERS PAY 10% - WAKE GOP COMMISSIONERS SAY YES, WAKE DEM COMMISSIONERS SAY NO

WAKE COMMUNITY NETWORK: WHO WILL PAY FOR RALEIGH CHAMBER JUNKET: TAXPAYERS OR CAMPAIGNS?

WAKE SCHOOLS COMMUNITY ALLIANCE SETS UP PAC

WAKE HOME SALES DECLINE - TELL US AGAIN WAKE UP WAKE COUNTY ABOUT THIS GREAT, STABLE BUDGETARY RESOURCE

ARROGANT WAKE SCHOOL BOARD TO POTENTIALLY END PANTHER CREEK HIGH SCHOOL MESS TONIGHT

WHO WILL PAY FOR RALEIGH CHAMBER JUNKET: TAXPAYERS OR CAMPAIGNS?

The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce is pushing local business leaders to join them from April 16-18 for their 20th Anniversary Inter-City Visit and Leadership Conference. The conference/visit is in Dallas, Texas.

Among the selling points, particularly for elected officials, is that they can learn "how Dallas has become a successful market for transit, arts investment, and headquarter relocation."

Cost per person for the three day trip is $1,999. Must be a nice trip.

A number of local elected officials will attend.

The current list includes:

Harold Webb - Wake County Commissioners
Dick Sears - Holly Springs Town Council
Charles Meeker - Raleigh City Council
Nancy McFarlane - Raleigh City Council
Anne McLaurin - Wake County Board of Education

Nobody's faulting them for going.

Our concern is: Who's going to pay?

Recently Wake County Commissioner Tony Gurley asked Wake County Attorney Scott Warren if commissioners could use campaign funds to pay for these type of trips instead of billing it back to the county.

Mr. Warren replied back with the following memo:






The answer, in short, is yes.

Mr. Warren cited NCGS 163-278.16B(a)(2).

§ 163‑278.16B. Use of contributions for certain purposes.
(a) A candidate or candidate campaign committee may use contributions only for the following purposes:
(1) Expenditures resulting from the campaign for public office by the candidate or candidate's campaign committee.
(2) Expenditures resulting from holding public office.


While Commissioner Gurley asked as a county commissioner, the statute extends to any local elected official.

If the trip is valuable, let these local elected officials justify it to their campaign donors. If not maybe those up for re-election can justify it to voters this fall.

Monday, March 2, 2009

WSCA PAC

From: admin@takeourschoolsback.org
Subject: A Call to Action

Takeourschoolsback.org has joined up with the Wake Schools Community Alliance (WSCA).

For years, parent groups have formed all over Wake County to take on the school system regarding reassignment, MYR and other important issues. WSCA has succeeded in bringing together all of these groups for the very first time.

Four School Board seats are up for election this October. These four districts (Currently represented by P.Head, E.Goettee, L.Millberg and H.Tart) have all been badly treated by the School Board, and are ready for change. WSCA is harnessing the power of parent groups across Wake County to elect candidates who will reform assignment practices.


WSCA's core beliefs are simple:
We support candidates who will reestablish community schools and stable assignments.
We support candidates who will retain Year-Round schools, but end the practice of mandatory assignment.


Three Wake County mayors have already pledged their support to WSCA, and four more will follow suit this week. Three Wake County Commissioners have already pledged support. The most recent WSCA meeting was standing-room only, and community support continues to build.

We have never had a better opportunity to change the course of Wake County schools than the 2009 elections. WSCA is currently interviewing candidates for all four school districts. We will endorse candidates and provide their campaigns with the funding and volunteers they need to WIN.

To learn more about WSCA, please visit WakeSCA.org soon. Consider joining up and becoming part of a historic campaign. And while you are on the web site, please consider making a donation to the WSCA PAC. How wonderful will it be to return to stable, community-based skills? The PAC will be used to contribute directly to candidates and to complement their campaigns.

If you read the N&O or watch local news, you have seen that WSCA is being taken very seriously. People who are trying to hold onto the past are nervous, and they should be. Please support WSCA in any way you can, this is the year we get the job done.

