A month after firing longtime City Manager Russell Allen, the Raleigh City Council might be having trouble agreeing on a short-term successor to lead City Hall after Allen leaves on June 30.

With the search for a permanent replacement expected to take up to six months, Raleigh leaders must appoint an interim manager this month. In the past week, the council has spent hours in two closed-door meetings to discuss the appointment.

Councilman Randy Stagner said last week that he'd like to see an interim appointed this week, but Tuesday's closed session ended with Mayor Nancy McFarlane announcing "no decision was made," and no more meetings are scheduled until next Tuesday. Stagner says it's important to have a transition period where the interim learns the ropes from Allen.

Last week, the council got a presentation from two UNC School of Government professors who explained the pros and cons of interim manager choices. The council, they said, could hire an interim from outside the city -- a retired city manager, for example. Or they could promote from within city hall.

Should they pick the latter option, a few possibilities come to mind (though no candidates have been named by the council). City Hall's second-in-command is Dan Howe, the assistant city manager. There's also veteran City Attorney Tom McCormick, who applied for the manager post when Allen was hired 12 years ago. He left the room during Tuesday's closed session.

But during the meeting with the government professors, city council members worried that an interim might have trouble returning to their old job after six months in charge. With that concern in mind, they might consider former assistant city manager Julian Prosser, who retired last year after 32 years with the city. He was recently brought back as a part-time sustainability consultant.

All that, of course, is just speculation on my part. We'll know for sure once the council reaches a consensus; they'll have to take an official vote on the hire in open session.

Three weeks after firing longtime city manager Russell Allen, the Raleigh City Council will begin its search for his replacement on Tuesday.

The council will hold a special meeting at 10 a.m. Tuesday for a presentation by the UNC School of Government about how the selection process might work.

With the exception of Councilman John Odom, who served when Allen was appointed in 2001, the process is a new one for current council members.

This month, the council will need to select an interim city manager to take over when Allen leaves June 30. They'll also decide whether to bring in a national search firm to help recruit candidates, Mayor Nancy McFarlane said recently.

McFarlane says the council hasn't yet decided whether finalists' names will be made public, as was the case when the city sought a new police chief earlier this year. In that search, the top candidates came to Raleigh for a public forum before the hire was made.

"I’m very interested in the public’s input," McFarlane said, but "I don’t want to exclude anyone who may be interested in coming but has not told anyone where they (currently work)."

Raleigh City Councilman Russ Stephenson was all alone at the council table Wednesday evening.

Stephenson was chairing a meeting of the council’s comprehensive planning committee, which holds hearings on new developments. More than two hours in, the other two committee members – Councilmen Bonner Gaylord and Randy Stagner – had to leave the meeting.

That meant the meeting no longer had a quorum, but with no votes to be taken, Stephenson kept discussions going on a shopping center planned for Leesville and Strickland roads in Northwest Raleigh.

The reason for the one-man meeting? Planning director Mitchell Silver wanted to hear the presentation on the development – he lives nearby – but he can’t attend a special committee meeting Monday. That’s when all the councilmen will return to decide the fate of the project.

“We’re just trying to get through enough information that Mitchell can ask his questions,” Stephenson explained to confused developers.

A frequently absent member of Raleigh’s Civil Service Commission was reappointed for another term Tuesday.

Cheryl Grissom was up for renewal on the board, which hears appeals of employee grievances such as firings. The board recently came under fire from a union group that points out that at every meeting but one, at least one commission member was absent.

Since the commission’s rules require support from at least four of seven commissioners to overturn a personnel decision, the union says poor attendance puts workers at a disadvantage. The union wants the city to reinstate fired sanitation worker Shirley Venable, who got support from a majority of commissioners at her hearing but still fell two votes short.

Before reappointing Grissom, Councilwoman Mary-Ann Baldwin asked about her attendance record. City clerks described it as “good”; Grissom has missed only one hearing in the past two years, they said.

But minutes from the commission’s meetings show that Grissom missed three out of seven meetings since April 2011. Since 2007, Grissom missed six of 17 sessions, according to the minutes. She and commissioner Wilbert “Tramp” Dunn have been the most frequently absent members of the board, minutes show.

The Raleigh City Council plans to review the set-up of the commission in the coming months.

Union Station is planned as a second transit hub on the west side of downtown Raleigh – but what about that first transit hub, at Moore Square?

The Raleigh City Council approved a contract Tuesday with Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc. to develop a master plan for downtown bus facilities in two phases.

First, the consultants will figure out how big a presence the Capital Area Transit bus service should have as part of a future rail-bus hub around the planned Union Station train depot on West Martin Street. The Union Station neighborhood eventually will serve Amtrak and high-speed intercity rail, regional commuter trains and light rail, Greyhound and local and regional buses.

Once the CAT presence at Union Station is worked out, Parsons Brinckerhoff and city officials will redesign and overhaul the Moore Square Transit Station. Moore Square, seven blocks east of Union Station, is expected to continue as an important local and regional bus hub.

Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane announced Monday that Councilman Thomas Crowder will be absent from upcoming meetings as he battles testicular cancer.

The mayor read a prepared statement from Crowder, who says his prognosis is good and his doctors expect a full recovery. But a rigorous treatment will force him to miss many council meetings, including two this week.

