Saige Martin is a social justice warrior and is likely no friend of developers. Brittany Bryan is pro-sidewalk, I’ll vote for her.
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Well I got one eyeroll to my question and then you calling him a social justice warrior.
Her website says nothing about her and it’s my district so it’s a legitimate question.
Seems unnecessarily abrasive, but let’s focus on the topic. She’s having a campaign kickoff today which would be a great opportunity to ask, in person, questions and get to know her and what she stands for. I’m not advocating supporting her as I don’t know enough myself, but in brief conversation with her she seems like a major step forward based on current and options. She’s not likely to laugh at rezoning requests.
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I wasn’t being a smart ass.
From his front page:
“I’m running for Raleigh City Council because we need someone who has the moral courage to lead on the issues that have been plaguing our district and our city for too long. I’m in this race to fight for every resident, whether they be seniors who are afraid to be priced out of their homes or those who are simply looking for a place to call home. I’m in this race for young families, students, and immigrants who are struggling to get by. I’m in this race because our communities need to be heard and they need to be taken seriously. I’m running because I know that a community that is united can never be divided.”
Saige doesn’t represent me. I’m a gentrifier, I’m not struggling to get by, I want my property value to go up. I want South Raleigh to get developed.
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Totally agree and he doesn’t look like a candidate I’d support either.
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We’re not talking about Saige.
We’re talking about Brittany. I’d go to that campaign kickoff because the campaigns are starting to fire up but you’re all on the defense about it so at this point so I’ll just wait for your reportback, Phil. Unless someone convinces me otherwise. So far it sounds like ‘developers like Brittany so there you have it’ which isn’t much of a platform.
Dude. First of all - get a grip. Second of all - I have no idea if developers like Brittany but one of her top issues is transit and pedestrian infrastructure. I support that. Judging from the limited knowledge I have of either candidate I would say Brittany is more pro-development than Saige. Third - I initially responded to Brian who mentioned both candidates. So yes, we are talking about Saige.
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@Alek Has been warned. Let’s keep it civil from here on.
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All totally good questions, @Alek. Candidates for city council have been launching their campaigns very early this year, and so, yes, the website is still a work in progress right now. Brittany will be adding a lot more to it soon, I assure you.
I can tell you that Brittany works as regional manager for a company that provides services for public libraries, she is very active with Activate Good, and she lives in the Glenwood South neighborhood.
Yes, I am her campaign treasurer, but that’s a volunteer position, and it’s not a ton of work, so I spend most of my time doing just usual volunteer stuff. I just wanted to be very transparent that I am not a disinterested person simply putting this out there, and I’m actively supporting her campaign.
We would love to see you at the campaign kickoff tonight, if you’re so inclined, or future events, so you can meet her in person and talk to her!
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Will you be wearing a DTRaleigh Community shirt so I know who you are? 
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I look like the guy in my photo! In fact, and I promise I did not plan it this way, I’m actually wearing the same shirt today that I’m wearing in my avatar photo, so I will be super easy to pick out.
Sadly, I will not have the adorable daughter seen in my avatar pic with me tonight, though.
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@OakCityDylan please ask all my questions for me since I can’t be there 
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I think the fact that we have a 3 way race in District D is critical. Kay’s name recognition dates back to Thomas Crowder’s time on Planning Commission and will go a long way. I really felt like Thomas was a great rep for District D and I always had respect for his opinions, even when I disagreed with them. Kay was fine for a transition after Thomas passed, but I’m not sure she’s the right fit for the direction our district is going.
To unseat Kay the opposition is going to have to get behind one candidate. I’m personally not looking for an activist type right now.
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Thank you David!
And thank you for the invite as well. I couldn’t find her on Twitter via the link also, just her IG account. Just wanted to know more.
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I’m not going because of a prior engagement with a friend but you should post back with some info if you talk with Brittany, I’m all ears and I think everyone else is as well. Sorry about no in-person debates at Halcyon with me!
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I think it was an excellent kickoff event. There were a few dignitaries in attendance (forgive me for not knowing who they were or what they do/did, maybe @daviddonovan can expand, and nice to meet you, David!). It was very well attended in my opinion for someone who has never run for office before. As for Brittany, she’s very in line with what someone I’d like to see representing District D similarly to Robbie Rikard for an at-large seat. She’s in favor of growth and density in the right areas (BRT routes, transit hubs, etc), diversity in housing options, more/better sidewalks, bus stations, bike accommodations. Her background seems to speak for her nature which is very community/service oriented with a long history of service with programs like meals-on-wheels even back to when she was a kid. She really wants to talk to others in the district to better understand what others want as well. I’d encourage anyone in this forum to reach out and speak to her. I’ll be encouraging my wife to do the same since she was out of town for this event. As it stands today, she’s my pick for District D but we do have until October 8.
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Awesome. Thank you. I will reach out to her when I can, do like Rikard a lot. Also want to ask her about some of Baldwin’s housing plans too which I think are worth a look, innovative in my opinion.
Thank you for the reportback.
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Thanks, Dylan! It was great to meet you, too. Thank you so much for coming.
Franklin Freeman, who is a former justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, was there, as was James Barrett, who is on the Chapel Hill school board and is running for State Superintendent of Education.
I was so thrilled with how many people turned out and how excited people were. It was just awesome.
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There needs to be a movement to divorce DTR from suburban influences. There should be a new unified DTR Raleigh district with its own Council Member or Body. Neither District D (Crowder) and C (Branch) represent Downtown at all yet control DTR?
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Watch this Q & A with the current mayoral candidates. I still favor MAB, but the whole front row looks and sounds good so far (though I still have a bad taste from Charles Francis’ negative campaign against MacFarlane last time around, and some of his seemingly anti-development stances, like calling a new city hall “Taj Mahal” - ignoring that consolidating city offices into one building could save millions over time). The back row is pretty much out for me- Caroline Sullivan has the typical politician non-answer for most of her questions, and just seems a bit phony, like she’s acting more concerned about issues than she really is (or should be). And George Whatever comes off as a complete moron, essentially stating he wants to “stop growth” as if that’s the duty of the mayor of a growing city- one that will grow regardless of any efforts to stop it. His campaign seems to have been a sarcastic joke from the start anyway, but if that’s the case, he has no place in this discussion and is simply wasting the other serious contenders’ time, not to mention ours.
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