Welcome to the public comment period.

We have eighteen folks signed up for this evening, so we'll be doing three minutes each, and I will start uh with Lisa Hewitt.

Good evening.

I'm here tonight because I oppose the Planning Commission's approval of the West Street Tower.

That approval was based on selective policy emphasis, a disregard for neighborhood protections, and a failure to provide meaningful public benefit.

Let's begin with neighborhood transitions.

This site is a designated neighborhood transition zone formally codified in February twenty twenty four and creates specific requirements for new development to be compatible with existing residential areas.

Transition zones are clearly defined and protected throughout the UDO, the comprehensive plan, and the EDOT.

These policies exist specifically to buffer neighborhoods from intense development like this.

It's bonkers that staff completely omitted this from their analysis.

But that claim falls apart under scrutiny.

The so-called step down, it's a mirage.

The height decreases north to south, not east to west where the neighborhood sits.

Plus, the site's topography erases any step-down illusion.

This isn't a transition, it's a 360-foot wall looming just 167 feet from historic homes.

So I ask, how are we weighing policy consistency here?

Are we just counting which policies are convenient for a project and ignoring the ones that aren't?

If you objectively compare the applicable zoning guidance, it's clear this rezoning violates the intent and spirit of multiple city policies designed to protect neighborhoods from exactly this type of overreach.

Perhaps it's a convergence of unintended consequences when the realities on the ground necessitate a reexamination of following a short list of policies.

Next we have Octavia Rainey.

Good afternoon.

First of all, I would like to say at the last city council meeting, I did not discuss what I should have discussed, but I am going to tonight.

Saying it was a solar diaper.

Now, by being a fan housing investigator with 50 years of experience, if this is a soil diaper, I want you to show me a sore diaper.

When you open up somebody's pocketbook, a sore diaper smells.

You had on gloves.

When you was filling in my pocketbook, it should have felt wet.

When I questioned her, why are you detaining my pocketbook?

She didn't say a word, a word.

She called the supervisor down from wherever he was.

So when he got down there, you know the first thing he said to me?

Well, you got to take your soil diaper out.

And I said, unleash my pocketbook right now.

Unlease it.

I do not have a saw diaper in my pocketbook.

Give me my pocketbook right now.

I said, I want it right now.

So you better call the police because I want my pocketbook.

Because I knew it was no sort of diaper in it.

I am an Fairhouse investigator.

So I knew that was wrong.

It was wrong.

So he said to me, he said, You got to take your store diaper out.

I said, You do better go ahead on and call the police because they ain't taking out Jack Doody Squat and give me my pocketbook.

And I was not playing.

I was ready to go to jail.

I was not playing.

But when I came in here, you would have never known it because I didn't act like it.

So he said, and I said, I don't understand it.

She got on gloves.

Couldn't she feel a soil diaper?

Don't a soil diaper smell.

So when you open up my pocketbook, it should have smelled.

I said, give me my pocketbook right now.

And he looked at me.

And then he went and touched it.

And he said, Oh, it was rude, unprofessional.

He never apologized to me at all.

Shove me my pocketbook bag.

Shoved it to me.

Now I want to ask y'all, what is the culture of Mr.

Taylor's security?

What is the culture?

That was the rudest thing.

But that one, the first incident I had with them.

They accused me of bringing in a sign one time, came down here and interrupted my conversation, didn't even apologize.

There's something wrong with this.

And y'all need to get a new thing.

Thank you.

Eddie Watson.

Good evening.

And also four years in on being a roller skating instructor for the Raleigh Parks and Rigs.

Basically, we do instructionals based basics, beginners, intermediates.

The street is too rough.

I can't, you know, get what we were doing, you know, in lessons.

Now I sent um some pictures.

Uh one in uh Huntsville, Alabama, and also one uh matter of fact, our neighbor, Asheville.

Uh the trend now is people enjoying roller skating in a lot of different fashions.

Not just to go around in a rink.

Uh I kind of blamed AB on the pandemic in a sense.

Caused right, I'm 32 years in roller skating.

So that means uh yes, I enjoy it greatly.

So we are asking to see more space because it seems like there's a lack of it in the parts and recs in because uh just recently at the Santa Fort Road Park.

