In honor of Sunshine Week and the Record’s continuing efforts to live up to the Public Record part of its name, we present for you the salary data of every full-time permanent employee for the City of Raleigh.

The list below is sorted by salary, from highest to lowest. No surprise that the city manager and the city attorney are at the top. Ever wondered how much the parking enforcement officers downtown make? $23,801. Raleigh police recruits make $34,000 a year, and bump up $1,000 when they become police officers.

Want to search for a position or a specific person, click in the window below and use the search function in your browser.

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Repeated loud parties, overgrown grass, junk cars and appliances in the yard along with structural issues such as exposed wiring and faulty plumbing are the meat and potatoes of Raleigh’s Probationary Rental Occupancy ordinance. Now in its fifth year, here’s a look back at the goals of the PROP and how it is working out.

First passed in 2005, the PROP was designed to provide relief after residents and tenants complained repeatedly about “problem properties.” Relief for neighbors when laissez-faire landlords did nothing to halt repeated loud parties or allowed tenants’ trash, old appliances and junk cars to collect in their yards. Relief for tenants suffering from unlivable rental unit conditions because of structural issues. And relief for landlords trying to rid themselves of problem tenants.

People often confuse rental registration and the PROP permitting program, but while all rental properties must register, PROP is only for problem rental properties.

Properties only end up in the PROP when problems repeatedly occur at the same address within a two-year period. At best, landlords are made aware of problems and move quickly to ensure they do not recur, whether the infraction is the tenant or the landlord’s fault. At worst, the city can make it illegal for a property owner to rent the property, although this has yet to happen in PROP’s five-year history.

City Housing Inspector Bryce Abernethy, who heads up the program, said only 29 properties have had a PROP permit issues since 2005, but another 260 have been made eligible at one point or another.

The ordinance has changed during the past six years. The most recent change includes adding another infraction, criminal activity, to the 10 current ways property can become eligible for a PROP permit.

Eligibility begins when one of the 11 infractions is confirmed by the housing inspection department or by the Raleigh Police Department. If four infractions occur at the same property in two years, the property becomes eligible for the PROP permitting program. The low number of PROP permits issued, according to Abernethy, is because “the ordinance is set up to give property owners ways to protect themselves from bad tenants.”

One way is to include compliance with city ordinances in leases signed by tenants. This allows landlords to more easily evict unruly tenants and avoid stacking up enough infractions to enter the property into the PROP.

However, PROP violations are issued to a given address, so evicting tenants does not clear the violations. As Raleigh’s PROP website states, “Ultimately, the condition of the rental property and the activities of the tenants must be closely monitored by the property owner. Property owners are expected to write clear expectations of tenant behavior relative to neighbors into leases, and take action to encourage tenants to comply with these expectations or seek evictions for problem tenants.”

Tenants benefit from the program. Anything from bare wiring, holes in the walls and broken windows can qualify as a PROP violation, so landlords now have greater incentives to keep properties in better condition.

Neighbors of problem properties also benefit. Abernethy said the most common violations involve public nuisance complaints.

“They can range from trash in the yard, furniture outside, putting mattresses or appliances outside,” he said. “Noise violations can get a $100 ticket. If a property gets three in 24 months, regardless of if the tenants change, they will automatically go into PROP. This is new and so far, two are in the process of going into the program.”

But some of those who manage properties aren’t sure they reap the same benefits experienced by tenants and neighbors.

“I just don’t see that any property owner out there is going to see PROP as helpful to them,” said Steve Deaton, of Deaton Investment Real Estate. “Many of the violations that can occur are completely out of control of the property owner. They are tenant created and unless the landlord is living there 24-7, he or she can’t possibly control all the actions on the part of their tenant. You can certainly educate them, but it doesn’t mean they are going to listen and act accordingly.”

Once in the program, property owners must pay a $200 processing fee and – if found eligible – an annual $300 permit fee that raises to $500 the next year. Fines and civil penalties start at $50 but can reach $500, although the PROP permitting process allows for appeals, especially when corrective actions are taken.

Even if the property is sold to someone else, the 24-hour month timeline is not affected because violations are attached to the property, not the owner.

Deaton said despite the longevity of the program, not everyone is familiar with it or knows what it means.

