Perry James talks to reporters after Thursday’s announcement. Photo by Charles C. Duncan Pardo.

Raleigh City Councilors Thursday appointed the city’s Chief Financial Officer Perry James to serve as interim CEO after Russell Allen leaves the post at the end of June.

Councilors decided last month not to renew Allen’s contract, in a move that surprised many in the city.

James has been with the city since 1982, taking over the head of the finance department in 1995. He would not comment on whether it not he would apply for the permanent city manager position.

He said this a “transition period.” Perry said he plans “keep all the good things going in Raleigh going in the same direction.”

Councilors said previously they hope to start a search for the permanent city manager this summer, a process that could take several months.

Read an interview with outgoing City Manager Russell Allen.Similar Posts:

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Her term began with layoffs aimed at keeping the college afloat in the aftermath of the economic recession. Then, the board of trustees voted to allow men as undergraduates in the college and, within months, they also changed the name of the 150-year-old university to better reflect its baccalaureate and dual-gender status.

In 2012, Townsley welcomed the first men to campus, one third of the college’s second largest incoming class ever. She and the board began to plan new facilities and a master plan for the campus’s future.

In recent weeks, the college put its hat in the ring for the bankrupt Seaboard Station retail center. Townsley says it’s an attempt to bolster the college’s real estate holdings, but neighbors and tenants fear the center’s future with Peace as an owner. They issued a letter May 21 asking Peace to withdraw its bid for the property.

Debra Townsley. Photo provided by William Peace University.

Townsley’s administration has been criticized for its lack of transparency in making big decisions, like the name change and the bid for Seaboard. But she opened up one recent day for Q&A with the Raleigh Public Record. Below, Townsley shares her thoughts on the college’s recent successes, its future plans and, of course, the drama over Seaboard.

Record: Have you found it difficult to balance the college’s history with its future?

Townsley: I have not. The college was chartered in 1857 and the Civil War happened in Raleigh and it became a hospital. Then they boarded up the windows—students say there are still ghosts on the third and fourth floors. Then it became the Freedmen’s Bureau and when that closed, classes began in the 1870s.

It was K-8 coed and then it had a boarding high school and junior college. It dropped the primary grades, and then high school then junior college, and is now a four-year institution. So, over the years, you can see the kinds of changes. I believe that any organization that doesn’t change in its 150-year history probably isn’t in existence and we’ve been around 150-plus years because we’ve done a great job of keeping up with the times. So I believe what has happened in the last couple years is not at all inconsistent with Peace’s history and we plan to be around another 150 years.

Record: How was year one with undergraduate men on campus?

Townsley: We had the second largest incoming group of students in the college’s history, 310 new students. One-third were men, which exceeded the national average conversion rate of 24 percent. First- and second-year retention of returning women went up by 10 percent and the number of returning women that wanted to live on campus went up by 12 percent. Overall, as I’ve said to trustees, the decision was in line with what students were hoping for. Those kinds of numbers are indicative of what students want.

Record: How has your recruiting strategy changed in recent years?

Townsley: We’ve increased the number of admission counselors and expanded the territory for where we go recruiting. We dropped our price by about 8 percent this last fall to bring us more in the range competitively that we thought we should be. We kept our institutional financial aid as it was. And then we’re holding it steady for this coming year. We think we’re now an amazing value for what students get at Peace.

Record: How is the School of Professional Studies working so far? Is it helping to overcome the budget shortfalls of years past, as planned?

Townsley: Enrollment has gone up something like 60 percent. It’s increased phenomenally. Students can now earn a degree either in the evenings, online and/or through our Saturday program. We have degrees in business, psychology and liberal studies in the evening program. And on Saturdays, students can also come back and earn a teaching certificate.

It expands operational time because this expands the use of facilities in the evening. The other thing it’s done is give people access to an affordable private school degree at Peace, which they otherwise might not have the opportunity to do. Students will find we are the least expensive, besides one school.

Record: Digital education has been a focus at Peace. Can you talk about future plans to incorporate online learning or other next-generation learning platforms?

Townsley: We’re looking at MOOCs (massive open online courses). We’re doing some experimenting with “flipping” in the classroom, where your lectures are online and the classroom is focused on the problem-solving discussion. Our political science program is quite innovative. The faculty member in the program and students do four practicum experiences in the field so they can go out and see what they like and don’t like about political science to help them in selecting the direction they want to go. Those are the kinds of things that are innovative and will serve the students well.

