Raleigh

I consider myself an expert on strengthening executive offices, though some cynics might call it power-grabbing. I learned from the master: working with Governor Hunt when he passed succession in 1977 (before that, Governors could serve only one term) and veto in 1996. So maybe Raleigh needs a stronger mayor. But Charles Meeker’s campaign for…

A week ago the Mayor was saying he was going to run for reelection because he could do more as Mayor than as a United States Senator. Now (see Gary’s post below) he says the Mayor doesn’t have enough power. This proves one thing: Mayor Meeker’s lost control of the City Council. His solution is…

We hear that Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker will propose changing city government to give mayors more authority. He wants Raleigh to abandon its long-time “strong city manager” government and replace it with a “strong mayor” system. Sounds great. Many Meeker supporters will like it. But beware the Law of Unintended Consequences. We might get Strong…

In the past the Mayor has pretty much had his own way on the City Council. It voted to fund his hotels, spend more on his convention center and to let him use tax-money to buy Dix Hill. But recently the Council voted down his push for English-style roundabouts on Hillsborough Street, and, now, on…

The City Council has sent a wish-list of programs it wants the federal government to fund to Raleigh’s Congressional delegation. (News and Observer; 1-18-07). Let’s classify the six projects the newspaper reported three ways: Necessary Projects, Nice Projects (but not immediately necessary) and Luxuries. Necessary Projects $5.6 Million – in “homeland security grants to upgrade…

Mayor Meeker’s plan to put a series of charming English-type traffic circles on Hillsborough Street – just sank like the Titanic. The Mayor, for several years, has been pushing to transform Hillsborough Street by widening the sidewalks, putting a seven foot median down the center of the street, and reducing the traffic from four to…

Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker hasn’t started the new year with a bang. First there were stories about mounting costs at the Civic Center. Then his partisans got into an ill-advised overreaction to a newspaper column. And now he can’t get the Council to approve his Hillsborough Street roundabout plan. For better or worse, the Mayor…

Here are two stories from the newspaper about how government works – or doesn’t work. Trees It took three years for Raleigh to approve Mayor Meeker’s tree ordinance. Two more years have passed since then, and, now, the city is getting ready to take another look at the thirty-three section ordinance. So, with the new…

When Mayor Meeker announced he was running for reelection he told the press he considered running for Senate but decided against it. “In a fast growing city like Raleigh,” he said, “there’s more for a mayor to do than a junior member of Congress.” News and Observer columnist, Dennis Rogers, had the last word. “Of…

While Judge Hudson was making common sense, Mayor Meeker was headed in the opposite direction. The Mayor told the News and Observer (1-3-07) he has “considered” running for the United States Senate against Elizabeth Dole, but decided there is more a mayor in a bustling city like Raleigh can do than a Senator. So he’s…