Three candidates are on the ballot for the mayoral race — Nancy McFarlane, Billie Redmond and Randall Williams.
The first to announce a run for the mayoral position, Nancy McFarlane is a city councilor and registered Independent. Current Raleigh mayor Charles Meeker officially endorsed McFarlane Oct. 3. Meeker is stepping down from the position after 10 years at the helm.
Redmond, a Republican, is the owner and CEO of Coldwell Banker Commercial Trademark Properties and was the second person to announce her run.
The last to enter the race was Randall Williams, a Republican and doctor of obstetrics and gynecology.
A total of five districts make up the council, all of which are up for grabs.
Thomas Crowder of District D, which encompasses land surrounding campus, is running unopposed this election cycle.
Crowder has been at the helm of District D since 2003. Although he does not control activity on the campus itself, he helps make decisions and carries favor over areas directly adjacent.
Hillsborough Street and Western Boulevard fall under Crowder’s jurisdiction, along with the remainder of the Southwest corner of the city.
“[District D] is basically the Southwest quadrant of the city, and N.C . State takes up a big geographic area of that,” Crowder said.
Decisions relating to construction on Hillsborough Street, through public funding such as municipal bonds, fall under Crowder’s district. On August 2, the city council voted unanimously to put a bond referendum on the ballot for Tuesday, according to the City of Raleigh Website.
Part of that referendum, which is “roughly a $70 million bond,” is $1 million that would go toward Hillsborough Street, according to Crowder.
“Part of that bond is $1 million to continue the next phase of design work so that we will have a budget to put together for funding the second phase of Hillsborough Street,” Crowder said. “[The money] is for design and planning.”
Crowder outlined which section of Hillsborough Street design work would be applied to.
“We are looking to continue on toward Faircloth [Street], extending those improvements we have made between Oberlin [Road] and Gardner Street,” Crowder said.
Improvements have been made to Western Boulevard during Crowder’s tenure as well.
“We did quite a few improvements to Western Boulevard several years ago that was part of an upgrade with multipurpose paths and landscaping projects,” Crowder said.
The referendum contains two bonds — $40 million for transportation and $16 million in housing bonds totaling $56 million. Hillsborough funds come from the transportation bond.
If both are passed, funds will be drawn from property-owning taxpayers. A homeowner’s whose property is worth $188,139 would pay an additional $17.11 annually, according to the City of Raleigh website. $188, 139 is the “median-priced assessment for Raleigh homes.”
It could not be readily determined why Crowder valued the bonds at “roughly” $70 million, but the City of Raleigh said they would bring in $56 million.
Crawford said that in his next term he will be working on a partnership the University has fostered with the city to help provide a “branding initiative.”
“We will have a branding and economic development initiative that we have actually partnered with N.C . State’s College of Design, Management and Humanities. We are looking at branding the assets of Southwest Raleigh,” Crawford said. “In fact, we have staked out claim as the capital city’s creative district, and we will be focusing on the communities, the recreation, education, arts, technology, innovation and entertainment that takes place in Southwest Raleigh.”
The process will take two years, Crawford said.
The most highly contested district is District C — Southeast Raleigh. Five candidates are vying for the position, whereas districts B, D and E have candidates running without opposition.
Corey Branch is in the running for District C. He said he opposed raising property taxes, which would fund the bond referendum.
“On a local level, we need to make sure our property taxes are spent wisely,” Branch said. “At this time, we see no reason to go up on our property taxes.”
However, Branch saw the need to improve the city transportation system.
“We want to work with our public transportation to service areas that have grown outside of what would commonly be referred to as the Raleigh city limits,” Branch said. “Transportation is definitely one of the major issues here in this community.”
Gale Wilkins, who is running against one challenger for District A — North Raleigh, agreed with Branch’s sentiment.
Wilkins said she had three main goals she wants to focus on if elected: job creation, public safety and transportation.
“We want to make sure we have an efficient CAT bus system, and that’s one of the areas I plan to work on extensively whenever I am elected. In order to have continued economic growth in a great city like Raleigh, we need to have an efficient public transportation system,” Wilkins said.
