This is the first time I’ve posted about who I plan to vote for. First, a word of caution. Voting for a candidate based solely on a list posted by a political organization/party, magazine/newspaper, social media account, or (like here) a personal blog post is a bad way to be making your voting decisions. I have my own biases, opinions, and direction I’d like the city of Raleigh to go, and it might not align with your own views. Look into each candidate you vote for, otherwise, just skip voting for that office. Remember, you don’t have to vote for every seat/office/bond listed on your ballot.
As for my views I was born and raised in Raleigh, NC and I’ve seen this city go through some drastic changes. Despite my lifelong residency in Raleigh, I only started learning about local government after the 2016 election. I wanted to make an impact on my community, and local government seemed a great place to do that.
At the time those I asked recommended attending my local Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC), unfortunately the CAC I was a part of (Central) left a bad impression on me. A few loud voices dominated every meeting, and rezoning votes were usually based on how these long time members felt about the proposed development, rather than the facts put forward by the developers or city staff.
The CACs served as a good outlet for those with the time to attend in-person meetings, learn about rezoning cases on their own time, and attend City Council meetings to follow up so their exact concerns could be heard and addressed. Meetings regularly had 15-30 people attend monthly, and the Central CAC area was supposed to represent well over 10,000 citizens. My thoughts on CACs could take up several blog posts alone, but needless to say citizen engagement is my primary concern for this race. A City Councilor should be able to listen to both critics and supporters and get meaningful insights to inform their decisions, not dictate them. Our City Council should also strive to push past the old 1970s era CAC citizen engagement structure and push for options that allow all citizens to participate and be heard easily regardless of the time commitment they can spare. This isn’t to say every CAC was poorly run. I know many CAC leaders, who I consider friends, who worked tirelessly to engage citizens. However, I can’t support candidates who believe the best option for citizen engagement is to resurrect the former CAC system and put more funding behind it.
Raleigh Mayor
Mary-Ann Baldwin
Mayor Baldwin is a polarizing figure on City Council to be certain. She has never swayed from her stance that Raleigh should continue to grow. Despite what her critics say, she hasn’t supported every rezoning in Raleigh, and does carefully consider how each decision impacts Raleighites. Mayor Baldwin has over 12 years of experience on City Council. That experience will be vital as many candidates running for the first time have made campaign promises that lead me to believe they’re not aware of what powers City Council actually has. She has faced continued criticism from supporters of the old CAC system who are upset with her and other councilors who abruptly abolished the CAC system February 2020.
Mayor Baldwin lead Raleigh through the Coronavirus pandemic. When other cities across the USA saw their economic engines stall and die, Mayor Baldwin ensured Raleigh continued to grow and prosper. Her hard work has greatly contributed to Raleigh’s success. If you enjoy trips to North Hills mall, strolling through Dix Park, biking on greenways and the newly growing network of bike lanes, look forward to bus rapid transit and commuter rail service, and think a single family home isn’t the only housing option Raleighites should have, I recommend you vote her.
At-Large
Jonathan Melton
Councilor Melton has done a tremendous job during his first term on City Council. I’ve seen so many newcomers to Council struggle to deliver on campaign promises because they’re not aware of all the limits placed on City Council’s powers by the state level government. Councilor Melton dives into the details of whatever problem he’s looking to tackle to ensure the solution has the best chance of making it through all the legal red-tape. He was the primary driver behind brining last-mile transit options like electronic scooter rental back to Raleigh, and also championed the newly implemented social district in downtown. His advocacy for public transit helped move the wake county transit plan forward.
Joshua Bradley
My recommendation of Joshua Bradley may come as a surprise, but I assure you it’s sincere. Josh is one of the few (non-incumbent) folks on the ballot that regularly attends Council meetings to publicly advocate for his views. Josh is focused on delivering affordable housing solutions, and understands addressing the affordable housing crisis is a huge hurdle to overcome. Josh is also focused on delivering better standards of living for Raleigh workers, and understands we need to attract more workers for our public transit systems, first responders, and other city workers to ensure Raleigh is a vibrant safe place to live that everyone can enjoy. I may not see eye-to-eye with Josh on every major Raleigh issue, but he’s impressed me on his ideas to address topics we do agree on. Raleigh would greatly benefit from having Josh on Council to ensure our decisions and policy doesn’t leave those with fewer means behind.
District D
Jennifer Truman
I’ve known Jenn for several years, and she’s a very frequent attendee of City Council meetings. She works full time as a talented architect, which gives her detailed knowledge of Raleigh’s zoning policy. Jenn is also highly engaged with the local Raleigh community. She’s attended numerous City Council and committee meetings over the past several years, worked with the community as a CAC leader and later in the South West Raleigh Community Forum. She’s also worked with me and others as a moderator on the Raleigh District D community Facebook group. Jenn has some great ideas for how to resurrect and improve citizen engagement in Raleigh. She’s also got great insights into ways we can improve housing options to address affordably, and also improve public transit to make getting around our city easier and safer.
Other Districts
These are candidates for districts outside of the district I live in. They all support expanding housing choice, increasing citizen engagement, and improving how Raleighties get around town. I highly recommend you consider giving them your vote if you live in the district they’re running in.
District A: Catherine Lawson
District B: Minu Lee
District C: Corey Branch
District E: David Knight
