I think I will send that Silver guy a donation and I don’t even live in his district.
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He’s a NYC native and had previously worked for the city there. A known entity, in other words. I’m sure he has administrative and political skills, but I stand by my position that he was brought to Raleigh to execute a vision that was already in place.
The question is, who running in that district is “better” for your agenda/desires?
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Mitchell Silver may be the most qualified candidate for City Council we have ever had.
Has work experience in both the planning and parks departments in NYC, running the latter.
Has worked for two private consulting planning firms, was assistant director of planning in DC, and planning director for Raleigh.
Was even president of the national planning association (APA) a little over a decade ago.
When director of NYC parks used to go out to one of his parks every Sunday with a camera. Pushed for removing fences and opening parks up for sidewalk access from all sides.
Knows how local politics and departments work in Raleigh. Think he will be an extremely effective representative for District A and good for the city at large.
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You keep mentioning that Mitchel Silver was ‘brought here’. He worked and lived for the City of Raleigh for almost 9 years prior to going to New York to work in the parks division.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchell-silver-faicp-hon-asla-422765/
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And of course if you’d rather vote for Mary Black, that is your choice
Silver was hired in 2005 from out of town to execute the agenda that Meeker and Co. had already decided upon. That’s my point. The notion that Silver was hired in a vacuum and then decided on his own to remake Raleigh is just wrong. Give him credit for what he accomplished but don’t elevate him to messianic proportions.
People presume to know my agenda. I simply raised the question of whether Silver is willing to represent the District or is better suited for an at-large seat. I can speculate that certain people very much want Black off the Council and encouraged Silver to run against her without complicating the at-large ballot.
I’ll eventually make up my mind on Silver, Black, or Hill before I vote but I’m in no hurry to decide. I have no particular reason to support Black and I haven’t donated a dime to her.
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Exit interview from 10 years ago:
Follower? Or Leader?
Yes Council had an agenda or nothing would have happened.
But having heard the man speak many times during his tenure here, the right person was recruited by the City to provide context, vision, and a path.
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In all seriousness I did have an opportunity to meet with Mitchell Silver and another neighbor a few months back. I liked his visionary perspective and urban planning background. I think we could do way worse for a city councilor. He did stress several times that he intended to serve the entire city of Raleigh and not just his district. I am not sure if he said that because he knew I wasn’t in his district or because he really meant it. So many times we get NIMBY types and he isn’t one of those. If he were in my district, he would have my vote. And I do plan to send him a (small) donation. JMTC.
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3 posts were merged into an existing topic: Raleigh Roads - Where They Came From, and Where They’re Going
Is that statement supposed to detract from Silver?
In the USA, I believe we drastically overvalue “Vision” and undervalue execution.
I think that’s because our culture is centered around the idea of seeing the future before it happens, in order to speculate and get rich.
Sadly this means that very few people in the USA actually have the skill set to make that future come about. The “vision” guys get all the credit and are rewarded handsomely when all they have done is spoken a few inspiring words and made a few high-level decisions. The “execution” guys manage everything and are rewarded with an upper middle class salary and a 4% match on their 401k.
If you have a grand, spectacular vision but poor execution, you will wind up wasting huge amounts of money and have absolutely nothing to show for it.
If you have a decent vision and are excellent at execution, you will achieve your goals well
within your means.
Mitch Silver running for council is a home run, IMO.
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This is what I was reacting to. Hyperbole. All I had originally questioned was whether Silver was a good fit for a decidedly pro-suburbia District A.
I could argue that Tom Fetzer was good at execution too, but I don’t think anyone wants him back in City Hall.
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RaleighForward just posted the responses from their questionnaire. Here’s the link: 2024 Candidate Questionnaire — RaleighForward
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No need to speculate: I’m right here. Me- hi, hello- yes, me! I 
would like Mary Black off the Council! I took no part in encouraging Silver to run but it was a pleasantly shocking surprise to see that he was.
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I’ve only partially read thru them but so far some takeaways after my first browse:
1- I’m not surprised Black & Fitts didn’t submit answers to them. (I am kinda surprised though that Forte didn’t either.) Oh well.
2-Ironically, even though the first BRT route runs mostly thru Dist C, half of the candidates for that office completely fumble that question! Grant-King had the best answer to the question, though Branch was up there too. The others? Dismal! (However, the WORST answer by far on that question was by mayoral candidate Myrick who just failed that question completely. Yikes.)
3- The question about balancing the public opinion and making sure a small vocal group doesn’t override what’s best for everyone–a GREAT question by Raleigh Forward. For Dist E, Cerqueira had an intriguingly detailed answer for that one, whereas his opponent Jones was laughable on that question. For Dist A, Silver once again shows his strengths on that question.
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Agreed on all of this. One person I would have liked to have seen respond is Jennifer McCollum given that she’s in one of the races for a district with just two candidates.
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Eugene attends meetings of and participates with Livable Raleigh, so that’s not surprising. The guy thinks that people with the most land should have their voices minimalized in both the BRT and the Prince Hall District. Additionally, he has an incredibly car-centric point of view on how things should be constructed. In the link included, he mentioned that the 12-story hotel that is built DIRECTLY ACROSS FROM THE BIGGEST CITY-OWNED PARKING LOT IN DOWNTOWN RALEIGH needs to think about parking.
The guy wants things to be car-focused and doesn’t want any development. His thoughts around it, whether they be right or wrong, always have that as the backbone.
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Sounds like he and LR are in “good” company.
Fundraising Alert!
Many, maybe most of you are a fan of Jonathan Melton, one of our current “at-large” city councilors currently serving his second term. I think Jonathan’s contributions to the city have been fantastic and his public outreach is second to none. I believe he really cares about the city and listens to anyone and everyone that has something to say.
That said, if you recall the last election, Jonathan did not win by a landslide and Livable Raleigh loves to counter anything Jonathan is doing/saying. He needs your help to stay in his seat for this election.
He has an upcoming fundraiser on September 30th in the Glenwood South neighborhood. The exact location is displayed on the receipt when you buy a ticket. I encourage everyone that feels the same way I do about Jonathan to consider participating in this fundraiser. Even if you can’t go, please donate to his campaign.
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He’s easily the best Councilmember we’ve had since Nicole Stewart. He must win re-election if we want the continued success of our city, IMO. He has now had ample experience on the council to know what he’s doing better than most of them, save for maybe Corey who has been serving longer, but with much more clear convictions and just better public outreach, full-stop.
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