Good at-large choices for the Raleigh council
The News & Observer is endorsing three candidates for two seats in the at-large race for Raleigh City Council. We normally like to make the same choice voters have to make, but in this race, there is one long-time incumbent and two outstanding new candidates. As always, our choices are based on interviews with candidates, but voters of course make their own final decisions based on the issues most important to them.
At-large members of the Raleigh City Council have to have broad vision and strong constitutions, for they’ll spend a lot of time traveling around the Capital City. Like the mayor, these council members are elected citywide, not in districts. Their responsibilities in terms of constituent service, and in the understanding of issues, require them to devote themselves to the “big picture” and to guide discussions of issues beyond district lines in council meetings.
In some ways, this race, in which two candidates will take the at-large seats, is a sign of things to come in terms of Raleigh’s governance. Younger candidates relatively new to local politics are seeking to take the torch from long-serving veterans. Mary-Ann Baldwin, a five-term incumbent, chose not to seek re-election. Russ Stephenson, 62, first elected to the other at-large seat in 2005, is running again, but he’ll be strongly challenged by two strong candidates.
Stephenson, an architect, has in our view earned another term. His incumbency and his experience is of value given the complex issues of affordable housing, growth, financial inequity and protection of natural resources, all subjects on which he is well-versed. His record on those issues is progressive. Affable and devoted to Raleigh, which he views as his home town after life as an Army kid (his family goes back four generations here), Stephenson has the knowledge to help him put issues of all types into context.
Attorney Stacy Miller, 52, is a Raleigh native and 20 years ago was appointed to fill a council term of Eric Reeves, who had been elected to the state Senate. Energetic and thoughtful, Miller has focused his campaign on mixed-income housing, incentives for locally-grown businesses and public safety, among other issues. His familiarity with the city is broad and his enthusiasm is intense. Miller also has the virtue of being in the next generation of the city’s leadership while also having had a measure of experience on the council he wants to join. He is articulate and intense, but seems to be a good listener, perhaps the most important quality for an at-large council member.
Nicole Stewart, 36, is an unapologetic do-gooder, directing development for the N.C. Conservation Network, a nonprofit focused on environmental issues. She also co-founded the Beehive Collective, another nonprofit that raises funds for still other nonprofits, in particular those that help women, others in need of affordable housing and those who need health care. Having devoted herself to good works, Stewart now seeks to bring her energy to government, and she would be an outstanding addition to the council. She would help Raleigh, as she puts it, “be a leader on issues that matter.” She shares with other candidates priorities of solving the affordable housing shortage and maintaining a quality of life sustained by good environmental protection and better transit.
Other candidates in this race have worked hard and earned the appreciation of citizens for their willingness to get in the sometimes tough world of local politics. They are: Shelia Alamin-Khashoggi, Robert Axtell, Zainab Baloch and Robert Ward.
That we have offered three choices instead of two reflects a strong and diverse field from which voters can choose and the importance of fresh ideas. That is a good problem to have.
This story was originally published September 17, 2017 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Good at-large choices for the Raleigh council."