“It’s just another disclosure item from a broker standpoint,” he said. “It’s not something that obvious unless you research it, and I bet very few real estate brokers out there even know what a PROP violation is or what the program is all about.”

While PROP remains a source of confusion for many, Abernathy said it has made a difference.

“When it was first introduced a lot of the major landlords, people who own 30-plus properties, they started getting rid of properties. Many landlords are scared of PROP and it has made them a lot more proactive in how they manage and handle their properties. I have landlords call me weekly to say, ‘A tenant got a noise violation. I don’t want the property to go into PROP, I want to know what to do to avoid that.’ We want property owners to take that proactive approach and PROP helps with that.”

Abernathy said landlords who want to learn more about it can take the city’s optional landlord training.

To learn more about the program, check out the City of Raleigh’s web page or read the municipal code for yourself.Similar Posts:

• City Changes to PROP Could Mean More Violators

Darlene Davis, 42, said it was a “mid-life crisis” following the tryout for the Carolina Rollergirls. She went on to say where else can you “knock down other women and wear fishnet hose?”

All of the 26 woman who showed up for the tryouts, whether younger or in “mid-life” talked about idea of trying something new and how the game of roller derby is empowering for women.

The two hour tryout consisted of sessions where the Rollergirl coaches and assessors tested basic skills, agility and reaction time. During the session there were two rounds of cuts where those not making it were eliminated. Rollergirl assessors wrote on a white board the names of the girls who were safe, and at the end of a session the women trying out skated over to see if their name was on the board, if it was not, they were asked to leave.

Cory Colmes, 37, of Morrisville, thought it was a good personal challenge to be able to “play hard and hit hard” and that ultimately being a Carolina Rollergirl would be a good alter ego to have.

And while the New Year is a time for new beginnings and new challenges, it takes a special woman to go through a tryout where falling down is practiced and where the 13 women who were ultimately accepted were tagged “fresh meat!”

“Gardening helps connect you to your food. Gardening is an empowering experience,” she said.

Joy has no problem getting to the grocery store to buy fresh produce. But not everyone in her neighborhood has that luxury.

The nearest chain grocery stores, Food Lion on Cross Link Road and Kroger on Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, are a long walk for many residents in southeast Raleigh, a place where SUVs and McMansions are nowhere to be found. The nearest Farmer’s Market operates out of City Plaza downtown — a 40-minute walk — and only on Wednesdays during lunch April through October.

“The issue is lack of access,” said Joy, the director of a small non-profit called Root1 (Recognizing Our Own Talent). “If you don’t have a car, it’s difficult. If you don’t have money it’s difficult to get really good food.”

In Joy’s neighborhood, there are two convenience stores, but they sell salt, sugar, tobacco, alcohol and gas. Once upon a time, there was a market on Bragg and State Streets that sold fresh produce on Saturdays. The place was packed every week, Joy said, but the market is long gone.

“Anybody walking … can’t get fresh food. It’s difficult to get on a bus. You might live four blocks from store [but the bus] takes you back downtown. That’s hard for a 70-year-old lady or a young woman that has three small children.”

To make finding fresh food a little easier, Joy has turned her household garden into a community garden, one of a few popping up in an effort to provide access to fresh foods.

She’s not the only one noticing the “food desert” in Southeast Raleigh.

A WakeMed-based group called Advocates for Health in Action is made up of 50 organizations in the county working to increase food and physical fitness access. They have created a Community Assets map to pinpoint food and physical activity options throughout Wake County.

Laura Aiken, the group’s executive director, said the map shows a definite food desert in southeast Raleigh.

“Just by looking at a data points, the food deserts don’t necessarily glare out at you, but as you look closely, and you inventory the places that provide food, you see that healthy food is not what they provide,” she said. “We even found in going to the Kroger or the Food Lion down there, their produce selection is much less than other parts of the county.”

Limited access isn’t unique to Raleigh. A USDA Economic Research Service report to Congress on food deserts found that 11.5 million people, or 4.1 percent of the total U.S. population, “live in low-income areas more than 1 mile from a supermarket.”

According to the CDC study, “A Systematic Review of Food Deserts,” there is more limited access to food in areas with more African-American or Latino residents and more low-income residents. The study also found that distance to supermarkets is farther for those living in low-income areas and for areas with a high proportion of African Americans.

