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!

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.

RALEIGH'S ARTS PROGRAM - WHAT THE MEDIA IS NOT TELLING YOU

Raleigh's City Council passed a monstrous abuse of taxpayer dollars in the form of the arts program at yesterday's City Council meeting (2-17-09).

Some things to note that are in Resolution 2009 that created the program and some things that are not.

1. Art "creates a dynamic and creative urban life." Read more money for downtown Raleigh to be wasted. Urban = Downtown.

2. Art "enhances the reputation of Raleigh and promotes attracting business and increasing tourism;" Do you know what also helps that out? Paying for more police protection and keeping the murder rate below the almost 50% increase it experienced last year.

3. It's not exactly one half one percent. "It is recognized that the permanent program may take a variety of forms, including but not limited to the creation of a fund into which the one-half percent allocations may be allowed to accumulate if some projects may not be ideal for the incorporation of public art." Read - they'll have a huge piggy bank of your tax dollars to spend. They'll milk every project possible for money to put in the piggy bank. Then they'll spend those dollars elsewhere.

• "The need to have a pool because not all projects would necessarily have an art component but the one-half of 1 percent of the construction cost could go into a pool and that money could be used to put art in areas that do not have a specific project." (Minutes - Raleigh Budget and Economic Development Committee, 1-13-09)

5. They are going to find the highest level of hard construction costs from which to determine the one half of one percent. "If the actual construction bids are higher than the City's pre-bid estimate the percentage shall be accordingly adjusted upward." (Resolution No. 2009)

6. In a time when Raleigh has a hiring freeze, they are discussing hiring yet another bureaucrat for arts. "Commission Chair Starky pointing out they have a current budget and the funding could come from the current budget." (Minutes - Raleigh Budget and Economic Development Committee, 1-13-09) They'll actually be taking money from arts instead of putting money into it.

7. Finally City Manager Russell Allen stated recently that Raleigh has a hiring freeze and is delaying some capital projects. So why in the world in this condition would someone drive up the cost on some capital projects even further?

This isn't over yet.

8. "the final budget for staffing and operation of the program will be established by the City Council as a part of its 2009-2010 annual budget deliberations."

Contact your Raleigh City Council member now and tell them to stop this ridiculous waste of taxpayer dollars. You can reach them here.

BICYCLES - A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE TO DRIVING?

Seems to be working well for this gentleman doesn't it? Of course, he's on Bragg Street and Raleigh's illuminati would just as well forget him.

But Raleigh just spent $172,000 trying to push bicycles as a "viable alternative" to cars.

Wonder how many of Meeker and his buddies bike to work? Wake Community would love to know.

We would even settle for carpools or even a bus.

HERE COMES THE NEXT BUDGET BUSTER FOR DOWNTOWN RALEIGH

An Amphitheater down by the convention center.

Related link.

SIR WALTER WALLY

Sir Walter Wally saw his shadow today.

After having Wally held close to his ear, Mayor Meeker announced six more million dollars for downtown Raleigh. (Don't get your hopes up Bragg Street.)

As if we could be so lucky......

(Of course this is satire, Mayor Meeker would never come this cheap.)

MAYOR MEEKER'S STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS

What perhaps was fascinating about Mayor "downtown first" Meeker's State of the City speech was not all that was in it, but what was lacking.

What he avoided talking about.

Mayor Meeker went through a litany of items - lavish spending for Fayetteville Street, Raleigh's new Convention Center, etc. All things that are not basic functions of local government.

But addressing crime is. And it was completely absent from his remarks. Not a single word said.

NOTHING.

Just think about the high profile murders that have occurred this year. Crime remains rampant along Tarboro Road and Bragg Street. Just this past week found yet another violent murder committed on Camden Street - just blocks from where Mayor Meeker has pushed multi-million dollar public investments along Fayetteville Street.

Raleigh saw a 48% increase in murders in 2008. One might think that would be worthy of discussion among the Mayor's overview of the "State of Raleigh."

Raleigh's violent crime went against national trends last year and saw a substantial upswing.

So the next time you personally experience theft of your personal property or are the unfortunate victim of violent crime, remember what Mayor "benign neglect" Meeker had to say about it........

NOTHING.

RALEIGH SAYS DO AS WE SAY, NOT AS BEV PERDUE DOES

The photos above come just a few mere feet from one of the doors of the State Capitol in downtown Raleigh.

