Posts Tagged ‘Lightner Center’

Mary-Ann Baldwin talks Lightner, Innovation, and Gangs

Monday, June 7th, 2010
Mary-Ann Baldwin

Mary-Ann Baldwin

I got a chance to catch up with one of Raleigh’s At-large City Councilors, Mary-Ann Baldwin, for a five question email interview. If Mary-Ann can survive the Fire Department Operations 101 class, an orientation to the daily grind, risks, and rewards that Raleigh firefighters deal with daily, held on June 5, 2010, then certainly she can survive our questions. I’ve watched Mary-Ann on Raleigh City Council for the past few years and have become more and more impressed. She brings a much needed marketing and communications background and understands business principles such as communication, customer service, and team work. If you follow her on Twitter (she’s @maryannbaldwin by the way) then you know she’s interested in business innovation. See what Mary-Ann has to say about moving the Lightner Center forward, the gang situation in Raleigh (and how you might be wrong about it), how government can foster innovation, and much more in our interview with her.

1) City Council budget hearings are coming up this summer.  How is city council going to deal with the budget shortfall and what sacrifices will the City and citizens have to make?

Like many private citizens who are cutting back and living on tighter budgets, the City must do the same. This means that Capital Improvement Projects are going to be (more…)

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Posted in DDNA, Lineberry Alliance, Raleigh City Council, Transportation | 1 Comment »

Russ Stephenson talks Lightner, UDO, and Goals

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010
Russ Stephenson

Russ Stephenson

I got a chance to catch  up with one of Raleigh’s At-large City Councilors, Russ Stepenson, between his day job, city councilor duties, and a recent Chamber of Commerce Intercity trip to Washington DC and Fairfax, Virginia. Russ is very knowledgeable about a variety of topics. Often on City Council, he’s asking lots of questions to make sure he understand the issues. As an At-Large Councilor, he represents citizens from all of Raleigh. It was great to get his thoughts on the Lightner Center, Raleigh’s New Development Code, water conservation, city council goals, and community involvement.

1) How does the proposed Alternate Resolution to the Lightner Center [PDF] impact citizens in Raleigh?

Memo #2 referenced in your question was produced by Councilors Crowder, Gaylord and myself.  It explains why we think the current Lightner Center proposal is more expensive and less secure than it should be.  Memo #2 also describes an alternate proposal that accomplishes three very important things for the citizens of Raleigh: (more…)

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Posted in DDNA, Lineberry Alliance, Raleigh City Council | Comments Off

City to Ban Shopping Carts

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Frustrated over years of complaints, city officials are finally considering banning shopping carts from all retail establishments. So what’s a shopper to do? “Bag it,” said one city councilor. “The number of abandoned shopping carts on our streets and in our neighborhoods are overwhelming. We just need to get rid of them all and start using those cool bags that Harris Teeter has.”

Speaking to a city attorney who preferred to remain anonymous, they informed us that there were numerous options on the table. One option was to enforce a locking mechanism on shopping cart wheels to prevent them from leaving retail parking lots and stores. Another option was to put a tax on every shopping cart. But locks are boring and new taxes are sure to get people excited. (more…)

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Posted in Lineberry Alliance, Raleigh City Council | 1 Comment »