Politics

Politics

There are 1,056 posts filed in Politics (this is page 43 of 106).

Highlights of 2012: Parks board fun

The year 2012 was the start of my second year as chair of Raleigh’s Parks, Recreation, and Greenway Advisory Board (PRGAB). It’s been a busy year, too, I might add.

I continued to speak on behalf of the board at a number of park dedications and groundbreakings, among them the House Creek Greenway Dedication, Carolina Pines Community Center, Jaycees Community Center Dedication, Five Points Center for Active Adults Dedication, Buffalo Road Aquatic Center Dedication, Anne Gordon Center for Active Adults Dedication, Historic Chavis Carousel Groundbreaking, Method Road Playground Dedication, the “Function at the Junction” where Wake Forest’s greenway meets Raleigh’s, and probably a few other events I’m forgetting. It seems that these have become so routine that I don’t even blog about every one!
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Call Time For Congress Shows How Fundraising Dominates Bleak Work Life

I first got an inkling of just how big of a problem fundraising is for Congressional members when I went to the Veterans Campaign seminar a few years ago. A large portion of the training emphasized the need to raise funds. The underlying message was that one would never be a good politician unless one were also a good fundraiser. It was an eye-opening introduction to the real world of a Congressional representative.

The question is what to do about it? Implement four-year terms for House members? Public financing? How does America wrestle its representation back from those who have bought and paid for it?

The amount of time that members of Congress in both parties spend fundraising is widely known to take up an obscene portion of a typical day — whether it’s "call time" spent on the phone with potential donors, or in person at fundraisers in Washington or back home. Seeing it spelled out in black and white, however, can be a jarring experience for a new member, as related by some who attended the November orientation.

via Call Time For Congress Shows How Fundraising Dominates Bleak Work Life.

Governor, Mayor sign Dix Park lease

Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane, Governor Perdue, and Secretary of State Elaine Marshall sign the lease creating Dix Park

I got to watch today as Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane, Governor Perdue, and Secretary of State Elaine Marshall signed the least that created Dix Park this afternoon. It was a fantastic occasion. I look forward to helping shape this wonderful new park.

Here’s Laura Leslie of WRAL’s story on the signing:

In one of her final acts in office, outgoing Gov. Beverly Perdue formally signed an agreement Friday to lease the Dorothea Dix Hospital campus to the City of Raleigh, which plans to turn it into a “destination park.”

The Raleigh City Council and the Council of State, a panel of 10 statewide elected officials, approved the agreement earlier this month, and Friday afternoon’s signing finalized the deal on the 325-acre site that is just south of downtown.

Avoid entanglements

I don’t know if Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is a Buddhist or not but I swear Facebook teaches me more about Buddhism every day.

You see, being politically-minded I enjoyed debating some of my Facebook friends on election issues. It was good fun and I did so with zeal at the time. Now that elections are behind us, I have moved on.

Facebook, on the other hand, apparently has not moved on. I have Facebook friends with whom I’ve traded political comments. for instance, that now appear in my Facebook feed all the time, even though the only thing we’ve seemed to discuss has been our opposing political views. Granted, they’re still my friends and I don’t begrudge anyone for thinking differently from me, but I find it amusing that somewhere in Facebook’s algorithms we’ve become entangled.
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ReadWrite – Have You Or Someone You Know Ever Fake-Liked Something On Facebook?

ReadWrite says its fake Facebook Likes story really struck a nerve. The magazine is asking others for their stories:

Meanwhile we’re looking for more examples of fake likes. Our writer, Bernard Meisler, put his story together by asking people he knew on Facebook to look out for fake likes and send him examples. Now we’d like to find even more.

Apparently this is happening a lot, and nobody seems to know why.

Facebook told us it must be people accidentally pressing a “like” button on their mobile app. But can there really be that many people pressing the wrong button, all the time?

If you have a theory, we’re all ears.

via ReadWrite – Have You Or Someone You Know Ever Fake-Liked Something On Facebook?.

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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