December 22nd, 2007
Since my last posting
I have taken the oath of office, was successful in getting three communication
initiatives passed, supported changes in development fees, met with many
elected officials, and participated in several meetings.
I took the oath of
office on December 13th. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall
administered the oath. It was an honor to have her participate in the ceremony.
One interesting note is that before the council meeting we practiced the
ceremony and signed papers. So officially I guess I became mayor at that point.
The first meeting was preceded by a reception for family, friends, and honored
guests. Other than the Secretary of State, my guests included former roommates
from college, the Bond family (former mayor Fred Bond), and many friends and
supporters.
The initial council
meeting was jammed packed with items on the agenda. We had thirteen public
hearings and did not adjourn until 1:15 AM. I proposed three communication
initiatives which were passed. The first was to call for a public hearing on
changing the way we appoint citizens to the advisory boards. The idea behind
the initiative is to open up the process to the public so that they will know
which council member supported what citizens for each board. The second
communication initiative was to allow the creation of a task force to come up with
a process by which temporary issue based advisory groups could be created.
These temporary groups could make recommendations to the council on any topic
provided they met the criteria set forth by the task force. The end result will
be citizens being able to give council advice on current issues of importance.
The final communication initiative was to create a TV program (called Cary Matters) to be hosted by
two council members which will aired on a monthly basis. This program will
allow council members to address questions submitted by citizens and to provide
information on upcoming issues. The first of these programs will be aired on
the first of February and will be hosted by council member Jennifer Robinson
and myself. The topics of discussion will include the town’s future water
usage.
The week included
meetings with several elected officials and potential candidates for office. I
attended a mayor’s dinner and was able to meet and talk with almost every mayor
One meeting with
elected officials this week was the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning
Organization. This meeting included several mayors and other elected officials
from
This week also
included two work sessions. The first work session was to review and/or set
development fees for transportation and water/sewer. Development fees are a
percentage of the cost of transportation needs and water/sewer needs created by
developments. Before addressing fees we decided that the town should be divided
into two districts instead of three. The two districts are downtown (inside the
Maynard loop) and everywhere else.
In the downtown
district the council agreed that transportation fees should remain roughly the
same. Although I believe we should be sensitive to the current real estate
market, I proposed raising fees 25% for everywhere else in town which was passed.
My motivation for supporting the increase in transportation fees was based on
folks with fixed incomes. Currently they pay almost 90% of the transportation
cost created by every new house. I am glad we are going to reduce the burden on
them and help keep their taxes low. Some
will claim that these increases in transportation fees will cause business to
go elsewhere. I find it extremely hard to believe that a $350 increase in fees
for a 2500 sq ft house would chase people away.
The staff and
consultant’s presentation on water/sewer fees generated a lot of interest and
concern among council especially when talking about potential debt and the
drought. The council seemed in favor of raising fees to the maximum allowed amount
but decided to hold a public hearing first.
Our second work
session was on the mixed use overlay. We will have other work sessions on this
topic but a consensus was reached on a change in the proposal process. This new
process will include many more opportunities for the public to speak.
The week ended with a
meeting planning the council retreat. One of the main topics of the retreat
will be how we can make changes to protect and preserve our water and waste
water capacity now and in the future. It should be a very exciting retreat as
we not only discuss water issues but set our vision for the future.
Have a great holiday!
Talk at you later…