2/22/07

Jaws

For some reason, tonight I felt compelled to leave the comforts of my command center (Recliner) behind, drive across Cary, and attend the Cary Town Council meeting. Maybe it was because the ’08 budget was on the consent agenda. Maybe it was just that I had a tough day at work and needed the reassurance that our town leaders were still hard at work representing folks like me.

Most people in Cary don’t go to these meetings, neither did I until MYR threw my family life into turmoil. Most people in Cary shouldn’t have to go to these meetings, and we couldn’t all fit in the auditorium anyway. So….. Let my sacrifice be to your benefit. Rather than hiking across Cary to be ignored, you can be ignored right at home, read this posting, and feel like you were there in person. I’ll give you a stream-of-consciousness accounting of the evening’s events….

Got here late, in the middle of yet another rezoning discussion. First thoughts; Right about now the puck’s dropping at the Hurricanes. I probably have a better chance of seeing a fight here than if I’d stayed home to watch the game. Other thought: This is a long meeting, the black bean soup was not a good idea.

OK, now they are discussing closing a railroad crossing. Installing a stoplight timer nearby to ease residents egress will take a while because the light going in a custom-made of cast iron and we won’t get it for a year. Interesting factoid, DOT regulations require 3 existing crossings to be closed in order to open one new one. The debate is over whether to close a RR crossing down town to make it easier to open one in West Cary where all the development is. The conclusion they’re headed toward is to proceed because DOT has the crossing in the cross-hairs anyway. Council could fight a protracted battle to keep this open, but deciding this one’s out of their control. A familiar refrain, but this time probably right. Done, I’m glad I’m not one of the people who have lived in that neighborhood for 50 years and now are stuck.

Jennifer Robinson calls it an early night. I wonder if she’s going home to watch the hockey game.

Now for public hearings on the subject of the upcoming ’08 budget. If you can’t be here to speak, you can send an email to budgetinput@townofcary.org.

First speaker asking that they reconsider funding the aquatics boondoggle. Quick speech, and the council was clearly riveted.
Done.

Next topic: Citizen-initiated Annexation. The property is south of West Lake Elementary. These people asked to be annexed. We can keep growing in a southerly direction, the only thing stopping us is the South Carolina border (unless we annex South Carolina). Done.

Next topic: Another citizen-initiated annexation. Same area of town. Nice plot map provided by the developer. Nice way to make money. Start your development in Wake County with lower impact fees than even Cary has, get yourself annexed, and you can sell houses for more money. Done.

Next: Rezoning again, making property near Cary Park higher density. Approved to be sent for P&Z review.

Next: Another rezoning. 150 acres which today are undeveloped. Nice aerial photos, it has lots of trees. Borders on where the outer loop is planned. This is all zoned for residential, high-density residential and commercial. Protest petition was filed, but not enough people signed. Staff recommends forwarding to P&Z. Representative of the developer here to make sure this doesn’t affect their ability to develop surrounding properties. Approooooooooooooooooooved !!

Wonder how the ‘Canes are doing.

And now, back to annexation. 8.7 acre property, citizen-initiated request. This site houses the Hospice of Wake County. For a change, adding something to Cary we can be proud of. Approved.

Got bored and scanned the room. They have two security guards here. Think tonight I’ll keep my mouth shut.

And now, Public Speaks out. 5 guys lined up and they look ready to rumble. Group of people who live adjacent to Cary. They cut a deal years ago with M/I homes to allow them to rezone the property next to them, increasing density by six times. They say M/I has not honored their promises regarding buffers and berms. M/I has a consulting company running the project, it is run by the former Cary planning director. These guys are pissed and I don’t blame them. Developer actually had the cojones to tell one of them that he had to give up 10 feet of his property to get the berms built. Stormwater from this development is a problem for their septic systems. Great quote regarding the Cary town staff… “When we speak to them, we feel like we speak to the developer.” I’m just thinking out loud here… well not out loud, but maybe if folks from M/I had spent money on building berms instead of funding campaigns, these citizens would be a little better off. I’m not sure what the Cary government can do here, but based on what these citizens had to say I hope that our planners think a little harder about the next project that this company proposes.

Alright, Brent Miller is up. Great reminder to the council of what their responsibilities are.

