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Cary Mayor

Harold’s Blog: Sister Cities, Chamber of Commerce and More

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Cary, NC – This week was slower than expected with a few cancelled meetings.

Tuesday – Cary Chamber of Commerce

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

Harold’s Blog: State Legislature, Transportation and More

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Cary, NC – This week included a lot of meetings and events.

Monday – Wake County Mayors and Local Student

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

Harold’s Blog: Cary School of Government, Cary Road Race and More

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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 – Opioid Pilot Program

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 Board of Education

Education: Bill Fletcher 2018 April Newsletter

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Wake County, NC – Thoughts for April 2018 from Bill Fletcher, Member of the Wake County Board of Education.

Joint Meetings with Commissioners Open Constructive Dialog…

…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.

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Cary Mayor

Harold’s Blog: Town Council Meeting, Highway Changes and More

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Cary, NC – This week had events or meetings almost every day.

Monday – Planning for the Week

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

Samaritan Corner

Samaritan’s Corner: Dr. King! No More Dreams

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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

Cary Mayor

Harold’s Blog: Water Treatment, Gun Dialogue and More

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Cary, NC – This week consisted mostly of meetings.

Monday – Water Treatment

Monday I facilitated two meetings at Apex town hall. The first meeting was the Cary Apex Water Treatment Advisory Committee which makes decisions on our water treatment. Cary and Apex are the only two voting members. At this meeting we heard about the water treatment expansion to 56 mgd (million gallons a day) which will go online soon. Currently our maximum demand on peak days is around 40 mgd. Per capita usage has been going down for years and has now leveled off. Read more

Cary Mayor

Harold’s Blog: Town Council Meeting, Cary Branding and More

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Cary, NC – This week was typical for a week that included a council meeting.

Monday – Wake County Mayors

Since there was a CAMPO (Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization) meeting on Wednesday I talked with the Director on Monday morning to go over the agenda for the monthly meeting. The CAMPO meeting agenda was straight forward with mostly informational items so our meeting time was short.

Later Monday I attempted to contact all council members to hear of any questions or concerns about Thursday’s council agenda. I was only able to talk with four of the council members and there were very few questions. Later in the day I met with staff and went over the agenda items. We believed at the time that there weren’t any significant concerns.

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Samaritan’s Corner: Concussion At The Cross

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Cary, NC – Welcome to Samaritan’s Corner. Let’s Talk!

Hebrews 12:1 – “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the ‘JOY’ that was set before Him endured the cross.”

And that my friends is exactly where I’m starting this article from. At the foot of the cross where I found this warrior soul coming out of a seasonal walk with Jesus that I just had to write about! Hallelujah!

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Cary Mayor

Harold’s Blog: Triangle Council of Governments, Arbor Day and More

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Cary, NC – With a couple of cancellations this week wasn’t as busy as I anticipated.

Monday – Triangle Council of Governments

I started Monday with a visit to Carpenter Elementary to participate in Read Across America. I read the book “The Most Magnificent Thing” by Ashley Spires. The students were very attentive and comprehended the story well giving several lessons learned from the book. Then I spent about fifteen minutes answering questions. Before I left they presented me with a gift bag of goodies from Carpenter Elementary. Then I did a selfie with those students whose parents had approved of allowing pictures. It was a great time and I hope they invite me back in the future. Read more