Politics

Politics

There are 1,050 posts filed in Politics (this is page 43 of 105).

ReadWrite – Why Are Dead People Liking Stuff On Facebook?


I had thought that there would be no more news on the Mitt Romney Facebook hacking phenomena. Turns out I was wrong. ReadWrite’s Bernard Meisler shows ths fake likes are still happening on Facebook:

Last month, while wasting a few moments on Facebook, my pal Brendan O’Malley was surprised to see that his old friend Alex Gomez had “liked” Discover. This was surprising not only because Alex hated mega-corporations but even more so because Alex had passed away six months earlier.

The Facebook “like” is dated Nov. 1, which is strange since Alex “passed [away] around March 26 or March 27,” O’Malley told me. Worse, O’Malley says the like was “quite offensive” since his friend “hated corporate bullshit.”

via ReadWrite – Why Are Dead People Liking Stuff On Facebook?.

Raleigh to begin planning Dix park

I was quoted in Saturday’s Midtown Raleigh News about the planning process beginning for Dix Park.

“We’re going to see design talent from all across the country competing for this opportunity,” said Mark Turner, chairman of the city’s parks and greenways board. “You’ve got this land next to a large city. It’s going to attract attention.”

Turner said he would not rule out any possibilities, including an extension of Pullen Park or a spur that would allow the Pullen Park miniature train ride to cross Western Boulevard and enter the Dix campus.

“It’s the public’s park, and the public should get to decide,” Turner said.

While I think the idea of connecting Pullen and Dix is intriguing, logistically it would be difficult to do. I guess at the time I was interviewed I had gotten caught up in the euphoria!

via Raleigh to begin planning Dix park – Raleigh – MidtownRaleighNews.com.

Hanging up my RCAC badge

Now I’m the Former RCAC Chair


As I said I would do last month, tonight I officially hung up my RCAC Chairperson badge. Hard to believe a year has gone by. I will miss the camaraderie of my fellow citizen leaders and all that we accomplished. It’s been a true honor to be a part of Raleigh’s Citizens Advisory Councils for the past four years. While this evening I’ve stepped down, I’ll never be too far away.

State, Raleigh agree on Dix Park lease

N.C. Council of State discusses Dix Park lease


What a day it’s been! I had some time this morning to attend this morning’s Council of State session where the lease of the Dix property was on the agenda. It was a hot, crowded room – I was crammed into the very last seat in the corner – but it was so worth it to be there for that historic moment when the Council voted 7-2 with one abstention to approve the lease.

I went back to work after this but tuned into today’s Council session to hear how it would deal with the lease. After about a 30 minute closed session, the council emerged to vote 7-1 to accept the lease. Councilor John Odom was the lone no vote, saying later that he wasn’t against the park but hasn’t had time to review the lease.

I had my monthly Parks board chair/vice-chair meeting today and met with Parks Director Diane Sauer. Needless to say, she was beaming from ear to ear! So were other Parks staff members. It’s been a long journey to get to this point and to have it suddenly a reality is truly surreal.
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Dix Park press conference

Being Raleigh’s Parks board chair, I have a great interest in making Dix Campus into a park. This morning I learned of an afternoon news conference by Dix Visionaries and wrote my friend Bill Padgett to get the details so I could attend.

The presser was on the Dix campus and I arrived in a suit. A gaggle of press were there setting up and I began to chat with the assembled dignitaries. There were big names there: Jim Goodmon, Anne Goodnight, Greg Poole, Bill Padgett, Jay Spain, Susan Bowers. I was there just a supporter but these folks had done a lot of work to get where we are today.
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Fixing the “Raleigh Elites” problem

The blowhard representing the local branch of Assholes For Prosperity recently had this to say about Gov. Perdue’s plans for Dix Park:

“This is a billion-dollar giveaway of taxpayer resources to Raleigh elites for another state taxpayer funded cultural amenity…”

The rest of the statement doesn’t matter. What does matter is the “Raleigh elites” part. This is a theme that the political right in this state has played to great success. Rural voters feel too often taken for granted. The “elites” in our cities become easy targets.