Don Hyatt brings up good points regarding CTC appointments to different boards.

OK meetings done, maybe I can catch part of the third period.

Quote of the Day

"If our interest was purchasing influence we would just focus on [campaign] contributions" -- KB Home spokesman Tim Pittman discussing KB Homes' announcement to donate $100 for every home it sells in Cary this year to the Cary Community Foundation. I give KB credit for two things: 1. Telling it like it is regarding purchase of influence through campaign contributions (See previous post on this topic), and 2. KB was not among the list of mega-contributors I found for the 2003 CTC campaign, other than maybe indirectly through the HBA.

The $100 is a self-imposed impact fee, at least a start...

2/20/07

2007 Cary Campaigns Begin !!

Here's an early look at Mayor McAlister's flyer for the '07 elections, and you can see the Mayor has finally heard us and made "Assignment by Choice for Cary Students" a priority....



Just Kidding. This is a flyer from the LAST ELECTION in 2003. Despite a 'schools by choice' platform, the Mayor and Cary Town Council have done next to nothing to help Cary students or their families with the MYR nightmare (the 'M' stands for 'Mandatory,' not Choice). The CTC's consistent message has been that schools are the purview of WCPSS, and parents should go talk to them about their problems. The CTC has invited BoE members to participate in their beach blanket boondoggle next month, don't be surprised if this one meeting is portrayed as a "Task Force," "Fact-Finding Team," or "Town/County Government Alliance" this Fall. Maybe education of our children will move up to number two on the list!


2/17/07

And Now We Return to My Regularly Scheduled Ranting...

Today's N&O featured a story about Turner Creek Elementary's need for canopies to shield kids from ultraviolet rays during outdoor playtime. Pulte Homes has graciously agreed to pay for them, provided their name is on the canopies. Three weeks ago, the BoE talked about asking Pulte for $500K to expand this school so that it could accomodate the additional students coming out of Pulte's building an adjacent development. Now this. I'm all for public/private partnerships, but do we want our schools to become advertising mediums? Next time I'm enjoying some tasty wings at Hooters, maybe I'll ask about them sponsoring addition of a school trailer (They'll want a 'Hooterville' banner on it I'm sure).

Pulte has made millions on the strip-mining of Cary. They should just give the shelters to Turner Creek as a small payback. If they are entitled to naming rights, then their local corporate office should carry a banner reading "Paid for by the Pain and Anguish of Apex/Cary Citizens."

2/16/07

Mission Impossible ???

Took a field trip today to the Wake County Board of Elections to do a little research on Cary Town Council campaign funding. Word is that the current CTC regime's close relationship with developers started before they even took office. I looked through Ernie McAlister's campaign contribution reports for 2003 to see for myself. The reports are a bit sketchy, and not all of the contributors' records included their employer or company affiliation. Did some more digging (I know this is old hat for people here who have been at this a while) and tied a few more large contributors to their companies/interests.

As best I can tell, the Mayor had around $150K funds to pave the way into office. Here are some of the contributors I was able to identify, and they represent a who's who list of companies who benefit directly or indirectly from the development of Cary.

Person 1st American Land $500
Person Akela Capital, LLC $2,000

Person Barton Development Group $500

Person Basnight & Associates $100
Person Bobbit & Associates $500
Person Boylan Companies $1,000
Person Byrd Commercial Property $1,200
Person Byrd Commercial Property $500
Person Carolantic Realty $500
Person CC Mangum Contractors $300
Person Developer $1,000
Person Developer $500
Person Developer $500
Person Ferrell Grading Co. $1,100
Person Fonville Morisey $500
Person Fonville Morisey $100
Person Future Homes $300
Person Hare Pipeline Construction $1,500
Person Higgins & Morris $250
Person Highland Construction $200
Person Highwood Properties $500
Person Highwood Properties $500
Person Highwood Properties $350
Person Highwood Properties $100
Person Highwood Properties $100
Person J.Sugg Property Management $1,000
Person Kamm Consulting $1,000
Person Kelly Cobb Realtors $150
Person Landco Realty $200
Person Lawrence Realty $350
Person M/I Homes $600
Person Mayor McAlister $10,000
Person Midland Atlantic Properties $500

