Rail

As many of you know, the entire region is studying rail. I first have to say that as long as I have been involved in government, I have never seen our region cooperate at this level and approach issues as a group.

The Rail North Texas Coalition is made up of 109 elected officials and business leaders that encompass a 12-county area. I serve on the board of directors representing Frisco and our region. We are trying to find solutions to expedite rail and improve mobility. This is a very active effort that has wide-spread support. For a draft background, here is a link from the North Texas Council of Governments.

If you have any comments on rail, I would like to hear your opinion. More on rail later.

A Day For All Ages

Tuesday was a very interesting day that covered a broad range of Frisco citizens. I thought the day would start off in a relaxed manner, but I ended up spending a lot of time on e-mail since we had a couple of issues crop up. We figured out we were not going to get those issues resolved, so I asked for a meeting at City Hall so we could get everyone in the same room.

Meanwhile, the first Mayor's Youth Council meeting was fast approaching at 11:30AM with a pre-meeting with the officers at 11:20AM. This year, we have a very large group of teens involved in the MYC and it is going to be an exciting year for our City. The MYC officers did a great job getting everyone involved and I look forward to a great year working alongside them.

I finished the MYC meeting and quickly ran next door to the Frisco Senior Center for the National Night Out Kick-Off Party. We had many of our police and fire department personal in attendance and I enjoyed visiting with the seniors. Mayor Pro Tem Tony Felker helped get things started in my absence. I wish I could have stayed for lunch, but I had to rush off too...

Corbell Elementary to visit the children that were involved in the "Wild Walk". This fundraiser is put on by the PTA and the kids either walked or ran laps during their PE class to earn money for activities. Rufus, our Environmental Services Mascot, was also there. I think he was in more pictures than I was :-) Cindi Wright, who chaired the Wild Walk and Christy Reese, the environmental chair, did a great job. Of course, the teachers also were very involved and the kids had a great time.

So, in the space of two hours, I was able to visit our High-School Teens, Our Seniors and our Elementary kids. Now you understand why I chose the title that I did!

After the visit to Corbell, I drove back to City Hall for the meeting that was set up earlier in the day followed by some office work and then home to get ready for National Night Out.

National Night Out was a huge success! I do not have the final numbers yet, but I know we had well over 120 neighborhood block parties in Frisco. I wish I could have visited every one of them, but time would not allow that. For those that I did get to visit with, thank you for taking the time to make Frisco a better place!

Okay, I better get off of here as the e-mails are still coming in...

Never a free minute

It seems that life is so busy lately, blogging and the newsletter have really fallen behind. I will try and do better, but being Mayor seems to consume all your free time (right about now, Simpson is rolling his eyes thinking "I have been telling you this for years :-) ).

Many of you know that I was on a two week trip to China. No, it was not a vacation, but more of a dual-purpose. As I mentioned in previous newsletters, I am finishing my EMBA at the University of Texas at Arlington. It has been a wonderful experience and I will continue my education. As I have said before, I am a believer in life-long learning and I love sharing my knowledge with others and also learning from them. The many times I give presentation to elementary, middle and high school students, I tell them of the importance of life-long learning. What better way to explain that to them than to show them what I am doing. If you are interested in my trip, you can take a look at pictures and blog that I maintained during the 2-week period. Visit the blog HERE.

Of course, I was told the jet-lag when I returned would be terrible. I got home around 10PM Wednesday evening and I had to wake up early to go to City Hall and prepare for the Public-Private Partnerships Making the Economics of Sustainability Work Symposium. Former Mayor Kathy Seei helped facilitate this sustainability symposium at the University of Texas at Arlington. I joined Arlington Mayor Cluck and Fort Worth Mayor Moncrief in a 3-panel presentation. You can read the story on the Frisco Enterprise Web Site.

My jet-lag did not show itself that day (Thursday), but let me tell you, Friday and Saturday were a killer. I had several functions to attend and I must have looked like someone who has not slept in a week!

A day to remember

If this were any other day, it would be the typical day with a full schedule. However, today is not a regular day. It is September 11th. We can never forget the sacrifices our military is making and also the loss of life of our fellow Americans on 9/11.

