The Carolina Journal's January issue has an article about Raleigh's updated Comprehensive Plan as well as a story about the fact that Planning Director Mitch Silver lives in a 3,565-square-foot home in North Raleigh.  Titled "Green For Thee, But Not For Me?" the latter article also notes that Silver owns a Toyota Highlander.

The city's updated Comp Plan, of which Silver is a key architect, is designed to encourage urban living and more transit options and generally move the city away from the sort of sprawling suburban development that has characterized much of Raleigh's growth over the last 30 years. In the article, Silver says he eventually plans to move to a new home in Raleigh and bought his house quickly when he was preparing to move to Raleigh from Washington D.C. in 2005.

So what to make of this? Is Silver a hypocrite for living in a large house in the Evans Mill subdivision in North Raleigh and advocating that the city try and move away from such living? Would he have more credibility if he was living above a retail store in North Hills and taking the bus to work?

It's not all that surprising to learn that Silver lives where he does. For all the ambitious goals in the updated Comp Plan, it should be noted that the city is a long, long way from transforming itself into something that resembles a transit-friendly city with lots of urban living options.

What do you think? Is it fair to criticize the housing and transit choices of Silver, City Manger Russell Allen or any of the elected members of Raleigh's City Council? 

Raleigh City Manager Russell Allen announced last week that the state's Department of Transportation has--effective Jan. 1--stopped reimbursing the city for any road maintance work performed on state roads. Raleigh and a few other places had agreements with DOT whereby they would fix state roads and be reimbursed later. 

Allen said last week that the change could result in repairs not being done as well or as timely. My colleague Bruce Siceloff spoke to Wally Bowman, division engineer for the DOT, who says DOT is still committed to maintaining roads, including fixing potholes when they need to be fixed. They'll just be doing it with their own employees now.  

The decision likely was made to give DOT more control over how they spend the limited money they have. Under the reimbursement agreements with Raleigh and others, DOT must pay for repairs whenever they get the bill. 

Lots of major roads in Raleigh are state roads, including Falls of Neuse Road which the city is now paying $21 million to widen. City officials have long complained about how road money is disbursed, arguing that large metro areas pay way more into the system than they get back in return.

The question going forward will be whether potholes on state roads in Raleigh linger longer now that the DOT is fixing them. 

The Neuse River Foundation annouced last week that it has, after nearly 30 years in existence, decided to change its name to the Neuse RIVERKEEPER® Foundation. The foundation has changed its logo and tag line too. (As for those nifty brown riverkeeper uniforms, no word yet on whether they're being replaced.)

The foundation's press release announcing the change also included something that we are seeing more and more these days. It seems like whenever a person, group, company or elected body makes an announcement they preface it with some statement about the economy. It's almost like it has become politically incorrect to do or say things without saying the economy is terrible first. Sure enough, the Neuse River Foundation is no exception.

“In these tough economic times", explains Neuse RIVERKEEPER® Foundation Treasurer, Dick Goodwin, in the release, “the Foundation’s name change and logo project were undertaken with a minimal expenditure of funds thanks to the support of the firm of Misner & Associates Public Relations."

We're looking for other examples of people or groups name-dropping the bad economy before making an announcement that may or may not be affected by the recession. Read or heard any?

In the week since The N&O printed a front page story about Wake's EMS department buying five Dodge Chargers powered by 368 horse-power V8 engines as part of a program to get paramedics with advanced training to the scene of serious medical emergencies, there have been numerous sightings of the eye-catching muscle cars on local roads.

This one sped past N&O reporter Michael Biesecker, who wrote the story, on Capital Boulevard.

As a testament to the Charger's raw testosterone appeal, the reporter's 3-year-old son was given the option last week of chosing one Matchbox car as a reward for good behavior during a doctor's visit that required a shot. Of the hundreds of tiny toy cars on display at a Target store, what caught the little boy's eye?

A police package Charger, of course — the very same model picked by county officials.

Earlier this month my colleague Josh Shaffer wrote about Raleigh Rickshaw joining with NBC-17 to capture video of riders who agree to be taped. Some of the first video footage has now been released and you can view it here.

A warning to those who fall asleep easily. The footage, which is supposedly the best of the bunch, is incredibly boring. This probably shouldn't be all that surprising. Raleigh may be a lot of things, but it's not generally known as wild and crazy place late at night. Then again, maybe all the people doing crazy things in rickshaws just refuse to be recorded.

When the Raleigh City Council approved a controversial new registration fee for landlords in June, it was supposed to go into effect in early January 2009. But Robert Spruill, the city's housing inspections administrator, said this week that the city would not begin registering landlords until March at the earliest.

The new fee is related to the city's PROP, or Probationary Rental Occupancy Permit, ordinance. It will require landlords to pay $30 annually for their first registered unit and $10 for each additional unit registered in the same dwelling. The money will be used to create a database of rental properties and to hire a four-person team to deal with landlords who run afoul of the PROP.

The city estimates that about half of Raleigh's 154,000 residential units are rental properties, which means the new fees will generate more than $775,000 annually. The City Council voted 5-3 to adopt the fee in June. Opponents said the fee is excessive and will just be passed on to tenants.

The landlord database is supposed to make it easier for the city to identify problem landlords. A landlord enters the PROP program if he or she accumulates a certain number of housing code violations at a property.

