Raleigh

Last week something unusual happened on the City Council. Mayor Meeker recused himself from a vote. Why unusual? Well, for years, the Mayor’s been voting on city agreements with the downtown developer his son works with. So, what changed? The Mayor says the problem is his law firm is representing ‘a Fayetteville Street building owner…

Mayor Meeker’s passion for spending money downtown knows no bounds. It tests the borders of the infinite. First, he gets the city council to increase spending on his pink elephant Convention Center to $220 million. No sooner is that done than he gets the Council to spend three or four million on his English-style Roundabouts…

It’s all a vast right-wing conspiracy. And it’s about to wreck the Wake County schools. The plotters started by opposing a school-construction bond issue in 1999. They beat it. Then they targeted the school board elections, but lost. So they targeted election of the county commissioners, who control the school money. They won there. The…

Thomas Crowder has perpetrated the ‘Great Pawnshop’ hoax and he’s gaining steam. Two weeks ago, Crowder, Mayor Meeker’s bosom-ally, announced a legion of pawnshops is moving into Raleigh neighborhoods. The threat doesn’t exist. A city detective testified to Crowder’s committee that he couldn’t even recall a pawnshop opening in a neighborhood in the last five…

It was just one line in a News and Observer article. But, as far as I can tell, it’s first time it’s been reported Mayor Meeker’s son, David, works for downtown developer. (News and Observer; 4-9-07). Meeker’s son’s employer, Empire Properties, is “one of the largest landlords in downtown Raleigh.” (News and Observer; 7-18-04). It…

I once thought deep in his heart Charles Meeker might be a Francophile, who secretly wanted to turn Fayetteville Street into the Champs-Elysées. But, I’ve decided the Mayor doesn’t want to turn downtown Raleigh into Paris at all. He wants to turn it into Charlotte. For years, while people have moved out of downtowns (for…

Mayor Meeker’s Sancho Panza, Councilman Thomas Crowder, sees a new threat developing to Raleigh neighborhoods: Pawnshops. Crowder announced last week that he sees a trend. Pawnshops are moving into residential neighborhoods (News and Observer; 3-31-07). That seemed to puzzle Raleigh police detective Rich Bargfrede, who was testifying before Crowder’s committee. Barfrede – who is apparently…

Obsessions can be two-edged swords, like Ahab’s pursuit of the white whale. Mayor Meeker’s obsession is unusual. He’s fixated on downtown. His current goal is to transform Hillsborough Street into an enclave of wide-sidewalks, English-style round-abouts and strolling pedestrians. But he has one problem. The ‘head shops’ and tattoo parlors along Hillsborough Street are not…