I started out the day in a normal way; at a meeting at 7:30AM in Plano! The meeting lasted a little over an hour and I started the drive over to Frisco City Hall. I spent the next hour or so catching up on messages and e-mails before starting a staff meeting at 11AM to discuss a symposium that I will be presenting at in October. It is about public/private partnerships and sustainable development.

From there, I rushed over to The Tribute golf course in The Colony. The Texas Fallen Soldiers Project was holding a golf tournament to bring awareness to the project. I spent some time with some of the families of fallen soldiers. I was very touched by the entire event. Seeing an uncle carrying the portrait of his nephew and place it on a stand and walk away was a moment that is hard to explain. As I looked at him, you could see the tears in his eyes and he softly said he didn't think it would be that hard. I can only say that these young men and women who lost their lives protecting our freedoms are the real hero's. They have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country and I was honored to be in the same room as their families and to hear their stories.

If you have not visited the Texas Fallen Soldiers Project web site, please take a moment to do so. If you find it in your heart to help - you are helping in a small measure those families who have sacrificed so much for all of us. Phil Taylor is a special person who has touched the lives of so many. Until you see his work and the impact he makes on those who are hurting, you cannot understand the importance of this project.

Unfortunately, I could not stay long at the tournament. I left there and rushed over to Arlington to attend the Regional Transportation Council (RTC) meeting. This was a very important meeting to me and to our City. The RTC revised their bylaws to allow Frisco a voting position on the board. This was one of my goals during the campaign and I am excited that we have achieved this milestone for our citizens. Many people have worked on this issue for some time, including previous Mayor Mike Simpson and our city staff. Also, the City of Allen and Mayor Steve Terrell has been a great partner as we worked together to get additional representation on the RTC.

I left Arlington at 3:30, but had to rush back to Frisco for a quick debriefing at our Emergency Operations Center regarding Hurricane Ike. I can tell you that our City and staff is working hard to ensure the safety of our community. We are also working with the State of Texas to help other communities. The best place to get information about Hurricane IKE is to dial 211 to access the State of Texas information system. Also, please visit the City of Frisco web site for additional and up-to-date information.

We finished the debrief in just enough time for me to rush over to Pizza Hut Park and the "Paint the Town Red" 2008 BREP appreciation reception. The turnout was large and was filled with many of our business community partners. I enjoyed speaking to the group and appreciate all that our Chamber of Commerce, Frisco EDC and City of Frisco do for our community. The event was a huge success!

Hurricane Ike

I thought I would share the preparation for Hurricane Ike with our citizens. Not everyone is aware that all local, regional and state governments work hand-in-hand on issues such as natural disasters.

Ike is predicted to make landfall near Corpus Christi late Friday or early Saturday. It is estimated that it may be a low category 4 hurricane.

If the current pattern holds true, it may pass along the west side of the D/FW Metroplex. Heavy rains are expected if this takes place with as much as 4+ inches of rainfall over 24 hours, sustained winds of 40-50mph and other damaging weather. Of course, any of this can change, so watch the weather channel!

The State of Texas has mobilized and it will be a fairly significant operation for the next few days. Citizens are being evacuated from the Costal Bend area.

Frisco has sent ambulances to the area to help in the evacuations. Additional resources may be committed as needed.

I hope everyone stays safe and thank you to all the volunteers from Frisco who have mobilized in this effort.

Leadership north texas

I attended the North Texas Commission Orientation and Workshop at DFW Airport today. I serve on their board as a representative from Frisco. The NTC is a regional organization that has a purpose of enhancing and promoting the economic vitality and quality of life in the DFW Metroplex. The NTC is a non-profit consortium of businesses, cities, counties, chambers of commerce, economic development entities and higher education institutions in the North Texas Region.

The Commission is the only public-private regional organization committed to enhancing the overall economic vitality and quality of life of North Texas. Some of the solutions they are working on include the 2001 Super Bowl Task Force, Literacy Initiatives, Airport & Aviation Advocacy, Air Quality Initiatives, Logistics Development & Advocacy, Leadership North Texas, Regional Marketing, Regional Water Resources, Surface Transportation Funding, Workforce Development and Innovation Economy Task Force.

