Charles Carpenter Meeker (born July 27, 1950) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 34th Mayor of

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

. He was first elected in 2001 over Republican Paul Coble, and reelected for a fifth two-year term in 2009. A fifth term tied Meeker with Avery C. Upchurch as Raleigh's longest-serving mayor. He is the son of Leonard C. Meeker, who served as United States Ambassador to Romania from 1969 to 1973, and brother of architect Sarah Meeker Jensen

Career

Meeker is a Raleigh-based lawyer whose firm focuses on local government issues, including public transportation and development. In his five terms as mayor and during previous service on the Raleigh City Council (1985–89 and 1991–95), Meeker, living and raising his family in Boylan Heights, advocated downtown redevelopment and the creation of a

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

system connecting Raleigh to Durham,

Research Triangle Park Research Triangle Park (RTP) is the largest research park in the United States; it occupies in North Carolina and hosts more than 300 companies and 65,000 workers. It is owned and managed by the Research Triangle Foundation, a private non-profi ...

, and Chapel Hill under the auspices of the

Triangle Transit Authority GoTriangle is the operator of regional public transit bus services in the Research Triangle region of North Carolina. GoTriangle is a member of the region-wide GoTransit (North Carolina), GoTransit system, operating limited-stop and express bus s ...

. He also successfully pushed for the construction of a new downtown

convention center A convention center (American and British English spelling differences, American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a Convention (meeting), convention, where individuals and groups ...

and hotel, as well as the reconstruction of

Fayetteville Street Fayetteville Street is a major street in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America. It is a north-south thoroughfare that connects the North Carolina State Capitol, State Capitol to the Raleigh Conventio ...

, a $9.33 million project to convert the pedestrian mall to an urban "main street" with outdoor dining, art galleries, and open spaces. Meeker was a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition. Meeker announced in April 2011 that he would not run for a sixth term. He was a candidate for

North Carolina Commissioner of Labor The commissioner of labor is a statewide elected office in the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina. The commissioner is a state constitutional officer, constitutional officer who leads the state's Department of Labor. North Carolina's ge ...

in the 2016 election, losing to Republican incumbent Cherie K. Berry.WRAL.com: Meeker seeks Labor seat
/ref> Upon leaving office, he joined the Charlotte-based law firm of Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP as a partner in the firm’s Raleigh office.

Education

Charles Meeker received his BA in 1972 from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

and in 1975 received his JD from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. Meeker became a member of the North Carolina bar in 1975 and a member of the District of Columbia bar in 1984.

References

External links

Parker Poe biography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meeker, Charles 1950 births 21st-century mayors of places in North Carolina Columbia Law School alumni Living people Mayors of Raleigh, North Carolina North Carolina Democrats North Carolina lawyers Raleigh City Council members Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Yale College alumni

Career

Education

See also

References

External links