What raised my eyebrows concerning a fairly insignificant sign and uneven pavement on walkways around the Capitol was a story on WRAL News.

Apparently the Pfeiffer family is out $2600 to fix repairs on the sidewalk fronting their home. Raleigh officials told them the sidewalk must be repaired. The property owners incur the cost of repairs.

City code language states that:

Sec. 12-1037.1.

REPAIR OF SIDEWALKS AND DRIVEWAYS BY PROPERTY OWNERS.

It shall be the duty of every property owner in the City to maintain in good repair and safe condition, the sidewalk and driveway abutting his property for the safe passage of pedestrians over the same except as otherwise provided in §7-2008.

What struck me as intriguing is that the walkway pictured above shares similiar uneven surfaces. However, it seems that posting a warning sign will suffice.

The Pfeiffer family is now out apparently $2600. It would have been much cheaper for them if they could have posted a sign.

Carl Dawson with Raleigh Public Works says they investigate sidewalk complaints and give property owners 30 days to fix the problem. If you want to email him about the Capitol's sidewalks, he can be reached at carl.dawson@ci.raleigh.nc.us.

Let's see if he gives Governor Perdue just 30 days to fix the problem.

DOWNTOWN RESTAURANTS NOT CASHING IN ON MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR PUBLIC INVESTMENT DOWNTOWN?

Sciolino said souring food costs and a lack of promised convention center traffic took a toll on his restaurant. “It’s become an insurmountable equation,” Sciolino said.

Comments made by Joe Sciolino of Joe's Restaurant at the corner of Dawson and Martin in downtown Raleigh in a WRAL News interview.

LATEST INCIDENT IN MEEKER'S "UNLIVABLE STREETS"

Here's your weekly murder in Mayor Meeker's "Livable Streets/Raleigh Renaissance."

Murder in 300 block of Camden Street in downtown Raleigh.

Not exactly a "mint" of an area.

What would $1 million do to revitalize this area with increased police protection and strategic social services? Instead it was used to revitalize a building into a plush restaurant.

IF THIS HAPPENED ON FAYETTEVILLE STREET WITH THE CLOCKWORK FASHION OCCURING AT THE ENLOE HIGH SCHOOL AREA ...

What would Charles "Livable Streets" Meeker do?

Yet another violent crime has been committed at/in the Enloe High School area.

Of course this area around Tarboro Road, Raleigh Boulevard, Glascock Street, etc. doesn't fall within Mayor Meeker or Mitch Silver's vision for livable streets.

They've dumped millions onto Fayetteville Street and in the process completely neglected areas of Raleigh desperately in need of true social services and more importantly police protection.

Police moral is low. The Raleigh Police Department is understaffed. Ask some of Raleigh's finest off the record and they'll tell you how disappointed they are in Meeker and City Manager Russell Allen.

Maybe you can tell folks at the MLK celebration tomorrow how much you've neglected their community in favor of pouring millions into upper crust "white-collar" restaurants on Fayetteville Steet.

Maybe an apology is more in order....

Or maybe you can just blame President Bush's "human rights" record for the problem as you did recently. After all you're just a Mayor and this is your city.

Anne McLaurin - could you please talk to your husband and ask him to fix the problem? He is the Mayor and you are on the school board.

THE 2030 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN - RALEIGH'S NC BUDGET DOCUMENT

Anyone involved with politics of any persuasion in North Carolina knows how both sides utilize the NC budget as a political weapon.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle anxiously await the week before elections to know what type of mail attacking them will arrive in voter mailboxes.

Likewise, Raleigh's Comprehensive Plan has 460 pages of goodies.

Maybe Meeker, Koopman, Stephenson, Baldwin and McFarlane would like to explain this one to irate Raleigh parents.

RALEIGH PUBLIC ART - THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

Cue the music.

In the immortal words of James Brown ......

Please, Please, Please

Raleigh appears bent on moving forward with yet another taxpayer funded boondoggle to spend millions on public art.

In today's N&O, Raleigh City Clerk Gail Smith is quoted as saying:

"Yes, we like the concept, and yes, we want to move forward ...."

What a tasty election morsel. Maybe folks like Rodger "I phone in my votes" Koopman, Mary Ann Baldwin, Russell Stephenson or Nancy McFarlane in potential swing districts can tell their constituents how they raised their property taxes and water and sewer fees to put more Light + Time landmarks all over Raleigh.