TOSB

MONDAY'S JOURNAL - MARCH 2, 2009

Today's overview:

OF 137,000 WAKE COUNTY MEMBERS, GROUP ONLY PULLS 10 FOR COUNTYWIDE PROTEST

GUILFORD SUPERINTENDENT TURNS DOWN RAISE, DEL BURNS DID NOT

HAROLD WEBB SUPPORTS DIVERSITY AT ALL COSTS - NO MATTER THAT IT HAS NO EDUCATIONAL BENEFITS AND SADDLES WAKE COUNTY WITH ENORMOUS COSTS

WASTEFUL WAKE SCHOOL BOARD MAY NOW HAVE TO MAKE LAYOFFS

RUTH SHEEHAN MISSES THE RHETORIC AT SCHOOL DIVERSITY MEETING

REALITY CHECK - LOCAL ILLUMINATI PUSH MASSIVE TAX INCREASES FOR FLAWED TRANSPORTATION GOALS

WAKE COMMUNITY NETWORK: UPCOMING CONSERVATIVE EVENTS

Friday, February 27, 2009

RALEIGH POLICE DEPARTMENT SEEKS INPUT

Dear Resident

The Raleigh Police Department is undergoing the development of a five year strategic plan. As part of that process, we are asking for input from citizens about what they think we do well, and what they think we should focus on in the future. One of the ways the public can do that is through a new online survey tool!

I wanted to send this to you, being involved in your CAC, as a convenient way for citizens to tell us what they think! I ask you to distribute the link below to any of your neighbors, friends, and other organizations you are affiliated with? The more people who give us input the better. The survey can be found at
www.raleighnc.gov/police. Then click on >>Raleigh Police Strategic Plan Citizen Survey<<

We very much appreciate any help you can give us in “getting the word out.” Feel free to contact me with any questions.


Sgt. Shawne Anderson
Interim Strategic Planner
Raleigh Police Department
110 S. McDowell Street
Raleigh, NC 27601
Office: 919-996-1172
Fax: 919-996-7605
shawne.anderson@ci.raleigh.nc.us

FRIDAY'S JOURNAL - FEBRUARY 27, 2009

Today's overview:

WAKE COMMUNITY NETWORK: UPCOMING CONSERVATIVE EVENTS

STAN NORWALK DEFENDS FLAWED DIVERSITY POLICY AT SCHOOL FORUM, SAYS SPEND MORE MONEY ON EDUCATION

COVERAGE OF LAST NIGHT'S SCHOOL DIVERSITY FORUM

COVERAGE OF LAST NIGHT'S SCHOOL DIVERSITY FORUM

Here's what I've found as far as media coverage of last night's CCCAAC.

Wake Parents Speak Out On Diversity - Wake County - MyNC.com

News 14 24 Hour Local News TOP STORIES Parents, leaders meet about school diversity

WTVD was present also, though I cannot locate a story.

Does Stan Norwalk even know what he's talking about?

Education "expert" and now constitutional scholar Stan Norwalk vigorously defended the Wake County School Board's flawed socio-economic diversity policy while painting Wake County parents as segregationists.

CCCAAC Meeting
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Martin Street Baptist Church

Thursday, February 26, 2009

UPCOMING CONSERVATIVE EVENTS

Beyond the regular meetings that occur, there are several events we strongly encourage you to attend.

February 25 - April 5, 2009
40 Days for Life to end abortion prayer vigil
No Cost
Location: National Women's Health Organization - 3613 Haworth Drive, Raleigh
Related Link

Tuesday, March 3, 2009
NC4Marriage will hold at Marriage Rally at the NC Legislature
No cost
Time: 11:00 am
Location: Halifax Mall behind the General Assembly
Related link

Saturday, March 7, 2009
Pro-Life Events NC will host a Life Conference
Cost: $20 for adults, $10 for students
Time: 8:00 am
Location: North Raleigh Christian Academy - 7300 Perry Creek Road, Raleigh
Related Link

Thursday and Friday, March 12-13, 2009
John William Pope Civitas Institute Investigative Journalism Training
Cost: $25 per day, $40 for both days (includes lunch)
Location: Brownstone Hotel - 1707 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh
Related Link

Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Friends of NRA Greater Triangle Dinner
Cost: Price of ticket
Time: 6:00 pm
Location: Wake County Shrine Club - 6105 Leadmine Road, Raleigh
Related Link