Record: Explain some of the growth goals and plans, and how you came to those?

Townsley: We will be doing a master plan this coming academic year. That’s in our strategy. Obviously, it’ll be different if we have different property or not. We are looking at other property (off-campus) for athletic fields and we have enough land to build two or three residence halls on the back part of campus.

We just redid our athletic center and it looks fantastic. We’re in the process of building out space for a bookstore. Then, we are going to update our dining hall.

Our enrollments are growing and we believe that part of that is updating the facilities as necessary. We had to redo the athletic center because we needed men’s locker rooms. That’s where we started this. And we also redid the women’s locker rooms and all mechanical. It hadn’t been redone since it was built in the early 1960s. That helps recruit, because you can’t recruit if you don’t have an up-to-date facility. What we do will meet students needs and/or wants.

Record: What about parking?

Townsley: We are talking about parking possibilities. We have lots on Halifax and a lot on Blount Street, so we’re looking at various alternatives and that will be part of our master planning process this fall.

Record: What financial flexibility do you have in tackling the growth plans?

Townsley: We did take out $6 million in new bonds this spring for the athletic facility. The dining hall and bookstore projects are included in that. The residence halls would be the next step and that would be a separate loan we’d look at.

Record: What colleges have served as models for what you’d like Peace to look like in five or 10 years? How does Seaboard fit into that?

Townsley: McQuire Associates, the higher ed consultant, has coined the term “campus beyond gates.” What schools that have done this have recognized is you can’t just have retail for our students. You really need the local community to support the retail as well because students are gone over holidays and summers. Wake Forest University has Reynolda Village for some quite time. Mary Washington University up in Virginia has one and the University of Central Florida opened a big one, Knights Plaza. Students want to know there are restaurants or places they can run an errand. Families when they come for homecoming or to visit a child want to go out to dinner somewhere and having it nearby is just ideal. We have students that work at Seaboard Station at various businesses.

Record: Why is it important for the university to own it?

Townsley: I’m not sure we’re going to own it. But I do think that we have 150 years in our location and we do plan on being there another 150-plus years so its extremely important to the university to know that the surrounding community is a good place for students to come and offers students the kind of amenities that retail space and restaurants do offer. We have a long-term vested interest in our location and in downtown Raleigh and there aren’t many that can say they have 150 years.

Record: Should that alleviate concerns about Peace owning it?

Townsley: I’ve said that to people, and some believe it and some don’t. If we own it, we think we’ll show over time that we’re good stewards of the neighborhood.

Record: What have been your biggest challenges since stepping in as president in 2010?

Townsley: These jobs are fairly similar in that we have a responsibility to have the school provide a high quality academic program with fantastic living arrangements for students and with co-curricular offerings that support their interests and learning. That’s the challenge of the job. So that’s where a lot of our time goes. But it also goes in fundraising and budgeting. A big challenge was coming in 2010 in a heavy recession that posed challenges for all businesses and colleges and families and everybody working within that recession and we’re still not fully out of it, I don’t think. How you do business in that kind of environment and work through it. That’s one of the reasons we dropped our prices for families.

Record: What about laying off professors? That had to be difficult.

Townsley: That’s the hardest part of a job is if you ever have to do that. You’re affecting people’s lives, and you’re well aware you’re doing that and certainly that’s nothing anybody wants to have to do.

Record: Have you brought back any of those positions?

No, but we have created new positions, a couple of those in new areas. For example, we just started a simulation and game design program. So we’ll be in the process of looking for a professor in that program. We’ve announced a criminal justice program and we’re in the processing of looking for a professor for that.

Record: Your administration has been criticized for its lack of transparency and collaboration with the public, both with the name change and recently with the Seaboard Station issue. Do you have a response to the criticism? Or, any plans to be more transparent in the future?

Townsley: Decisions like that are made by a board of trustees and it’s the administration’s job to carry out what the board has decided the direction of the school should be. I think on certain issues, yes, we should be more transparent. But I think that’s a really hard term to define. What may be transparent to one person is not transparent to another or what’s important to one person, someone else may never care about. It’s hard to draw those kinds of lines between what’s transparent and what’s not.

