Town Government Archives - Wake Forest Matters

What Happened at Tuesday’s Board Meeting: $18 Million in Debt, a Rezoning in the Path of High-Speed Rail, and Anonymous Letters Targeting Wake Forest Voters

Tom Baker IV / March 23, 2026

The Wake Forest Board of Commissioners held its latest Wake Forest board meeting on Tuesday, March 17 at Town Hall for a packed session that included two public hearings, four presentations, a consent agenda carrying roughly $10 million in park commitments, and a commissioners’ report that ended with a bipartisan condemnation of anonymous political attack […]

News, Town Government

What’s on the Agenda: Wake Forest Board of Commissioners, March 17

Tom Baker IV / March 14, 2026

The Wake Forest Board of Commissioners meets Tuesday, March 17 at 6:00 p.m. in the Board Room at Town Hall, 301 S. Brooks Street. As always, the meeting airs live on WFTV 10 and streams on the Town’s Public Meetings Portal. Here’s what residents should know heading in. Two Public Hearings The biggest action items

Infrastructure, News, Town Government

History, Hunger, and a Highway: Inside the March 3 Board Work Session

Tom Baker IV / March 6, 2026

If February’s board meeting was a night of citizen revolt and NCDOT bombshells, Tuesday’s work session was something quieter — a reminder that local government, at its best, is about building things that last. Parks that tell a community’s story. Networks that feed its neighbors. Policies that treat people fairly. Not every work session ends

News, Town Government

Meeting Preview: The March 3 Wake Forest Board of Commissioners Work Session

Tom Baker IV / March 2, 2026

Tomorrow’s Board of Commissioners work session features a packed agenda covering everything from downtown taxes to high-speed rail. Here is a quick, unbiased look at the five major items up for discussion. 1. A Zoning Conflict with the S-Line Rail The board will review a rezoning request (RZ-25-02) for a property at 810 and 814

Development & Growth, News, Town Government

Are Wake Forest Residents Subsidizing Growth?

Tom Baker IV / February 27, 2026

If you want proof of what happens when a community plans well, look at the data: in February 2026, Wake Forest was named the #1 most sought-after suburb in America. We have nearly five times as many people looking to move into our town as leave. But this unprecedented success has exposed a fatal flaw

Infrastructure, News, Town Government

Citizen Pushback and NCDOT Bombshell Dominate Tuesday’s Board Meeting

Tom Baker IV / February 19, 2026

The best-laid municipal plans rarely survive contact with a packed room of frustrated homeowners, or the sudden whims of the North Carolina Department of Transportation. At Tuesday night’s Wake Forest Board of Commissioners meeting, what began as a quiet evening honoring retiring staff quickly pivoted into a masterclass in citizen advocacy. By the time the

Infrastructure, News, Public Safety, Town Government

Commissioners to Vote on $18.5M Fire Station and Downtown Tax Expansion

Tom Baker IV / February 13, 2026

An oil painting filter was applied to a photograph of the Wake Forest Town Hall. (Image altered using AI) The Wake Forest Board of Commissioners convenes this Tuesday, February 17, at 6 pm at Town Hall (301 S. Brooks Street). A close analysis of the agenda reveals a pivotal moment of transition. The Town is

Opinion, Public Safety, Town Government

Hospital Denied Again: Why Raleigh Bureaucrats Are Gambling with Wake Forest Lives

Tom Baker IV / February 12, 2026

A notification from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services officially disapproving the UNC Health Rex Wake Forest Hospital proposal. If you drove down Capital Boulevard this morning, you sat in it. The gridlock. The red lights. The absolute nightmare that is our daily commute. Now, imagine doing that drive while having a

Development & Growth, News, Town Government

Planning Board to Review South Main St. Rezoning Tonight

Tom Baker IV / February 10, 2026

The Wake Forest Planning Board convenes this evening (Feb 10) at 6:00 PM. The agenda highlights the complex balance between supporting local business growth and preparing for the federally funded S-Line Rail Project. Here is your briefing for the meeting at Town Hall. An aerial view of the intersection at South Main Street and West

Opinion, Town Government

The Great Paralysis: How Civic Arsonists Are Burning Down Local Democracy

Tom Baker IV / February 9, 2026

There was a time when local politics was defined by tangible disagreements: zoning variances, drainage assessments, and paving schedules. The stakes were real, but they were local. You might disagree heatedly with your town commissioner, but you didn’t accuse them of being part of a sinister national conspiracy. That era is over. Since 2016, we

News, Opinion, Town Government

The Persistence of the Technician: Why Experience Won the Night

Tom Baker IV / February 5, 2026

The snow had largely retreated by Tuesday evening, leaving behind the grey, slushy evidence of a winter storm that had paused the pulse of Wake Forest for the better part of a week. The roads were clear, the power was on, and the town was slowly waking up from its icy hibernation. But as the

News, Opinion, Town Government

The Vacancy Five: A Forensic Analysis of Wake Forest’s Pivot Point

Tom Baker IV / February 2, 2026

For the first time in over two decades, the Wake Forest Board of Commissioners is preparing to fill a vacancy that will not just complete a term, but cement a new political order. With Ben Clapsaddle’s landslide victory in the mayoral race last November, ousting 24-year incumbent Vivian Jones by a stunning 41-point margin, his

Elections, Opinion, Town Government

The Democratic Deficit Next Door: Why the ETJ Can’t Just “Get a Seat”

Tom Baker IV / January 30, 2026

This map distinguishes between the Town of Wake Forest’s established Corporate Limits (shown in dark green) and its Extra-Territorial Jurisdictions (highlighted in light green) A few days ago, a reader dropped a comment on our piece about Chesterfield Village and the Neuse North Plan that stopped me in my tracks. “I believe that the numbers

Development & Growth, Environment & Sustainability, News, Town Government

The Neuse North Area Plan: What It Means for Chesterfield Village

Tom Baker IV / January 28, 2026

If you drive down Ligon Mill Road today, the changes are impossible to ignore. Just across the street from Chesterfield Village, the woods have been strip-cut and the heavy machinery has arrived. Now, a new set of flyers appearing in mailboxes this week suggests that Chesterfield Village itself might be next. Residents of Chesterfield Village

News, Opinion, Town Government

A Victory for Wake Forest’s Right to Know

Tom Baker IV / January 27, 2026

This is a victory for the Wake Forest right to know. Last week, a judge in Franklin County, North Carolina, dismissed a no-contact order filed in connection with my reporting in “No Fear, No Retreat, No Surrender.” The court reviewed the facts and determined that the allegations did not meet the legal statute, finding no