2006 Election

[RaleighRob]

Uh, Eric lives in Texas, so he is out of NC politics.

Although I agree that the Dems needed stronger candidate.

[ChiefJoJo]

Raleigh City Council is in 2007. Geary said Meeker might run for Dole's US Senate seat in '08, so that would open up the Mayor's seat in '07. Geary also said Nina Szolsberg might run as a Dem. Watch out for Jesse Taliaferro. She has Mayoral aspirations and while a Dem, is very much pro-business and sprawl (developer friendly). We can be rid of Isley (transit at Briar Creek?), Craven (let's vote to appropriate hotel/food tax to schools/roads even though they are mandated by law to go to RCC project ), and West (panders to black community only, while really does very little for SE Raleigh that I've seen) and I'd be whistling Dixie. Kekas, i have almost no opinion on--has she done anything? I support Stephenson and Crowder. They've made a few mistakes, but mostly are pro smart growth and good urban planning.

I think we are starting to outgrow that concept of the ideal "ANTI" world of imploding internal systems and spending money on nothing more than concrete, police and firetrucks and that you should and can support a growing city.

[DanRNC]

I have to give props to Isley for pushing hard on buying the Dix Property. If we could only get him to acknowledge that regional rail needs to go RTP.

[Subway Scoundrel]

I have to give props to Isley for pushing hard on buying the Dix Property. If we could only get him to acknowledge that regional rail needs to go RTP.

[DCMetroRaleigh]

The Triangle, like Northern Virginia, is turning deeper blue.

[DanRNC]

or they would all be drinking beer at the hurricanes game, surfing the net at work and trying to befriend that little college-aged Asian waitress at the restaurant up the street.

[ChiefJoJo]

David Price will gain powerful seat. He's likely to become a subcommittee chair on Appropriations.

[ChiefJoJo]

I thought this was very interesting. This map show how few voting precincts actually approved the Wake school bond--notice that is carried inside the Beltline easily, but suffered in rural areas:

[DanRNC]

I think David Price is a pretty sharp shooter and is well educated (UNC undergrad, Yale Masters/Ph.D. and Duke prof). He understands this area very well and has been a leading advocate of research in the Triangle as well as transit needs. Its nice for the Triangle to finally have some clout in Congress after so many years of being ignored.

[dmccall]

Geary also said Nina Szolsberg might run as a Dem.

[RaleighRob]

I thought this was very interesting. This map show how few voting precincts actually approved the Wake school bond--notice that is carried inside the Beltline easily, but suffered in rural areas:

[ChiefJoJo]

^ I kinda think that if we were to ever have a transit tax referendum in Wake county, the voting would look very similar to that map, with ITB Raleigh and Cary voting as an "urban bloc," outweighing the rest of the county.

[Subway Scoundrel]

Just everyone close your eyes and think about whether or not big companies would be easily sold on Raleigh if she were the city's leader. Same with Talieferro. Not that I'm anti-woman or anything, but I think we need someone who can press some flesh and be a forward voice for Raleigh. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. I just don't see Raleigh greatness with either of these two at the reins.

[Subway Scoundrel]

Interesting. The urban, inside-the-beltline areas, were the strongest supporters of the bond.

Due to these areas having both slower, less-rampant growth... plus a lower base student population (thanks to a ton of singles, "DINK"s, college students & empty-nesters here)... this is the one part of the county that's probably going to benefit the least from the new schools that the bond will build and also bear a good amount of the tax burden over time to pay it all off.

Yet we were mature enough to put our own interests aside for the good of the county. Not at all trying to sound smug here (ok maybe just a little bit), but it's times like this I think the ITB crowd kinda carries the whole county in terms of intellegence and reason.