Monday I attended the annual Mayors Association holiday dinner which was held in Wake Forest. I was joined by council members Robinson, Smith, and Yerha as well as several staff members. It was a time of fellowship and for reconnecting with officials from all over the county. I estimate there were over 100 people in attendance. The Mayors Association and municipalities paid for the elected officials’ dinner. We all paid for our spouse’s dinner.

Monday I met with the town manager and the assistant town manager. Most of our meeting was about affordable housing. In our discussion we noted that there are a lot of questions about affordable housing that need to be answered.

This week was a holiday week so there weren’t a lot of activities. Monday I met with the town manager for our weekly one-on-one meeting. We talked about the staff response to the Mosque fire and a few other things. Our meeting lasted about twenty minutes.

It saddens me to know that our country and state is so divided. In Cary we have proven that party doesn’t matter. We believe that working toward a common goal is easier when all work together and there is no place for divisiveness. It is always OK to disagree but we must always work together on each and every decision. That is the only way we can possibly reach our potential as a community. So far, at the end of my 11th year as mayor, I am proud to say we are doing exactly that. Now if we can only get that message across to our state and federal representative.

This week’s highlights include a fire station groundbreaking and a regularly scheduled council meeting. My final meeting on Monday was with staff and a developer who owns property behind the shopping center at Kildaire and Maynard. In the past the developer has proposed rezonings, one of which included a storage facility, which were denied. He recently had a rezoning that was approved to allow certain types of commercial use. He explained that he couldn’t get interest in that type of development or from adjacent property owners.