City Council now tilts 6-2, with only Tommy Craven and Philip Isley representing the GOP. My guess is this will probably seal any future return to politics for John Odom.

The GOP took only 2 of the 4 School Board races, as Democrats picked up Bill Fletcher's old seat.

And both sets of bonds passed by huge margins, meaning tax increases will be on tap for the next budget cycle while the City's 8-year property revaluation is coming up right after that (meaning even more taxes paid)...but, hopefully, Hillsborough Street will finally have some tangible work done.

10/11/2005 11:12:26 PM

there was an election today?

10/11/2005 11:16:41 PM

hehe [yes] there was an election today

10/11/2005 11:21:30 PM

I know I've been following the political career of John Odom very closely.

10/11/2005 11:26:26 PM

You're sarcasm would be humorous if it had a point.

Considering we've essentially had the exact same pool of candidates running for office in Raleigh for the past 8-10 years, it's something people notice if they pay any attention to muni issues.

10/11/2005 11:29:16 PM

You suck at spelling "your".

10/11/2005 11:36:16 PM

omf grammar ninja ATTACK!!1

on the bright side, at least I don't follow up posts like this...
http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=356334#7648029

with threads like this...
http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=356819

10/12/2005 12:09:37 AM

Wouldn't suprise me if more people voted in WRAL/WTVD daily web polls than voted in this election.

10/12/2005 1:05:39 AM

Quote :

"but, hopefully, Hillsborough Street will finally have some tangible work done."

taxes can produce good results, hopefully (if govt works the way it's supposed to)

like that town in the LA bayou that decided to raise taxes to pay for a higher levee and didn't get flooded while everything else around it got washed away

what bond issues were on the ballot? they probably don't compare to that at all ^ ...just a random note

oh right, one of them was the whole hillsborough street redevelopment with roundabouts and such? so that passed? that would definitely be a good thing

--

wilmington's mayoral election had roughly 17% turnout...think it was any better in raleigh?

[Edited on October 12, 2005 at 8:46 AM. Reason : --------]

10/12/2005 8:34:58 AM

Hillsboro doesn't seem to me like it needed work. At least not enough to require higher taxes.

Does this mean they are going to put in those round-abouts? I hate that idea.

10/12/2005 8:51:06 AM

http://www.brentroad.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=356786

Here's a 4 page thread on the Hillsborough Street Bond.

10/12/2005 8:52:32 AM

^^
Only $3 million of the $60,000,000.00 transportation bond package goes to Hillsborough Street improvements. But yes, that's to get work started on the roundabouts.

10/12/2005 11:17:21 AM

roundabouts fucking rock

10/12/2005 11:48:18 AM

Char-Meck is leading the way in retarded bond packages. Their Nov 8 referendum will leave you in the dust. If you ever want to compete with Char-Meck, you'd better raise your taxes to "world class" levels.

10/12/2005 12:11:58 PM

it just occurred to me that the turnout down here would be higher because i based that # on total population instead of eligible voters. so hmm....probably more like 25%

10/12/2005 6:14:20 PM

I was voter #10 at my poll.

10/12/2005 7:51:53 PM

I was voter 130 something, and I came in right before they closed. Disgraceful.

Voted unashamedly for Meeker (just like I did two years ago, and just like I'll do two years from now) and both referenda.

10/12/2005 9:53:42 PM

^so what part of you is "GOP"?

10/12/2005 11:21:19 PM

if i'm not mistaken, he likes left-leaning local gov't with right-leaning federal

not such a bad idea in theory.

10/13/2005 12:01:35 AM

My support for Meeker doesn't have too much to do with politics. I come from Greensboro, which is run into the ground by a gagglefuck of idiots led by a mayor who (unless I seriously am forgetting) isn't even popularly elected. So when I got to Raleigh and saw something resembling a functioning city of roughly the same size, then found out that I actually had a fucking say in who ran the show, I decided that whoever had been doing the job was doing it well enough for me, and so far, he hasn't disappointed.

Also, reading the candidate profiles, his ideas of what Raleigh needed seemed to be thought out in a lot more detail than his opponents'. Even if I didn't think his ideas were better overall (and generally I did), their having seriously been hashed out in at least his head and not just vaguely farted out would have been a serious plus.

---

As for the referenda, I think that the traffic circles on Hillsborough would be a huge improvement. I must confess to not knowing a great deal about the rest of the projects, but the improvements to the traffic lights also struck me as enlightened.

And the affordable housing...one, it was a fairly small amount of money, and believe it or not I do like the idea of helping people, even if I prefer government entities not do it. If the gov't is going to do it, I'd much rather it be a local government that can better tailor its efforts to the specific problems it's facing.

I could say more, but it already seems like overkill for an election that no one cares about.

10/13/2005 12:37:22 AM

I went just to vote "no" on all bonds.

That's pretty much what most of my ballots look like anyway. Only on rare occasions is there someone worth supporting.

10/13/2005 6:29:26 AM

Quote :

"believe it or not I do like the idea of helping people, even if I prefer government entities not do it."

Yet you voted in favor of it!!! Trust me, having the city do something isn't going to stop the rest of the layers of government from "joining in," especially in light of the strong VOTER SUPPORT ON THIS ISSUE.

10/13/2005 9:53:28 AM

I know the other levels will shell out money no matter what Raleigh does, but I believe Raleigh can do it more competently for Raleigh's needs.

10/13/2005 7:18:04 PM

Quote :

"And the affordable housing...one, it was a fairly small amount of money, and believe it or not I do like the idea of helping people,"

I voted against this bond because I feel that providing housing vouchers is a much better approach to solving poverty than merely building warehouse projects to store them in

10/13/2005 7:21:15 PM

It quite possibly is, but I do not expect to see housing vouchers become popular any time soon. As it stands, I'll take what I can get; principles matter, but so do results.

10/14/2005 1:08:37 AM

Quote :

"with only Tommy Craven and Philip Isley representing the GOP"

Oh well. Sucks to be them.

Seriously -- I pay actual property taxes, and I live downtown. Personally I don't care that much about who runs the municipal government as long as they aren't flagrantly corrupt.

How realistic is it that we'll get city council members who _crusade_ for their lives against pork in the city government, enough to actually make a difference?

There's something scary about professional city politicians in general, especially Republicans -- they tend to be holy rollers as far as I can tell. The Democrats tend to be ambitious NIMBYs.

Mostly harmless, I say. Though I do miss Paul Coble.

[Edited on October 14, 2005 at 1:19 AM. Reason : foo]

10/14/2005 1:18:15 AM