January 12^th, 2008

My breakneck pace has finally caught up to me. The 80+ hours a week I have been putting in with my real job plus the mayor’s job has landed me with a case of the cold & flu. So if things don’t sound quite right it may be the medication. ;-)

This week included several meetings with people from special interest groups, a work session on aquatics, a taping of the state of the town address, a meeting in preparation for the council meeting, and another LONG council meeting.

One of the most enjoyable parts of the week was meeting with Cub Scout troop 232 from Cary Presbyterian before the council meeting on Thursday. One of the most difficult things of the week was trying to answer dozens and dozens of emails related to school reassignment and Morrisville’s Park west proposal.

My meetings with people from special interest groups included a meeting with KB Homes. They wanted to make sure that I was aware of their contributions in protecting the environment and wanted to participate in future programs to protect the environment. I found this very encouraging and promised to work with them to make this happen. Another meeting was with Cary EMS. Cary EMS provides ambulatory service to Cary and surrounding areas. While the Cary Fire Department and other agencies provide some first responders to incidents, Cary EMS is the service that does critical care and transports to the hospital. They have a CPR success rate significantly above the national average. That is, those folks that stopped breathing or had their heart stopped but were revived and walked out of the hospital. Cary EMS’s operations are funded by their service generated revenue plus county assistance. But what most people probably don’t know are the many community service programs they provide. They are hoping to continue and expand these programs with the town’s help.

The work session on the aquatics center was designed to choose between one of two sites: the Hawes tract and a North Cary site off of Cary Parkway. But this was the first meeting on this topic with the new council. The new council decided to table this decision and look at options of a more centrally located facility and an aquatics only facility. In addition, we asked for information related to multiple small aquatic facilities. We asked for a new work session with this information within the next 30 to 60 days.

On Tuesday of this week I taped the1500 word State of the Town address for Cary TV. I thought with a teleprompter this would be a breeze. Chalk one up to a learning experience. Speaking for over 10 minutes with inflection and without stumbling over a word is fairly difficult. I now have new respect for WRAL’s Bill Leslie. After an hour and 10 minutes and several takes we finally had one take that would work. I am very interested in seeing how it turns out.

A practice of previous mayors that I decided to continue was meeting with staff on this week’s council meeting agenda. Sometimes I might miss something from reading and preparing for a meeting and staff fills in the gaps. I believe it is important to thoroughly know the material especially if you are facilitating the meeting. BTW, most people might not realize that it takes several hours to read all the material to be ready for a council meeting. This council seems to always be prepared. I am honored to work with a council that is prepared and knows the issues. This makes for the best decisions.

This week’s council meeting was another long one ending at around 12:30. Significant topics of discussion included two mixed use plans submitted adjacent to SAS, the boards and commissions appointment process, street litter pickup, and a sign plan for Parks and Recreation. It was nice to see council discussion, disagreement, agreement, and then we all went home friends. That is the way groups are supposed to work together!

My proposal for a new boards and commissions appointment process was deferred until next years appointments. The majority felt that it was too rushed and it needed more time to flesh out. We did change the ethics statement about board members making public statements. In addition, we will now have chairs of each board and commission report to council.

Next week promises to be a busy week. I am booked every evening and every morning except one. The council retreat starts Friday at noon and will be held at Mid Pines. This will be my first trip there. I guess I will be posting when I get back from the retreat which will be Sunday, the 20^th. Until then, have a great week and I’ll talk at you later…