So what causes these vacuums?  National attention shed on this issue often finds mixed reasons for grocery stores not to locate in lower-income neighborhoods – and not all those reasons are based on fact. Some grocery executives worry about crime rates, some argue there might be less profit in a low-income area.

It’s not a question of space. There are multiple available lots zoned for business, said Lawrence Wray, Raleigh’s assistant city manager. The problem is economics, he said, because the big chain grocery stores usually built in 35,000 to 40,000 square feet of space.

“[Stores] have got to have families going in there spending $300-$400 month and there’s got to be a lot of families doing that,” he said. “Those folks don’t have the income to do the purchasing to support that.”

Wray said it took 15 years to get the Winn-Dixie in the Southeast Shopping Center, and it didn’t stay long. Food Lion is there now, but he questions how long it will remain. He suggested a small store, offering more market-style with fresh foods might be more financially feasible for its owner.

“I’ve been trying to find a small grocery store with 5,000 to 10,000 square feet that would be willing to locate in southeast Raleigh and trying to find some money to help do that,” he said. “But you don’t have the people interested in going into that business to try to make it.”

However, business is just fine for Larry’s Supermarket, an independent store on Milburnie Road that has operated for more than 40 years.

Manager Mike Harris said the 4,000-square-foot store has survived because it sells a lot of items people can’t find anywhere else, especially southern foods and seasoned meats such as fat back, country cured ham, ham hops and smoked hog jowl.

The store receives locally grown produce six days per week from a distributor at the State Farmer’s Market, including two southern favorites — collards and cabbage.

“The way the economy is now, it’s tougher for stores located on this side of town to survive,” said Harris, whose customers tend to arrive on foot or by bus. “But we’re holding on and our business is pretty good.”

Joy recalls vendors coming by her neighborhood to sell produce off the back of their trucks. You don’t see that anymore, she said.

Wray said peddler’s licenses are still available and issued to those who request them, but added that some vendors have reported robberies in that area.

Peddlers or grocers – it’s not just about fair access. North Carolina is fifth in the nation for obesity rates, something that bothers Rita Anita Linger, head of the Southeast Raleigh Association.

“If you’re stuffing yourself with vegetables and fruits, your blood pressure will be normal, and diabetes won’t be something to worry about,” she said.

Instead, Linger spends a lot of time worrying about it, and working on healthcare initiatives in the area to reduce obesity and make sure residents are connecting with healthcare professionals.

Access to fresh food “is connected to something very serious. If you’re not eating well, you’re not going to be well,” Linger said. “There are some stores trying to do their best, but [it’s] definitely not enough.”

Making changes isn’t always a simple as it seems. For example, Aiken is hoping to connect convenience stores in Fuquay-Varina with farmer’s market vendors so they can sell some of their excess goods. But there are legal barriers to reselling products.

A grant has helped the Western Wake Farmer’s Market accept EBT cards (food stamps), but Aiken said it was a laborious process and getting those accepted at other area farmer’s markets will take time.

Now that it’s October, Joy’s garden is down to a few collards. Next year, she plans to till under more grass so she can expand, hopefully making it easier for some of the nearby residents to get fresh food while agencies such as Advocates for Health in Action work on other changes. She hopes her garden will inspire others to start more.

“I wanted to connect with the community on a natural level, and I thought this would do it, would be a good way to bring people together,” she said. “I want to raise the energy of life in our community.”

“It’s a very small garden, but we have big dreams.”

A woman throws chew toys into the water for her dog, who leaps into the lake near the intake point for Raleigh’s drinking water.

At a glance, the water looks pretty clean. But in some areas of the lake, algae is blooming. And that could be a bad sign.

Falls Lake is listed on the Environmental Protection Agency’s list of impaired water bodies. And that means someone has to clean it up.

So here’s a basic breakdown of the Falls Lake situation:

What’s Wrong

There’s too much “ick” in the water. Ick is nitrogen and phosphorus, which mean more algae growth and other nasty things such as fish kills or an unpleasant odor or taste to the water.

“Too much” means it does not meet EPA standards for the Clean Water Act, which requires a body of water to be suitable for fishing, swimming and drinking.