Certainly we have a strong publicity program. We send out press releases all the time and have gotten engaged in the local communities in recent years. We have been at community meetings. They’ve invited us to come talk about what we’re doing. We have hosted Oakwood Christmas tour on our campus. We run an Easter egg roll and Santa story hour. The North Carolina Symphony and Manning series come three times a year and is free and open to the public. New musical and theater programs we invite people to. We’ve been working hard to be good neighbors to the community.

Alumnae and students protest outside what was then Peace College in September 2011. Protesters said they were not upset about the name or other changes, but about the lack of information given to those affected in advance.

Record: Any response to the letter you received Tuesday from the neighborhood CACs to withdraw your bid for the property?

Townsley: No. We haven’t written a response. We’ve been here 150 years and it’s important to us what happens in the community because we plan on being there 150 years.

Record: What are you most excited about for Peace’s future?

Townsley: Our academic programs are very strong and the faculty have done a great job of implementing new programs that serve the students really well and we know that by looking at our outcomes. Over 90 percent of our grads are in jobs or grad school within one year of graduation. That’s an amazing statistic. … I think it’s just exciting to be in downtown Raleigh—I believe we have one of the best locations to go to college in the country. To see the growth that Raleigh is experiencing and know we are part of that and we’re also growing is really exciting.

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As part of a deal to build a mixed-use development on Charles Drive near Crabtree mall, the developer offered to build the pedestrian bridge to span one of the busiest sections of road in the city, Glenwood Avenue just north of the I-440 intersection.

Councilors delayed a vote at their last meeting to allow for more community input. Councilor Randy Stagner reported the results of the Midtown CAC, where an informal vote supported the project.

Stagner cited neighbor concerns that the development would add a seven-second delay to the already-packed Glenwood Avenue intersection.

“The greater problem with the intersection is much more comprehensive,” he said. “Everything in the Crabtree area needs to be looked at with a more systematic approach to that problem. It’s not going to be cheap and not everyone is going to be happy overnight, but this is something these residents look forward to and deserve.”

Mayor Nancy McFarlane added that the thought of adding even more retail space to the Crabtree area was disconcerting, especially considering what she called the current “traffic snarl.”

Councilor Russ Stephenson emphasized that neighbors in the area believe a pedestrian bridge would be a significant convenience to them. The proposed plan would ideally mitigate the impact of the added retail, he said, and move the area in a better direction in terms of transportation alternatives.

He added that there is nothing this project can do to solve current traffic problems and that it will be up to the Council to continue this discussion.

Amendment to Customer Water Leak Billing
An amendment to the current leak adjustment policy will take some of the burden off utility customers with high water and sewer bills due to faulty plumbing. The implementation of residential tiered rates means that toilet leaks can increase a customer’s usage to the second or third tiers, leading to significantly higher water bills.

The revised policy will give staff the flexibility to adjust a residential rate back to the lowest tier for the amount above the customer’s monthly average.

The bill adjustments for leaks will be limited to once every two years and the customer’s account must be in good standing.

City Receives Loan from Clean Water State Fund
Councilors also voted to adopt a resolution to accept a revolving loan of more that $27 million from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. The money will go toward phase three of a five-phase plan to increase capacity at the Neuse River Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The five-phase plan began in 2010 and will be complete in 2018. The average residential customer rate could see an increase to repay the loan, but the exact amount has yet to be determined.

City Applies for Another Federal Grant for Union Station
City staff plans to apply for the next round of funding from the federal “Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery” (TIGER) grant program. A previous TIGER IV grant award of $21 million funded the Phase I improvements to Raleigh Union Station.

The TIGER V grant would help pay for the station, site, rail and street improvements such as grade separated entries in the site, rail bridges, track work and site improvements to the renovation of the Dillon Viaduct Building.

These grants require a 20-percent local match and the staff proposes to meet this requirement with funds already budget for the project.Similar Posts:

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The $705.2 million budget is an almost 5 percent increase from the current budget and is the first time that a city budget exceeds $700 million. While the budget doesn’t increase property taxes, it does increase the sewer fees. The average resident will see an increase of $3.74 added to his or her water and sewer bill.

The fee increase will amount to $13.9 million for the public utilities fund. Public utilities is considered an enterprise fund, which means it isn’t subsidized with money from the general operating budget.

The five-year Capital Improvement Program comes in at $664.7 million, with $148.6 million allocated for the next fiscal year.

More than half of the total Capital Improvement funding — $417.3 million — will be used to maintain and improve the city’s water and wastewater infrastructure.

