April, May, and June, Raleigh City Council meetings summary
Hey there! It’s been a minute. I’m back with updates from our second quarter, April, May, and June City Council meetings.
We passed a budget with no tax increase. There’s a small increase in service fees for water, trash, etc. totaling about $4 per month for the average household. Our fiscal year begins July 1 and ends June 30. This is the largest budget in city history, amounting to $1.78 billion. The budget provides 11% raises for public safety employees (police, fire, etc.); we know public safety has been a top priority and increasing the wages for these first responders was an important step. Most other employees are receiving 9% raises. The budget also allocates more than $22 million for affordable housing, focusing on public-private partnerships, gap financing, rehabilitation assistance for existing homeowners, and down payment assistance for new homeowners.
We made changes to our seasonal leaf collection program. This was a tough one; for decades, the city has provided a seasonal service, where trucks move throughout the city, based upon zones, and suck up leaves that folks have moved to the curb. For years, the service has been problematic; leaves are blocking sidewalks and travel lanes and clogging storm water drains; nearly 50 transportation staff members were temporarily shifted to perform this service, diverting their time and efforts away from maintaining our roadways and other transportation infrastructure. The city has also grown considerably, and the current service standards were falling behind, resulting in increased complaints. To bring the service standards up, we were going to have to invest more than $10 million in new equipment and staff. Ultimately, this money could be used for affordable housing, transit, and other more critical needs. We decided to phase out the seasonal leaf collection program by 2027. Instead, we are increasing the yard waste collection service from biweekly to weekly so folks can put their leaves in the regular yard waste bins as they begin to fall (folks may also decide to keep some leaves on the ground; we learned that’s actually very good for the soil and tree roots- something to consider!). We also directed staff to create a needs-based program to collect leaves for folks who don’t have the ability to do it themselves or the means to hire someone to assist.
We are making progress on re-developing the former DMV site on New Bern Avenue. Last term, we purchased the DMV site from the State, which is a large site, about 6 acres, right on the upcoming BRT route on New Bern (bus rapid transit - “buses running like trains”). We awarded a contract to a company to demolish the existing buildings on the site, to get it ready for re-development; demolition will begin this summer. We also received an update on re-development plans. A working group of community members has been meeting for 13 months to provide recommendations for the site. Their top priorities are a grocery store or some food/market, retail, affordable housing, and spaces for recreation. The city is now going to initiate a market study to help shape an RFP (request for proposals). The RFP will go out for bids in the fall, and we will select a development partner in Spring 2026. The goal is to have the site re-developed in a reasonable amount of time (read: quickly, so it doesn’t sit vacant for too long!).
We adopted the new, 5-year strategic plan. The strategic plan “translates vision into action” and is an actionable strategy for how to achieve the city’s goals. It’s adopted and revised every 5 years. I worked on the last strategic plan shortly after I was first elected to the City Council, and now I get to do it again (time flies). This plan has 7 key focus areas: Transportation and Transit, Community Safety, Economic Development and Innovation, Environmental Resilience, Organizational Excellence, Housing, Quality of Life. Each key focus area has specific initiatives. For example, community safety has initiatives like implementing safer street designs and establishing our alternative response models (social workers for certain calls instead of police). Learn more on the city’s website.
We have two regular City Council meetings in July (both on July 1, at 1 pm and 7 pm) and then we are on “summer break” until the middle of August.
Also in August, I have another fundraiser for my Wake County Commission campaign on Thursday, August 21. It’s hosted by Former Commissioner Sig Hutchinson, Former Council Member David Knight, and bunch of great community leaders and friends like David Meeker, Mack Paul (former Chair of the Wake County Democratic Party), and Kate Charland. I hope you can join us!
