Nor do I - but it’s not just charisma I’m referring to; it’s how she responds to critics. It comes off petty and insecure, not a good indicator of strong leadership. Now, I’m not saying she isn’t or couldn’t be a great leader, but if I weren’t as well informed on her (now and back when she was a councilmember), I’d see her brief and infrequent public appearances and think “who the hell is this, and why is she so curt and patronizing??” - that’s my point; to the vast majority of locals/voters, they simply aren’t as informed as you and I are on her history, her experience, and WHY the decisions she makes are good for the city. They just see that she used to work for a developer for a while and instantly go “sHe’S iN tHe DeVeLoPeRs PoCkEtS!” - I see that sentiment ALL. THE. TIME. And she doesn’t do herself any favors with those voters when she offers so little by way of likeability; it just adds fuel for these voters to justify their uninformed opinions. Public perception IS important in politics - perhaps not for properly fulfilling the actual role of Mayor, as you say (and I agree) but again - if she wants to run again, and win, it’s the one thing she completely lacks and it WILL hurt her campaign this time around.
Corey Branch has announced he’s running for Mayor.
Against MAB?? Weird. I would support Jonathan Melton or MAB or Nicole Stewart or Nancy MacFarlane or any Meeker. But Corey Branch? Someone more eloquent than me can explain why that seems like not the best fit.
I assumed MAB was not running again, but I could be wrong.
She is. Not announced yet but she is. 
Corey seems like a nice enough guy… but that’s about it. He’s nice, and will just follow the lead of whoever is in the majority opinion on the council. Not a leader, no real big ideas, just kind of … there. His run is DOA.
He’s only getting roasted so far…
My thoughts on Corey are that he’s a much better candidate than the past opponents to MAB, but I’m not giddy over the option. TBD…
If only for his experience on the CC and knowledge on how our city gov’t actually works, absolutely. But he’s simply too soft and easily swayed by whoever has the loudest voice (but not necessarily the best ideas), for my taste.
Find this on the socials and figure some of you might want to attend/support. Pls tell Mr. Melton I sent you!
Trophy on Maywood tomorrow, 5-7:30p
I’m glad he’s running. Not because I think he’ll make a great mayor, but I would appreciate new blood for my council district.
Of course we could end up with crummy council-of-no candidates. Will have to see who decides to run for the district C seat.
I’m not sure if anyone here signed up to speak today’s city council meeting, but per WRAL it is cancelled due to weather.
2:30 p.m.: The Raleigh City Council has canceled its meetings Tuesday due to the threat of severe weather. The two meetings were scheduled at 4:00 p.m., which was to be a work session, and 7:00 P.M., which was planned as a public comment session.
Janet Crowell, former NC state treasurer and current president and CEO of Dix Park Conservancy, has announced she will run for Raleigh Mayor.
Say no more! Now here is a viable candidate to challenge MAB!
TO ADD: I say this because she has a few good things going for her, A: head of a near universally beloved city institution (Dix Park Conservancy) and B: a potential fresh perspective (Corey Branch is the only other person confirmed running, and while he has lots of experience on City Council, his accomplishments don’t speak for the amount of time he’s spent there, as he mostly just votes with the majority and is never very outspoken and shows very little passion for his own ideas - I could see folks shying away from electing someone they could deem a long-serving politician with as little to show for it.)
Is there any announcement or specific items she’s running on? Would love to dig in and see.
This is a copy of the news release her campaign sent out this morning. This is my very quick story about her announcement (and who else is running). And this is her website: JanetCowellForMayor.com
Quick note to say thank you for your great local news coverage. It’s one of the main reasons I check the N&O daily.
Now, Cowell is definitely gonna give Baldwin a hard amount of competition, for sure. My memory of her tenure as State Treasurer was mostly positive as is her impressive resume working on Dix Conservancy. More importantly however, for a mayor race, she does indeed have City Council experience. She was pretty much in-line with Meeker on most things and I think she’d bring back a lot of the positive direction his term produced. Bringing back that optimistic positive direction again would be something for sure.
Her name recognition is going to serve her well in the election.
You’ve said enough for me. MAB would be crazy to run against her, now. Probably good that she hasn’t actually officially announced her campaign for re-election, as it’s about as good as dead now.