"His commitment to the city and constituents remain the same," McFarlane said, adding that Crowder hopes to be back full-time by July.

Crowder has represented District D (Southwest Raleigh) since 2005. Our best wishes to him for a speedy recovery.

Following the success of Hillsborough Street's recent overhaul, the Raleigh City Council voted April 1 to fund similar streetscape improvements on the Interstate 440 Beltline.

The $936.2 million project, set to begin construction in 2021, will narrow the six-lane freeway to one lane in each direction. The other lanes will be converted into tree-lined sidewalks and bike lanes while leaving room for buses on the shoulder.

"The Beltline has an outdated design that's increasingly at odds with our plans for a walkable, multi-modal urban core," Mayor Nancy McFarlane said.

Councilman Russ Stephenson said he's particularly excited about the new Beltline. "Imagine going to Crabtree Valley Mall, then taking a leisurely stroll across Glenwood Avenue and down the Beltline to eat at North Hills," he said, adding that residents could also enjoy sidewalk dining at the 73 new mixed-use apartment developments fronting I-440.

Those apartment complexes, which each have a mandatory rooftop community garden and backyard cottage, are encouraged under Raleigh's new development code.

The plan also takes aim at the Beltline's unattractive overpasses and exit ramps. Those will be demolished and replaced with five-lane roundabouts. "We think this innovative new design will be quite popular with drivers once they've read our 300-page handbook," transportation planning manager Eric Lamb said.

The ambitious project will likely be funded by a proposed 10 percent sales tax increase, but the council is also considering state-of-the-art tolling gantries, which would automatically deduct $20 from the driver's savings account. "They'll use open source software, putting Raleigh on the cutting edge of highway tolling," tweeted Councilman Bonner Gaylord.

More improvements are planned for the decades and centuries to come. Phase two of the plan calls for a light rail line through the Beltline's median and a Yonkers Road "destination park" on the current site of the Men's Club.

From staff writer Austin Baird:

Raleigh roosters are safe, at least for now.

The City Council's law and public safety committee decided Tuesday to uphold an ordinance that allows roosters inside city limits.

The council was considering a citywide rooster ban because of a recent uptick in noise complaints related to crowing.

Scott Voorhees argued that the problem is overblown. He owns a rooster and several hens, and a neighbor complained to the city about the noise. He says his rooster crows in the morning and a few times during the day, but rarely makes noise at night and never louder than a barking dog.

Julia Zavada also owns a rooster and several hens. She said roosters are indispensable for chicken owners because they protect against hawks, snakes and insects.

Zavada sound-proofed her coop and locks up the fowl each night, and she said most owners are responsible like her. "If you're responsible, there's no problem," she said.

The council agreed and made no change, though they said city workers will continue monitoring the issue to determine if a change is needed later. "We don't have anything against roosters," said Councilman Mary Ann Baldwin.

The 1960s brought dark days to the children of Raleigh when the City Council determined the operation of ice cream trucks on city streets to be too dangerous.

Although defenders of the vendors argued that banning them was discrimination against a particular type of business and that accidents had been relatively few, the council voted in favor of "an ordinance prohibiting the sale of ice cream from mobile units on Raleigh streets."

Photo courtesy of the NC State Archives

Raleigh Times writer Shirley Mudge explained that this wasn’t the first time the city had tried to pass laws for the protection of children.

Several years ago treasure hunts sponsored by a local radio station led adults as well as children into the streets and by-way searching for clues to the location of some prize.

Other councilmen have argued that prohibiting the sale is unfair to the ice cream companies since the sale of vegetables and certain other goods is permitted on city streets. -- The Raleigh Times 2/24/1962

It took some time, but the sun finally came out again for ice cream lovers, and writer Judy Bolch took a ride with a local vendor.

Once a fixture on the summer scene, the ice cream truck and its tinkling bells disappeared about 15 years ago following a two-year controversy in which city ordinances prohibiting such sales -- on the grounds they were dangerous to children-- were twice ruled invalid by the state Supreme Court. After that, according to City Atty. Tom MCCormick, the trucks were not illegal, but apparently few, if any, were operating....

"A lot of people come up and buy one ice cream for them and one for their dogs. One man told me that if he’s not there, just to give one to the dog and he’ll pay me later," Harmon said. -- The Raleigh Times 6/17/1977

A Raleigh City Council committee will review the appeals procedure for fired city employees after union members complained Tuesday that the process almost never results in an employee returning to work.

Members of the N.C. Public Service Workers Union remain upset about the 2011 firing of Raleigh sanitation worker Shirley Venable, who was accused of threatening her boss. Venable has denied making threats and said she was ridiculed on the job after becoming a victim of domestic violence.

Ashaki Binta, a union organizer, asked the council to give Venable her job back and investigate the city’s Civil Service Commission, which handled the appeal. Last November, the commission voted 3-2 in favor of Venable’s appeal, but a successful appeal requires four votes. Two of the seven board members were absent that day.

“What is the purpose of the Civil Service Commission if it’s just to rubber stamp every decision management has made?” Binta said, adding that it hasn’t reinstated anyone in years.

Council members said they won’t reopen the Venable case but will discuss the appeals process in an upcoming meeting of its law and public safety committee.

The N&O's Josh Shaffer wrote about the Venable case last year. Read his column here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/11/18/2493347/shaffer-years-of-taking-trash.html