Charles Carpenter Meeker
Mayoral incumbent
Age: 59
Address: 324 South Boylan Avenue
Hometown: I was born in Washington DC in 1950.
How long Have you lived in Raleigh?
I’ve lived here full-time since the summer of 1975, after I finished law school. I was here with summer jobs in 1970, 1972 and 1974. I didn’t live here full time until the end of May, 1975
What brought you to Raleigh?
Raleigh was a friendly fairly small town where I had had summer jobs during college and law school, so I had friends here. Raleigh is also fairly near the coast.
In two to three sentences, please share something that you believe the City of Raleigh does well.
The City of Raleigh has a high quality of life at a moderate price. City government is one of the key factors in achieving those goals.
In two to three sentences, please share one thing that you believe the City of Raleigh could improve upon or change.
Well, the city needs to do a lot better job with public transportation. Both bus and train service – we’re now a mid-sized city and we just don’t have adequate public transportation.
In two to three sentences, please share your position regarding public transit in the City of Raleigh.
Well, I think that the city voters and the county voters should be given the opportunity to vote on the regional transit plan that has been formulated by the metropolitan planning organization for this area. And hopefully, there will be a bid to authorizing a referendum that will pass the General Assembly this summer. So, I think we can move ahead on public transit through the plan that is being prepared.
In two to three sentences, please share your position regarding growth management in the City of Raleigh.
The city needs to try to adopt, through the new comprehensive plan, the strategies that will allow for more urban-scale growth and less of growth out at the fringes of our city. That’s a major challenge for us, and it’s change we need to make.
In two to three sentences, please share your position regarding crime control in the City of Raleigh.
Well, while the city has a fairly low crime rate we still have a number of bad crimes, primarily involving handguns. In addition to local enforcement, the state and federal laws simply need to be changed to have serious controls on the sale and possession of handguns in cities.
Now, we would like to hear your position on two issues that were not previously mentioned, but that you think are important to the voters in the City of Raleigh. You tell us the issue and then give us two to three sentences about your position on the issue.
Well the first would be Dorothea Dix Park. That should become a destination park for this area of the state. I hope that the city council can work with the state after its budget is adopted to go ahead and make that designation and get the master planning started.
Secondly we need to go ahead and get the greenway from Falls Lake Dam to the Johnston County line built. That’s currently being planned, but additional funding is required. That’s a major project that will benefit the whole area as well.
What would you say is your guilty pleasure?
Well, I don’t know how guilty it is but my wife and I do enjoy going out to restaurants here in the city at night. There are dozens and dozens of very interesting places, particularly independent restaurants and we go out if we’re going. I’m not sure that’s guilty, but it’s about the best I can do.
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