The newest candidate for Raleigh mayor vows to add 400 new police officers if elected next year. Paul Fitts, who announced his candidacy Monday, is the fourth person to say they are running for mayor. “We cannot continue to follow the path that has destroyed so many other cities in our country,” Fitts said in a news release. “Since the 2020 riots [after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd] Raleigh has become a soft-on-crime city,” he said. “When we allowed a group of out-of-town political activists to tear up our city with zero repercussions, we became a soft target. This has to change.” Fitts announced his intentions at a news conference Monday morning at Saints & Scholars Pub in North Raleigh. WHO IS PAUL FITTS? The 54-year-old mortgage broker ran for mayor in 2017 against then Mayor Nancy McFarlane.
He has also previously run for the an at-large seat on the Raleigh City Council and the Wake County Board of Commissioners. He’s a registered Republican. Why is he running? Public safety should be the No. 1 focus of any member of the Raleigh City Council, he said, but it’s become “a mess.” He estimates that Raleigh needs 400 additional police officers. “To keep everybody staffed, keep police officers refreshed (and) not overwork them, you really do need to bring in about 400 more police members as well as support staff,” he said. As of Dec. 1, the city of Raleigh had seen 29 homicides compared to 39 over the same time period in 2022. There have been 91 non-fatal shootings so far in 2023, the same number as last year. How to pay for public safety? Fitts suggests the state isn’t paying its fair share of property taxes and the city is being shorted more than $150 million.
“The (General Assembly) building, the Governor’s Mansion, Carter Finley, PNC Arena, NCSU campus,” he said in the news release. “Raleigh carries the heaviest burden of non-taxed space in the entire state.” Property owned by local, state and federal governments is exempt from property taxes. It would take a change in state law to make the state pay taxes on its property. “For the last 20 years if our council wanted something, they just raised your taxes to do it,” he said. “Raising taxes should be a last resort. We need to recognize and correct our deficiencies to broaden our tax base.” Expanding the tax base would also include trying to move Central Men’s Prison from the downtown area to redevelop the site for commercial property. A Republican on the City Council? The Raleigh City Council, which has non-partisan elections, is made up of Democrats and left-leaning unaffiliated members. It hasn’t had a Republican since 2015. But that doesn’t deter Fitts.
“It’s tough, but I think a Republican can win,” he said, adding these aren’t just Republican issues. “This is the unaffiliated voter,” Fitts said. “Democrats should jump on board with this.” WHEN IS THE RALEIGH ELECTION? The Raleigh City Council election is Nov. 5, 2024. Filing for the eight board seats begins at noon July 5 and continues through noon July 19. WHO ELSE IS RUNNING FOR MAYOR? Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin plans to make a formal announcement in the spring. “My intent, at this point, is to run again,” she said in a previous interview. “We’ve still got work to do. And we need leadership. I’ve led on issues from affordable housing to transit, and I’m finally seeing results. And I don’t want to see things go sideways.” Raleigh Mayor Pro Tem Corey Branch, who has served on the City Council since 2015, announced his intention to seek the mayoral seat. “I’m running because I care about the city and the community,” he said in a previous interview. “I’m not running against a person. I’m running for Raleigh. So for me, that’s what’s important. Delmonte Crawford, who describes himself as a civil rights activist, announced this summer he plans to run for mayor after deciding to no longer run for lieutenant governor.
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