Challenging Times - Responsive Leadership

It's been a busy and exciting two weeks on the campaign trail, starting with our kickoff on August 16th:



Our Challenging Times - Responsive Leadership event was well attended and a big success. Special thanks go to local band SHMaK for their music, to all who spent the afternoon with us and to my campaign team for their hard work in organizing our event.

Last week I had interviews with 3 PACs (Political Action Committees), attended the Jeremiah St ribbon cutting and had dinner at an old fashioned political rally. (Best line by far at the Pig Pickin' came from long time Durham City Council Member Howard Clement, III: "Be seen, be brief and be seated.")

But my campaign for mayor, like this blog, is not about me. It's about our Heart of the Triangle Morrisville community, about what we can accomplish together over the next four years. It's about continuing the fight to keep property taxes low through fiscal responsibility, formulating a plan to address our traffic woes, promoting sustainable growth we can afford and providing community advocacy at the local, regional and state levels.

As always, I want to hear from you. Visit our Responsive Leadership campaign website and drop me a note. And don't forget - if you haven't registered to vote, do so. Election day is November 3rd.

Jackie

Focus On: Andy's Burgers, Shakes & Fries

Second in our series Focus On Local Businesses, we visit Andy's of Morrisville at 3504 Davis Dr. Great burgers, shakes and half price kid's meals every Tuesday evening, with family friendly activities from 5-7.


At a time when non-profits are feeling deeply the pain of recession, Morrisville manager Stephen Aiken and Andy's Foundation continue their Founding Field Sponsor support of Miracle League of the Triangle. Our local Andy's regularly hosts events like visits from New England Patriot Sam Aiken and Minnesota Viking Aundrae Allison.


Tonight's Madden NFL 10 Tournament promises more of the same - great food, affordable prices and support of a wonderful organization. Heart of the Triangle. Truly.

You Can Bury a Lot of Troubles Digging in the Dirt

And if we follow the example of our neighbors to the south, we're likely to uncover more in goodwill than we'll bury in troubles.



Fayetteville has it right: a vision supported by public private collaboration, heavy on the use of donated supplies and volunteer labor. Theirs is a model municipal garden where a sense of community grows along with the tomatoes.

We have the dirt. Morrisville owns 10 acres on Jeremiah St, another 10 acres behind Morrisville Square with no immediate plans for either. Why not turn one, or both, of these tax-payer owned properties into a community garden? Turn our growing community into, well, a GROWING community! Charge a nominal yearly fee for space or swap for volunteer time. Make the dirt available to all, but especially to those without room to grow. Enlist the help of the green thumbers among us. Introduce a Parks and Rec program for multi-generational growing teams. Promote field-to-table sustanability with educational programs on composting and rain harvesting with our solid waste and recycling committee taking the lead.

A community garden won't unclog our town's arteries. But for our Heart of the Triangle, it's a fine idea.