Um, by the way, uh I teach at the Tarborough Road Center every Sunday.

So it's an adult class, and um is very successful.

Um, so I'm definitely proud of it.

But basically we had uh actually a program, you know, within itself independently, where we would be at Sanford Road Park utilizing the tennis courts.

Uh successful.

Um we had uh private lessons, group lessons.

Um if you want to know the age, our average age is 35 on up.

We currently have uh a person that's uh in their 60s, so it seems like more uh people of age uh getting involved in skating and actually doing well at it.

But we have to have a very safe place for them because the skating rings uh had to say for young people that just want to do that.

Thank you very much.

Chris Crewe.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

Thanks for your service and thanks again for your willingness to receive public input.

In the coming weeks, you're gonna be hearing from the public about a number of land use planning and zoning and development issues and opportunities here in Raleigh.

The preservation community takes particular interest in Z 2525, Z 3125, and Z 1225.

As the decision makers in these cases, you deserve to have good and complete advice from the various stakeholders, from the planning department, the development community, and from the public.

1999, I first addressed the city council concerning a zoning change proposal.

During that conversation, the late James West reminded the petitioner that it was not the city's responsibility to ensure the profit of a particular business venture.

In order for you to make important decisions about such ventures with confidence, you need good advice.

The planning department should be working together with petitioners and the public to provide you with a recommendation based on a full and rational analysis of all impacts, positive and negative, and consistency with a comprehensive plan.

Their job is to help you understand the proposal in context, not to convince you that the proposed action is necessary and essential to the continued expansion of Raleigh's revenue base.

The planning department's presentation should illustrate a broad look at the comprehensive plan and other relevant guidance, including congeniality and common sense to assess a wide range of impacts in order to present a cogent, balanced and impartial assessment of the public impacts and benefits of a particular variance upon which you may confidently base a decision.

That's not what you're getting.

You guard and contribute to the legacy of Raleigh, and I hope that based on your actions, my grandchildren will view the city as worthy of preservation when their turn comes to stand at this podium or sit at that dais.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

David Rowe.

Ray.

Is there a way to pull up the presentation?

No, uh unfortunately.

You can just submit there, and we can they can distribute it.

Okay.

Yep.

All right.

So you guys can see it?

All right.

Okay.

Good evening.

Um my name is David Ray, and I'm here to talk about a proposed 18 townhouse development utilizing less than two acres of land near the corner of Six Forks and Anderson Drive.

I've lived in Anderson Forest since my parents moved there in 1987.

I've seen Raleigh metro area grow from 275,000 to over 1.6 million now.

And I've seen how things can grow properly, and I don't feel in this case that is the case.

Sorry, excuse me.

The proposed development by Kentucky-based fisher homes is to include 18 three-story townhomes, which propose which pose significant risk to the surrounding neighborhoods of Anderson Forest and Oakland Acres will also affect Drew Hills.

Our primary concerns are increased traffic, congestion safety hazards, and exacerbated flooding issues.

The alignment of the new neighborhood with a view of how it fits between Anderson Forest and Oakland Acres is on slide three.

So you can see how it's basically in the middle of two neighborhoods with no access other than onto Six Forks.

Slide four.

This is a review of traffic data from the area of concern.

We also have new data that I've handed out from City of Raleigh and NCODOT.

That was added after the presentation on Friday.

Last night I also saw new data from uh parks and Iraq, which showed that one of the alternate greenways for the Brig Branch Creek can't go this way due to traffic and safety concerns.

Slide five.

These are the current intersections in relation to the proposed development.

If you look at it, there's not a lot of space between the two intersections of Anderson and Oakland, and it's a blind curve.

We almost get rear-ended daily.

I walk and ride across Six Forks at least a few times a week, and we typically wait three seconds before we cross because there's always going to be someone zooming around.

If you look at that statistics, there are 48 crashes in the last five years.

So adding more traffic and adding more intersections, which there have not been intersections added since I've lived here, is going to cause a major issue.

I'll skip six and seven as uh Mr.

Andrew is going to talk about those.

Main one is precedence.

Um developer is using missing middle text change on the ODU to get administrative approval.