Speaking of Leadership North Texas, the next class will begin in January 2009. For more information on the LNT program, contact Dan Petty or Kimberly Walton o the North Texas Commission at 972-621-000 or dan@ntc-dfw.org or Kimberly@ntc-dfw.org

Dove Hunting and New Roads

What do Dove Hunting and New Roads have in common? Nothing really; I just thought that was a good title for the two things I am going to write about.

Dove Hunting season as started. This time of year, our Police Department usually gets swamped with calls about gunshots in the city. That is when the dispatcher will tell our citizens that dove hunting is allowed. At about that time, the Mayor and Council will receive an e-mail or call about how we should do something about it. My answer is that we already have. Let me explain:

The City of Frisco has an ordinance on the books that does not allow fire-arm discharge in the City Limits. However, the State Legislature passed a bill that allows hunting on private land. We are a home-rule city and we can pass ordinances as long as the State does not over-ride them with state statute. In this case, the city ordinance is over-ridden by the state law.

The land must be a minimum of 10 acres for shotgun, pellet guns or archery and 50 acres for pistol and rifle. The land must not have annexed in 1981, which is all of Frisco. If this is a concern for you, I encourage you to contact your State Representatives and Senators to let them know how you feel.

Now, on to new roads. It is official, the 121 Tollway is now open. Notice I did not call it "S.H. 121". With the opening, the road is now a tollway. For those of you that got used to taking the Preston Road and DNT bypasses, unless you want to pay toll, you will now have to stay on the service road.

Other roads that were recently opened include the Independence expansion from Rolater to Main, Cotton Gin Road west of the Dallas North Tollway and Rolater between Coit and Independence. With your support, we will keep expanding our road system.

I hope everyone is having a safe Labor Day with their families!

Panther Creek Parkway now Open

This morning at 9:30, I had the pleasure of saying a few words and then driving down Panther Creek Parkway in west Frisco as the first car! I chose to use the Frisco's Prius hybrid car to show how much of an impact that Panther Creek will have on our environment and gas savings for our taxpayers. I hope that Panther Creek will make a huge impact on the drive-time of our citizens in West Frisco. By avoiding the intersection of Teel and Eldorado, the savings in gas and time should be considerable. Eldorado widening will take 18-24 months to complete, so Panther Creek is just in time.

This project was a true team effort. The landowners, including the Newman's, Fields, Christie, Berlin's and Mercedes Homes all quickly contributed Right-of-Way to make this project a reality. Our citizens allocated bond money and our engineering department engineered this project in an unheard of record time. From the original go-ahead by Council to opening was 12 months - which is approximately 1/3 the usual time it takes.

I applaud everyone involved for making this happen for our citizens. With an original target date of August, we are one month early on opening. Panther Creek Parkway is a four-lane divided roadway that has twice the capacity of Eldorado. It is now easier for our citizens to get to their homes, school and work in Northwest Frisco. A job well done to everyone involved for improving the quality of life for our citizens. Less time on the road, more time with the families!

Run-off Election Results

Congratulations are in order to our newest council member, Bart Crowder. I am ready to get to work with Bart as we set our goals and priorities for the upcoming year.

I also want to thank Tim Nelson who ran a great campaign. I hope to see Tim continue to be involved in our City as I feel he has much to offer. Great job to both candidates in the way they handled themselves during this run-off. We were lucky to have two quality individuals from which to choose from.

CITY COUNCIL, PLACE 5 - FRISCO
		Total
Number of Precincts		3
Precincts Reporting		3	100.0 %
Vote For		1
Times Counted		1579/47842	3.3 %
Total Votes		1579
Times Blank Voted		0
Times Over Voted		0
Number Of Under Votes		0
TIM H. NELSON		723	45.79%
BART CROWDER		856	54.21%

Overpass Preston/SH121 now open

The SH121 overpass at Preston is now open. Please keep an eye open for the changing traffic pattern. You can now avoid the intersection at Preston when traveling on SH121!!