The program also includes funding for transportation projects from a bond that was approved by voters in 2011.

Graphic by City of Raleigh.

Good News for Employees
The budget also includes a 3 percent merit raise for city employees and some new hires. More than 70 positions were eliminated between 2009 and 2012. The proposed budget adds back 40 new positions, most of which are in the Parks and Recreation Department.

The 911 call center will get four new operators and one administrative analyst. Two deputy fire marshals will be hired, but no additional firefighters or police officers will be added under the proposal.

Allen told the Record that although new fire stations are being constructed, it is unlikely that they will be completed during the next fiscal year. Also, it is possible that the stations could be staffed using existing firefighters.

About $3 million will go toward upgrading protective breathing equipment for firefighters.

As for police officers, “Given some of the other public safety investments and limited budget resources and the high cost of a police officer, we just could not work any meaningful number of positions in the budget,” Allen wrote in a follow-up email to the Record. “I tried to focus more on pay and benefits.”

Increasing Revenues
The city’s revenue comes mainly from property taxes, water and sewer charges, interests and fees and sales tax.

Property tax revenue is projected to increase almost 2 percent and vehicle taxes projected at 8 percent. Sales taxes are also on the way up and staff projected a revenue increase of $2.9 million from the current budget.

Allen said 16 major private projects went into the ground this year, totaling about $646 million in investment. About $140 million of that was in the downtown area.

Deferred Maintenance Coming Due
The city has been playing catch up with deferred maintenance since the economy began to turn around in fiscal year 2012. The budget includes $24.1 million for equipment replacement with about 42 percent of those costs — $10.1 million — going toward solid waste vehicles and equipment.

What the budget doesn’t fully cover is the maintenance of city infrastructure and more than $164 million in unfunded non-transportation projects.

“We don’t have the funds to do all the things that are needed,” Allen told the Council.

Public Input
Residents can get a copy of the proposed budget in the City Clerk’s office, or it can be found online.

A public hearing on the budget will take place at 7 p.m. June 4 at City Hall.

The Council will have weekly budget work sessions throughout the month of June until the budget is adopted. The budget must be adopted by the start of the next fiscal year July 1.Similar Posts:

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County Manager David Cooke Monday proposed a $982.8 million spending plan, a 4.7 percent increase from the current budget.

The property tax rate of 53.4 cents will remain the same. The 2013-14 fiscal year begins July 1. Learn more about the 2013-14 county budget.

Image provided by Wake County.

The county experienced an increase in sales and property taxes, income from more people moving into the county and more people spending money as the recession slowly recedes.

Property tax revenue has increased 2.7 percent, which Cooke said will generate about $20 million for the county.

Changes in how vehicle tax revenues are collected with add an additional $12.5 million, but it will come as a one-time payment.

“This is the third year in a row that we are seeing increases in sales tax revenue,” Cooke said. Sales tax revenue is expected to grow 6 percent this year and county officials are looking at an increase of 3 percent for next fiscal year, for a possible $11.3 million.

The spending plan increased funding in some departments that underwent cuts during the recession.

Overall, 76 new positions have been added to the budget. Despite that, Cooke said there are 136 less positions from last year because the county is no longer managing behavioral health care services.

“The recommended budget includes a 2.75 percent performance-based pay increase for employees,” Cooke said.

The cost of employee health care continues to increase, but Cooke said staff doesn’t anticipate additional costs for the county or employee premiums this year. An additional $1.2 million was included for retiree healthcare costs.

Commissioners are expected to adopt the budget at their June 17 meeting and will review the document more closely at a June 10 budget work session.

School Funding
Wake County Public Schools will get $327.5 million, which is $9.2 million more than the current budget.

Wake residents will also vote on a $939.9 million school bond that, if approved, will fund capital projects throughout the district. The bond will fund the construction of 16 new schools and renovations for six existing schools. The money would also be spent on technology and security initiatives.

Wake Tech will not see an increase in funding and its budget allocation remains the same at $16.2 million.

Libraries

• Library hours were cut in 2010 to avoid closures.
• Hours for most of the libraries will be back to what they were prior to the change.
• About five staff positions will also be added.

Sheriff’s Office

• 20 new detention officers for five additional posts at the Hammond Road Detention Center.
• Hourly wage increase for 12-hour-shift officers.
• School Resource Officer at Rolesville Middle School.

EMS

• New ambulances.
• 18 full-time positions, plus one additional trainer and supervisor.
• $3.5 million increase (11.7 percent).