How much ick are we talking? That depends on which part of the lake you’re dipping into for measurements. The lower lake, closer to Raleigh, from where drinking water is drawn, meets the EPA standards. The upper lake, north of Interstate 85, does not. The space between sometimes does and sometimes doesn’t.

Falls Lake is listed on the Environmental Protection Agency’s list of impaired water bodies. Photo by Leo Suarez.

So the Department of Environment and Natural Resources says we need to reduce the amount of one ick (nitrogen) by 40 percent and they want a 77 percent reduction of phosphorus — the other ick.

That’s a huge jump. Compare that to reducing levels of those nutrients in other nearby lakes such as Jordan, where the target reduction is under 10 percent.

What’s Causing the Ick

So how did this happen? These nutrients are coming from many sources:

Wastewater treatment plants – Sewage goes through a thorough cleaning process, leaving nothing but water to be dumped into the lake. However, that water still contains a lot of nitrogen and phosphorous from our waste.

Agriculture – The nutrients from agriculture come from both fertilizer runoff from cropland and animal waste getting into streams. There are no large-scale animal feeding operations in the Falls Lake watershed, but there are many small operations. Farmers will be required to add buffers between fields and tributaries and fence cattle out of the water.

Stormwater runoff – Water runs downhill, so any rainwater that sloshes through the streets, roads and parking lots will end up in the lake, along with a healthy dose of nitrogen and phosphorous.  Roads also add oil, brake dust, heavy metals and trash.

Why You Care
First things first: your drinking water is safe. Falls Lake’s 12,000 acres of water is the Raleigh-area’s main source of drinking water, serving more than 450,000 people.

Raleigh’s Assistant Public Utilities Director Kenny Waldrop said he is seeing more contaminants in the water, mainly in the form of total organic carbons, which come from algae. The more nitrogen and phosphorous, the more algae. The more algae, the more TOCs. Some total organic compounds are ok and are natural. But too much becomes a problem.

Click for a larger image.

Cleaning the total organic carbons from our drinking water is done daily as part of the treatment process. But with more in the water, it’s harder for the water treatment plant to handle and eventually it won’t be able to handle it anymore. That could lead to expensive upgrades in the way water is treated.

“We are forced to deal with more TOCs at the plant, and eventually the plant’s treatment processes will be maximized,” he said. “We watch very closely the raw water quality and if we feel like our processes are not protective, we will look at changing our processes.”

But the lake, which covers parts of Durham, Wake and Granville counties, is more than just our water source. It’s a place to play.

The lake has seven recreation areas, and activities include swimming, fishing, canoeing, boating, picnicking, camping and mountain biking. According to the Falls Lake recreation office, more than 954,000 people used the lake for some type of recreation in 2009.

“People aren’t inclined to swim and boat in a lake that’s murky from algae growth,” said John Husiman, the senior environmental specialist with DENR. “The drinking water is safe from Falls Lake, but the city of Raleigh does have to spend more money to treat the water. Ultimately it’s about achieving the water quality standards in the lake.”

Grady McCallie, policy director for the non-profit North Carolina Conservation Network, said making these changes is a protective measure, too.

More than 954,000 used Falls Lake for recreation last year, according to the park’s office. Photo by Leo Suarez.

“The drinking water is safe at this point,” he said. “But what happens if the lake continues to get worse or doesn’t get better?” he said.

Neuse Riverkeeper Alissa Bierma said one type of algae has the capability to produce harmful microcystin toxins. Those toxins have been found in the water at times, she said. The toxins can cause rashes, but if ingested, could also cause severe intestinal problems.

“At current levels, we’re probably safe in terms of our treated water, but if it gets worse we’re going to have to watch it,” Bierma said. “If we keep on a downward spiral we’re going to find it in the treated water. It’s not something we can brush off.”

What They’re Doing to Fix It

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has a plan: nine new rules and two amendments to rules for local governments to help make sure we reduce the ick in the lake and prevent more from ending up there.

The new rules are broken up into two stages. Stage One is the first wave of reductions, aimed at returning the lake to levels seen in 2006 and achieving water quality standards in the lower lake by 2021. That means reducing nitrogen by 20 percent and phosphorus by 40 percent.

Stage Two calls for more reductions in upper watershed (area above NC 50) to ultimately achieve the proper standards lake-wide by 2041.