Coffee with the Mayor

The first "Coffee with the Mayor" that was held on June 9th was a huge success. Over 22 of our citizens stopped by City Hall and visited with me in our City Room on the 5th floor. I really enjoyed the free-flowing information and the round-table type discussion. Please see the press release below for information on this monthly get together. Join me on July 14th for our next coffee at 8AM!
===============

MAYOR MASO INITIATIVE SERVES UP COMMUNICATION – AND COFFEE;
FIRST “COFFEE WITH THE MAYOR” TO BE MONDAY, JUNE 9
(June 6, 2008) Frisco City Hall is now serving “Coffee with the Mayor”.
Residents are invited to join Mayor Maher Maso for coffee and casual
conversation on Monday, June 9 from 8 – 9 a.m. at City Hall, which is
located inside the George A. Purefoy Municipal Center, 6101 Frisco Square
Blvd.

“Coffee with the Mayor” will be held the second Monday of every month in
the City Room, which is located on the fifth floor of City Hall. Pastries
will also be served.

“Coffee with the Mayor” is a new initiative being launched by Mayor Maso.
“This is another communication tool,” said Mayor Maso. “It’s a chance for
our citizens to get to know their Mayor, visit City Hall and get to see
their local government ‘up close’”.

From the Desk of the Mayor-Elect

Thank you Frisco voters…we did it!

I’d like to offer a Texas-sized thanks to all my supporters. Without your hard work and dedication to Frisco, earning 77% of the vote would have never been possible.

I’d also like to extend a special thanks to Andrea Wright, my campaign manager, June Taylor, my treasurer and the rest of my campaign team and to all the volunteers who donated endless hours on the campaign trail. And last but certainly not least, I’d like to thank my beautiful wife, Val and my three children (Brandon, Alisa and Layna) for all their continued love and support.

Now it’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work for Frisco. Together, we can help solve our traffic problems. Together, we can help keep Frisco taxes among the lowest in North Texas. Together, we can wisely manage our rapid growth. And together, we can continue to make Frisco the best place to live, work and raise our families.

I am honored to be able to serve as your next mayor, and my door will always be open at City Hall.

Thank you Frisco!
-Maher Maso

Please Vote Today!!!

Today is the day we need our citizens to go out and make their voice heard. Please take a few minutes of your time and go vote. You will be choosing a new Mayor, two new Council Members, two Frisco ISD board members, deciding whether the city should extend drinking hours until 2AM and, if you live in the LISD portion of Frisco, vote on school bonds.

Voting hours are from 7AM to 7PM. You must vote at the correct polling location.

For election information, visit the City Elections page HERE.

For Frisco ISD, visit HERE.

For Lewisville ISD, visit HERE.

Thank You!

Calm before the Election

It has been a long and rewarding process to get to where we are today. The election is this Saturday, May 10th. I have really enjoyed making new friends, meeting new citizens and spending time with old friends and supporters. My family and I have really enjoyed the last few months and words cannot convey to you how thankful we are for your support.

With over 400 volunteers, I can't say thank you enough times or list the countless times someone has come to our aide to make this campaign the huge success it is. Everyone helped; from the supporters in red to the many financial contributors to the campaign, which was necessary to get our message out.

Every volunteer, every effort, every minute was just as important in our effort to make Frisco the best place to live.

Our volunteers could have easily spent their time taking care of their family, getting that extra time in to organize their home or spending their volunteer time at their church or the many other organizations we have in Frisco. Yet, they still found time to make a difference to my campaign and that means the world to my family.

Together, we spent a lot of time in our community. We attended over 30 meet and greets in the homes of our citizens and answered their questions. We helped sponsor several charity golf tournaments. We attended community events and spoke to anyone that had a question for us. Our supporters attended every debate, every event. They were there right by my side to support me, to hold me up and to give me the strength to work hard for our community.

Our volunteers brought tents, chairs and materials to the early polling locations every single day. We used a lot of sun-screen, that's for sure! Sometimes we had one or two and sometimes we had 10, but they were there every day, every hour.

My volunteers became experts in city operations and issues. We had many long days and late evenings. It was fun and it was tiring, but we spent time with quality people who care about their community. Next time you see one, ask them what NTMWD stands for, or why water conservation is important. Ask them about our tax revenues or expenses and why it is so important to tighten our belt during these challenging times. I bet you they can answer your questions.

