Raleigh
A Mayor for Governor?
Maybe it’ll be Charles Meeker. Or Nancy McFarlane. Or one of their successors. Whoever, a mayor of Raleigh will be Governor. And soon. The Raleigh media market is huge, reaching maybe as much as 40 percent of the Democratic primary vote and close to a third of the general election vote. A mayor who…
Read MoreSlow Down!
A TAPster reports seeing a State Capitol Police car equipped with a radar gun – miles away from any state government building. Inquiring minds want to know: Why does the State Capitol Police need a radar gun in one of their cruisers? What possible explanation can there be? Are school children running too fast…
Read MoreSettling It…
John Drescher down at the News and Observer hit the nail on the head last week when he wrote: ‘Steve Beam needs a boss.’ What’s happened to Mr. Beam (the Director of the Raleigh Housing Authority) isn’t unusual. He’s got a government job and a political board with political goals. No one spends his own…
Read MoreBiting Michael Vick
This blog comes from a long-time, active Chamber member. I approve this message: “There’s a political lesson for all of us in the needless maelstrom that has engulfed the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce: You get fleas or worse when you lie down with dogs and dog killers, and you can destroy your credibility in…
Read MoreCaring for the Poor In Style
A couple of weeks ago the News & Observer published a story that got folks stirred up over how the head of the Raleigh Housing Authority was making $280,000 a year and wining and dining his board of directors for $3,000 at a Christmas banquet at Raleigh’s elegant Second Empire Restaurant – all paid for by taxpayers.…
Read MoreA Symbol
The newspaper headline read: Dome, full of cracks. And the newspaper reported: The aging iron dome ‘is slowly crumbling…riddled with hundreds of cracks and rust.’ The dome is the Capitol Dome. But the newspaper could just as easily have been writing about Congress itself.
Read MoreOther People’s Money
It wasn’t exactly subtle the other morning when the newspaper ran two stories side by side: One about a single mother who works all day and then works three additional jobs nights and weekends to make ends meet – and a second story about the Director of the Raleigh Housing Authority. It turns out every year…
Read MoreJob Killers?
Governor McCrory and legislative Republicans have a theory: Cut taxes and regulations, and jobs will flow in. What if they’re wrong – not only on the economics, but also on the politics? What if their theory leads to North Carolina becoming a more Democratic state? The question arises from two recent conversations: one…
Read MoreGrudges
Rob Christensen wrote a tribute to Jack Hawke and in it mentioned hardball politics and Jack’s run-in with the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice – there’s more to the story: During Senator Helms’ 1990 campaign, when Jack was Republican Chairman, I asked him for a favor – to work with…
Read MoreJamie Kirk Hahn Foundation
A point of personal privilege. We lost a bright light when we lost Jamie Kirk Hahn six months ago. Now, the Jamie Kirk Hahn Foundation has been established to honor her life and continue the work she cared about. Hundreds of friends, colleagues, family members and even people who barely knew Jamie have made…
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