Isn’t he the one whose fiancée literally died in a mass shooting and then he was arguing against gun control? The one thing that could’ve saved her? Big yikes. Hopefully his opponents aren’t afraid to bring that up.
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I thought this one was interesting because it is probably a good proxy for the general opinion out there on what people think the city is not doing, but definitely IS ALREADY doing. The city council seems like it has jumped on opportunities to do partnerships for buying older building and keeping them affordable whenever that comes up. But I bet the vast majority of people in Raleigh think that is an option this just isn’t being explored.
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Yeah there’s literally a headline on the TBJ front page today “City of Raleigh acquires land in hot corridor to develop affordable housing, retail.”
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Yep. Didn’t want to be the one to say it. Wasn’t a fan of him then, but wasn’t judging too harshly since he was dealing with a lot. Being a candidate for public office is a completely different thing, though. I personally wouldn’t vote for him for anything.
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Ya know, I saw that one and thought “hold up… doesn’t the city literally already do exactly this?” - thank you for confirming. Yeah. Anyone that has done absolutely zero research into how their city gov’t works and wants to run for office in said city gov’t gets no chance at a vote from me lol (that older apartment building on Hillsborough across from Meredith was JUST in the news regarding EXACTLY this …)
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Heard from a birdie that MAB is reversing course and considering another re-election campaign, to the surprise of nearly everyone, including those on her own team and in city gov’t. She states that she just doesn’t see any real, legitimate contenders for Mayor who actually have a clear vision for the city (aka not just someone who promises “communication” and “community” and all that fluffy word salad BS that most of her challengers have come with). I tend to agree, since it sounds like Melton is not considering running just yet. Though I truly wish he would, I also respect his dedication to continuing to serve where he best sees opportunity for meaningful change on the CC. The more experience he has there, the more time spent working with the public and in city gov’t, the better of a candidate he’ll be if/when he eventually Does decide to run for Mayor. The only other interested potential challenger from the actual city council (the only legitimate contenders IMO) is drumroll Corey Branch 
…probably the least assertive and leadership-ready councilmember we have lmaoooo. Dude is very nice, so he arguably has a better public image than MAB (read: definitely does, her public image is f**king atrocious, and this is coming from someone that voted for her), but he’s just so docile and always seems to just follow whomever has the strongest/loudest voice on the council to whatever decisions they want to make. I hardly see him being an effective leader. However, if MAB wants to run again- and win- she absolutely needs a massive public image makeover… and I still just do not see that making much of a difference. We could likely be entering into our most volatile city election yet, soon…
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Why is her public image so bad? I only started paying attention to local politics in really the past year, so I don’t know the history. It’s always been surprising to me, because I feel like she has done well overall.
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She gets saddled with the blame for rising rent and violence on Glenwood. Neither of those things are her fault of course.
Livable Raleigh has conducted an aggressive campaign against her as well. People who aren’t read up on local politics can be easily misled. They are good at pretending to sound like they have progressive interests in mind.
McFarlane faced a lot of pushback as well but purchasing Dix Park kind of cemented her legacy.
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Nah dude, it’s not even as complicated as all that - she just really doesn’t have much of a personality whatsoever when she (seldom) speaks publicly, which she’s not very good at either (public speaking) - which I honestly find odd, because when she was on CC she had lots of personality and attitude - albeit, she was one of few YIMBYs on a pretty bass-ackwards council at a crucial time in our city’s growth - arguably part of the reason we’re SO far behind on housing NOW. THAT was why I voted for her; experience and not just that, but experience on the council during a time when she was a lone voice of reason. These days, she just makes bad public appearances and sounds callous and cold in her responses to media. She needs a personality makeover and perhaps some public speaking lessons. Wouldn’t hurt if she was a little more self aware with her social media posts, too…
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Totally agree. Some of her public conversations and comments are very abrasive. She seems to have a particular problem interacting with those with whom she disagrees. Her interpersonal skills are not one of her strengths.