Each landlord in the program is required to get a permit, pay $500 a year for two years and attend rental management classes. Since the ordinance was adopted in 2005, 20 properties have received enough violations to qualify.

Spruill said the city's Public Affairs Department will lead a campaign to let landlords know when the registration period begins. He said landlords will likely have about two months to register their rental properties with the city.

It seems fitting that the city of Raleigh should end the year on yet another “Best Of” list.
This month the travel Web site TripAdvisor named Raleigh’s New Year’s Eve acorn drop No. 10 on its list of America’s quirkiest New Year’s Eve events.

Raleigh has already been named to more than 20 “Best Of” lists this year, including the Best American City for Singles by Every Day with Rachael Ray, and the Healthiest City for Men by Men’s Health magazine. TripAdvisor’s list was compiled using the sort of subjective judgments behind most “Best Of” lists. The list is based on different New Year’s Eve events’ popularity among TripAdvisor users and the Web site editors.

The news that there are nine other New Year’s Eve events in America more quirky than the acorn drop is likely to shock and disappoint many. Look up “quirky” in the dictionary, and you should see a picture of an acorn dropping.

Many of the events deemed more quirky involved the dropping of other strange objects: a glowing pickle in Mount Olive, a giant piece of cheese in Plymouth, Wis., a giant sausage in Elmore, Ohio, and a giant edible bologna in Lebanon, Pa.

At this point, Raleigh’s only real option is to start a campaign to drop something next year that is so quirky it will dumbfound the connoisseurs of quirk. TriPol is now accepting suggestions.

You know it's a slow news month when the Raleigh Public Affairs Department issues a four-page news release about the city's Sir Walter Raleigh statue being moved--three months ago--to the front of the convention center. Apparently, Sir Walter is "starting some buzz" among conventioneers and has become a good luck charm for all those tourists wondering around downtown Raleigh. (Maybe the newspaper industry needs to start rubbing Sir Walter's boot.)

The statue, of course, has been around for decades. Yes, Sir Walter did take a sabbatical to the Midwest, but the city unveiled his refurbished physique in 2006 at Raleigh Wide Open 1 (not do be confused with the AWESOME Raleigh Wide Open 2 featuring headliner Eddie Money). Sir Walter's popularity was evident that night when he proved to be a bigger draw than Mayor Charles Meeker.

Still, I think it's fair to say some people find the 11-foot bronze statue a bit strange looking, possibly even creepy. Clearly, the Sir Walter standing outside the Convention Center won't ever be confused with Clive Owen. The city's news release notes that sculptor responsible for the statue viewed Sir Walter as being an elegant man, not a sloppy man. I think the city should consider commissioning a companion statue that would stand along side Sir Walter. Somebody who like Sir Walter is elegant, but not sloppy. Somebody who could bridge Raleigh's past with its future.

I'd suggest a bronze 11-foot Eddie Money. Got a better idea?  

UPDATE: Meeker says the press conference has been delayed until next Tuesday (Dec. 16) so the city can have a better list of projects that it will request help on. 

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With it looking more and more likely that President-elect Barack Obama will propose a massive federal spending bill when he takes office next year, Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker plans to hold a press conference to highlight Raleigh's own needs. "It's gonna happen," Meeker said this morning of the federal aid package. "We want to know what the process is going to be so Raleigh gets its share."

Meeker said it's important that Raleigh is prepared to present its case when federal money is available for public projects such as schools, roads and bridges. He said the city would work with consultants, such as the infrastructure firm Kimley-Horn, that have contacts in Washington D.C. and may be able to provide insight into how the aid package will be distributed.

Obama met with the nation's governors last week, including current North Carolina Governor Mike Easley and his successor Beverly Perdue. Of course, depending how the aid package is structured, Meeker may end up lobbying Perdue's administration more than the Obama administration if governors are given the power to decide how the money gets spent. And Raleigh won't be the only local government with hat in hand. Every city and county in the state is being hurt by decling sales tax and excise tax revenues. The state's Department of Transporation is already slashing costs.

As the only Republican on the Raleigh City Council since the 2007 elections, Philip Isley has gotten used to hearing Democrats gripe about the state of the country under President Bush.

Now, with the election of Barack Obama, Isley is learning what life will be like with a Democrat in the White House.

During Tuesday’s City Council meeting Democrats on the council made repeated mentions to the wonder of Obama’s campaigning skills and the bright future in store for America under a new Obama administration.

A mention of human rights led Mayor Charles Meeker to say America’s human rights record should start improving now that Obama is replacing Bush. A discussion of how to reform the city’s Citizens Advisory Councils led Councilman Thomas Crowder to mention how Obama’s victorious campaign showed what can happen when you empower everyday citizens.

When Isley questioned whether the city should still proceed with plans to build a $226 million new public safety center, Meeker noted that the council wouldn’t vote to provide the funding until next summer. By that time, Meeker said, the Obama administration could have turned the economy around.

Isley, who had until then mostly ignored the Obama lovefest going on around him, finally piped up.
“I think that’s the fourth or fifth Obama reference today!” he cried.

A smile creeped over the mayor’s face.
“I said that for Mr. Isley’s benefit,” Meeker said.