RALEIGH – It’s become somewhat of a cliché within North Carolina political circles to cite politics in Cary as exemplifying local conflicts over growth and development.
Ok, sue me for cliché-mongering: local elections for mayor and city council in Cary next week promise to offer insights into public sentiment on growth and development.
Like many native or longtime North Carolinians, I remember when Cary was a town. Now it’s a city. Living in a wedge of unincorporated Wake County bordered by Raleigh, Garner, and Cary, I spend a fair amount of time in the latter – shopping, recreating, going to church, and taking my kids to dance classes, among other things. I talk to lots of Cary residents. Many ain’t exactly from around here (though neither am I, being a native Mecklenburger and thus considered a Yankee in certain parts of the Tar Heel State).
As is true in many fast-growing Carolina communities, lots of folks in Cary are conflicted about growth issues. Quite a few just arrived in the past few years. They work for expanding companies whose new hires are creating the demand for new homes, stores, restaurants, parks, and other amenities. They know that Cary’s growth has been to their benefit. At the same time, they worry that more growth will lengthen their commutes and tax scarce public resources.
The two contestants for mayor, incumbent Ernie McAlister and former councilman Harold Weinbrecht, recognize this tension and try not to be seen simply as pro-growth and anti-growth candidates, respectively. But their specific policy prescriptions and the rhetoric of their supporters have more-or-less created that dichotomy. Those who pine for the days of Mayor Glen Lang, who imposed an Adequate Public Facilities ordinance and other growth controls, think that Weinbrecht will return them to the Promised Land. Lang’s opponents – of whom there were many, and not just among the ranks of Realtors and homebuilders – also think that Weinbrecht will push the replay button if he wins the race, so they’ll backing McAlister.
For those wanting to read up more on the race, I recommend a series of columns in The Cary News by the two candidates themselves as well as passionate supporters of each man. The columns reveal major differences of opinion on particular matters – impact fees, bonded debt, transportation, and education (yep, even though it’s a mayoral race) – as well as clear differences in style and rhetoric. The McAlister faction thinks Cary is a story of success that needs preserving. The Weinbrecht faction thinks Cary is a story of excess that needs pruning.
Which faction is the most motivated to get out and vote? We’ll find out next Tuesday.
Hood is president of the John Locke Foundation.