The rules are similar to those in place around Jordan Lake and the Neuse River.

The rules target each area causing problems.

Farmers will have to install buffers around their fields, fence cattle out of creeks and have more strict regulations about fertilizer use.

Wastewater treatment plants will undergo technological upgrades to cut back on the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous in the water returned to the lake.

Right now, stormwater runoff from the average residential area adds eight pounds per acre per year to the lake water. The new rules aim to cut that to 2.2 pounds per acre per year.

There are many ways to cut down on the amount of nitrogen from development, including adding retention ponds and rain gardens. Each government would decide how best to meet the requirements and submit those plans for approval by DENR.

The rules also allow trading. For example, instead of farmers and wastewater treatment plants to each cut by 40 percent for nitrogen and 77 percent for phosphorus, it might be easier (or cheaper) for farmers to cut more. So the groups can make a trade – as long as the totals add up.

The Cost

Making those changes won’t be cheap. DENR estimates the total cost for the entire project, including costs for local governments is $605 million for Stage I and $946 million for Stage II.

DENR officials say that’s probably an overestimate. McCallie agrees.

“It’s a worst-case,” he said. “There are a number of ways to meet these reduction requirements. Some of them are hard to put a price tag on.”

But even if that figure is the worst case, there is some cost, and  it’s worse for some than others.

Costs will be cheaper in Granville County, for example, because the South Granville Water and Sewer Authority has already begun upgrading the water treatment plant, part of the Stage I requirements. So that will only cost $26 million. Stage II will be more expensive, at about $77 million.

Same for the city of Durham, which spent $45 million to upgrade Durham’s water reclamation facility in the mid-90s. Upgrades to improve the nutrient removal systems will only take $14 million.

But stormwater runoff will be more expensive; retrofitting to keep stormwater from entering the lake from nearby subdivisions requires tearing up roads and inserting larger pipes, finding land and then creating sediment ponds.

Local governments are facing bills of hundreds of millions of dollars to make the necessary changes. Photo by Leo Suarez.

Durham officials estimate that retrofitting existing development will cost $645 million. That’s one reason why officials there have suggested taking another look at the lake after Stage I, and then deciding whether Stage II is necessary.

“A lot of conservative assumptions were made by the DWQ about the way the lake will behave,” said Ted Voorhees, Durham’s deputy city manager. “Since they’ve layered in so many conservative estimates and since we can’t find any estimates that the lake is trending worse, we would suggest before the local governments commit to spending $3 billion dollars that we monitor over the next few years and use that data to determine whether it’s necessary.”

Raleigh Stormwater Utility Manager Danny Bowden said it isn’t too big an issue for Raleigh, which has a small area draining into the lake. But Durham: “Half their jurisdiction drains into Falls [Lake],” he said.

He said Stage II will be worse, because all existing development will have to cut its nitrogen and phosphorous contributions by half.

“That’s where a lot of potential costs come in. You’re talking everything in Raleigh,” Bowden said.

Raleigh’s wastewater treatment plant would not be affected by these rules, because it dumps water downstream.

But T.J. Lynch, superintendent of the Raleigh Public Utilities Department, said other state rules and mandates are also under reviews that affect Raleigh. Those rules, and the proposed rules for Falls Lake, are pushing wastewater treatment plans to use reverse osmosis, a form of filtering that uses a high-pressure pump to push the water through a very fine membrane to squeeze out even more molecular-level items such as nitrogen.

That high-pressure pump uses a lot of electricity, Lynch said. That combined with the capital costs could mean a 10-fold increase in your water and sewer bills.

“It’s tremendous,” he said. “Are residents of these towns ready to pay 10 times the water and sewer bills they are now? Our water bills would rival our electric bills. It’s important that we take a step back and say what’s the overall benefit to the environment that you get from that increase in cost? Do you get a tenfold benefit?”

DENR also estimates some cost savings, such as between $43 and 266 million saved in avoided drinking water treatment costs. And another $600-800,000 for reduced drinking water treatment costs.

“It’s always more cost effective to treat higher quality water. The more contaminated the water, the more chemicals you have to use,” said Kenny Waldrop, Raleigh’s assistant public utilities director. “So there is a relationship between raw water quality and the amount of chemicals that are used at any one time to render that water into potable water.”