When we asked for help with our signs, I expected five or ten volunteers to come for some good pizza! We ended up with over 60 volunteers! Needless to say, we had to order some extra pizza :-)

We had young children and seniors, we had new residents and some that were born in Frisco! It was truly a team at work. What used to take most of the day only took a couple of hours with time for social talk and visiting with friends. Some of our volunteers knew each other and some became friends on the spot!

We had "runners" to stack the signs and "troubleshooters" to help solve problems. Have I told you about the great team we have? What an amazing group of individuals.

The picture to the right tells it all - the team included kids and teens. Just look at the focus and determination on their face! This is what makes all the hard work so worthwhile and satisfying.

I look forward to seeing you this Saturday at the polling location. We will have volunteers at each location, so please stop in and say hi to them. All the candidates worked very hard and have taken time away from their families to serve our community. Please say thank you to them as you go in to vote or on the way out. They deserve to know that you appreciate their effort.

Most of all, thank you for taking the time to get educated on the issues and going to vote. In the end, we should all be thankful that we live in such a great city with so many volunteers.

Please join us on Saturday evening starting at 7PM at our poll watching party at Pizza Hut Park in the verizon club. Please let us know you are coming so that we can plan accordingly.

Join over 500 of your fellow citizens in celebrating this election. RSVP by clicking HERE. Make sure you vote first and head our way - the polls are open from 7AM to 7PM. I hope I can meet you in person!

Sincerely,

Maher Maso

Citizens Speak Out

In the ongoing saga of trying to protect the health of our citizens, the residents of Turnbridge Manor and Hunters Creek had a great showing at a TCEQ meeting tonight.

Approximately 125 residents showed up along with our City Manager and an attorney from the City of Frisco to a public hearing by the TCEQ on the APAC batch plant permit renewel. I attended to see what the TCEQ had to say and was not too pleased to find out that this hearing had no real bearing on the permit renewal process. I was disappointed, to say the least, that none of the comments would be presented to the TCEQ commission in Austin when they consider this issue.

Our residents were very prepared on this issue and many of them spoke. TCEQ did not have many answers. I ended up saying a few words as well as our City Manager, George Purefoy and the attorney that represents the city. We started down this path several years ago when I, along with the City Manager, met in the home of a committee that the citizens appointed to address this issue. We still have a ways to go to solve the impact this has on the health of our citizens. I look forward to attending the hearings in Austin.

Grateful for the Support and Endorsements

I just wanted to take a moment and again thank all my supporters and volunteers for their hard work on my behalf and on behalf of the future of Frisco. I can't put into words how much your friendship and support has meant to my family. I know you may have been reading about the ethics complaints about my opponent and you have probably seen his response basically blaming me, my campaign team and my volunteers. His attack does not warrant a response, period.

I do, however, want to make sure you know how much I appreciate you and your help. As we have discussed over the last several months, I want you to continue to focus on the issues at hand, which is managing our growth, keeping taxes low, building needed roads and infrastructure and public safety. We know we are running a campaign focused on making Frisco the best place to live and we are talking about what we have to offer.

I AM PROUD OF YOU AND YOUR EFFORTS AND CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH. DO NOT LET ANYONE DRAG YOU INTO THEIR PROBLEMS!

To that end, I thought I would throw out some facts and figures about the campaign so that everyone can see what we have accomplished together!

-- To date, we have approximately 400 active volunteers!
-- We have received approximately 235 financial donations to date! THANK YOU - We could not run an effective campaign without your support.
-- We have attended over 30 meet and greets in the homes of Frisco citizens (THANK YOU!!) At times, we have had two or three on one day (now you know why I have been behind on answering e-mails and voicemails). I have learned many things from our citizens on how they would like our City to grow.
-- We have over 1700 small signs placed in the front yards of Frisco voters and over 100 on the waiting list. THANK YOU!
-- We have approximately 68 large 4x4 signs out with permission!
-- We have over 300 Maso for Mayor shirts being worn around town.
-- We have over 20 magnetic signs on cars and another 100 window stickers.