Peeps NC HomeBuilders Assoc. $4,000

Person Perimeter Realty $2,000

Person Perimeter Realty $500
Person Preston Development $2,000
Person ReMax Realty $100
Person Robuck Homes $100
Person Royal Oaks Building Group, LLC $550

Person Ruffty Homes $250
Person SAS $1,000
Person Triangle Commercial Real Estate $125
Person Triangle Commercial Real Estate $100
Person Tri-Properties $1,000
Person Wardson Construction $2,500
Person Wardson Construction $2,500
Person Wardson Construction $2,000
Person Westbrook & Associates $200

I did not list individuals' names out of respect for their privacy, but did note that contributions from several developers were spread among various employees and family relations.

Joe Citizen cannot fight this amount of money. Simply replacing the Mayor will not fix our problems. I skimmed the campaign contributions reports for Jennifer Robinson, and while her total campaign fund was much smaller than Ernie's, there likewise was a strong bias toward developers.

The only way to fix Cary's problems is with a "Clean sweep" in the Fall elections. We need candidates who are not subserviant to developers, yet have enough money and grass-roots support to get elected. We need a slate of candidates who will run for the open mayoral and town council positions on a common platform:
  • Hold the reigning CTC members accountable for all of Cary's problems, including the schools issue which they have continued to sidestep.
  • Grow Cary, but at a sensible rate which allows our kids to go more than one year to the same school, and not MYR.
  • Stop putting money into boutique projects, and start putting it into projects we really care about like roads, traffic management, water/sewage treatment and preservation of open space/greenways.
  • Lay their bodies in front of the first bulldozer used to try and build a high-rise condominium here.
The town council members seem to spend a lot of time bickering, and at times embarrassing eachother. Perhaps a unified platform with fresh candidates is the answer to turning things around.

2/14/07

Help Needed

The WakeCARES group is comprised of parents with children who face much suffering as a result of MYR. This group has no corporate sponsorship, and is fighting for thousands of Cary/Apex families. Someone on Cary Politics described them as "Hobbits challenging Darth Vader," a fair and witty analogy given the BoE's overly abundant powers, and their support from FOWC'ers who have deep pockets.
The lawsuit they are filing against WCPSS can only bring about good things. First and foremost, a direct legal challenge will force WCPSS to release and explain all their data, and to do it without all their self-serving spin.
WakeCARES needs our financial support to move this forward. Even cheapskates like me have donated, so please consider doing so. To learn more more about this group, their actions, and how to donate, please visit the WakeCARES website.

2/12/07

Cary Metropolis

Quite the article in Sunday's N&O regarding urbanization of Cary. Most of the conjecture on growth was based on what developers plan on doing in Cary. One mealy-mouth comment from CTC on making sure building projects are 'good' for Cary. Our Mayor proudly beat his chest in his State of Cary address, taking credit for the long-overdue road widening projects which are finally coming to completion. Now we're going to build high-rise condominiums and large-scale commercial/residential complexes so that we can fill up these new roads with more traffic.

One read of this article is enough to show who is really running Cary -- the developers. They fund the campaigns for our elected officials (of their choice). They fund bond issues so that we may build more schools (which means they can build more houses), and so that those very same tax dollars are used by WCPSS to buy their property at more than 50% profit in less than a one-year period -- See R.Beckwith's blog on that one.

Erv Portman is the newest addition to CTC. Hopefully his wealth keeps him above the influence of the development community.

The CTC has 4 positions including Mayor up for reelection this Fall. The only hope I see for preserving the Cary we know is for a slate of candidates to run under a "Take Cary back from the developers" theme.

The big question is where these candidates would come from, and how to give them a fighting chance against the developer/CTC allies.

2/8/07

Great News !!!

