Republican members of the Wake County school board are accusing the new Democratic majority of breaking their trust by holding an unannounced private meeting with education consultant Michael Alves
The Republican board members didn't find out until this week that Democratic Chairman Kevin Hill and the three newly elected Democratic board members met last month with Alves, who developed the model that's the basis of the new student assignment plan.
"I feel like a bomb was just dropped," GOP board member Debra Goldman said.
Hill says the meeting took place Dec. 7, the day after the new members were sworn in. He said he didn't invite the GOP board members because they had the opportunity to meet with Alves when he spoke to a school board committee in July 2010.
But Goldman argued there's a difference between talking with Alves in a private meeting and at a public meeting.
Before the election, Democratic board members accused Republicans of not being transparent and not working with the minority. Hill has said he wants to unify all nine board members, but Republican John Tedesco told him Tuesday, "Holding separate meetings with some of the board doesn't help in your efforts to build a board of nine."
Writer demands a response
A dispute between a resident of Cary and the mayor of Apex over the town's approval of a fuel storage tank surfaced at a public meeting Tuesday.
Andrew Taylor called out town officials for not responding to his letter in October listing allegations of ethical violations in approving Motiva's site plan to add a seventh storage tank.
Mayor Keith Weatherly said he had reached out to Taylor and that talks had been unsuccessful because Taylor "twisted" his words around.
On Tuesday, Taylor asked whether he would get a response to his letter and was met with silence from the mayor and council.
In the letter, Taylor alleged that close relationships between Weatherly and several Planning Board members and Motiva representatives had compromised the site plan approval process.
Attorney Lacy Reaves, who represented Motiva, donated $150 to Weatherly's 2011 re-election campaign. However Reaves' contribution was made months after the council approved the site plans. As mayor, Weatherly does not vote unless there is a tie.
In February, the Apex council voted 3-2 to allow the company to add a seventh storage tank that holds 3.4 million gallons of fuel. Motiva, a joint venture of Shell and Saudi Refining, is located on property that was zoned and developed before the neighborhoods that now surround it.
Motiva's terminal receives gasoline, diesel, butane and ethanol, and distributes the majority of fuel used by gas stations in the Triangle.
Nearby Cary and Apex residents were concerned about safety, increased traffic and decreased property values.
Red Hat feels the love
Elected officials have found creative ways to show their enthusiasm for Red Hat's move to downtown Raleigh.
The homegrown software company formally announced Friday that it would lease the Progress Energy tower. A crowd of government and business dignitaries attended the event at City Hall.
In his remarks, Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst mentioned that Gov. Bev Perdue offered to personally cook him breakfast at one point during deliberations over the move. Whitehurst said he hasn't taken the governor up on her offer.
The diplomacy, of course, went beyond breakfast. Red Hat is eligible to receive more than $15 million in state incentives if it adds 540 workers over nine years.
Raleigh officials kicked in $1 million to offset parking fees, with the money spread over the next 10 years if job targets are met.
'A different direction'
"Don't Shoot: One Man, a Street Fellowship and the End of Violence in Inner-City America" is a must-read (well, maybe a you-really-ought-to-read) around Durham City Hall and police headquarters these days.
After Durham saw its 26th homicide of 2011 in December, Mayor Bill Bell said the number was "unacceptable" and called for Police Chief Jose Lopez to take "a different direction" to prevent violent crime.
City Manager Tom Bonfield read "Don't Shoot," bought copies for City Council members, and mentioned it to Lopez, who got two copies for his own staff.
Published in October, "Don't Shoot" was written by David M. Kennedy, director of the Center for Crime Prevention and Control at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. It chronicles Kennedy's firsthand research into gang culture, its neighborhoods and police tactics, and lays out his ideas to cut youth violence.
Those ideas have been tested, with positive results, in several cities, including Raleigh and High Point.
Political Trails
U.S. Rep. David Price is scheduled to speak to the Wake Democratic Men's Club on Monday at the Clarion Hotel, 320 Hillsborough St., in downtown Raleigh. Doors open at 6 p.m., with a plated dinner served at 6:30 p.m. and the program starting at 7 p.m. RSVP for dinner to wakedemmen@wakedems.org no later than 10 a.m. Monday.
