It appears that whatever plagued Mayors Meeker and McFarlane will continue with our current Mayor Baldwin.
Case in point - a new hotel for Downtown Raleigh.
"The report notes the City Council and Wake County Board of Commissioners approved $30 million in hospitality tax money for the convention center last year to help develop the hotel."
The same Raleigh City Council members and Wake County Commissioners would readily tell you we have a affordable housing crisis in Raleigh/Wake County. But they just spent $30 million to help develop a hotel in Downtown Raleigh.
The same article notes:
"The recommendation says having a convention center headquarters hotel and tower with on-site, underground parking would help serve millions of annual visitors to downtown, increase residential and retail space downtown and help recruit a major anchor tenant."
We already have a convention center headquarters hotel downtown. It's the Raleigh Marriott City Center. And guess what? When constructed it received $20 million in taxpayer funding. It even has a tunnel running underneath Salisbury Street connecting it with the convention center.
"When the Raleigh Marriott City Center was built, for example, the hotel's developer received a $20 million contribution from the county's hotel/motel/prepared food tax in exchange for a promise to hold at least 80 percent of the hotel rooms open for bookings attached to the convention center. Most of the tax funds were used to build the hotel’s meeting rooms and connector spaces to the convention center tunnel."
So now we are at $50 million in subsidies for downtown Raleigh hotels funded every time a poor family takes their children to McDonalds to play on the playground for entertainment. Yes, those poor people paid the $50 million every time they went out to eat.
Now John Kane wants $286 million in public funds for a private development project just down the street.
As a point in comparison, guess who's not getting public money - Crabtree Valley Mall.
This project will include retail, office space and a hotel - and no public assistance.
These goodies only go to downtown. Raleigh's elite has poured hundreds of millions of public dollars into downtown.
That's a lot of affordable housing, roads fixed, police officers paid, etc.