This area has been through due process multiple times in 2008 and in 2015.

Both projects were overturned by traffic safety.

We all know traffic on Six Forks hasn't gotten better since 2015.

So in this instance, they're basically using it to make changes that due process is denied in the past.

So and it's projected that these townhomes are going to run between eight six and eight hundred K with two possible lower ones to meet the HUD requirements.

Not the intended goal of missing middle.

So what we're asking for is positive change by bypassing.

Thank you.

Hannah D.

Good evening, everybody.

My name is Hanati Ali, and I am here to ask again from all of you guys to propose a ceasefire resolution because I think it's very important, even though we've discussed before how you think it's not at this level.

I I do think it's at this level.

Things are happening quickly around the world, and I think we need to start locally.

I'm going to give you some news facts that of course APAC brought to you media will never give you.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Natanyahu tells hundreds and thousands of Palestinians to leave Gaza City immediately.

And where are they supposed to go?

In order to go anywhere, you have to have money.

So I feel like that's just a death trap.

Israel says it has bombed 50 high-rise buildings in Gaza City as part of a new campaign.

What campaign is this?

Wasting American taxpayer dollar money campaign?

UN humanitarian rights chief says more than 42,000 Palestinians displaced by Israeli demolitions and occupied West Bank since October 2023.

That is the West Bank.

There is no Hamas there.

It's it's so obvious.

It's really frustrating to keep like over and over talking about.

UN says more than 500,000 Palestinians are enduring catastrophic starvation.

Six deaths due to famine and malnutrition in Reza with at least 140 children among 399 Palestinians who have died of starvation.

Since May, at least 2430 Palestinians killed trying to get food.

Death toll from Israeli aggression risen to 12,005 killed and 51,000 injured since March 18 break of ceasefire in Israel.

At least 248 media workers have been killed in Gaza since October 2023.

Since I have more time, we're just gonna keep going.

Let us not forget the plight of the Palestinian hostages in Israeli prisons, which brings us back to the military occupation.

That brings us back to the apartheid system, which brings us back to illegal settlements within the West Bank and illegal settlements around Reza.

That means someone has taken land illegally through force.

What kind of atmosphere do you think that creates?

Then we talk about the refugee situation that can that continues and was created in 6748.

The refugees that, if they didn't leave, would be killed.

Leave my home or be killed.

That let that be the question that you ask yourself, which brings us to South Africa, which brings us to segregation.

We said segregation and apartheid in South Africa were against human law, as we should.

Then why do we keep our mouths shut against the apartheid of the Israeli military occupation?

Alexis Kennedy.

Good evening, Council members.

I still have yet to see any of you come downtown on Sunday to feed your community.

Since my last visit, on top of my regular duties, I gave money to one of my regulars so she could get her insulin.

I gave money to a mother to cover some of her rent since she lost her job after the death of her child, and I made a package of diapers for a woman who had been raped downtown and had lost the ability to keep her urine in.

And my reward for my work is that I open up my phone and witness a mass murder of Palestinians in Gaza and the displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank, paid for with our tax dollars.

I have to limit what I give to to my community because my government needs it to have their department of war.

Before the council is a resolution that I sent earlier.

I'll allow you to read that while I'm um going through it, but I'm not gonna read all of it.

But this is was a resolution passed on August 31st by the International Association of Genocide Scholars.

Recognizing these crimes are essentially are estimated to have left many thousands of people buried under the rubble and otherwise inaccessible and most probably dead.

Recognizing that this bombing and the violence is estimated to have injured over 143,000 people with many maimed, recognizing that the actions of Israel's government against Palestinians have included torture, arbitrary detention, sexual and reproductive violence, deliberately attacking on medical professionals, humanitarian aid workers, journalists, and the deliberation deliberate deprivation of food, water, medicine, and electricity, essential to the survival of a population.

Recognizing that Israel has forcibly displaced nearly all of the 2.3 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip multiple times and demolished more than 90% of the housing infrastructure in the territory, recognizing that the consequences of the crimes have included destroying entire families, multiple generations have been wiped out, recognizing that Israel has destroyed schools, universities, libraries, museums, and archives, all of them essential to the continued existence of a Palestinian collective well-being and identity, recognizing that Israel has killed or injured more than 50,000 children that in this destruction of a substantial part of a group of constituents or group constitutes a genocide as emphasized in a joint declaration of the intervention of the international courts of justice.

