Mayor McAlister's Aug28th State of Cary Update

As usual, Ernie McAlister has only addressed a small part of what's going on in Cary -- and there made a weak attempt at imparting positive spin. As a citizen of Cary, I expect such addresses to be based on facts, and to focus on the things that matter to me, not what matters to the Mayor. As such, I took the liberty of including the mayor's update here, and added Joe's running commentary in blue to provide what I consider a good update would have addressed...

On June 28 the Cary Council unanimously adopted our annual town budget. Once again, Cary is proud to spend over $200M of taxpayer money to pay for new development. As we head into the new fiscal year (maybe he meant 'election' year), I am pleased to report we have an expanding local economy that allows us to continue to improve our services, address (think he meant to say 'create') critical needs like roads and public safety, increase our reserves, and still hold the line on our property tax rate. Fiscal discipline and a sound economy are the budgetary pillars that allow our town to expand services and improve our community’s quality of life. Our town's debt may be at a record-high, but as long as we can keep paying the bills we must be ok.

Over the past four fiscal years Cary has been able to reestablish a sustainable pattern of revenue growth larger than the growth in the town’s operational expenses. This may be a bit difficult for most people to understand given the mayor has shrank the operating fund margin every year. This allows us to maintain a six-month operational surplus of $52 million (again, lowest in 20 years), keeps our balance sheet strong, allows Cary to enjoy a AAA bond rating, and most importantly provides the resources to continue to improve and expand our roads, parks and utilities so that we can continue to add people and need more roads, parks and utilities. Highlights of the budget include six new police officers to help keep Cary safe and 11 new or extended staff positions to better serve parks, recreation and cultural needs. Maybe Ernie's in such a good mood he might even reinstate safety officers at schools! In the area of general capital spending, $28.2 million has been committed to improving roads, and $7 million-plus to parks, including the construction of the new Bartley Community Park. This should help relieve some of the traffic problems created by residential growth during the mayor's administration.

On the cautionary side, we still have a large share of capital debt inherited from commitments made by the previous administration between 1999 and 2003, and Ernie has done his level best to increase it every year. It will take time and a disciplined fiscal policy to pay down those long-term obligations, but don't expect Ernie to do it, he has to keep his campaign-contributing developers happy. Nevertheless, we have made a strong financial recovery from the depths of 2003, raising the bar for debt every year! This recovery was recognized by an upgrade in our bond rating by Standard and Poor’s earlier this year and underscores the positive trends we have established with our town's financial affairs. To put this in the perspective of the average consumer: You don't get a good credit rating if you never borrow money, you get a good rating by borrowing large amounts of money and somehow paying it off on time.

As with any enterprise, you are only as good as the people working for you. I wish to take this opportunity to thank our wonderfully talented town staff for their dedication, professionalism and creativity.

Here in Cary, we are blessed with an award-winning team of workers who provide our citizens with the best array of services available anywhere in the country. I ask you to join me in thanking our town staff as you see them around town or at one of our many venues. They’ll appreciate the pat on the back as much as we appreciate them. Some good people working there, I thank them too.

Cary continues to attract a talented and diverse group of newcomers who enrich our community and neighborhoods, and help to keep our economy strong. Most came to Cary from other parts of the country and sometimes from other parts of the world. This is how the mayor measures quality of life in Cary? As long as someone is willing to move here from somewhere else, then we must have a great quality of life? Together we have a very vibrant and livable community in which we are building on traditions like our nationally recognized Lazy Daze Festival, our summer music series with the North Carolina Symphony, Cary Band Day and many other cultural events, festivals and happenings throughout the year. One word of warning, don't have a heart attack at any of these events --Ernie's not giving Cary EMS any money this year, so you're on your own for ambulance service. On behalf of the town and the Council, I wish to extend our thanks to the many volunteers in Cary that make these events a great success and enjoyment to all year after year. As always, I appreciate the rich and valuable feedback you provide to me and our council as we serve on your behalf. Please continue to engage us as we work to keep our town's devel0pers prosperous.

Schools are a top concern for thousands of Cary families, and were a key element of the mayor's campaign platform. Pity they were not important enough to the mayor to include in his address.

Ernie McAlister is Cary’s mayor.