Leadership Frisco

Friday, February 8th, was a day that I was looking forward to for the last several months. I have been involved in the Leadership Frisco program since the first year when I served on the original curriculum and applications committee. Every since that first year, I have been involved in some form or fashon with this outstanding program that is sponsored by the Frisco Chamber of Commerce. Besides serving on the curriculum committee over the years, I also served as Chair of Leadership Frisco for two years.

Friday was the culminiation of working on the agenda over the last several months. With received feedback from last years class; we wanted to change things up a bit. The day was really about regionalism and learning about the partners around us. The new format worked really well! First; we met at the Embassy Suites for the ride to the City of Prosper. Little did the class members know that I would have them as a captive audience in the van ride to Prosper! I think some of them were planning on taking a nap on the way since we left early; but I never pass up an opportunity to help educate :-)



On a serious note, I really enjoyed it. I think we touched on just about every part of city operation. The class has some very good questions and before we knew it, we were in Prosper. The Prosper presentation was outstanding as the class members learned about the issues that a small town has to deal with. It was not that long ago that Frisco was that size (in fact, I was here, in 1992, we were approximately 6500 population). The also learned about how much that Prosper and Frisco work together.



From there, we packed back into the van for the drive to Plano city hall. Yep, you guessed it, another opportunity to "present" to the class. I should call it the rolling presentation :-)



Plano was an oustanding venue for the class to learn about the challenges that a mature city faces. City Manager Tom Muehlenbeck and Mayor Pro Tem Sally Magnuson presented to the class and they realy enjoyed it, especially the question and answer session. The class was able to see Tom's passion for Plano.



From there, we boarded the bus again (yep, more presentation by yours truley) for a trip to NTTA headquarters. We met in the board room and had lunch served. We didn't slow down though, NTTA gave a presenation, which is always one of my favorites. The behind the scenes in operating the tollway is always interesting. DCTA (Denton County Trasportation Authority) also came to present followed by HTNB, a country-wide engineering firm that excels on transportations.



This is getting long, so I will end it here. The whirl-wind tour was a big success. If you are interested in the Leadership Frisco program, contact the Frisco Chamber of Commerce (or you can e-mail me and I can put you in touch with the right person).



Class 11 of Leadership Frisco should be commended for making this committment to learn about their community:



Bill Blitt
Heather Bowers
Bart Crowder
Dustin Donley
Lisa Kalka
Marc Kirkland
John Land
Kevin Lofgren
Rhonda Martin
Millicent Mayaka
Jose Monzon
Lawanda Penland
Will Russell
Michael Rodgers
Olga Simmons


Also, my gratitude, on behalf of Leadership Frisco, to The City of Plano, Town of Prosper, NTTA, DCTA, HNTB and the Embassy Suites.