No Parking
May 13, 2013 - by
When the Raleigh City Council abruptly and mysteriously fired City Manager Russell Allen, you knew there had to be some major urban policy matter involved. Yep: parking places.
Now, politicians will put up with a lot. You can attack them, smear them, call them names, criticize their ideas and vote against them. That’s all part of the game. But you’ve got a war on your hands if you mess with two things: their offices and their parking places.
According to the N&O story by Colin Campbell, frustrations had built up for months among some “councilors,” as they call themselves. (When I was a cub reporter back in the dark ages, we called them “councilmen” and “councilwomen.” I guess “councilors” sounds somewhat British, lofty even.)
The “councilors,” like all politicians, thought they could do the professionals’ jobs best – and the manager’s job best of all.
The final straw apparently came when Allen didn’t respond quickly and forcefully enough to Councilor Randall Stagner’s complaint about people parking in the Councilors’ Reserved Parking Spaces.
Clearly, this was an outrage. Allen should have dropped everything. He should have personally addressed the matter. Failing to do so, he was invited to find a parking place in another city.
We trust that the new manager will get the message. How can Raleigh hope to be a truly world-class city if citizens feel free to park in City Councilors’ parking spaces?
Posted in Uncategorized
No Parking
May 13, 2013/
When the Raleigh City Council abruptly and mysteriously fired City Manager Russell Allen, you knew there had to be some major urban policy matter involved. Yep: parking places.
Now, politicians will put up with a lot. You can attack them, smear them, call them names, criticize their ideas and vote against them. That’s all part of the game. But you’ve got a war on your hands if you mess with two things: their offices and their parking places.
According to the N&O story by Colin Campbell, frustrations had built up for months among some “councilors,” as they call themselves. (When I was a cub reporter back in the dark ages, we called them “councilmen” and “councilwomen.” I guess “councilors” sounds somewhat British, lofty even.)
The “councilors,” like all politicians, thought they could do the professionals’ jobs best – and the manager’s job best of all.
The final straw apparently came when Allen didn’t respond quickly and forcefully enough to Councilor Randall Stagner’s complaint about people parking in the Councilors’ Reserved Parking Spaces.
Clearly, this was an outrage. Allen should have dropped everything. He should have personally addressed the matter. Failing to do so, he was invited to find a parking place in another city.
We trust that the new manager will get the message. How can Raleigh hope to be a truly world-class city if citizens feel free to park in City Councilors’ parking spaces?
Posted in Uncategorized