This is especially visible in Wake County. Wake County should move forward with a light rail system, or at least a referendum on it, for crying out loud, because it will be in big trouble soon without it. Instead, rural Wake County voters don’t want to pay for something they won’t use, even though a light rail system only works in higher-density areas: precisely what “rural” is not. Charlotte has light rail because Charlotte and Mecklenburg County are so intertwined it’s easier to convince Mecklenburg voters that what’s good for Charlotte is good for Mecklenburg County, whereas Wake has a greater number of municipal stakeholders to convince.
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SeeClickFix user suggests beautifying greenway sewer pipes

I experienced the beauty of SeeClickFix today when an anonymous user suggested the city spiff up the ugly concrete sewer pipe towers along our city’s greenways:

The concrete sewage vents could use some beautifying. Maybe you could hire a graffiti artist to paint nature scenes?

Another citizen chimed in:

Juanita Martinez (Guest)

I agree! That’s a wonderful idea. These things are ugly, I know they are necessary, but painting some nature scenes or something unique to Raleigh on them would make them interesting. I bet you could even get folks to do it for free. Maybe you could have a contest too and offer a simple prize.

Then the city responded:

City of Raleigh

I’d recommend directing your suggestion to the Raleigh Arts Commission (http://www.raleighnc.gov/arts/content/BoardsCommissions/Articles/ArtsCommission.html). This citizen group can be helpful in developing this idea into a possible project. As with most things there is more than meets the eye in any project involving public property, but the Arts Commission is made up of citizens whose task it is to involve the arts in everything we do. They can be very helpful!

SeeClickFix can often be used to point out what’s wrong with the city. This ticket shows how the service can also act as a big suggestion box, allowing ordinary citizens a way to help shape our city. More of this, please!

What’s gotten into Lundsford Lane?

I occasionally stop by the Below The Beltline website because once in blue moon it has an update. Last week Lundsford Lane was in a grouchy mood when he took aim at the Planning Commission’s requesting a bike rack for a proposed gas station at the corner of Sunnybrook Drive and Rock Quarry Road.

Says Lundsford:

Mamta Patel, aka Earth Petroleum VI Inc., Earth Mama, who goes by Ricky, is building a gas station at the corner of Rock Quarry Road and Sunnybrook Drive. Six pump islands under one giant canopy, no waiting, no getting wet when the weather is nasty.

So Little Ricky turns in the site plan to the Planning Commission, which must give its blessing to build. Only one problem, say the Commissioners – no bike racks. So Ricky agrees to add one rack to accommodate two bikes. After all, it’s Earth Petroleum, you can’t get greener than that. Never mind that there is no bike path near there, no sidewalk connection, and it takes a death wish to ride a bike through that intersection.

We spent millions to rebuild Hillsborough Street to improve traffic flow and instead get dangerous accident-prone roundabouts and all-day gridlock. We’re building a $60 million train station with no near-term prospects for new trains. And now we’re requiring gas stations that are not safely accessible by bicycle or foot to have bike racks. Apparently in Raleigh, even bikes need gas.

“Only in America,” said Mother Love Patel.

Being a persnickety kind of guy I decided to see for myself, so I pulled up the site in question using Google Maps:
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Providence Day comes to Raleigh

Students from Providence Day learn about Raleigh’s CACs


As I had mentioned they would, a group of 150 9th graders from Charlotte’s Providence Day came to Raleigh today to learn about its Citizens Advisory Councils and to learn more about civic participation. As I expected, I loved every minute of it. I even called Kelly at lunch and gushed at how I was in my element.

I didn’t have a real agenda in front of me until this morning. That’s when I found out I would be leading the first hour of the discussion about what CACs are and what they do. I was wondering how I would fill up this hour but it turned out to be easier than I anticipated. We started quite a bit late and when asked to say a few words about how they became involved with CACs, some of the chairs on the panel talked at length about the whole CAC experience.
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