GrowthMatters

New tools to pay for growth

Growth Matters — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 11:40:11 +0000

There was even a general store and some hay as candidates for local office stump the crowd

Growth Matters — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:15:03 +0000

Local candidates from Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill –and even Pittsboro and Siler City — came out recently to ”stump” the crowd at the Triangle Community Coalition’s (TCC) eighth annual “Political Pig Picking” on August 27, 2009.

The event, held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Brier Creek Country Club, provided an opportunity for attendees to mingle with local candidates, have a little barbecue, and participate in a “straw poll” following a round of old fashion “stump speeches” by over 50 candidates for local office. Results of the straw poll are available on the TCC’s Web site (http://www.Tricc.org), or by linking to the following:

“This event continues to attract a diverse set of candidates from across the region. It’s the only event where voters actually get to hear what candidates stand for, and participate in a follow up straw poll,” said Laurie Donofrio, Chair of the TCC. “It’s not only a fun event, but the folks who attend actually learn something about each candidate—and the candidates love giving their speech to the audience.”

Where else can you find 50 candidates for local office in one place?

Growth Matters — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:07:01 +0000

Local candidates from Raleigh, Durham, Cary and other Triangle communities are set to attend the Triangle Community Coalition’s (TCC) eighth-annual “Political Pig Picking” on August 27.

The event will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Briar Creek Country Club and will provide opportunities for attendees to mingle with local candidates and hold a “straw poll”. Results of the poll will be released at the end of the event.

The event, which draws a wide range of local candidates, will include a series of “stump speeches” from the candidates followed by the straw poll.

Following is a list of candidates who will attend and speak at the event:

Jack Smith Cary Town Council Dist C

Julie Robison Cary Town Council At-Large

Jennifer Robinson Cary Town Council Dist A

Mary Ann Baldwin Raleigh City Council At-Large

Darius Little Durham City Council Ward II

Debra Goldman Wake County School Board Dist 9

Mark Enloe Raleigh City Council Mayor

Deborah Prickett Wake County School Board Dist 7

Champ Claris Raleigh City Council At-Large

Waheed Haq Raleigh City Council Dist E

Lori Bush Cary Town Council Dist A

Vinnie DeBenedetto Holly Springs Town Council

John Tedesco Wake County School Board Dist 2

Karen Simon Wake County School Board Dist 7

Charles Johnson Siler City Town Council Mayor

Lee Sartain Raleigh City Council At-Large

Jackie Holcombe Morrisville Town Council Mayor

Cindy Sinkez Cary Town Council Dist A

James West Raleigh City Council Dist C

Ted Van Dyk Raleigh City Council Dist D

Margo Bills Apex Town Council

Sylvester Williams Durham City Council Ward II

Kevin Wolff Chapel Hill Town Council Mayor

Jan Faulkner Morrisville Town Council Mayor

Chris Malone Wake County School Board Dist 1

Debbie Vair Wake County School Board Dist 1

Amaka Flynn Garner Town Council

Matt Drew Durham City Council Ward II

Gregg Kunz Raleigh City Council Mayor

Tom Murry Morrisville Town Council At-Large

Steve Diehl Morrisville Town Council Dist 2

Zachery Donohue Wake Forest Town Council Commissioner

Scott Lassiter Apex Town Council

Michael Roberts Morrisville Town Council At-Large

Meredith Brown Wake Forest Town Council Commissioner

John Odom Raleigh City Council Dist B

Mark Stohlman Morrisville Town Council Dist 2

Augustus Cho Chapel Hill Town Council Mayor

Larry Hudson Raleigh City Council Mayor

Margaret Broadwell Morrisville Town Council Dist 4

Bill Crawford Pittsboro Town Council Mayor

Randy Voller Pittsboro Town Council Mayor

Howard Clement Durham City Council Ward II

Catherine Evangelista Cary Town Council Dist C

Tracey Goodwin Holly Springs Town Council

Gerald Holleman Holly Springs Town Council Mayor

Mona Parks Garner Town Council

Mike Woodard Durham City Council Ward III
Bonner Gaylord Raleigh City Council District E

Tickets for the event are $30 per person. To register, call Charlene Logan at
919-812-7785 or online at http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=186862
Members of the media are invited to attend free of charge, but asked to register with credentials at the door.

Who: Candidates from Wake, Durham, Chatham and Orange Counties,

Candidates running for School Board Races

What: Political Pig Picking event and straw poll

Where: Brier Creek Country Club, Raleigh

When: Thursday, August 27, 2009 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

You don’t see this very often: Pro-development in Chapel Hill?

Growth Matters — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:23:33 +0000

We were shocked—but pleased—to read this story in the N&O today. A group after our own heart:

“We need political leadership that has a more balanced approach to managing growth and is more proactive in securing a broader tax base,” said UNC political scientist Georg Vanberg, a CFRG founder.

Music to our ears. However, do most folks think the elected leaders will pay attention or listen to this group? In today’s economy one would hope they would.

Affordable Housing Options: The Challenges with “Inclusionary Zoning”

Growth Matters — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:36:41 +0000

Bob Geary, over at the left-leaning blog “Citizen,” seems a bit frustrated that the Raleigh City Council recently decided to nix the idea of inclusionary zoning (to address affordable housing needs).

Geary seems to think that inclusionary zoning is part of the solution to our region’s affordable housing woes. He’s part of a vocal minority, in our view, touting inclusionary zoning. Most folks don’t know what inclusionary zoning is, and when explained, really don’t like the idea. In theory, it sound like a good idea, but in reality it does very little to address the need for affordable housing.

In a 2004 study of the Bay Area (California is the “leader” when it comes to inclusionary zoning), researchers concluded:

Inclusionary zoning has failed to produce a significant number of affordable homes due to the incentives created by the price controls. Even the few inclusionary zoning units produced have cost builders, homeowners, and governments greatly. By restricting the supply of new homes and driving up the price of both newly constructed market-rate homes and the existing stock of homes, inclusionary zoning makes housing less affordable.

Inclusionary ordinances will continue to make housing less affordable by restricting the supply of new homes.

What’s the Solution?

That’s the question the TCC recently posed at it’s Lunch and Learn forum. Our balanced panel had an in-depth– and honest –discussion of how to provide more affordable housing. You can listen for yourself by downloading the Podcast from the event.

Should our local governments mandate affordable housing, hurting the housing market? Or should we look for more incentive- based measures that will allow folks to afford a home—and all the joys associated with ownership, including appreciation?

GrowthMatters Attacked by Hackers

Growth Matters — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:29:43 +0000

To All Our Readers:

You may have noticed we’ve been gone for a few weeks (or maybe you did not). We have a good excuse.

Horrible Hackers
GrowthMatters was attacked by hackers. For several weeks we’ve been paralyzed. We could not edit, post or change anything. Luckily, we have a real smart tech consultant that is obsessed with backing up our files, so we were able to save our older posts, comments, etc.

Being hacked is like someone breaking into your house— but all your valuables are locked in a safe. But the fact that someone broke in (or in our case broke into our blog) is just disturbing. Don’t folks have better things to do than hack local blogs?!

Oh well.

But now we’re back up. You may notice we look a little different. We’ve downloaded and now use the Thesis Theme from WordPress. Hopefully, our new site will be more attractive, more user friendly, and just better looking. And most importantly, we’ll be more secure!

What’s Around the Corner
So please come back. We’ve got some exciting topics we’ll be discussing:

Local elections
Florida’s roll back of growth management laws and what it means for us
Workforce housing: what works?