Raleigh

Congratulations are due to Mayor Meeker and his political brain-trust-strategist Perry Woods. The Mayor or, more precisely, his allies Nancy McFarlane and Rodger Koopman won big on Election Day. Mayor Meeker was on the right side of a powerful issue: developer John Kane’s proposal that the City give North Hills a $75 million tax subsidy.…

The Wake County real estate industry got handed its head in Tuesday’s elections. The executioners were Mayor Charles Meeker, his political strategist Perry Woods and their allies. The real estate folks may be brilliant business people. But they’re dumb politicians. If they got organized – and used their money wisely – they would have had…

An anti-developer fire was smoldering in the Wake County political underbrush this year. Then North Hills developer John Kane threw on gasoline and lit a match. The N&O’s analysis this morning is right: slow-growth candidates won or led in Raleigh and Cary. But the real flashpoint was Kane’s request for a $75 million subsidy for…

About a week ago the News and Observer asked City Councilwoman Jessie Taliaferro what she thought of developer John Kane’s proposal the City Council to give him a $75 million tax-subsidy for North Hills Mall – Mrs. Taliaferro said she hadn’t supported it, didn’t support it and had voted against a similar subsidy of a…

The highly respected consulting firm McKinsey & Co. – and the much-maligned North Carolina Department of Transportation – are both living in a dream world. They are under the delusion they can spend $3.6 million of the people’s money on an assessment of the department, then keep it secret. Not only keep the report secret,…

As the British army surrendered at Yorktown its band played a little ditty called “The World Turned Upside Down.” I felt a little like that when I read the News and Observer interview with the City Council candidates in District A. There are two candidates. Incumbent Tommy Craven – a conservative Republican. And Nancy McFarlane…

Figure this: On any given day you can run into traffic snarls on Glenwood Avenue, Capital Boulevard or Wade Avenue. Real snarls. Real traffic problems. But, instead of solving those real traffic problems Meeker, Stephenson, Crowder and Company – the three Amigos on the City Council – are getting ready to spend $6 million on…

Democrats have become so dominant in Raleigh elections City Council races have turned into a series of inner-party squabbles. Take the at-large race. Incumbent Russell Stephenson and Mary Ann Baldwin are slugging it out to prove which of the two Democrats is really anti-developer. The definition of developer in the District B race has taken…

Raleigh City Council candidate Mary-Ann Baldwin is the victim of a high-tech version of old-time gutter politics. Supporters of an opponent, Russ Stephenson, set up a fake blog purporting to be by Baldwin. To give you a taste of the tone, one of the fake postings was signed “Mary Fucking Baldwin.” Nice. There’s nothing new…