Ralph Campbell Jr., the first black person elected to a statewide Council of State office, died Tuesday of lung cancer at age 64. Before he was elected state auditor, Campbell served on the Raleigh City Council from 1985 to 1992.

Mayor Charles Meeker, who served with Campbell on the council, said this Wednesday about Campbell's death:

“Ralph Campbell, Jr., was a great friend to the City of Raleigh and served as our ambassador to our Sister City Compiegne.Ralph also worked on many public improvements including the renovation of Murphey School for senior housing. Raleigh is honored to have had Ralph be a life-long citizen and statesman. We will miss his contributions and humor greatly.”

Joined by a few cutouts of Sir Walter Raleigh in hockey gear, the old political rivals joined together today to unveil a series of events for NHL All-Star weekend. You can write your own caption...

Mayor Charles Meeker says on Tuesday he will nominate Mary-Ann Baldwin and Nancy McFarlane to each serve as Mayor Pro Tempore - the mayor's number two who leads meetings in his absence and attends events that he can't.

Baldwin and McFarlane both have been on the council since 2007. The plan is for Baldwin to serve as Pro Tempore through April, and McFarlane to take the post from May through Novemeber, when the councilors will be up for re-election.

Baldwin and McFarlane have aligned closely with Meeker on some of his signature issues, namely the stalled construction of the Clarence E. Lightner Public Safety Center.

"Nancy McFarlane and Mary-Ann Baldwin are consensus builders who have worked hard to keep Raleigh moving forward during the past recession period, and both will represent the city well at meetings and ceremonies," said Meeker, Raleigh's five-term mayor. "Both are well-qualified and deserving. I didn't want to choose between the two."

Meeker's nomination must be approved by the council on Tuesday, when he also will swear in Eugene Weeks as former Councilman James West's replacement. Meeker said he will appoint Weeks to take West's place on the Law and Public Safety Committee, and to become the fourth member of the Public Works Committee.

Weeks will be the council's liason to the parks board, which he chaired before being selected to succeed West. West left the council last month after 11 years to fill a vacant seat on the Wake County Board of Commissioners.

Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker, Rolesville Mayor Frank Eagles and Holly Springs Mayor Dick Sears went on the air with Bill LuMaye Tuesday to discuss Meeker's plan to form a committee of mayors and citizens with legal or education experience to scrutinize the Wake school board's assignment plan.

Listen to the interviews here:
http://wptf.com/goout.asp?u=http://billlumaye.blogspot.com

View SEHSR alternatives in a larger map

The Raleigh City Council backed away today from taking a stand on any of the state’s proposed downtown routes for a new fast-train line from Raleigh to Richmond, Va., and it asked state officials to add other possible routes to their study.

The council asked the state Department of Transportation to analyze three alternative train paths – two suggested by residents last week and a third broached Tuesday by council member Thomas Crowder.

Each of the three new ideas involves a long railroad bridge that would carry high-speed passenger trains high over Capital Boulevard. Crowder suggested running the elevated trains north and south, parallel to the busy thoroughfare, as part of an expansive downtown development project.

The alternatives sketched last week by groups of residents would move the trains from the west side of Capital to the east side, on a long curving bridge either just north or just south of Peace Street.

Council member Russell Stephenson said the new options looked better than DOT’s proposals either to run the trains north along the west side of Capital, through a Norfolk Southern rail yard, or through a CSX yard on the east side. ... [MORE]

If you enjoy activities provided by your local parks and recreation department, you might take note of today's activities in Raleigh:

Mayor Charles Meeker is to declare July "Parks and Recreation Month."

The declaration is part of a "nationwide effort to promote healthy lifestyles and bring communities together to volunteer and get involved," ...

Mayor Charles Meeker's remarks this week about the Wake school board being people "who are not from the area, don't share our values" ruffled a lot of feathers.

Forbes.com had a fascinating interactive graphic earlier this based on IRS data that shows the patterns of migration from individual counties in the country. The map, as expected, shows a heavy influx from states like New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.

We've set it here so it's configured to Wake County, but can easily be adjusted. It's worth checking out.

It's no secret that Raleigh natives are becoming harder to find, because of the explosive growth both the city and entire Triangle area has undergone in the past few decades. With the area topping best-place-to-live with regularity, the trend is not going to reverse anytime soon.

The controversy over a proposed public safety center for Raleigh continued this week, with Mayor Charles Meeker revealing how he hopes to get the project support and Wake County Republican Chairman Claude Pope Jr. calling for voters, and not the council, decide if they want the building built.

UPDATE: Read Silver's entire presentation here, and Tuesday's story here.

At a Wake Commissioners committee meeting today, Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker and Planning Director Mitchell Silver argued against a county ordinance change that would allow commercial development in the Falls Lake watershed and several other county watersheds.

Meeker argued his case from a policy standpoint, while Silver said the change is inconsistent with the intent of "nonconforming" land uses and is being proposed in the wrong section of the county code. Silver listed several typical options for nonconforming uses, and redevelopment wasn't one of them. He said the move would open "Pandora's Box" to other arbitrary changes in the future. For background on the ordinance, go here.

The text change would essentially allow commercial development for parcels of land that have been "grandfathered" for such use. Those include a lumberyard and cement plant in the Falls watershed, and several bare parcels in other county watersheds.  Meeker and other city officials warn the move could further pollute already impaired Falls Lake, which the city is trying to clean to avoid millions in future costs. They say the text change would undermine Raleigh's efforts to reduce urbanization in Durham
that's harmful to the water quality, and potentially obstruct cleanup
efforts.

The lake is the source of water for more than 65 percent of Wake County citizens, Meeker said this morning, including all of Raleigh and several other towns. It is polluted primarily because of urbanization in Durham, Granville and Person counties.

Commissioners and county staff took issue with Meeker and Silver's arguments. Commissioner Stan Norwalk challenged Meeker's claim that the text change would send the wrong message to Durham.

"What's to prevent us from sending the message that we're actually tightening the standards?," Norwalk said. "You're worried about sending a message, but why?"

Meeker responded: "That's sending a mixed message. We want to send a clear one."

County Attorney Scott Warren said some of the issues Silver raised "will have to be sorted out." And others took issue with his interpretation of the county code.

Commissioner Paul Coble, former Raleigh mayor, blasted the city afterward for presenting their concerns at the 11th hour. And Board Chairman Tony Gurley said during the meeting that "this is stuff that should have been handled long before it reached our board. If we could get all of this rebuttal back and forth done ahead of time, I would greatly appreciate it."

Commissioner Betty Lou Ward, who chairs the committee and lives in the watershed, said it was an example of why they need a countywide planning operation.

Haven't made up your mind yet about how you feel about the Raleigh's proposed Clarence E. Lightner Public Safety Center? Read on to see the pro and cons of the $205 million city project.