Can't believe January is over

Think about it, 1/12th of the 2008 is already over with. My kids are no longer babies and the hours really fly by! With the speed of time, I'm trying to fit more and more in to a typical day and it does not seem to be working :-)

February 1st started with a long day at a class in Forth Worth (have I ever told you how much I enjoy learning? I do!). I drove straight home late in the day to attend Mardi Gras Frisco 2008 at St. Francis of Assisi church with my wife Val. We really enjoyed the evening as it has been an annual event for us.

Saturday, February 2nd, was also a very long day. I woke up early to get to the Frisco City Council mid-year worksession. The mid-year work session was an idea I floated in 2000 when I was first elected to office and everyone, at that time agreed. Since then, the Frisco City Council schedules a mid-year work session which is typically held in February on a Saturday. I left the mid-year at around 1PM to go to my 9-year old daughters basketball game (a double header).

We have so many great events in Frisco that you will never lack for something that is family friendly to do. After the basketball games, we headed over to the world Olympic Gymnastics Academy (WOGA) international meet at the Embassy Suites. Mayor Mike Simpson welcomed the large crowed and we watched several US teams along with 8 different countries international elite's compete. All I can say is Wow!

Monday, February 3d, was a little more relaxed. Besides the normal family stuff, we had two different campaign meetings with groups that are helping the Maher Maso for Mayor campaign. Did I mentioned we are always looking for volunteers? Just visit our web site and look volunteer link.

Tuesday, February 4th was back to the hectic pace. I started the morning early by meeting citizens who support Frisco adding a dog park. I am always happy to see our citizens take action to attempt to improve our city. I rushed from there to the Frisco Downtown Merchants association meeting. This is another group that works very hard to improve Frisco and downtown Frisco. Amazingly, I actually had a chance to do some work in the afternoon and then headed over to City Hall for the City Council meeting. Turnout was good and several important issues were covered:

The Texas primary is March 4th and early voting starts February 19th. For additional information, you can visit the City Secretary's web site.

I also heard about the Daddy Daughter dance numbers. There are very few tickets left and I believe there are over 5000 purchased so far. So, if you want to take your daughter, you better hurry and contact the Frisco Parks & Rec. department.

The Frisco PD gave an update about sexual offender buffer zones from schools and parks. They said that the growing trend of governmental agencies is to adopt local ordinances regulating where registered sex offenders can reside within their respective jurisdictions. Buffer zones are not consistent between offenders who have been jailed and released and those that are on parole (one is 500' and one is 1000'). The PD is suggesting that it is a consistent 1000'. Of course, nothing is every simple. What tends to happen is that sexual offenders are "funneled" to certain neighborhoods that do not have nearby schools or parks, which can create problems. The PD currently has no enforcement ability with parolees. The Frisco PD is working on an ordinance to increase the buffer and give us the ability to take enforcement action against parole violators. It was decided that they will bring back an updated ordinance for Council to consider.

Staff also discussed the fact that we received a federal grant of $275,000 for a signal system communications project. Staff demonstrated how it helps by providing real-time status of traffic lights and allows synchronization and modifications without having to visit the actual intersection.