City-County Bureau of Identification (Crime Lab)

• Funding for supplies and materials to meet standards for International Organization for Standardization accreditation.
• Covert two part-time fingerprint examiners to full time.

Human Services

• Temporary personnel and overtime for existing staff for coverting 79,000 paper case files to a digital system.
• Six new staff members for Child Support Enforcement and one for Adult Guardianship program.
• Three positions to expand collaboration at WakeMed.

Environmental Services

• Budget increases by $470,000 (7 percent).
• One new employee to work with residents and agencies concerning contaminated wells and groundwater.
• Three new employees at the Wake County animal shelter.

Real Estate

• Three positions will be added back to the Register of Deeds Department. Four were cut during the recession.
• One new inspector for the inspections department.
• Three new positions and a business auditor will be added in the Revenue Department.

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In a four-three vote split along party lines, Wake County Commissioners Monday decided against partnering with the city to build a new public safety facility that would, among other things, house the County’s Emergency Operations Center.

Raleigh’s Critical Public Safety Facility will be the new headquarters of the 911 call center, emergency operations center, data center and traffic operations center. The 97,000-square-foot building is planned for city property on Brentwood Road and North Raleigh Boulevard.

The city invited the county to also locate its emergency operations center within the new facility.

The county’s contribution to the $68.9 million center would have been $4 million, with annual operating expenses coming in at between $53,000 and $79,000.

“We need something bigger and better,” Commissioner Phil Matthews said of the County’s current center, which is located in the County Courthouse basement.

But Matthews said he isn’t comfortable with Raleigh’s facility situation above ground.

Commissioner Paul Coble has been an outspoken opponent of the facility’s above-ground design since earlier this year, often bringing up his experience visiting New York City’s Emergency Operations Center prior to the Sept. 11 attacks. That center was destroyed along with the World Trade Center.

“I’m saddened that the City of Raleigh has taken such a harsh position that they won’t reconsider,” Coble said.

“I can see both sides of this issue,” said Commissioner Tony Gurley.

Ultimately, Gurley said it is best for the county to have its center below ground.

Commissioners agreed that co-location is the best option during an emergency so that all agencies could work together seamlessly, but they disagreed about whether they should move forward with Raleigh or build their own center.

Constructing a separate building will cost the county between $9 million and $11 million, not including the cost of land.

About 8 percent of the total cost — or about $850,000 — is associated with putting part of the building underground.

“We’re willing to spend 10 million to put [the Convention Center] underground so that the skyline looks nice,” Gurley said. “But we’re debating whether to spend $850,000 to put an essential public safety entity building underground.”

Current Center Needs
The current center doesn’t meet FEMA or ADA regulations. There are no bathrooms, running water, or areas for food storage and preparation. The building lacks a place for staff to sleep in the case of a prolonged emergency. The center also doesn’t have an independent and secured water source or filtered air supply.

Josh Creighton, the County’s emergency management director, said that the center has about 1,300 square feet of usable space and seating for about 30 people. In an emergency, more than 60 seats will be needed.

Plans for a joint county-city center offered 15,000 square feet of usable space, with 6,500 of that assigned to the county.

“Even though the county performs superbly during events, the facility limits our effectiveness,” Creighton said.

Commissioner Caroline Sullivan stressed that the current Emergency Operations Center isn’t cutting it.

She said there are only two options: staying in the current location, or kicking in $4 million to partner with the City.

“There is no third option in our budget,” she said.

The county does not have any money budgeted for its own project.

“We don’t have the resources to build a facility of our own, and the City of Raleigh is willing to bring their money to the table,” said Commissioner Betty Lou Ward.

Coble said while the county only has two options now, “We can create other choices based on what we think is more important.”

County Manager David Cooke said staff can start looking at county-owned properties that could be used for a standalone center. The planning phase could start within the next three to six months.

City Moving Forward
Assistant City Manager Daniel Howe said in an email to the Record that the city plans on going forward with the project without the county’s involvement because cost was never a factor in the partnership.

“Cost was not a reason the city supported the co-location, because the county’s participation did not make the building less expensive to city taxpayers,” Howe wrote.

“What this action does do is place an additional burden on county taxpayers (of which Raleigh residents make up almost half) to fund a standalone, redundant County EOC at an additional cost of $5 million to $8 million above the $4 million it would have cost to join in Raleigh’s project,” he wrote.

