Raleigh’s recently adopted $697 million budget was sharply criticized this afternoon by Wake County Republican Chairman Claude E. Pope, Jr.

In a speech before the Wake County Republican Women’s Club, Pope said the council’s budget was stuffed with unnecessary spending at a time when everyone, particularly governments, should be cutting back.

Pope criticized the council’s decision to not reduce funding for the arts, and also took a shot at City Manager Russell Allen for accepting a $10,000 raise.

Pope compared Raleigh’s budget, which increases spending by $53 million, unfavorably with Wake County’s budget, which reduced spending by $30 million.

Pope said the presence of three Republicans on the Wake Board of Commissioners showed that the GOP is the party of fiscal responsibility.
“We applaud the efforts of the Wake County Board of Commissioners,” Pope said. “In contrast to the city, the county commissioners passed a budget that cut spending, showed compromise and fiscal restraint.”

Pope also criticized the City Council for adding $1.85 million in new spending by reducing the amount the city will put towards paying of existing and future debt.

“If you put off paying your mortgage for a year, you would no longer have a house to live in,” Pope said.

Pope praised Councilman Philip Isley, the only Republican on the 8-member Raleigh City Council and the only councilor who voted against the budget.

Pope said after his speech that he hadn’t spoken to Isley since the budget was adopted on Tuesday.

At least one of Pope's criticisms showed an unfamiliarity with Raleigh’s budget. Pope said the city should have cut inspectors since new building permits have dropped as the housing bubble has burst.
“Have any of these jobs been cut?” he asked.

The city’s adopted budget cuts 15 positions from the Inspections Department.

After his speech, Pope fielded questions from reporters. He said the City Council’s recent actions are an opportunity for Republicans to win back seats. City Council elections are officially nonpartisan, but the number of Republicans on the council has been shrinking in recent years.

Pope acknowledged that the GOP needs to field a stronger slate of candidates this fall.
“The Republican Party needs to do a better job fielding qualified candidates,” he said.

The filing deadline for this fall’s election is July 17.

Taking his cue from an insurance company commercial, Wake Commissioner Tony Gurley on Monday engaged in a little political theater to accentuate his opposition to the county granting $25,932 in seed money for a new African-American Cultural Festival.

Shortly before cast the lone no vote against the proposal, Gurley placed a bound stack of cash on the ledge in front of his commissioners' desk and then added a pair of eyes and quizzical brows. The prop borrows from television ads for Geico, where the stack of bills follows around potential customers to represent the "Money you could be saving with Geico."

With the county facing deep budget cuts triggered by the recession, Gurley said it was the wrong time to be giving money for a new street festival that would be highly likely to require additional government support in the future.

"I think we're wasting taxpayer money to plan a party," said Gurley, a Republican. "Our responsibility is to meet the needs of our community first, not a party."

The proposed festival has been backed by board Chairman Harold Webb and Vice Chairman Lindy Brown following the departure of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference basketball tournament from the RBC Center to an arena in Winston-Salem two years ago.

The tournament, which drew thousands of graduates of the conference's historically black universities to Raleigh, was supported with $500,000 in county funds. Webb and Brown have suggested the proposed African-American Cultural Festival would also require taxpayer support for a few years, until it could become established enough to become financially self-sustaining.

The pair won the support of a majority of commissioners for the festival by getting Artsplosure, the non-profit organizer of the city's annual arts festival, to sign on as the new festival's professional organizer. The Raleigh City Council will match the county's expenditure to provide an initial $51,864 to plan a framework for the cultural festival.

What WakeWatch finds interesting is that Gurley, who makes a lucrative living as a pharmacist and lawyer, appeared to use a $500 bundle of real $20 bills to make his point.

The nation’s three largest bond-rating agencies have reaffirmed Wake County’s AAA credit rating.

The AAA rating, the highest possible, allows the county to borrow money at lower interest rates for the construction of new schools, a planned courthouse and other public projects.

The New York firms — Moody’s, Standard and Poor's, and Fitch — issued the ratings as the county pursues plans to issue $502 million in fixed-rate general obligation bonds on March 17.

As part of its report on Wake, Fitch issued a “stable outlook” for the county’s finance, despite the turmoil in the national economy. The rating agency said it’s positive assessment was the result of the county’s “excellent financial performance and management, and strong and diverse economic base.”

The Wake County Public School System will get $100 million from the planned bond sale, while Wake Technical Community College projects will receive $35 million. Another $300 million will be used to pay off a short-term loan the county took out last fall to continue construction projects in the face of a collapse in the municipal bond market. The county will also refinance $67.4 million in existing bonds to take advantage of more favorable terms.

Holly Hill Hospital held a ribbon cutting Wednesday to officially open 44 new beds at the private psychiatric facility. The first patients were admitted to the new wing January 19.

The addition, built in conjunction with Wake County Human Services, expands the capacity of Holly Hill to help pick up the slack expected when the state Department of Health and Human Services eventually closes Dorothea Dix Hospital.

The closure of Dix had been relayed repeatedly due to regulatory and construction problems with the new state hospital intended to replace it.

Wake County’s mental health crisis and assessment unit will now divert patients to Holly Hill that would previously have been sent to Dix. The county is contracted to cover the treatment costs of those without health insurance or Medicaid.

The school board probably won't get the $3 million that was withheld for not meeting enrollment — or will it?

As noted in today's article, Joe Bryan, chairman of the board of commissioners, said he thought it was unlikely the current board would vote to give the money. But what about a future board later this fiscal year?

Things could change based on how the elections go for commissioners in November.

Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker said today he's worried about the Wake County Board of Commissioners decision to not adopt stricter development restrictions along the Little River. The commissioners unanimously voted down those restrictions during their meeting Monday.

"That’s a matter of real concern in terms of the permitting of the next water resource for Raleigh," Meeker said. "I’m hopeful they will study that issue further."

Meeker said he'd spoken to one commissioner about this issue. But, given that the vote was unanimous, it seems unlikely that the commissioners will change their minds anytime soon. The lopsided nature of yesterday's vote raises questions about whether Raleigh did enough to make its case for the tougher restrictions. No Raleigh City Council members spoke in favor of the proposal at yesterday's meeting, instead a consultant and Public Utilities Director Dale Crisp spoke. The city really can't afford to not gain approval to build the Little River Reservoir, and Raleigh officials clearly feel the new restrictions give them a much stronger case with regulators.

Does this show a lack of involvement or leadership on the part of Raleigh officials? Or were these restrictions bound to be voted down by a county board that is clearly worried about unnecessarily stepping on residents property rights?