January26^th, 2008

My calendar this week was jammed packed with meetings, speaking engagements, interviews, and even a TV taping.

I felt bad for my family since we only had one dinner together this week. Hopefully, the coming weeks won’t be so brutal but there is no guarantee of that since being a public servant does mean sacrifice. So if you are considering running for office always consider the family aspect first. I know it was a major decision in my family and I wouldn’t have considered this office without their support.

I started this week by meeting with Chuck Dulaney who is the staff member in charge of reassignment for the Wake County School System. We met for about 1 ½ hours along with council member Gale Adcock. We went over the reassignment process and then discussed all the major Cary reassignments in detail. What I learned about the process of reassignment is that while there is a computer program to provide all the data, the actually reassignments are done manually. That gives me, and I am sure others, an uneasy feeling. The good news is that the school board is working with SAS Institute to develop an automated reassignment program. Once complete, this program should allow the projections of reassignments for at least a couple of years into the future given a particular set of parameters. Current major parameters in this manual decision include economic diversity, school capacity, and length of bus rides. This is part my continuing quest to gain knowledge to be effective on school issues.

Also on my calendar for Monday was the monthly meeting of all the mayors in Wake County. The guest speaker for this meeting was a member of the North Carolina League of Municipalities who discussed their legislative agenda in detail. It was important for all the mayors to understand what the League is doing so that we can partner our lobbying efforts and avoid duplication. It was a significant meeting for me because it allowed me to interact with most of the neighboring mayors. In case you don’t know, the personalities of the different mayors are quite varied and make for an entertaining evening. They all poke fun at each other but seem to get along fine. I believe this cooperation is crucial when future regional solutions will be required.

Tuesday was also a busy day that began with a staff meeting on Thursday’s council agenda. Later that morning I spoke for about an hour to seniors at the Kiwanis club. They were very inquisitive about a variety of issues which made it a lot of fun. It was comforting to know how well informed all of them seemed to be. I was very impressed with their desire to make sure conservation of water was a top priority. What a great group!

Tuesday evening included the first meeting of the Citizen Issue Advisory Group Task Force (that’s a mouthful). The purpose of this group is to create a set of guidelines and criteria so that citizens will be able to form Issue Advisory Groups on just about any topic. Then those groups would present recommendations to council. It is one of the key initiatives in creating more citizen involvement.

Wednesday began with a speaking engagement at the Eye Opening breakfast for the Chamber of Commerce. I had planned to talk about 15 minutes but I went about 30 minutes instead. This was an important talk because a lot of the people in the room (maybe a 100 to 150) were not supporters of mine in the election. I believe that for our town to thrive and move forward the council and business community will need to work together. Council team building and community cooperation were messages that I attempted to convey and I believe I was successful. I am hoping this is the first step to bridging a gap that divides many Cary citizens today.

Wednesday evening began with the first taping of Cary Matters. This is a monthly TV program (to be shown on Cary TV) that will feature a council member with the Mayor or Mayor Pro-Tem. The program’s format is made up of one main topic, answers to citizen questions, and upcoming council work sessions and meetings. This program is part of the communication initiative that I hope will give citizens information about current and future issues. Combined with the journal you are reading this should allow citizens to have a better understanding of what we are doing as your public servants.

Wednesday evening meetings also included a meeting with former Mayor Broadwell of Morrisville. She asked to meet with me so that I might better understand issues that not only impact Morrisville citizens but impact Cary citizens. I really appreciate her reaching out to me.

Thursday’s meetings included a safety briefing from Chief Bazemore. Cary remains the third safest city of its size in the nation. The chief, town manager, along with Mayor Pro-Tem Robison and I reviewed crime data and carefully looked at potential trends. I feel that our excellent police force combined with improving existing programs and creating new ones will keep Cary one of the safest municipalities in the nation.

Before Thursday’s council meeting began I had the opportunity to meet Katherine White, a local sophomore,  whom I will be mentoring during the next two years. I am honored that she chose me as a mentor and look forward to working with her. I am anxious to see what issues interests her as time goes on.

Thursday’s council meeting went very well. The most controversial topic of the evening was a Public Hearing on raising the water/sewer developer fees. Several developers, realtors, and business owners spoke of hardship that would be created by raising the fees. Two citizens spoke in favor of raising the fees to reduce the burden on the taxpayers. During the council member discussion we directed staff to provide comparative data with other municipalities on combined fees. We will address this topic once again at our next council meeting.

The remainder of the week included a staff meeting, an email interview with the Triangle Business Journal, a phone interview with the Doane Stuart School in Albany, New York, preparation for a  questionnaire submitted prior to a phone interview with an MBA student from UNC Chapel Hill, and making my recommendations for Board and Commission appointments.

Today I went to the Triangle Area Chinese American Society’s New Years festival. I talked with many people and spent time with Wake County Chairman Joe Bryan. I also spent time talking with representatives of a Triangle area sister cities organization. Their purpose is to bring like cities from around the world together not only for a cultural exchange but for potential business opportunities. The event was a lot of fun. I even had the opportunity to talk to a couple of Cary citizens.

Well that is about all for now. I hope to post again on Saturday, February 2nd. Until then, have a great week and I’ll talk to you later…