-- Our kick-off party had approximately 750 friends and supporters in attendance

-- Our sign-making party had over 50 volunteers come to my home and put together the signs in a record time!

-- Our campaign rally/fundraiser at the Founders Club at the Dr Pepper Ballpark was at capacity with over 150 people in attendance

-- The debates were attended by numerous supporters in red shirts and we clearly have your support.

-- The campaign team and supporters have attended too many events to list, including several golf tournaments, HOA meetings and Events, City Functions, Meet the Candidate and other public events (and we are not finished yet!) Our team has done a great job getting out in the community with our message.

We have been endorsed by the Dallas Morning News, The Frisco Enterprise and the Collin County Association of Realtors. Click on the names above to see what they wrote!

We also appreciate the hundreds of citizens who have come to us with their support and provided their endorsement of our campaign. I appreciate you and my entire campaign team appreciates you. Together, we will continue to make Frisco the best place to live.

And the March goes on

The first week of May was as busy as ever, but what else is new? The day started out with setting up the table at College County Community College for early voting. I was joined there by several of our volunteers. I could only stay there a short time, so if I missed you coming to vote, I apologize. From the voting location, I walked across campus at 9:30 to attend a Collin County Association of Realtors presentation where they recognized me and shared their endorsement of me to be the next Mayor of Frisco.

With their blessing, I took some extra muffins and walked back to our campaign location and shared them with our volunteers and those of the other candidates. Continuing the hectic pace, I again promptly left there to attend the Garden Club of Frisco luncheon, which was sold out. Mayor Mike Simpson gave his last presentation (for the Garden Club!) as Mayor.

The rest of the day was spent at the polling locations. From there, we had two meet and greets scheduled in Stonebriar and our team left the polling location early to make it. With the number of meet and greets at over 30, there were several days where we had multiple events planned. This was one of them!

This was on Thursday! The next day was not much easier as we repeated the polling day presense. That evening was a treat at the first ever dinner at Babe's restaurant. Mayor Mike Simpson was honored for all his hard work. Most of the Council and staff were in attendance.

The entire campaign team attended the Curtsinger Elementary golf tournament at Plantation Resort on Sunday. We had so many red shirts and cars with signs out there, I think the public thought it was a campaign rally! We appreciate all the thumbs up and horn honking. It was great to meet so many of our fellow Curtsinger parents. We were also very successful in raising over $700 for the Curtsinger PTA with our "spin the wheel". Thanks Andrea!

I had to take a short break from the tournament and head over to Fire Station 6 grand opening. What an amazing station staffed with the best firemen. The station is located at 3535 Eldorado Parkway and is our newest station. Thanks to our citizens, we have opened new fire stations on a regular basis!

We had our last "coffee with the Maher" on Monday, the 5th. If the citizens chose to elect me as the next Mayor, I plan on continuing these meetings! We have filled the room on just about every Monday, so thank you for making these meetings a huge success!

Frisco Family Services held their annual Mayor's Golf Tournament on Monday. Our campaign team sponsored a hole and I spent the day riding in a golf cart (notice I didn't say playing golf. Playing golf means you can actually hit the ball!). It was a great evening. Our first lady, Sandy Simpson, was honored with a "tea party" early in the evening and then Mayor Simpson was honored with a special recognition later that evening. The tournament raised close to $100,000 for Frisco Family Services!

The next morning was the Mayor's Breakfast where Frisco Citizens, Staff and Council honored the families that made up "Frisco's 100,000th citizen". You will be reading more about that in the near future. Frisco is now officially in the 100,000 club!

Until next time,

best regards,

Maher Maso

Meet & Greets and Coffee with the "Maher"

I want to publicly thank everyone who has hosted me in their home to discuss my vision for Frisco. I have really enjoyed discussing our City, past, present and future with our citizens. I have learned a lot about what is important to you and I hope you have learned something from me.