If you don't know who that is, those are the ones that prosecuted the Nazis.

Children are essential to the survival of any group as such, since the physical description of this group is assured where it is unable to regenerate itself.

Thank you.

Next we have Osma Abu Dahab.

Hello, council.

My name is Asma.

I'm a licensed clinical social worker and therapist here in Raleigh.

Before I begin, I want to acknowledge that we are gathered on stolen indigenous land, lands within and surrounding present-day Raleigh are the traditional homelands and gathering places of many indigenous peoples, including eight federally and state recognized tribes.

I probably will not pronounce every name correctly, and I mean no disrespect.

I say these tribe names with gratitude and respect.

Kohari, Eastern Band of Cherokee, Hallowa, Saponi, Lumbi, Meheran, and Sapuni, amongst others.

This matters because what is happening in Palestine is part of the same story.

A story of occupation, displacement, and erasure.

As a therapist, I sit with people every day who carry the weight of violence, oppression, and silence.

And I know this.

When we say nothing, when we pass no resolution, when we choose not to act, we are telling our communities that we are okay with this injustice.

That never again is just a slogan, rather a joke.

And it is not only silence.

Our tax dollars here in Raleigh help fund the bombs that are falling on Gaza right now.

We cannot pretend that what is happening is distant.

It is connected to us, to this very city, and to the values we claim to uphold.

But we also know what repair can look like.

Cities in North Carolina like Durham and Carborough and other others across the country like Chicago and Atlanta has have passed ceasefire resolutions.

These do not end wars, but they matter.

They affirm our shared humanity.

They tell the world that we don't only acknowledge peoples and lands hundreds of years after their genocide.

As a clinician, I can tell you this.

Communities cannot heal when leaders like you refuse to name the violence harming them.

I urge you to choose courage over silence to honor the land we stand on, land taken from indigenous peoples by refusing to look away from other people's disposition and to affirm that Raleigh will not be complicit in genocide.

Thank you and free Palestine.

Good evening.

I'm a part of this community.

I'm a mother of two children.

My husband is from Gaza.

I'm originally from Nazareth.

My family were displaced in 1948.

Members of this council, neighbors, friends, I stand before with you with a heavy heart, every morning.

The news of Gaza brings new names, new faces, new children whose latter has been silenced, whose lose lives has been cut short.

What we are witnessing is not just a war.

It's annihilation, it's a starvation used as weapon.

These bombs are falling on families in their homes, on the hospitals, on the schools, if entire people being told that their lives do not matter.

We cannot look away.

We cannot pretend this is far away.

That is being done with our tax money.

This administration is participating in a genocide as the previous one.

And we have to do something about it.

You can do something about it.

You can talk about it.

Imagine if it's your own children trampling in the dark, hearing the sky, rain, fire.

Imagine being trapped in a place where there is nowhere safe to go, no food, no water, no medicine.

Imagine being told that you are very existent, is expandable.

This is not about politics.

This is about humanity.

This is about whether we will allow genocide to happen in our time, with our money, with our names attached to it.

History is watching and history will ask us.

Did you speak when Gaza cried?

Did you act when had the chance?

I call on you to take a stand, pass a resolution for an immediate ceasefire, demand to end the U.S.

complicity.

Open your doors to Palestinian voices in this community.

Do not let the fear to be an excuse for silence.

Because talents is betrayal, and today the people of Gaza needs us to be brave enough to break it.

Please do something.

Free Palestine.

Next we have Mamakai Sanders.

I need bifocal, excuse me.

Good evening, y'all.

It's another amazing day in paradise.

Thank you so much for your service.

And a sincere thank you to all who serve this city.

Whether it's in positions that are paid, volunteer, or both.

If you know, you know.

The last time I was here, I mentioned how people were fighting density, density, density while I'm seeking diversity, diversity, diversity.

I realize the D-word has become somewhat of a dirty word in the national spotlight, but I still exist.

And I represent many aspects of what diversity looks like.

