May 11, 2008

This was a full week that included many meetings, an election, and a council meeting.

Monday included several meetings, the first of which was with the representatives of Redflex who operate our red light cameras. The purpose of the meeting was mostly introductory but we discussed placement, location, and operation of several red light cameras. One item we discussed was reports that red light cameras create more dangerous intersections than before the installation of red light cameras. They presented information contrary to those reports that showed just the opposite. Personally, I have noticed intersections becoming safer. The meeting ended with pledges to work together on any future problems.

Eleven Cary Police officers were promoted on Monday evening. I was not only honored to be in their presence but was blessed to say a few words of thanks on behalf of the town and the citizens they serve. The Cary Police Department is recognized as one of the finest and its reputation is that of the best around. Being one of the safest places to live in the country didn’t occur by accident. It happened because of the fine officers and leadership we have had over the years. Though our officers will face challenges over the coming years, I am confident they will rise to each and every test they face. God bless and protect our officers as they put their lives on the line every day so that we may be safe.

Monday evening Mayor Pro-Tem Robison, council member Robinson, and I met with members of the chamber and representatives of the Economic Development Board. One significant outcome of the meeting is that they will provide a monthly “information only” report of their actions on the Operations Committee agenda to be sent to council. In addition, they will file financial reports to the council on a quarterly basis. I also asked that they provide information explaining the importance of positions they are funding through town assistance. I believe true economic development is just getting started in Cary. Now that the groundwork has been put in place opportunities will be available for Cary to attract, retain, and expand businesses to keep Cary thriving.

Monday’s final meeting was with Mayor Pro-Tem Robison and the town clerk to clarify the Issue Advisory Board information to be presented to council later in the week at the council meeting. Ms. Robison and the Issue Advisory Task Force did a tremendous job laying the foundation for this process. I am excited about the potential for communication opportunities this brings to our citizens in the future.

In addition to the normal council agenda review meeting, Tuesday was Election Day in North Carolina. This was particularly interesting if you were voting in the Democratic Primary. I watched elections with a gathering of the Young Democrats of Wake County. North Carolina’s big win for Obama could have very well made the difference in this Presidential Primary. There were also many other interesting races including governor, lt governor, various seats in the legislature, and some local races. Although, all of my candidates didn’t win I was pleased with the outcome. On the Republican side, I thought the most interesting race was for governor. McCrory and Perdue should make for an interesting governor’s race in November.

Wednesday started with the normal weekly meeting with the town manager and the Mayor Pro-Tem. This meeting gives us the opportunity to ask and get information from each other, basically allowing us to catch up and get in sync with everything that is going on in town.

Wednesday evening was the graduation ceremony of the Citizens Police Academy. This is a course for citizens that spans twelve weeks (they started in February). The course spends hours going through various topics related to the police department. As a result the citizens become well informed and can become advocates for our fine officers.  Another important service these citizens can provide is assistance in various events allowing our officers to focus on their professional duties. The commitment and dedication of these citizens to take time from their families and learn so that they can help others shows the kind of incredible people we have living in Cary. I am proud to represent them as their mayor.

Wednesday evening closed with a dinner meeting. It is interesting to note that a large amount of my time being mayor is spent meeting with people to hear about their special interests or concerns. While a lot of the meetings are introductory and informative in nature the ability for these people to have face to face time with the mayor is important. I grossly underestimated how much time these type of meetings would take.  

On Thursday morning council gathered for breakfast to discuss pot luck items in a non agenda format. Big discussion items from the breakfast were state maintained roads, the county animal shelter, and schools. Staff presented council with estimated costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars to maintain all of the state roads in town. Council directed staff to provide additional itemized costs for maintaining key thoroughfares. Council also agreed to lobby legislators to get the state to maintain key thoroughfares in Cary that are currently under minimum standards. Regarding the animal shelter debate (whether or not to send animals to SPCA or Wake), problems with existing options were discussed and critiqued. It was decided that the town manager would bring additional options to be considered by the Operations committee. Schools were also discussed at length. The task force created by council several weeks ago will begin moving forward with the intention of finding common ground with other municipalities and carrying those ideas forward to the Wake County legislators.

The council meeting on Thursday night was relatively uneventful. The decision that will affect the most citizens was on changing how the town collects recycling. Cary will collect recycling materials in bins instead of carts starting sometime in the spring of next year. This will allow citizens more options for recycling and save the town up to $600,000 a year after paying for the initial capital costs (which should take about four years). Customers with special needs will be assisted by the town similarly to trash collection.

Friday was a day for meeting with various mayors. On Friday morning I met with Morrisville Mayor Jan Faulkner and her town manager to dicuss a gathering of the Cary Town Council and the Morrisville Town Commissioners. We discussed creating an agenda that would include a lot of issues of interest to both boards. Morrisville agreed to host the next meeting and we hope to schedule the meeting within the next month.

Friday afternoon I met with Raleigh's Mayor Meeker, Durham's Mayor Bell, and Chapel Hill's Mayor Foy to discuss the recommendations of the 21st Century Transportation Committee. This committee was formed by the NC Legislature to study the transportation infrastructure needs in the state. The mayors reviewed the recommendations and agreed it was flexible enough without requiring much additional input. I think it is important to note that these mayors realize the importance of moving forward with multi modal transportation as soon as possible.

I closed out my mayoral duties for the week by reading a proclamation at the National Women’s Health Week Expo held at Cary Towne Center. I hope all the women in our lives will take the time out to have a checkup and to think of better ways to maintain and improve their help.

That about sums it up for this week. So I’ll close for now and hopefully post again by Sunday, May 18th.