The Blame Game

So how did all this happen?

That’s where it gets murky. There are six county governments and eight municipal governments in the Falls Lake watershed.

The worst ick areas are north of Interstate 85 around Durham and Granville county sections of the lake. Raleigh’s portion is slightly better and it gets clearer as you head downstream. The area around the water intake meets EPA standards.

Many blame Durham for planning decisions they say led to that pollution.

Bierma said you can’t only point fingers at current elected officials, and that these problems have been occurring for decades. But data about Falls Lake came out in 2006 and since then, very few local governments have stepped up to make changes.

“[Durham] hasn’t even adopted a pet waste ordinance and that’s, like, a two-second conversation in a meeting,” she said. “It’s those very basic things. Small decisions like that do make a difference.”

Cummings says blaming Durham is unfair, because Durham did not ask for the lake and did not choose to be upstream from it. Falls Lake was created when a dam was built by the Army Corps of Engineers between 1978 and 1981. (That’s another story.)

In addition, part of the reason for the higher concentrate of pollution in the northern sections is due to the amount of water in those areas of the lake. The lower lake is much deeper compared to the shallow portion north of Interstate 85.

The test point at which samples are taken to determine if the DENR rules are being met is just south of I-85. Durham officials say the test point should be in the middle of the lake – not near the upper end.

“There’s nothing requiring the Division of Water Quality to pick a single compliance point,” Cummings said. “There are different ways of measuring water quality. If they had chosen [a lower] point … we wouldn’t be going through any of this process.”

Bierma said environmental officials used a number of sampling points throughout the lake to determine there is a problem. Yes, they could have chosen a point below I-85 and it would have made cleanup easier because there would be less to do, she said.

“But we also could have chosen one further up the lake and more strict,” she said. “The entire lake does need to be clean.”

Bierma said that in the end, a second set of rules may need to be written to deal with the northern reaches of the lake.

Proposed Rule Changes

McCallie of the Conservation Network said arguing fault is moot. But he is concerned about some of the arguments area officials have made, including an agreement known as the consensus principles. Most area governments involved in the Falls Lake process have agreed that the situation should be reassessed after Stage I changes are complete.

Stage II could be used more effectively if we know how far we have come, said Durham County’s Cummings.

“Check back to see if seven additional years’ worth of modeling were telling us anything new about the status of the lake, and whether we could shape Stage II to be more cost effective,” Cummings said.

Waldrop said with Stage I will stop things from getting worse and take the lake back to chemical levels seen in 2006. He said doing so would be a “victory” for Raleigh’s drinking water.

Stage II would probably require $100-120 million in costs for his department to upgrade the drinking water treatment processes, he said.

But if the 2006 levels can be maintained, “there’s a reasonable expectation that we will not need to add advanced treatment technologies,” he said. “We support our consensus partners in the upper watershed in seeking additional testing over the next six to eight years and then a reevaluation of the social impacts of moving to Stage II.”

McCallie fears that such a pause-button approach might allow governments to halt the process completely, claiming that Stage II would be too expensive and difficult.

“We would fight that,” McCallie said. “We can’t walk away from this.”

McCallie and the Conservation Network also argue that the rules for Stage I should require more. More work now means Stage II won’t be such a huge leap.

“Let’s do the low-hanging fruit. And by the time we get up there, we don’t think we should have a review. By the time we get to that point, it’s not going to be nearly as scary because we will have accomplished a lot.”

McCallie also argues that the deadlines are too lax. Agreed, said Dr. JoAnn Burkholder, director of the Center for Applied Aquatic Ecology at NC State.

“A period of 25 to 30 years is unacceptably too long to wait for the state to achieve its water quality standard to protect this critically important drinking water supply. To me, the main problem with Falls Lake is that the lake has been degraded for some time,” she said, adding that the state of New York has never even allowed development around its water source. “North Carolina should be following suit. When you allow development in a watershed, you have to expect there’s going to be urban runoff and pollution in that runoff.”

Durham City’s Voorhees argues that assessing where we are with cleanup after Stage I simply makes sense.

“We’ve agreed that an adaptive management approach make sense, but it’s not adaptive management if you don’t adapt,” he said.

McCallie hopes it does not prevent them from moving forward.