Or better yet, Mayor Charles "unlivable streets" Meeker can explain to people on the brink of losing their homes how he needed to raise property taxes to pay for this.

And just think, each time a new Raleigh capital project goes up, the issue magically arises from the grave.

So,

Please, Please, Please .....

Vote for this.

Opposition candidates are salivating.

WHEN RALEIGH GETS A NEW MAYOR THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF TARBORO ROAD AND BRAGG STREET RESIDENTS SHOULD START IMPROVING

"A mention of human rights led Mayor Charles Meeker to say America's human rights record should start improving now that Obama is replacing Bush."

(N&O 12/6/08)

Maybe when somebody replaces Meeker the human rights and public safety of residents around Tarboro Road and Bragg Street will start improving.

Pot meet kettle Mr. Meeker.

RALEIGH ARTS COMMISSION WANTS TO SPEND AT LEAST $1.13 MILLION FOR PUBLIC ART AT NEW CLARENCE LIGHTNER PUBLIC SAFETY CENTER ..... FOR STARTERS

The economy's in the tank. Raleigh has just significantly raised taxes and fees on Raleigh residents with Mayor Meeker seeking further increases, crime is soaring and basic police protection services remain underfunded.

So what do you do?

Well of course, blow more money on sprucing up downtown Raleigh.

Raleigh's Arts Commission has proposed that "half of one percent of expenditures of capital improvement municipal projects (involving public buildings, parks and streetscapes) to the creation and development of public art.

The additional millions required to meet this proposal is staggering.

Just think how many more Light + Time Towers could "grace" Raleigh under this proposal.

For the new (not voted on) Clarence Lightner Public Safety Center new art would run $1.13 million under this proposal.

Maybe if their lucky, the residents on Bragg Street and Tarboro Road can get the nets changed on their basketball courts.

Raleigh's Budget and Economic Development Committee was scheduled to meet this morning to discuss this proposal. Let's hope this idea was properly flushed.

Of course I would not be surprised if they don't find a way to blame the homebuilders for lacking the funds to put more beautiful art like Light + Time around Raleigh.

WHITE MALES NEED NOT APPLY

11TH ANNUAL MWBE EXPO SET FOR JAN. 22 AT RALEIGH CONVENTION CENTER

The City of Raleigh, the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) and Wake Technical College are sponsoring the 11th annual expo for Minority- and Women-owned Business Enterprises (MWBEs) on Thursday, Jan. 22 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Raleigh Convention Center.

The free expo is held annually to provide MWBEs with an opportunity to talk one-on-one with purchasing, acquisition and construction representatives from the City of Raleigh and WCPSS. Representatives from Wake Tech also will be on hand. MWBE contractors and businesses will learn about projects planned by the City and WCPSS. They also will get information from Wake Tech representatives on educational opportunities to help their businesses succeed.

To register for the expo or to get more information, contact Heather Brock or Maria Torres at the City of Raleigh Administrative Services Department. Ms. Brock can be reached at 996-4270 and Ms. Torres is available at 996-4271. In the event of inclement weather on Jan. 22, the expo will be rescheduled. Contact the Administrative Services Department at 996-4270 on the day of the expo if weather conditions are adverse.

THINK RALEIGH CITY ELECTIONS DON'T RELATE TO WAKE SCHOOLS? THINK AGAIN.

Wake Community is reviewing Raleigh's proposed comprehensive plan and hope you will do so as well. You can access it at sociallyenginneringRaleigh2030.

The nifty folks who put together Raleigh's comprehensive plan tucked in a treasure trove of gems. They run the gamut of local public policy issues.

It seems both Raleigh's illuminati and the "planning experts" at the Wake County Public School System will force economically diverse schools on Raleigh families in one way or the other.

Here's what Raleigh's proposing (among a whole host of other items).

Raleigh's Comprehensive Plan - Page 238

Policy RC 32
Coordinate with WCPSS to co-locate affordable housing in conjunction with the development of new school sites to encourage economic diversity within new neighborhoods and schools and reduce the need for busing. (2, 3, 4, 6)

"Reduce the need for busing." So Raleigh ascribes that there is a need to continue a process that annually like clockwork evokes outrage in parents throughout Raleigh and Wake County.

