It’s So Great, It’s Cary!

In a recent NC League of Municipalities presentation, a financial advisor told the Board that 22.5 million jobs had been added since 2008, but 26 million jobs have been eliminated in the last five weeks.   WRAL announced that more people are unemployed in North Carolina than people employed in the Raleigh-Cary metro area.   With these concerning statistics , it is no wonder that some people are questioning shelter-in-place policies. A few people have asked the Council why the Town is not setting its own COVID-related rules and policies.   The reason is based in how government is organized in North Carolina .   In NC, counties are charged with overseeing social and health services while cities oversee the provision of urban services such as water, solid waste collection, and building permits.   The Town of Cary does not have anyone on staff with medical training or experience qualified to be making calls about the health of our citizens. For this reason, the Town of Cary defers he

Like most of you, I am working from home.   Just about every email I get starts out with the salutation, “Hope you and your family are healthy and safe.”   Healthy? Yes.   Safe?   Hmmm… images of my son working with power tools and my daughter trying her hand at cooking come to mind.   So far, so good. The Town Council is doing its part to stop the spread of COVID-19 and has canceled its official meetings in April. But, we anticipate having meetings again in May.   At this point, we have not determined whether our May meetings will be live or via teleconference.   Our 311 system continues to run with our staff fielding calls from home.   If you have any questions about what is happening in Cary or if you have a concern to raise, please call 311. Are you looking for a compilation of COVID-19 related information?   Check out the Wake County COVID-19 page: https://covid19.wakegov.com/ . In addition to compiling relevant new stories, giving good guidance, and providing res