African American slash black, female, mom, super Shiro, unhoused, brilliant.

Although I know that each one of these those demographics are widely represented in the city, when I look at what Raleigh is shaping up to be, I only see one main demographic strongly represented in the planning and the design.

And the main reason is the city allows it in a number of ways, but in defense, I know the city also seeks to create some balance where it can.

Like with the lack of affordable housing, the city is looking to fill that gap.

So I'm here to encourage the city to fill the gap in the lack of diversity in the way the city looks.

One way is to move the amphitheater and the convention center expansions to Triangle Town Center, leave the current facilities where they are, and turn them into multicultural centers where our neighbors from around the world can host their cultural celebrations and dignity.

I am distraught that we have organizations that have hosted their beautiful events in muddy fields at Dix Park or in a dusty baseball field at Carolina Pines using a generator so they could provide a quality program, those in attendance could hear.

Did you know one of our city employees was honored on that baseball field?

Don't get me wrong, they made the most of it because they had teams playing baseball in the adjacent field, but still we can do better.

I'm sure people think I'm crazy since I'm still talking about moving the amphitheater and convention center expansions to District B, Triangle Town Center to be exact, and that's okay.

What I think is crazier is that the city has authorized such an expensive renovation in the middle of the watershed when we know that storms will hit Raleigh, perhaps like Chantel, maybe even like Helene.

But what if it's historic, meaning worse than those combined?

A multi-million dollar renovation that sustains multimillion dollar damage means even more to repair it.

And when that happens, where will those concerts and conventions go when we can't host them because the venue is beyond immediate repair?

Then what?

Surely that's revenue lost.

Congrats to the convention center for the award they received.

I think that's a sign they should leave it like it is.

We need another economic center that can bring in significant revenue to support the expansion of city services, because clearly we're not making it right now.

So for those who think I'm being crazy, it's true, but I'm a special kind of crazy.

I'm what I call Steve Jobs crazy.

He once said the ones who are crazy enough to believe they can change the world are the ones who do.

So to be clear, I am that kind of crazy.

But I'm also being cautious.

I'm being thoughtful.

This is Woody Biggs.

Two things tonight.

First, the proposed 30-story tower at peace and West Street.

It would be triple the height of the building across the street where Publix is.

It will grossly overpower the entire neighborhood, and Peace Street, which is already very congested at times, will become a parking lot.

I am all for development within reason.

It is okay to say no to a developer.

Second, noise and amplified sound.

I would like to thank you for bringing the consultant Brian from Austin here to see about our noise issue.

But any recommendations he provides will require enforcement.

As I've mentioned multiple times to you, we have seen a complete lack of enforcement of the current city pass noise ordinance.

I had coffee several months ago with Captain Morrison.

He said there is no enforcement of the noise ordinance by RPD.

And could not understand why.

I say I share that with his permission, as he's told me anything he ever says to me can be shared.

I respect that.

Chief Boyce had two meetings with area residents about two months ago.

In one meeting, a resident spoke about the lack of noise ordinance enforcement by RPD.

Chief Boy said RPD is enforcing the noise ordinance and issuing citations.

One of his subordinates at the meeting spoke up and said, RPD is not issuing citations.

So it leads me to say who is running the asylum.

Unfortunately, you all up there have not had the kahunas to make RPD enforce a city ordinance.

So unless you're willing to do a 180 and demand enforcement of a city ordinance, bringing Brian from Austin here for and getting his recommendations, and even if you enact his recommendations will be a total waste of your time and taxpayers' dollars.

I have been coming here for years now to talk about Glenwood South noise and crime issues.

First, I'd like to say Councilman Branch was going to visit two residences this past June, but it was a rainy night, and we have found Rain is our friend in Glenwood South.

This past April, four months into her term, Mayor Cowell met one weekend to hear residents' various concerns, and then toured two residences.

I think Mayor Kyle, from your reactions that night, I can honestly say you are appalled to see what we have to deal with.

I thank you for taking the initiative to see for yourself what we deal with each weekend.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor and Council members.

My name is Sharlan Parker, and I'm a crew leader for Raleigh Solid Waste Services.

I'm here because the truth has been ignored for far too long.