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What’s funny is that I agree with her public conversations and comments about 99% of the time lmao - but like… THAT’S NOT HOW YOU WIN YOUR ARGUMENT, DAWG. I appreciate her for her realness - but also am acutely aware that “realness” and “politics” don’t necessarily work together sometimes; particularly when running for re-election lmao. You need a LITTLE more couth and tact in your public communication - doesn’t mean you have to not be real, you just have to tone down the disdain and patronizing in that realness.
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Funny enough I saw someone post a Reddit thread about this today.
Pretty weak arguments, and they get called out for it here too. But MAB is basically used as a figurehead for people to be mad about anything to do with the city. Don’t like the crime situation? MAB. Mad about the Christmas parade? MAB. Mad about the influx of people from the North? MAB.
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Reading that thread made me ridiculously happy. Just everyone calling out the OP on their bullshit argument. MAB is curt, yes. But, the policies she’s implementing and the work she’s doing is making Raleigh a better place than what Livable Raleigh wants.
I’m happy to have MAB and would love to have her in place as Mayor for a longer time if she chooses to run again.
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The encouraging thing is despite the ruthlessness of these trolls they seem to be outnumbered on that subreddit. I actually think a lot of folks on r/raleigh might appreciate this forum.
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Oh my god the idiocy lmaoooo
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Her approval rating took a huge hit during the riots and through COVID. Really unfair IMO, and unprecedented scenarios that anyone in her shoes would have taken a hit. I personally don’t think the most charismatic personality is a prerequisite and high priority to properly fulfilling the Mayor role.
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She comes across as matter of fact at best and indifferent / abrasive at worse. I personally think she’s pretty well aligned with what needs to be happening for the city right now, in this moment (albeit very focused on DTR, the Canes, and more, simply more, housing). Her professional adjacency to construction / development combined with some tone deaf to borderline bone headed decisions on citizen engagement followed by vape-gate from the ivory tower 
didn’t help. The powder keg police response to the events of the day around the public protest that turned into vandalism amidst the pandemic and the now sluggish response DTR (in both vibrancy and safety) relative to return to work aspects of downtown are weighing her down…Obviously, no one had ever navigated something like the events of the pandemic. Decisions are made in the moment but politics are played in the aggregate.
It’s pretty interesting - Meeker didn’t really have all that much personality either but he seemingly avoided the ‘socially awkward scrapes’ that MAB fumbles through.
She doesn’t necessarily have to be nice when she’s staring into the maw of the LR public comment shenanigans, but I’m not sure more of the same gets her elected again and I’m not sure anyone else that would run can keep the momentum going, so I sure hope she leans into another campaign by focusing on what we need from a vision / policy standpoint to keep the lovely ‘most livable city in a park’ title for Raleigh for years to come…
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Without taking a position as to the merits for or against MAB, I would like to offer food for thought. All these local elected officials take a huge amount of criticism. And much of it isn’t even respectful or constructive. Take it double on the chin if you happen to be a woman in the mayor’s role. No one is going to solve every problem, be error-free in the decisions they make, or be of warm and fuzzy personality. It’s a hard job. It’s a job that most people won’t step up and do. My hat is off to anyone who has the courage and stamina to do the City’s business. Things may not be perfect, but they never are.
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Meeker was great at building a consensus among the council so there were no surprises. Meeker had a vision on downtown revitalization and Fayetteville Street. I use to talk to MAB when riding the R-line and she was always talkative. The working relation with City Manager and Council has changed over the years IMHO as someone who remembers Avery Upchurch and Mr. Benton. Things changed after the riots. We as a society can’t agree to disagree and be respectful.
The comments in my previous post about MAB were offered in the context of how some of her personality traits affect her public persona. She’s been very successful in accomplishing the goals she set for the city (most of which I agree with, by the way), and has won some very contested mayoral races. But everyone has warts, and when you hold an elected office, having them pointed out is fair game.