The proposed public safety center finally got to a vote Tuesday after months of debate. The Raleigh City Council voted against moving ahead with the $205-million project in a 4-4 vote.<\/p>\n
Until council can reach a majority on the issue, spending on the project will come to a halt at a time when the council acknowledges a prime lending atmosphere. <\/p>\n
Mayor Charles Meeker, Mary-Ann Baldwin (at-large), James West (District C) and Nancy McFarlane (District A) all voted in favor of the Lightner Center, with Russ Stephenson (at-large), Bonner Gaylord (District E), Thomas Crowder (District D) and John Odom (District B) voting against.<\/p>\n
“It is time to move forward on this,” said Mayor Charles Meeker, who pushed for the vote.<\/p>\n
At the last two council sessions Stephenson, Gaylord and Crowder outlined a new plan that would involve splitting up the safety center in different locations as opposed to the current, centralized location on Raleigh’s historic Nash Square. Council will have to reach a majority on either plan to move forward.<\/p>\n
“If you had concerns, you should have brought them up years ago,” said Baldwin.<\/p>\n
The Lightner Center as proposed would require less than a half percent tax increase in 2011, Meeker said during the debate Tuesday. <\/p>\n
Stephenson asked city staff to determine how much could be borrowed without the increase.<\/p>\n
Gaylord said council needs to “determine how much we can spend, and then go fund those priorities.” Earlier, he had made a point that the city was over-prioritizing the center and ignoring other projects.<\/p>\n
During the discussion, Stephenson motioned for council to “borrow the money now, put it in the bank and accrue interest,” but was quickly withdrawn.<\/p>\n
“If we’re not going to do this comprehensively, I think we need to take a step back,” said James West, calling the motion “reactionary.”<\/p>\n
The safety of the center, which includes a publicly accessible area on the first floor, has been at the forefront of the debate. City Manager Russel Allen used other cities as pro-Lightner examples, noting other high-rise style safety centers, including one being constructed in New York City. <\/p>\n
Stephenson said he had also researched other cities and specifically said that New York was “decentralizing” its emergency centers since the September 11 terrorist attack. <\/p>\n
Currently, police and fire operations are scattered in temporary locations around the city. “Our police are in a building that was built to house city hall,” McFarlane said. James West called the center “a vote of confidence to our public safety department.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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