What a great way to start the day, turns out I won the lottery. Here's a copy of the official email notification I received:

UNITED KINGDOM LOTTERY
The Lottery Company
P O BOX 1010
LIVERPOOL, L70 1NL UNITED KINGDOM
Ref Number: UKNL/05/8256/53219/QE327
Batch Number: UKNL5/A115-07
YOU HAVE WON £1,500,000 POUNDS STERLING
Our Dear Winner,

You have won the sum of £1,500,000 (One Million Five Hundred Thousand Great British Pounds Sterling) from BRITISH LOTTERY on our 2007 New Year Charity Bonanza.
The winning ticket was selected from a Data Base of Internet Email Users,from which your Address came out as the winning coupon.We hereby urge you to claim the winning amount quickly as this is a monthly lottery. Failure to claim your win will result into the reversion of the fund to our following month.
You are therefore requested to contact immediately out Claims Department below quoting winning number: WINNING NUMBER:05-08-10-18-20-46-{43}.TICKET NUMBER: 56475600545 188
For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims is processed and your money remitted to you .This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program. Please be warned
.

I want to share thi
s new-found wealth with my community, so I'm announcing a couple of projects which will immediately help our Town Council achieve their goals for 2007.

Much has been made of the new aquatics center being built, and people have asserted that this is a redundant investment. I now see it differently. Cary is a large and growing town, and I'm just not sure whether a single aquatics center will provide fair and equal access to all citizens. Building centers across Cary is something I cannot afford to fund (even with my newfound wealth), so inst
ead I will be funding the new Cary Roving Aquatics Palace (CRAP) which will be a state-of-the-art mobile aquatics center. Here's a sneak peak:









Since I don't have drive to work anymore and can now afford to send my kids to the very best private schools like Bushwood Academy, I can just relax at home while the boys hang out with Biff and Tad. I'm going to invest some of my new money on real estate and embrace the rapid growth rate sponsored by our Town Council. As such, my second initiative will be to give something back to the town government who has served me so faithfully. I will fund construction of new drive-thru building permit centers.

With these centers, applicants won't even have to get out of their car to get their building permits approved. Anticipate a new 'speedpass' improvement in the future.
Look for one of these new drive-through building permit centers near you...

I just knew this was going to be a great day when I woke up !!

2/6/07

Cary Town Council Leadership in This Crisis

A concerned parent sent a letter to the CTC asking for their support in driving legislation which would redefine all the BoE positions as at large. Cary's representation on the BoE is limited, and Cary has been hammered with MYR conversions. Here's the response from Jennifer Robinson:

I am really sorry that you are dealing with the frustrations of MYR and the school assignments. The decisions made by the school board have a serious impact on our quality of life that we experience in Cary. I know that
conveying these frustrations and concerns has been particularly challenging for those living in western Cary because our representatives live outside of Cary.

The Cary Town Councilmembers are aware that the school board districts are drawn in such a way as to have the western Cary area with weak representation. But, I sincerely do not believe that at-large elections will solve that problem. I believe that we will end up with less accountability than more accountability. The
WCPSS should consider moving to a more defined district level management rather than continuing to build
the monstrosity of a system that they currently operate.

It is disappointing to me that a few politicians can stand up in front of naively believe that they are being effective. These people are being politicians, not leaders and certainly not public servants. Their behavior has
degraded the process of finding a solution by further alienating the school board and causing an intense amount of friction among governing boards. I know this because I have spoken with Patti Head three times, with each conversation lasting in excess of 1.5 hours. Her disgust with their behavior has been a roadblock
to working with them to find a solution.

Re-assignment and MYR are symptoms of deeper problems in our school system. To fix these symptoms, we need to identify the root causes which include taxing authority, state funding, authorization for municipalities to tie growth to school capacity, policies promoting social engineering, to name a few. As a municipal leader, my job is todetermine how Cary's policies and ordinances enhance or degrade our school system.

My job is to work towards solving the problems that are under my purview as determined by the State.
While I have no granted authority over school board decisions, I convey to the school board members the concerns that Cary citizens and I have. I have
discussed with them:

* MYR
* reassignments
* the need to promote a sense of community among our children
* the burden on our roads of having long school commutes for children
* the need to bank land for schools
* the agreement to give land to WCPSS for an elementary school, and
* the agreement to sell land to WCPSS for a middle school

The most important thing that we have discussed is the need to actually address the root problems that our County has in providing adequate school capacity. For years, County and municipal representatives have tried to address the symptoms of our broken system and have pointed their fingers at the other governing boards for being responsible for the problem. Enough is enough. The time has come for all municipal leaders
to meet collectively with our State and County reps to discuss the causesfor our problems. I am happy to say that Patti and Mayor McAlister agree with me and have agreed to work on hosting such a forum. In advance of this forum, the Town Council is hosting our school board reps and our County Commissioners at our March
retreat, at which time we plan on going over our concerns for our citizens' quality of life as impacted by school board decisions.