The story of Raleigh Solid Waste Services is a story of toxicity.

And I'm not talking about the garbage we pick up.

I'm talking about toxic leadership that poisons everything it touches.

We have been told by the powers that be ain't nobody losing sleep over solid waste services.

But we are losing sleep every single night because we are the ones forced to carry the weight of bad decisions, corruption, and arrogance while others rest easy in our silence.

We see it in the lack of accountability.

When mistakes are made, leadership doesn't own them, they throw them on us.

They rip us off the routes we know best, the ones that we built trust with neighbors where we know every hazard before it happens.

They've destroyed efficiency, put safety at risk, and made the citizens of this city pay the price.

And why?

To punish the workers who dare to speak up.

Some even brag about their cozy ties to higher ups, boasting that they can do as they please, that nothing will ever change.

This isn't leadership, it's arrogance, plain and simple.

We see it in the irresponsibility and refusal to change.

They love to brag about technology upgrade, but drivers are still stuck with route smarts, multiple pages of paper and maps dumped in our hands every morning, pages that we have to juggle in traffic while trying to keep the city safe.

Hundreds of packets wasted every day, thrown in the trash while leadership pats themselves on the back.

This isn't progress, it's reckless, dangerous, and irresponsible.

We see it in the abuse of authority and the corruption of rules.

Some workers break rules and walk away untouched, while others are punished harshly.

And when a supervisor on City Time was caught on video tampering with another worker's car, the HR buried that evidence for over a year.

It only mattered once the video hit social media.

That's not accountability, that's corruption.

When punishment is handed out like favors, when misconduct is covered up is clear.

Some are protected no matter what they do.

We see it in the lack of empathy.

Leaders who've never driven a truck sit in judgment over those who do it every day.

Supervisors who won't even step in during an emergency.

Silence the voices of drivers who know the work better than anyone.

And all the while the department floats without steady leadership, without the expertise that we need.

And the results are right in front of you.

Morale crushed, stress through the roof, pride destroyed, and replaced with fear.

And yet we still show up.

We still keep the city running.

We've done our part.

We've raised our voices.

We brought the evidence.

We laid the truth at your feet.

Now it's on you, City Council, and the city manager.

Next we have Andrew Tattersall.

Thank you for your time this uh evening.

It's my first time ever doing it, so bear with me, I guess.

Um, I don't really come up and stand up and do this very often because I feel like I've always loved the city for the last 11 years I've been here.

But I think safety has become more of an issue in my mind.

Uh I represent the Anderson Forest and Oakland uh neighbors as David did.

Uh he talked a lot about the DOT safety.

Uh but I want to talk about flooding.

I live on Big Branch Creek.

Uh, and in the last seven years that I've lived there, I've lost four to six feet feet of my actual land that is gone.

And I brought this stuff six years ago to the city and still having nothing has done.

Um I've got maybe a foot and a half left.

I'm currently looking at a proposal for about $50,000 that I have to now fork over my own money to protect my own land and my house, because there's only about a foot and a half left to go.

So when we all said, hey, it's it's pretty cool, let's go ahead and do these 18 townhomes right there.

And the ODU will say, okay, cool, let's go ahead and push through this um you know um ordinance or whatever through the missing middle piece, so that maybe we don't see it.

Well, we saw it, now we're here.

I think the issue really comes to where does that water go?

ODU will say, okay, follow this little path, and we'll we'll try to make it safe, we'll try to do the best we can do it.

But where does that water go from there?

They kind of forget about that piece.

I know when it rains in North Raleigh.

All I have to do is step outside, and then I look at my creek, and I know it's raised about two feet, and it's moving a lot faster.

And it's not even raining on my house.

All the building that has gone on from North Hills all the way through uh Millbrook and up north, all that is being infected and flowing down here, and I've lost six feet of land because of it.

And every year I put my complaints in, they say I'm on the list, I'm gonna try to get there.

We'll try, sir, we'll do what we can.

They've come out, they measured every year.

So I sent uh what talked with councilwoman uh Jones, sent her the video where there is nine down trees right now.

I put my hunting boots on to just walk out there to see it.

There's nine down trees, and I even was nice enough to inform the city that there's a big one that just fell that won't make it underneath six forks.