I want to recognize my campaign team for their hard work and dedication; I could not do this without them. By election time, we will have had over 25 meet and greets in homes along with several events and debates/forums. Yes, it is a hectic schedule :-)

The Monday morning "Coffee with the Maher" meetings are going great. We are filling the room at Le Peep restaurant. YOU ARE INVITED! Please join us for coffee and muffins as we discuss issues that are important to our future. This is an informal gathering; come as you are! Join us from 7:30-8:30am every Monday. Le Peep is located at the Southwest corner of Preston and Stonebrook. I hope to see you there.

Community Saturday

Campaign season is usually very busy, but today took that to a new level. I really enjoyed with visiting with hundreds of our residents. Keep in mind, on my mind the entire day was my son, Brandon. This was the day that he would be taking his flight-test and becoming certified as a private pilot. It was hard to focus at times knowing he was "up" there.

The day started innocently enough. We had an early "cold" soccer game for my 10-year old goalkeeper daughter. It was exciting because the two first-place teams played each other. It was exciting to watch out team play the best game as they pulled out a win 3-1.

Our first event was the Grayhawk Spring Festival which was held at Boals Elementary. The HOA was kind enough to invite all the candidates. Some of our campaign team joined me as we met many of the homeowners. This was an example of a community creating an atmosphere that welcomes the residents to get out and meet each other. The HOA should be congratulated for being practive. The food was great and the kid's activities were really fun (I know, Layna was there playing!)

We quickly left Grayhawk to meet up with some of the volunteers who were visiting residents by going door-to-door. From there, we rushed over to another group of volunteers who were setting up a tent at the Kyle Lee Memorial Golf Tournament, where we sponsored a hole.

The day did not end there as we again sped off (at the legal speed limit :-) ) to the Panther Creek HOA social at mourning dove park. The HOA, again, was very gracious in inviting all the candidates to their event. Panther Creek really made it a fun event by having a crawfish boil, music and activities for the kids. Turnout was very high! Way to go HOA board and Social Committee!

The day did not end there; we were not able to stay until the end. Party of my campaign team stayed at the crawfish boil and the rest of us went to attend a meet and greet at Hunters Creek. THis was one of over 25 meet and greets.

I want to close by saying how blessed Val and I are that we have so much support and help. This campaign is very time consuming and we could not do it without your support and help. Thank You!

Busy Early march

The one thing you can't say during campaign season is that you have nothing to do! March 2nd started with a big sign-making party at my house. I did not realize how BIG! I did not count, but parking was at a premium and my guess was well over 50 volunteers showed up. I remember back in 2000 when I ran my first campaign, Val and I were out there with the hammer and nails. We are truly luck to have so many friends and supporters. I will post pictures soon!

Coffee with the "Maher" have on Monday mornings have been going great. I have met many new people and have had the opportunity to hear the concerns of our citizens. We are now in the big room in the back at Le Peep (it is a nice problem to have outgrowing the large round table in front! Don't forget to join me at Le Peep every Monday morning from 7:30-8:30AM.

It has also been a busy with with answering questionnaires from different entities. At times, it is hard to keep up, but I enjoy discussing the long-term vision of our City and our accomplishments. The week ended early with several cancellations due to the weather.

This Time in History

I thought I would share some of the things that took place during this period over the last few years while I served on council.

Early March, 2000 -- I attended a meeting with the City Council that discussed the Frisco Jetport (I worked hard with a group of citizens to not allow an airport in the middle of our City). During this period, I was also a candidate for City Council, which I eventually won. It was a busy time with many meetings.

Early March, 2001 -- During this period, I was full in full swing in my first year on City Council. We had a joint City Council/P&Z meeting during the first week in March. Many other meetings during the week including one with our downtown merchants.

Early March, 2002 -- More meetings (I sound like a broken record!). This is the first time I met congressional candidate Keith Self during his campaign. I also had a meeting with the board of the Frisco Community Theatre (all on a Sunday). The rest of the week was made up of Tax Increment Finance District Meetings, Art Board Meetings and a citizen meeting.

Early March, 2003 -- Highlight of the week was the 2nd annual police awards dinner at St. Francis. We had a joint meeting with our housing trust fund board and also held an appreciation dinner for our boards and commissions.

Early March, 2004 -- My first year as Deputy Mayor Pro Tem, appointed by the council. Lots of other meetings (almost every day).