Raleigh council, and tradition

Mayor Nancy McFarlane just won a fourth term as Raleigh’s chief executive, which would seem to affirm the belief of citizens that she’s done a good job in her three terms. But a majority of members on the Raleigh City Council – including some supported by the mayor in their political careers – used their first meeting as a group to give McFarlane a public setback.

Russ Stephenson, a veteran council member long supported by McFarlane, proposed to set council committee assignments. Thanks to a sudden absence by council member Corey Branch, Stephenson was able to get his assignment ideas passed instead of McFarlane’s. That’s a break with tradition that goes back over generations of mayors.

Stephenson aligned with a council segment typically more cautious about growth. McFarlane, council member Dickie Thompson and newcomer Nicole Stewart voted against Stephenson’s group, supporting the tradition of a mayor’s right to form committees.

This mayor has worked with a number of contentious issues and a multitude of council members over a decade, as did her predecessor, Charles Meeker, and she has had some successes, Dix Park most notable among them.

To his credit, some days after the vote, Stephenson in a meeting with News & Observer editors and reporters said he believed all parties could have handled the issue better, and that it might be constructive to revisit the assignments. The city’s tradition of a city council that has, thanks to its ability to focus behind a mayor’s leadership and unite, gotten a lot of good things done for Raleigh over the last decade must be preserved.

This story was originally published December 8, 2017 at 1:34 PM with the headline "Raleigh council, and tradition."