Howe said the City will go forward with the design that doesn’t include the county’s portion and the building will be smaller.

The big news last week at the General Assembly was crossover. May 16 was the deadline for bills to pass either the House or the Senate, or they die for the session. A couple important bills with direct impact on Raleigh made the crossover deadline.

Dix Lease Survives Crossover
The controversial bill aimed at revoking the Dorothea Dix property lease is one of the bills to survive last week’s crossover. It passed the Senate with 29 ayes and 21 noes and has since passed its first reading in the House. All of the senators who represent Wake County, Republicans and Democrats alike, voted against the bill. The fate of the 300-plus acre property in central Raleigh should be decided in the coming months.
Text of the bill’s third reading.

Nine Counties May Soon Be Responsible for School Construction, Maintenance
Just barely making the crossover is SB 236, which would, in short, make nine North Carolina counties responsible for the building and upkeep of their schools. These counties would consult local school boards on matters of design, expansion, renovation, and the like in constructing and maintaining schools. Passing 33 to 15, with two excused absences, the bill just barely made the crossover cutoff day.

Wake Democratic senators Dane Blue and Josh Stein voted against. Wake Republicans, such as primary sponsor Neal Hunt, voted for it.
Text of the bill’s third reading.

Bill Would to Limit City’s Ability to Control Zoning, Aesthetics
A bill proposed by the House could give cities less of a say in where buildings go up and how they look. HB 150, sponsored in part by Wake County Republican Nelson Dollar, would prevent local government from being too particular with the location and physical properties of many buildings. Historic sites are among the exceptions.

The bill passed the House 98 to 18, with two excused absences and two members not voting. All Wake County representatives voted with their party except for Republican Tom Murry. The bill has since been jumping from committee to committee in the Senate.
Text of the bill’s fourth edition.Similar Posts:

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By city law, unleashed dogs are not allowed on public property except for in designated dog parks. In addition, pet owners are required to remove and dispose of pet waste. According to a press release from the city, both the public and city staff have complained about pet waste on athletic fields.

“Residents frequently unleash their dogs on open park grounds allowing them to roam beyond their sight and control, presenting the opportunity for pets to interact unrestricted with other park patrons,” the release said. “Citizens also use fenced playgrounds, athletic fields and court areas as dog parks – allowing pets to run unleashed within the fenced area.”

The Greenways and Urban Tree Committee of the Parks, Recreation and Greenway Advisory Board is reviewing the issue and wants public input at its next meeting, at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Room 303 of the Avery C. Upchurch Government Complex at 222 W. Hargett Street.

The committee will take that input and review the issue before making a recommendation to the full Board.

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At Tuesday’s Law and Public Safety Committee meeting, City Attorney Tom McCormick said city staff has prepared a draft ordinance that would regulate where sweepstakes parlors can operate, but should wait for more direction from the state and the county.

The state has prepared a bill to allow sweepstakes parlors. House Bill 547 would legalize, tax and regulate video gaming, but the bill has been sitting in the Committee for Commerce and Job Development since early April.

McCormick also said Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby is investigating the sweepstakes parlors that remain open to make sure they are operating legally. At this point, he hasn’t made any announcement that they aren’t.

Sweepstakes parlors were banned three years ago, and the Supreme Court upheld that ban earlier this year.

Some sweepstakes parlors remain open because operators say they have changed the software to comply with the ban. Users no longer have to play a game to find out if they’ve won.

The machines have skirted gambling laws in the past because the games have predetermined winners and take chance out of the equation.

McCormick said it’s up to the district attorney to decide if these changes to the games are legal.

The draft ordinance is ready, but McCormick said he would need more investigation before it could be implemented. Aside from anecdotes, the city doesn’t have any evidence that these parlors are detrimental to the neighborhoods in which they operate.

“It would require more work to assemble that evidence to back it up,” McCormick said.

City Councilor Eugene Weeks said part of the issue is that noise, violence and other problems are spilling into nearby properties. Parlor owners can claim the issue isn’t with their business.

Some also operate 24 hours a day.

Week’s district has an abundance of sweepstakes parlors and he has long sought a ban or regulation.

McCormick said the City Council has the power to regulate the hours of a business, but to his knowledge, the Council has never exercised that right.

A shoe sticks out of a telephone pole on Wake Forest Road near Sycamore Street. Photo by Karen Tam.