So I think before we start looking at new town homes, the 20-story building that will go over there down my street to the greenway.

4.6 million dollars are going to spend on a greenway so that Cain really can get connection.

The greenway is meant to connect from north to south to bring people in.

Well, Crabtree Creek always does that, and the only difference is they're gonna go parallel and then all of a sudden connect to Shelley Lake.

Well, just connect it at Shelley Lake.

Why connect it all the way through here and put our neighbors at risk?

They can see right in my backyard.

It's 25 feet from my house in my backyard.

My daughter has cried because she said, I'm like, I might have to move because I don't feel safe.

I'm a disabled veteran.

I don't need this.

And when I I am full safety, I have to lock more door every night.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Next we have Joshua Bradley.

Joshua Bradley, 1324 spring lawn court.

Um ran out of work to get here, so I forgot my notes, so you're gonna have to bear with me.

Um it's been a little while since I've been here.

Uh since then, uh I heard that the Democratic Party uh passed a resolution to uh for an arms embargo against Israel because of the genocide.

Uh most of y'all are Democrats.

I I'm given to understand.

Um now that your party is on your side, it might be time for a ceasefire resolution.

I know that three of y'all voted correctly the last time.

One of them that voted correctly was forced out because of that.

Uh but now your party is behind you.

One of the few good decisions they've made.

Um is the time for a ceasefire resolution.

I know some of y'all were pretty pro-genocide last time around, but I think the evidence is pretty overwhelming that it's happening.

Lots of children dying, lots of innocent civilians dying.

So investors in the American uh military industrial complex can make that extra paycheck.

Um so I ask you.

It's been over a year.

Over 60,000 people dead.

Over you know, more than half of that children and women.

So please keep it on the mind, put it back on the agenda.

I mean, right now these days it's gotten to the point where like 71% of the United States would be in favor of that is against the genocide.

Um now's the time to do it.

Like if they try to use it as a political weapon against you, it's fine.

When I ran last time, I got emails calling me an anti-Semite, which makes my stepsons of Bar Mitzvah really awkward in retrospect.

But uh what are you gonna do?

But please, please consider doing a ceasefire resolution.

We've got to do something.

We've got to all pull together to stop the nonsense that's going on now.

If you want to know what you would have been doing in the 1930s in Germany, you're doing it now.

So uh anyway.

Uh other than that, uh you know development is neat, but I've had Republican coworkers of mine tell me that y'all are too friendly to developers, mainly John Kane, which is really awkward coming from conservative developers.

So um it's important that you put uh we make sure that you have housing for everybody.

We need to focus most exclusively on providing housing for people that doesn't have it.

There's a way that can it be afforded, unfortunately.

I don't think I can get it in 21 seconds.

What we could do is look at the the guilds model from uh the UK after World War I, uh work with uh the high school vocational programs in Wake Tech and try to build a a building guild to build affordable housing.

We have the land, it would be cheaper than doing it through private means.

I'll have more to say on that later.

Again, I left my stuff.

Next we have Laura Harris.

I'm Laura Harris, I live in District D.

Um, what I'm gonna speak on happened a few months ago, but I've just um now gotten down here.

Um per ABC 11 and the ordinance uh passing because I checked it um on July 1st, City Council and the mayor approved an ordinance that prohibits panhandling in public medians.

It reads, no person shall stay and sit or loiter in the right-of-way of any streets of the city, including on any median or median strip in a manner that impedes a normal movement of traffic, and this will go to into effect on November 1st.

Um the reasoning behind this is supposedly community safety.

Uh but safety for whom?

Uh the council would have you believe it's for the people in the median who could get hit by a car.

Um but the article says dozens of complaints were filed with RPD about panhandlers in Southeast Raleigh in 2024.

So complaining about them.

I didn't see anything in the article about injuries or accidents caused by people in the median in 2024 in Raleigh.

Just complaints.

Um it seems to be what it's really about.

You know, people don't want to see homeless people, so they can play an RPD to have them removed.

They may claim safety is a reason, but you know, how is calling the cops on someone already in a precarious position to forcibly remove them, promote their safety.

Um this is not to say that accidents don't happen.

