District C Town Hall

In an in-depth and much-needed town hall last Wednesday at the Barwell Road Community Center, District C Councilman Corey Branch addressed concerns and questions regarding public safety, traffic, housing, homelessness, and more. To a packed room of District C residents, local leaders, activists, and nonprofit leaders, Councilman Branch addressed several updates within the district; he added that there are approximately 95,000 residents in District C alone, the Tarboro Road Community Center is currently under redevelopment by Raleigh Parks and Recreation in which residents are helping with that project, and he also disclosed that approximately 67 people are moving to Raleigh each day, which means there is a significant impact on the city due to growth.

Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell and Assistant City Manager, Evan Raleigh were also attended and shared sentiments about how District C is progressing.

“ I think we have many folks here that are working hard and out in the community listening. I am really grateful to have this kind of town hall meeting to not just listen but engage and hear what concerns and ideas you all have,” said Mayor Cowell. “Thank you all for being here and I look forward to diving into some of the topics.”

“ It is a pleasure to be with you all this evening. On behalf of our city manager, Marchell Adams David and all of my colleagues in the managers office,” said Raleigh. “I am excited to have the opportunity to connect with you all and learn how we can meet your needs and serve you better. That is our goal.”

Next, Raleigh Police Chief Rico Boyce took the floor to provide updates on District C and outline the initiatives the RPD intends to implement to enhance the community.

“ Currently the Raleigh Police Department has 723 officers for a population just at about 500,000,” said Chief Boyce. “Whereas in District C, this is where we see explosive growth, more traffic, more residents, and we have a few initiatives in place.”

By taking on this role, Chief Boyce emphasizes community engagement by leading "Cops on the Block", which aims to build trust in Raleigh neighborhoods. As part of this innovative program, officers in Raleigh are encouraged to build trust by engaging directly with their communities. Chief Rico Boyce relaunched the initiative under his leadership in March of 2025 after introducing it in 2022. His goal was to not only introduce people to himself and the officers working in District C. He noted that violent crime has decreased by 9% and property crime has declined by 16%.

“ It’s been the work of the years that we are proud of and we will keep it going,” said Boyce.

Accompanied by Chief Boyce were current RPD District Commander, Captain Daniel Nieters, Public Information Officer Lieutenant Davis, Chief’s assistant, Chris Gay, and Calvin Mitchell who serves as the community policing coordinator.

After introductions were over, it was time for the community to speak. A resident of Granite Ridge, near Southeast Raleigh high school, shared that there are several issues in her neighborhood, such as drugs, loose dogs roaming, lingering at bus stops, and heavy traffic. This concern warranted two responses, first from councilman Branch, who shared a solution, which is “ ACORNS” which stands for Addressing Crisis Through Outreach, Referrals, Networking, and Service. This program has a proactive team that works with residents in crisis and directs them to available resources. The ACORNS team combines social workers and law enforcement officers who are tasked with helping by using the most appropriate and least invasive interventions possible.

Paul Kallam, City of Raleigh Transportation Director, also addressed her concern in which he stated that NCDOT maintains rock Quarry Road, which causes some pushback for the city of Raleigh to make some improvements, but the transportation department are working on a solution.

Additional concerns from the meeting:

• Another attendee proposed to Councilman Branch and the mayor the creation of a DEI task force aimed at confronting Raleigh's history of racism.

• Dr. Kimberly Muktarian - activist, ambassador for social justice, journalist, professor, policy analyst, and President of Save Our Sons shared that while having the town hall is great for the community,  it is  imperative to ask ourselves -  “ Are we surviving or are we thriving with what the city of Raleigh is doing?” Also, she pointed out that is important for residents to talk about what DEI is doing for people of color within the city of Raleigh.

• Latonia Williams, the Vice Chairperson of the Southeast Citizens Advisory Council (CAC), raised a query about Barwell Community Center being defunded multiple times. She emphasized that the community center has an approved master plan that was approved back in 2016 prior to Moore Square, in which Barwell was slated to get 1 to 10 million dollars to complete at least two phases of the master plan. However, only 1/4 of Phase 1 was been completed. Therefore, she posed the question to Councilman Branch and other hosts as to why Barwell Community Center continues to get defunded as there are no parks in District C outside the beltline.

• Additional sentiments were given by chairman of the Southeast CAC, Ulysses Lane.  “ We are looking for ways to be more creative and we need to get more involved to make our community better for the later generation. We need to work together and think differently to get something done.”