As Raleigh’s new mayor, Janet Cowell returns to a City Council that’s very different | Opinion

Raleigh Mayor-elect Janet Cowell is about to have a Rip Van Winkle moment.

Like the figure of lore who fell asleep for 20 years, Cowell is coming back to the Raleigh City Council two decades after she served there from 2001 to 2004.

Twenty years ago, Cowell was the only woman on the council and political control was in the hands of mostly middle-aged white men. Now, the seven-member council she will join on Dec. 2 will have four female members, three Black members and one white man.

“You just look at the makeup of the current council, and you look at the makeup of the senior city leadership. It’s just dramatically different 20 years later,” she said.

The city, too, is transformed. Twenty years ago, Raleigh had a population of 332,000. Now it’s nearing 500,000. Physically, the city also expanded with no more room to grow outward.

More people and less open land have created upward pressure on housing costs, higher taxes and greater concerns about traffic, crime and quality of life.

Cowell has watched these changes. After leaving the council, she went on to serve as a state senator, state treasurer and, most recently, president of the Dix Park Conservancy.

At 56, she will bring her wealth of experience to the job of leading the capital city. She knows how to work with the state legislature and understands public financing. She also, through her work raising money for Dix Park, knows how to engage businesses, foundations and individuals to support public projects.

The city government has its powers, but ultimately its success will rely on working in common with Wake County, other municipalities, the legislature and the private sector, she said.

“The things that are within your direct control are only going to get you so far. The city has to have a posture of partnership as we go about our business,” she said.

Cowell is impressed with the returning council members. “You get the sense that these are honest people doing it for all the right reasons – and that’s not to be taken for granted. It’s a city that broadly has been managed well,” she said.

The council will continue to wrestle with how to manage the city’s rapid growth. Much of that effort will be in approving a new comprehensive plan. Cowell’s experience and this year’s election of former city planner Mitchell Silver to the council make it well-equipped for that work.

In recent years, the emphasis has shifted from growing outward to growing more densely.

“I think by and large every candidate in every race for City Council acknowledged that we will grow and it’s a matter of how,” Cowell said. “We know we are running out of land on the perimeter because all these other municipalities are maxing out, too. That means we are going to have to redevelop.”

Redevelopment, she said, means converting some dormant public land to better uses and replacing strip malls with mixed-use developments. There will be resistance to change, she said, but most people will welcome it if it brings attractive architecture, walkability and more green space and trees. “There are amenities that make this growth feel like a good thing,” she said.

An early priority will be streaming public hearings and improving communications with the public at large.

“We’ve all said we know there are voices that are underrepresented in the city – renters, young people, lower-income people, who may be working a couple of jobs,” she said. “How do we enable those folks to have a strong voice in city government?”

As Cowell takes office, there are two new concerns. Taxpayers may be reaching their limit on approving more spending. Cowell noted that Cary voters just rejected bonds for parks and affordable housing. Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s return to the White House might reduce federal support for housing, mass transit and infrastructure projects.

Fortunately, Cowell returns to the council with added skills and a broader perspective to lead the city through what will likely be challenging years ahead.

Also see: Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin looks back on her five years as mayor.