Cary, NC – This week’s main focus was on the quarterly meeting.
Monday I met with the town manager for our weekly one-on-one. We discussed the quarterly meeting, some budget items, and business proposals that may or may not come to fruition. Our meeting lasted about half an hour. Read more
Cary, NC – Thoughts for May 2018 from Bill Fletcher, Member of the Wake County Board of Education.
Your Board of Education made a profound statement when it adopted the superintendent’s recommended budget as the Board’s Proposed Budget for 2018-19. The Board will request $58.9 million in additional, recurring local funding to meet the reduced class size mandate, open new schools, protect principal pay, expand counselor support for students, recruit and train new academic teachers, maintain excellent services to students with special needs and expand services for AIG students.
Cary, NC – Major renovations to Cary’s Black Creek Greenway from the Old Reedy Creek Trailhead to West Dynasty moved one step closer to construction at our council meeting last night with the recognition of at least $4 million in NCDOT State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) funds. Read more
Cary, NC – This was a typical spring week with a regularly scheduled council meeting and several events.
Monday I contacted council members to hear of questions and concerns they may have had about the agenda for Thursday’s meeting. Later in the day I met key staff members and went over the agenda.
After the agenda meeting I met with staff to hear about a legal issue and to get a preview of the budget. The staff will present the budget on May 10th to the council at our quarterly meeting. That discussion will include what to do about the increasing costs of recycling, the need for more sidewalks, and the need for more road improvements. Property taxes will probably remain the same in this year’s budget but that will be a council decision. After the May 10th work session other scheduled work sessions include June 7th, June 14th, and June 28th. It is likely that we will not need all of those work sessions. Read more
Cary, NC – This week was slower than expected with a few cancelled meetings.
Monday’s meeting with the town manager was cancelled since we had no new information to share.
Tuesday I spoke to the Cary Chamber Leadership group about the council, our role, my role, and the importance of intergovernmental and inner governmental relationships. My talk with questions lasted about 15 to 20 minutes.
Tuesday evening I attended the expansion opening celebration of Pacific Nails in the shopping center at Walnut Street and Tryon Road. I congratulated the owners and took a few pictures with them. Read more
Cary, NC – This week included a lot of meetings and events.
Monday morning I talked with the Executive Director of CAMPO (Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization) and the Vice Chair about Wednesday’s agenda. We agreed that the agenda was straight forward and based on the presentations we believed the meeting would take an hour to an hour and a half.
Monday afternoon I met with a high school senior and her parent for an interview about local government. Her questions focused on the impact of growth, governmental relationships, and future changes. We talked about half an hour before I gave her a tour of town hall. Read more
Cary, NC – Spring finally arrived in Cary this week. I participated in a lot of spring related activities in addition to other meetings and events.
Monday I joined council member George in a taping of Cary Matters. Our episode was about the opioid crisis and our pilot program funded by the $100,000 Bloomberg grant. Our first take had several stumbles but we nailed it on our second take.
Later Monday I met with the town manager for my weekly one-on-one meeting. We talked about several projects that have been approved and proposed. We also talked about our budget mini-retreat coming up on May 10th. Our meeting lasted about half an hour. Read more
Wake County, NC – Thoughts for April 2018 from Bill Fletcher, Member of the Wake County Board of Education.
…even when conversations include comments like “we only have $xxx available for the schools.” NC has an unusual school funding system. School Boards have no taxing authority. Primary operational funding responsibility rests with the State. Counties pay for construction. When the local community demands better services than the State is willing to fund, counties supplement operational funding. That is the basis for the annual negotiation between the Wake boards of education and commissioners.
Cary, NC – This week had events or meetings almost every day.
Monday started with attempts to contact all council members to hear of concerns or questions about Thursday’s regularly scheduled council meeting agenda. I was able to contact all council members but one and there were no major concerns. Later in the day I met with management and directors to go over the agenda. Following the meeting about the agenda I met with the deputy managers and public information officer to talk about gas station issues. Read more
Cary, NC – Welcome To Samaritan’s Corner. Let’s Talk!
“I have a dream that one day little black boys and girls, will be holding hands with little white boys and girls.” On Wednesday, August 28 1963, standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I have a dream” speach. In that speech is when he spoke about black and white children holding hands. Well Dr. King, it is my honor, privilege and blessing handed straight down from heaven to be able to say to you that they’ve gone from holding hands to putting their arms around each other! Hallelujah!! Read more