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Raleigh mayor and council outline housing, safety and transit priorities after first 100 days
Summary
Mayor Janet Cowell and the new Raleigh City Council highlighted housing supply, homelessness responses, public safety staffing and bus rapid transit funding as top priorities during a State of the City address summarizing the first 100 days in office.
Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell and members of the Raleigh City Council summarized their top priorities and actions taken in their first 100 days, emphasizing housing, homelessness, public safety, transportation and parks and resilience.
Mayor Cowell said the city faces a shortfall of housing and outlined steps the council has taken so far. “We have a 37,000 unit housing shortage in Raleigh today,” Cowell said, and the council has approved projects that could add about 3,000 units across 13 projects, five of which include elements of affordable housing. She also described the council’s focus on mixed-income, mixed-use housing integrated with transit and on housing stability and fair housing protections.
The mayor highlighted the city’s efforts on homelessness and prevention. Cowell thanked Wake County for opening a shelter on Jan. 1 and noted the council-created Bring Our Neighbors Home program has placed 66 individuals and 47 families into housing, with plans to place an additional five families. The council allocated $800,000 for homeless prevention in the first 100 days.
On public safety, Cowell said violent crime has been “pretty much flat” year over year and that the city recorded seven homicides in the first 100 days, the same as the prior year. Property crime decreased about 18% year over year, and vehicle thefts have decreased about 7% year over year after a task force response. The council hired Police Chief Enrico Boyce and celebrated a police academy graduation of 40 recruits; Cowell said the department is close to eliminating vacancies if recent recruitment and retention hold.
For transportation, the council approved an allocation of $20,000,000 for southern and western bus rapid transit routes and is expanding an e-bike program by 80 bikes, funded in part by the Bloomberg Philanthropies program. Cowell said the council and local mayors are lobbying the federal delegation to preserve funding that supports transit projects.
On parks and resilience, the council voted to approve the Falls of the Neuse Whitewater Park and the Smoky Hollow master plan, which includes daylighting Pigeon Branch and work on Walnut Creek Greenways. Cowell said the city placed $10,000,000 into alternative roads to preserve an affordable housing neighborhood and purchased weather radios for lower-income residents to improve emergency preparedness.
Cowell also pointed to administrative and service items: the city employs almost 7,000 people (about 4,000 full time and 3,000 part time), and the council approved changes related to the convention center expansion and “red hat” changes (not specified in detail during the address). She closed by saying the council will continue work on compensation proposals in the coming budget and will seek additional officers and firefighters to reduce vacancies and staffing pressure.
The council described these actions as a start on longer-term goals; Cowell said the council will continue to press for federal funding, intergovernmental cooperation and investments in mixed-income housing, transportation, public safety and resilience.