So what Raleigh is saying is that if they can't reduce the "need" for busing, then this type of massive unnecessary shifting of large numbers of students across Wake County is okay. Any other type of large scale commuting is wholly unacceptable.

They sure don't soft-peddle the "need" for people to earn a living and commute to work. That clogs up our roads and pours pollutants into the air. Nevermind what an old school bus and thousands of school children being shuffled around Raleigh does. Let's also not speak about the impact this has on children.

Parents who have been showing up at assignment hearings in Raleigh, mark your calendar. You need to be at these meetings also and you need to go online and protest Raleigh's plans to socially engineer our schools. You can comment online now. The meetings take place in January.

RALEIGH: WASTE ON THE MOVE

So the City of Raleigh’s Arts Commission in partnership with CAT launched Art-On-The-Move on September 22, 2007. Photos from the News & Observer at the time featured City Councilman Russ Stephenson smashing a bottle of water on the side of a CAT bus (in the middle of the drought).

So where do Raleigh’s priorities stand as it relates to mass transit? Apparently more-so with decorating buses rather than decorating bus stops with benches and shelters.

According to the Raleigh Arts Commission, public funds are used for this project and the honorariums paid for the project (12 at $1,000 a piece) come from public funds.

Other costs with the project include:

12 sets of bus wrap graphics, digital transfer with protective laminate: $7,168.32
Installation of 12 wraps, onsite at CAT: $4,560.00
Honorariums: $12,000
Total: $23,728.32

After making an inquiry with the City of Raleigh on bus stops, I received this timely and thorough response from Transit Administrator David Eatman:

The City of Raleigh has 1450 bus stops that are served daily by Capital Area Transit (CAT) buses. Of the 1450 stops 36 are currently equipped with shelters and 259 have benches available.

CAT currently has just over 100 stops that are without passenger amenities that meet the Raleigh Transit Authority policy for the placement of benches and shelters. The policy states that bus stops must have 25 boardings per day to qualify for a shelter and 10 boardings per day to qualify for a bench, this policy may be waived at locations used by seniors or persons with disabilities. With the obvious need for quality facilities that provide a safe and comfortable place for transit patrons, the Transit Program has embarked on an aggressive campaign to install these facilities as quickly as possible. This will result in the installation of approximately 40 new shelters and 75 new benches, some of which have already been completed.

In support of this effort, the transit program has submitted 20 engineered site plans to NCDOT in order to receive easements for the placement of our first round of shelters in Southeast and Southwest Raleigh. The majority of the bus stops meeting the passenger amenity standard lie within NCDOT right of way. Our next effort will concentrate on heavily utilized stops in North Raleigh, including Wake Forest Road and Capital Boulevard.

I could go on and on about the fact that apparently the bus service is so low that the stops don’t meet the low standards of 25 boardings per day for a shelter or 10 boardings for a bench.

Still what about the others that meet the guidelines that have been neglected for so long? The passion for benches sure doesn’t seem to match the fevered intensity to spend $14.8 million for City Plaza – now does it?

Now Mayor Meeker is seeking a regressive sales tax increase and increased vehicle registration fees for you guessed it – more buses.

Is this really how we need to spend transit oriented funds? For artwork on grungy buses? Is that part of that great concept that makes Raleigh a “world-class city?”

Not as much money as this Raleigh gem, but it sure does give it a run for the money.

Final note – the picture is from Morgan Street right near the “Hope in Government HQ.” Guess folks weren’t taking the bus down there to volunteer huh?

I'LL SEE YOUR GARGABE DISPOSAL AND RAISE YOU ONE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

If you liked Raleigh's flawed social engineering garbage disposal policy, then you're gonna love the updated comprehensive plan.

These people screwed up a policy as simple as garbage disposals so badly and they're planning Raleigh for 2030?

Heaven knows what the plan will look like.

One thing is for sure. It'll be used as a political weapon by slow-growth advocates for years to come.

ANOTHER MURDER IN THE UNWASHED AREA OF DOWNTOWN RALEIGH

Shots fired and police find a dead man behind the Valero Mart on New Bern Avenue.

No need to worry. It's well away from the the special landmarks and hundreds of millions of dollars in public investment in downtown Raleigh.

What makes Raleigh great? A walk with a river or a walk with safety?

Kudos to folks like Octavia Rainey who have been working tirelessly over the years to push our elected officials to do right by the less privileged areas of downtown Raleigh.

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