I hope that you will recognize that the Cary Town Councilmembers have been working on school board matters in a way that we deem appropriate, sincere and most likely to have impact.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Robinson

District A

Cary Town Council


Here's the net: Our representatives are doing everything they can to insulate themselves from the MYR issues. We may have moved thousands of people here, but that is totally WPCSS's problem. They will not even support the BoE at large movement which would give us better representation (in the absence of any from our own town government). The comments referring to the CC's as grandstanding are beautiful. I'd like to be a fly on the wall when they sit down together at the retreat with the CC's and this letter comes up (A copy was forwarded to them). Thankfully, this retreat base been scheduled for March -- the fate of our schoolchildren will be decided by then so they came move on to more important topics like decorating bridges. This is one retreat which no one should come back from.

BoE Smoke and Mirrors

Here's today's press release from SMYR. These people are intelligent, well-informed, and are not looking to build political careers...

MEDIA ALERT:

WCPSS Has More Than Enough Seats to Cover 2007-2008 Expected Growth WITHOUT
Mandatory Year-Round Conversions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Feb. 6, 2007

An independent audit indicates manageable growth and mandatory year-round conversions are not the answer. This audit was conducted using staff-generated, historical data to benchmark available seats throughout the WCPSS elementary school system. Conservative methodology was applied and only data generated by WCPSS staff was incorporated.

The WCPSS has a projected need for 4,240 to 5,439 elementary seats for the 2007-2008 school year. Based on Stop Mandatory Year-Round’s (SMYR) independent audit, WCPSS has a minimum of 6,113 verifiable seats and potentially close to 7,000 seats available for 2007-2008 without the mandatory year-round (MYR) conversions. Therefore, there is no reason to implement MYR for the upcoming school year.

WCPSS is currently projecting unprecedented elementary student growth at 5,439 students or 68 percent of total growth of 8,000 students for 2007-2008. However, WCPSS data indicates that average growth for the last 3 years is 4,240 students or 53 percent of total growth per year.

“We at SMYR have heard the concerns from parents, teachers and citizens regarding the uncertainty surrounding the implementation of MYR for the 2007-2008 school year,” said Dave Duncan of SMYR. “We are facing manageable growth and MYR is not the answer. Parents, teachers and even the Chair of the Board of Education have stated that they do not want MYR.”

SMYR recognizes that only incremental and unsubstantial gains are proposed through MYR conversions. In light of MYR fiscal and student assignment shortfalls, SMYR is calling for Wake County to suspend mass conversion to MYR and to utilize demonstrated capacity and voluntary year-round schools for 2007-2008.

For more information, please log on to www.stopmandatoryyearround.com. Please direct additional media inquiries to daveduncan@nc.rr.com or tji93@aol.com.

2/5/07

Judas Strikes Again


Today the County Commissioners voted 4-3 to deny funding to WCPSS for conversion of existing traditional schools to MYR. The 4 Commissioners who carried the vote were Coble,Bryan,Gardner and Gurley. The vote should have been 5-2 against MYR funding if Lindy Brown was honoring her campaign promise. She showed up at anti-MYR rallies, sat in the front row, and made public statements against enforcement of MYR. This is the second critical vote in which she has caved to the BoE and failed to validate the votes that got her into office. Here's where I'll admit again that I screwed up -- I actually believed her promises and voted for her!

2/2/07

I have seen the enemy, and it is us


At a September CTC meeting, our council members talked solemnly about the need to work with the school board. Last Sunday, the mayor was on NBC17 touting the same message. Mention was made of the tract of land being provided to WCPSS. Cary has owned that land a long time, wish we could have cut the deal sooner so we'd have schools on the site right now instead of trees.
Since the CTC gave their September sermon on working with the school administration, 661 new residential building permits have been issued in Cary. Talk is great, but all I see is us making the 07/08 problem bigger. The strip-mining of Cary continues....