Interesting that they recommend Ollison over Branch for District C. I looked further into him and while I agree with a fair bit of his platform (though not all), he has never held public office before and I get the general sense that he is promising to let us have our cake and eat it too. He says he is happy with the pace of Raleigh’s growth and supports TOD, but suggests that we should throw up various barriers to development. Similarly, he wants to increase spending on social programs, parks and infrastructure, and to reduce taxes.
When it comes down to it, I just don’t get a sense of how he would vote on anything when there are competing interests, which there always are.
The case that the N&O makes for Ollison:
the number of candidates this year speaks to more than a gap in the process or Branch’s initial move to run for mayor. It speaks to a sense in the district that residents are not being heard. Branch has been a competent council member and his knowledge of city government is valuable, but his many challengers signal it’s time for new leadership for Southeast Raleigh.
The most compelling candidate in this group is Ollison. He supports youth programs and proposes a more practical approach to serving the district than some of the more activist candidates.
From his campaign site, the first three points of his platform are:
Re-instate the Raleigh Citizens Advisory Council
Regulate rising property taxes
Moderate growth
From N&O’s interview:
Lack of affordable housing is Raleigh’s most pressing issue
Supports TOD (Transit-Oriented Development)
“Yes, Raleigh is growing an appropriate pace. However, city leaders need to improve their preparation to be sure that the infrastructure supports the growth.”
But also:
The city should require developers to build affordable units
“Raleigh is losing too many historical properties”
From Indyweek interview:
“I absolutely support the missing middle policy”… but, wants to reduce heights near existing communities??
Yeah I don’t really agree with most of what either of them are saying. My district is D so I only have to make a choice for mayor and at-large. Cowell gives me a little bit of pause, and I would prefer to keep MAB, but she seems like the best option. And the at-large are a no brainer to me.
Housing affordability is a right that any resident should have. There should be a strong inventory of housing options for each income level that’s affordable, and that helps residents gain access to the help or resources they need.
I looked a bit deeper into how he plans to do it and he said the following:
Incentivizing the Construction of Affordable Rental Units
Strengthening Tenant Protections
No offense to him, but I don’t think any of this actually works. Some of the most expensive places to live in the US (NYC + SF) have rent control. Rental Assistance Programs and Affordable Housing have to be government subsidized (and is super expensive).
He doesn’t mention density or zoning restrictions at all. Hard to see how he’s a YIMBY when his policies line up with what Livable Raleigh wants (and he’s been endorsed in that way).
“Rent Control” is literally illegal via North Carolina STATE law (which obviously supersedes any city/county/etc laws) lmao so he clearly just hasn’t even done a moment of research into how he’d even enact his policy ideas.
Rent control is a giant giveaway to the people who are currently renting their homes. The amount of ludicrously wealthy people who benefit from it in NYC, and the ridiculous lotteries to access open rent control units is just sad.
But, it benefits everyone who has an apartment right now, and people hate the idea of losing a handout they have into the future, so it’s a great electioneering policy.
I think this is where I’m having trouble as a District C resident sorting out Ollison versus Branch.
Ollison seems to be providing more concrete policies and hitting most of the right notes. Branch on the other hand has hit the right notes in office but doesn’t really provide much in his actual platform. I think if Corey would better state his actual goals and where he sees the next 4 years going, he would be the easy choice giving his experience and voting history. But this definitely makes me at least look into Ollison.
“Moderate growth” tells me he is in denial. Raleigh, and the Triangle as a whole IS growing, and RAPIDLY. It simply IS lmao. You either grow with it, or attempt to work against it… putting everyone behind in the process. There is simply no such thing as “Moderate growth” here anymore. I want people in city/county offices that understand that and are willing to take on the difficult task of getting everything else up to the same speed as the growth that IS happening, whether anyone likes it or not.
I grew up with Corey Branch and Jared Ollison, both good guys that love Southeast Raleigh.Corey actually has a killer resume of good deeds and accomplishments that he has done for Southeast Raleigh. The problem is and since I’ve personally told him this is he needs to unbutton the ties and get more aggressive! Straight up ! Now for Jared who I actually know alittle better would do a good job for Southeast Raleigh and would be fair. But make no mistake the choice is clear if you want the more pro growth Canidate then the choice is Corey Branch.
im not trying to be d~!@#ish here…i grew up on buses and taxis and bikes in raleigh. but maybe 2.5 percent of commutes at most of the travel is done in raleigh via transit? close, way off? i have asked this before but if you got 5 percent transit share which I assume would require many more buses…would congestion or street parking even be noticed? i think raleighdeveloper recently posted that 1200 new units in DTR are about to become available…with parking decks that allow what? 1 or 2 cars per unit now possibly heading out from DTR to some place in Raleigh proper or even the county? if the area where you live is really dense should decks be severely minimized or done way with to encourage a ‘this sector is dense, move here if you work near here and are willing to take transit or bike or walk level of buyership’??