NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 14, 1998

SCHOOLS, TRAFFIC GRIDLOCK TO BE DISCUSSED AT CARY PUBLIC MEETING TOMORROW NIGHT

CARY, NC -- Nineteen appointed and elected officials plan to attend tomorrow night’s special Town meeting to discuss Cary’s roads and schools problems. Besides the Cary Town Council who is sponsoring the meeting, invitees include the Wake County Board of Commissioners, the Wake County School Board, State legislators, Cary’s US Congressional delegation, and representatives from the NC Board of Transportation. The meeting will take place at the Cary Community Center from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM on Tuesday.

"I’ve asked folks to come together and work together to help solve Cary’s problems," said Mayor Koka Booth. "This meeting is not about pointing fingers; it’s about stating the facts and moving forward."

On August 6, 1998, about 30 invitations were hand-delivered to area officials asking them to participate in tomorrow’s public meeting. In the letter, Mayor Booth said that " While thoughtful, well-intentioned, and deliberate efforts have been made by countless leaders over the years to address these concerns, real and permanent solutions have proven to lie beyond the grasp of any single political body." In his plea for cooperation, Booth continued by saying "It is my hope, however, that we have now reached that point in our history where we can come together to rally a comprehensive and coordinated assault against these challenges for the future welfare of our citizenry."

Tuesday’s meeting will open with short presentations on the current status of schools and roads in terms of their overcrowding and remedies currently on the drawing board. There will be remarks from Cary’s Growth Management Task Force as well as a Town of Cary staff presentation on the upcoming $149 million bond referendum, designed in part to address significant roadway improvements. A roundtable discussion by the panel will be followed by questions from the audience.

John Stephens of UNC’s Institute of Government will serve as the evening’s moderator, and the meeting will be videotaped for playback on the Town’s cable television channel at a later date.

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PRIMARY CONTACTS: Bill Coleman, Town Manager, 469-4002
Susan Moran, Public Information Officer, 460-4951