This week’s significant events included a neighborhood meeting, a work session, and our only council meeting of July.

Monday started with calls to council members about the agenda for Thursday’s council meeting. I was able to talk with all council members except council member Robinson. The agenda meeting with managers and directors was later that afternoon and was attended by council member Adcock and Mayor Pro-Tem Robison. We also had a student from NC Science and Math attending. He met with staff members and will spend the week shadowing staff and council. There were no major topics of concern during the agenda meeting. However, Ms. Adcock did bring out a process issue with the Planning and Zoning Board. She expressed that if changes are made after the Planning and Zoning Board meeting then it should go back to the board for another review.

Monday night I met with consultants hired by the Wake County Public School System to discuss qualities for the new superintendent. I was joined by the mayors of Apex, Garner, Rolesville, and Wake Forest. Mayors expressed that the new superintendent should possess better business skills. In addition, they felt he/she should be someone from outside the Wake County School system. My comments were focused on people skills. I feel this person needs to be able to bring a strongly divided region back together and to gain trust from all the parents.

Tuesday I attended a work session with the council and the Planning and Zoning Board. The topic of this work session was transit. Numerous organizations are involved in transportation planning in the Triangle region. Several federal and regional initiatives related to rail and bus transit are now under way. One organization, Triangle Transit, has recently embarked on a plan for future bus and rail transit within our region. Triangle Transit was the main presenter at this meeting. They had several representatives and consultants presenting information and answering questions. There were several significant points made that many people may not know about. Such as:

• Commuter rail will have morning and evening runs but will stay idle during the day.
• Light rail will have to run on a separate track but will use the current CSX corridor.
• The current rail corridor has 400 feet of right-of-way so there is plenty of room for light rail.
• Triangle Transit will hold three rounds of informational workshops which will get more detailed each time. Cary had its first a couple of weeks ago.
• Triangle Transit is basing their planning on having a referendum for the half cents sales tax next fall.

Wednesday I met with Isaac Loh who spent a week shadowing staff and council members. He is a rising senior at NC Science and Math and was focusing on how local government works. In my conversation with Isaac he asked advice on how to be a good leader. My advice was to be a good listener. I enjoyed having Isaac visit us this week and hopefully will watch him become a leader over the next few years.

Wednesday night I attended a neighborhood meeting at Wellington. The meeting was about a new proposal of about 300 apartments at the corner of Cary Parkway and Tryon Road. My advice was to find out all they could about the project and let the developer and council members know their concerns. The next day the developer pulled this project and is preparing to bring another forward that has more of a mixed use.

Thursday I attended a ribbon cutting of Trans Atlantic bank located off Cary Parkway near Waldo Rood. It is great to see banks expanding especially in these tough economic times. Their decision to open a branch office in Cary is a good one. I strongly believe we will lead the region out of the recession and financial institutions will play a key role.

Later Thursday I attended a short meeting to approve minutes of the council state legislative agenda committee made up of council member Adcock, Frantz, and myself. These minutes have to be approved in a public meeting. So I called the meeting to order, a motion was made to approve which passed, and then adjourned. The entire meeting was less than a minute but necessary to follow the letter of the law.

Thursday’s council meeting lasted about three hours. Discussions focused on three major items: the Weston development, the Chapel Hill Road development, and the Weldon Ridge Road alignment. The final decisions for all of these will be made in the future.

Emails this week were on the light side. I had a few related to the Wellington proposal that ended up being pulled by the developer. I also received congratulations for the town being named as the #1 place to live in the Southeast United States (and 23^rd in the country). What an honor! I am so proud to represent a town that has had a history of great leaders and staff to create such an amazing place to live. I also received thanks from a citizen who heard about the town’s success in protecting our email list from distribution. There was a lot of work by our local delegation of legislators to make that happen. Weekly emails wouldn’t be normal without a few complaints. These included a conspiracy that our police department is out to get a particular individual and a complaint about signs.

Well that is all for this week. I will begin a family vacation today so my next post will be on August 1^st. Please feel free to email me with a comment.