Let the Fur Fly

Don't know what Harold Weinbrecht did to piss off Tom Joyner (I'm sure there's some history there), but he took a beauty of a missile in this week's Cary News. Never met Mr. Weinbrecht, but I happen to think he's right in just about everything he said, so I felt compelled to fire back with a letter of my own. Don't know whether it will show up in print, but here it is:

One of the letters in your March 7 issue accused Harold Weinbrecht of trying to create a 'poisonous atmosphere' in Cary with his negative comments concerning our City's leadership. I have never met Mr. Weinbrecht, but would agree with the majority of what he stated in his City of Cary Address rebuttal. It is a bit curious why Mr. Weinbrecht's column drew venom when so many preceding reader comments of a similar nature did not.

A 'poisonous atmosphere' is one which encourages citizen outrcy when their best interests are not well represented, where leaders openly challenge eachother, and where public scrutiny prevails. Kind of reminiscent of the way government was run when our great country was born.

Instead, the 'Good ole boy network' is alive and well in Cary. Developers finance our City council and mayors' campaigns (fact, not opinion), our leaders stand with the developers to support $1B bonds, and we as citizens ultimately pay the price in taxes, traffic and in our education system. This week a number of Cary families received letters assigning their mandatory year-round track assignment -- a bitter pill to swallow for the sake of increasing the tax base.

The Mayor's address painted a rosy picture of how wonderful everything is in Cary and how responsive the City Council has been to the needs of the citizens. I think a little bit of poison might go a long way toward opening people's eyes to how decisions that affect us are being made and who the real beneficiaries are.

CTC Retreat

Since WRAL has picked up on the story regarding Cary Town Council's retreat to Wilmington, a number of people have expressed their dissatisfaction over how the town's tax money is being spent, and how inaccessible these sessions are to the general public. Fortunately, Cary real estate developers should have no problem getting there and mingling with our representatives, so at least they won't be alone.

Still, I think with a little planning, this session could prove quite productive in generating the kind of thoughtfulness we need from our town council. The key is to strucuture this retreat in a way which lets them experience the same kinds of issues Cary citizens face, and for the council to use the benefits of this newfound experience to provide citizen-focused leadership when they return. Here are my suggestions on getting the most out of this retreat:

1. To heck with meeting downstairs from the hotel rooms. Have the CTC stay in a hotel well-outside of Wilmington and schedule their meetings downtown beginning 8:30am. CTC members generally don't get to experience rush hour traffic, so give them a chance to spend 30 or 40 minutes enjoying the company of courteous fellow commuters.
2. After the first session, redistrict the meetings to a different downtown building, which is even further away from their hotel. This would better balance Wilmington's economic benefits and political / apolitical demographics. Explain to them that this is for the betterment of all.
3. As the CTC prepares to break for the day, inform them that based on budgetary restrictions, they are going to have to work Mandatory Day Round schedules, and that they will have to work through the night in yet a different building. This is an excellent cost-saving measure, and studies have shown that their efficiency will actually increase. Other CTC's have tried MDR at their retreats and found it didn't work, but I'm sure ours will be different. They can enjoy having breaks at 2am, 6am, noon and 7pm. I'm sure there are all kinds of enrichment activities available at those times.
   
4. When dinner is served, reduce the culinary offerings to chips & dip and maybe a few pork rinds -- but place a beautiful ice sculpture in the middle of the table. Artwork is important, and should precede the basic necessities.
5. When CTC members check out of their hotel, include a hefty 'water/sewer usage' fee on their bills, since somebody's got to pay for all the infrastructure to support hosting retreats like this.

Upon their return to Cary, let the CTC members come back to neighborhoods they no longer recognize. Put up some quick modular 'high-density' condominums or office buildings next to their houses, add a drug store on the corner, and leave them wondering what happened to the charming place they were used to.

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...

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!

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."

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 1^st 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.