There are a lot of busy streets and roads, like I understand accidents do happen.

But why is criminalization the way to go?

Um pedestrian interference is a m is a misdemeanor that may be punished uh without a $500 fine or 30 days imprisonment.

Um it reminds me of the war on drugs, you know, focusing on criminalization and not rehabilitation.

Um we need communities of care.

Criminalization creates communities of hate and fear.

Um taxpayer money is gonna be spent paying RPD to enforce this law instead of being invested in the community instead of going into direct forms of assistance or the homeless pil uh response pilot, um, etc.

Um maybe the law was just, you know, an empty gesture.

Uh I guess time will tell.

Um but regardless, you know, um people have to be the ones to create these communities of care uh because the city will never do it for us.

And to support the folks who spoke on the genocide, um, there's a term.

I believe it's called the imperial boomerang.

The idea is that, you know, um violence can uh uh you know, done on people abroad or othering of people abroad, those tactics end up returning home and are done on people at home, violence against people at home, othering of people at home.

Um, and it leads to the normalization of violence.

Um this, you know, is a small representative piece of that larger picture.

We cannot let this be normalized.

Thank you.

Next we have Helen Tart.

Okay.

Hi, I'm Helen Tart.

I live at 611 Monroe Drive.

I'm here because I was disturbed by a couple of things at the September 2nd afternoon council meeting.

The first was the presentation of the proposal for revising the public sidewalk along Fevell Street.

It bothered me that only businesses on the street were consulted.

How hard would it be for staff to stroll up and down Fevil Street and talk to the people sitting on the benches and other seating areas to be removed?

What might they want or need?

I realize that the businesses there do pay extra taxes, so certainly should have a large say in the amenities along the street.

Just not the only say.

Over the years, the city has spent a considerable amount of money on Fevil Street as well as should.

And people should be able to enjoy the street without having to pay 10 bucks for a burger and three bucks for a glass of IC.

I know the planning department's name was changed to planning and development.

It's only appropriate that they get business preferences on their recommendations.

However, residents and other citizens should have an equal say in the decisions on the public realm.

However, it was the discussion on the digital billboards that really outraged me.

Note I'm not naming names, but one counselor emphasized that the industry should have a say in the decision of the council.

While owners and workers in the industry may live in the city, although not necessarily, that does not give their opinion more weight than that of other citizens.

City councillors are elected by residents to represent residents.

However, that public goods should be seen through the lens of the re residents you represent.

It is excuse me.

It is your job to listen to and reflect the needs and wants of the residents.

Okay, next have Alex Brissett.

Try to keep it short.

I leave on Brookside Drive, and I just want to uh express my gratitude that the bike lanes that we have been advocating for for a while now have been installed.

So gratitude towards you and to uh staff who got that project done.

Um I want to reassure that that we have done the right thing with these bike lanes.

Um it's anecdotal maybe, and it's only been a short amount of time, but we have seen more people, including kids who go to the elementary school there using the bike lanes.

Um my wife and I have observed um traffic being calmer, uh, people not speeding or accelerating quite as much.

Um so again, I think you know, this is the best outcome that we have achieved.

Um the project's not 100% done.

We're still waiting for the bollards.

Um I hope nothing holds those up.

You know, I understand where that installation could be different than putting paint down, and I think there are signs posted that saying that that will come soon.

Um, but you know, it's not 100% done until those are done, so I hope that that gets done too.

Um so again, my gratitude.

I think um we've we've done the right thing.

Um we've achieved a positive goal.

Um also on the topic of cycling and and promoting cycling.

Um I've noticed another thing that uh seems like a big improvement.

Um a lot of our greenways are along creeks, and when we get heavy rain, those creeks flood, and the greenways flood, and especially where the greenways go underneath roads, lots of mud gets built up.

Um I've noticed recently that that mud gets cleared out very quickly within a day or two.

For a long time that was not the case, and the green wave would become impassable, but um, now that seems to be another major improvement that I am grateful for.

So I think, you know, the signs that we are supporting cycling infrastructure, and we're supporting alternative means of transportation are are good, and um, I'm thankful for that.

So thank you.

Uh, final speaker, Nikki Well.

Okay.