“There is no proof if you let this go, that the drinking water is going to stay protected,” McCallie said.  “This is the lowest water quality standard in the state. We’ve got to meet it.”

What’s Next

So they’ve got these new rules proposed. This summer, DENR collected input from the public and the local governments about tweaks to the rules.

Now, DENR will take those comments and deliberate before making final approval to the rules by November. State law dictates that the rules must be adopted by Jan. 15, 2011.

A temporary version of the rules will take effect immediately. Meanwhile, the rules would undergo legislative review in 2011 or 2012.

Bierma worries about that part of the process. As local governments weigh in on the cost and problems associated with this cleanup, that fear might be used to halt the process or dilute the rules, she said.

“For Falls [Lake] we have a set of rules that would genuinely make a difference and help protect the health and safety of this community, but if we take it through the legislature and play the fear card rather than be honest we’re going to end up with a law that doesn’t protect Falls Lake.”

In the end, both sides are arguing the science, the measurements and the cost. But all agree: No one wants nasty drinking water.

“People are committed to Falls Lake,” Cummings said. “I appreciate that. We’re talking about spending billions of dollars here to clean up a lake, so we’d better know what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. We’d better be sure we’re targeting that money where it needs to go.”

4-7 p.m. The RPR Pig Pickin’ at Market Plaza off Fayetteville St. with live bluegrass music by Stoney Hill and blues from Th’ Bullfrog Willard McGee, and featuring local, sustainably raised pork barbecue, Locopops and Big Boss Beer!

Plates are $5 suggested donation.

6:30 p.m. Doors open at Slim’s Downtown Distillery for a live benefit show featuring local bands:

Blue Marble Beat
The Revolutionary Sweethearts
KinGator

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The Record’s stimulus tracking page provides a regularly updated list of transportation, city and education projects, which incorporate data from federal, state, city and departmental websites. Compiling the data is a time-consuming process that often leaves information gaps.

For each project listing, we have provided a contact person’s information and we want you to help us fill in the missing information or question what we’ve already found out. Were jobs at a certain project actually retained after the project was completed? What does 0.16 jobs mean?

We also want our readers to go to projects in their area to take pictures and look for noteworthy developments. As with all verifiable updates we will print and give credit to the readers observations, updates, and photos.

The information you help us provide could lead to breaking news stories and will ensure transparency in the spending of the billions of taxpayer dollars, designed to “bail out” the taxpayer.

Read more and find out how to help on the Stimulus Tracking page.

To gain a more complete picture, we’ve spoken with people who receive the services offered.  Specifically, we asked how well the services met their varying needs and – in the case of those who have been homeless longer, any changes they have seen.

Barry Clayton

Barry Clayton is a 55-year-old Army veteran with a bachelor’s degree in English. Substance abuse, specifically alcohol and heroin, led to his being homeless and often jobless the last five to six years. Clayton has been in the Raleigh area since 1982, but his most current stint runs from 2002 to the present. He currently resides at the Christian Fellowship Home but is nearing the end of his six-month stay. He is hoping for an extension, but if it is not granted, he wonders where he’ll end up next.

We met at The Hope Center at Pullen, located on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh, where Clayton bases his job search. He said he feels services have changed over the past few years. “Shelters have fewer beds now and more demand. There are now more mentally ill people in the shelters than there used to be.” Once in a shelter, “there used to be more emphasis on behavior in shelters than now. It used to be if someone communicated a threat they’d be run out, but now it tends to be overlooked at the South Wilmington Street Shelter.” He also noted that finding a place to shower is harder than it used to be. “They are still available, but with so many more signing up, it is harder to get to use them.”

Clayton observed, “There are more people on the street now than there used to be. There are more young people now. Most are 30-40 like usual, but I’m still seeing younger folk now.”

As for services, “there are fewer resources to go around. There are more people and the resources have not grown. It’s a lot harder to get into a shelter overnight now unless there are emergency conditions. Now, if I could not get in to a shelter, I prefer to sleep out somewhere. Often people sleep near the shelter, but then the police come and give them a trespassing violation.”

Veterans are sometimes eligible for special services, but according to Clayton, “It’s amazing there are not more immediate resources. You can be on the street for a year now before you get individual services. The shelter programs only have a limited number of beds. I hear the Wilmington Street Center is getting more money for veterans to have a ‘permanent’ bed. In this case, rather than signing up to the nightly lottery for admission, one is guaranteed a bed, locker and the use of a shower, but only for a limited time.”

Karen Kirbach

Karen Kirbach has a different situation and has a different point of view. Homeless for a year and a half, she’s in a program at The Healing Place that provides meals, shelter, clothing and medical care for no rent. Karen said she is “very satisfied” with services there and needs six to nine months to complete the program before she can look for work. Kirbach said, “There are more soup kitchens than there used to be, but also more youth on streets and more females.” After she completes the program, she enters Phase II at The Healing Center and can begin looking for a job. Her curfew will change if need be to accommodate her working hours.

Denyse Ringgold

Denyse Ringgold has been homeless since October 2009 and is also at The Healing place. She said she is very happy to be in the program and said it serves her well. She also noted seeing more help available now for women and children. Once she finds a job, she will pay $300 per month to rent through their housing program. Of that amount, $200 will go for rent and $100 will go into an escrow account for the time when she is no longer eligible for subsidized housing. Denyse also observed that she has seen parents drop their troubled kids outside The Healing Place because they don’t know what to do with them anymore and can’t deal with them living at home anymore.

Reginald Campbell, Jr.

Reginald Campbell, Jr. is 34 and he has been homeless since February 21, 2008. He said he used to get healthcare, but not anymore. Like Clayton, he’s also seeing more young people and says most of them claim their parents got tired of them getting into trouble, messing around with drugs, getting into legal hassles and not working, so they kicked them out.”

Campbell is due to complete The Healing Place program on October 9. He ended up there because he used to have a job and a rented a room while working third shift at Dunkin Donuts, but they cut back the hours and then dropped him from the schedule. Without money for rent, he lost his room and ended up at The Healing Place on Christmas Eve of last year.

Jessie Roberts

Jessie Roberts is 61 and a veteran. Homeless now for four years, he sleeps at the South Wilmington Street Shelter, but on a lottery basis, which means he may or may not have a place to sleep each night. Jessie said he sees more youth at the shelter now than in the past. He also believes the shelter has changed its role from just a place to sleep to a center which guides people to other programs.

Jessie said it’s harder to get Veteran’s Administration services now than it used to be, and harder to find healthcare of any type. He used to get more services from Cornerstone Center but now, he said, they are no good,  “unless you have a job or some income.” He said food seems more plentiful and easier to get than in the past, but noted “it takes longer to get a job now due to the recession and shelters want you to get a job but there aren’t any.” He will be eligible for benefits at age 62 and is looking forward to receiving them.

Lee Carwan

Lee Carwan is 25 and has been homeless less than 2 months. He was raised in foster care and lost his job when he was incarcerated. He was later found innocent and released, but his job was gone and he hasn’t found another. He is on the waiting list at The Healing Place for their substance abuse rehabilitation program, but currently enters the daily lottery at the South Wilmington Street Shelter. Lee said he finds getting fed pretty easy, but he can’t find any healthcare and wished the shelters would let more people in like they do on white flag nights when temperatures fall to 32 degrees or lower. Carwan said, “they don’t have to let you in when it is 34 degrees, but it is still pretty cold to be sleeping out at 34 degrees.”

Maria Cruz

Maria Cruz has a different story. She is 19 and has been homeless less than three months. She lost her job and her parents kicked her out when they learned she was pregnant. She currently sleeps at Raleigh Rescue Mission and finds food and healthcare pretty easy to get, especially when she was pregnant. Her child is now with Child Protective Services and she receives healthcare and food from the City of Raleigh. She also gets a Supplemental Security Income check and can keep the money. Cruz said the services she receives now “kind of meet my needs.”

It appears Raleigh-Wake has a long way to go in ending the homelessness problem. Many homeless are finding the help they need to survive, but not enough help to make them independent. The cost of housing, healthcare and the lack of jobs seem to be the biggest barrier for those without a substance abuse problem. By the same token, losing a job is what drove many into homelessness in the first place. Looking for work is a challenge without a phone number, a place to stay, the ability to maintain personal hygiene or a wardrobe suitable for interviews.  Like everyone else, they hope the recession will end and bring more opportunities for work.