With the election behind us and a lot of work ahead of us, I wanted to take a moment and express my gratitude for the faith and trust you have placed in me by reelecting me as your Mayor. It is a privilege and honor to continue to represent the greatest city in the country. I cannot think of a higher honor than the vote of public trust. By entrusting me to help lead our city, I promise you that I will put forth every effort to protect our citizens. While we face some difficult challenges, 2011 will also be a banner year for Frisco and you will see and read about many wins over the next few weeks for our community.

I also want to thank the many campaign volunteers who worked tirelessly to help spread the vision of Frisco. I am proud to be associated with so many good people who were all unified and dignified in keeping on the high road. We have some work to do to heal the divide caused by the negative campaign that was waged by my opponent, but Frisco is and has always been a positive town that can do anything. I know that I would not be in the position of helping Frisco continue the successes without so many who worked hard to get me here. I am truly blessed to have so many good friends and supporters.

The celebration of my reelection was short as we live in the fastest growing city in the country and there is so much to do. We do not have time to pause or relax and I hope I can count on you to be involved as we continue to grow! I will continue to work hard to increase the number of jobs in Frisco, improve our public safety and continue to build our infrastructure to meet the needs of our growing population. Having a safe environment from pollution is also a priority for me and I will continue working with our council in finding solutions to keep our families safe.

Frisco is also one city and we do not have a place for special interest groups or those that want to bring politics here for their own gain.  The County you are in or the school district your children attend does not make any part of the community any less or more important than any other.  We have come this far because we have been united in our vision and focused on what is good for the entire community. Using this approach, we have been able to accomplish more than any other city in this country.

During the election, I had the opportunity to meet many new residents of Frisco as well as visit with those that have been here a while. One of the common themes from everyone I spoke with was that they love living in Frisco. Frisco must continue to be on the leading edge sustainable thinking and planning. I will work hard with our council to keep Frisco vibrant.

I hope you will join me as we chart our future to the eventual build out of Frisco. Please continue to monitor my Facebook and twitter pages as well as my web site for up-to-date information about Frisco. I also encourage you to join me at my monthly “Coffee with the Mayor” so that I may continue to listen to your ideas and concerns. My door is always open to our citizens!

It is time to roll up our sleeves and get back to work. I am truly excited for our City and our future!

Thank You and God Bless Frisco

Maher Maso

Mayor, City of Frisco

WHEREAS, Neil Self was hired as a firefighter and building inspector, beginning his service to our citizens on February 17, 1992; and

WHEREAS, Neil Self received his Paramedic Certification in 1993.  He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1998 and promoted to Captain in 2005; and

WHEREAS, Neil Self has served as a Firefighter, Code Enforcement Officer, Emergency Medical Technician, Paramedic, Hazmat Technician, High Angle Specialist, Driver Operator, Fire Instructor, Lieutenant and Captain; and

WHEREAS, Neil Self is described as a person of integrity; he is honest, reliable, and cares for others.  His dedication to the City of Frisco has not only been evident by his service as a fire fighter and station officer, but also through his management of the Outdoor Warning Sirens and Knox Box systems that are in place today. The City of Frisco is a better place thanks to the skills and dedication of Neil Self.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Maher Maso, Mayor of the City of Frisco, on behalf of the City Council and the Citizens of Frisco, do hereby bestow Special Recognition to Neil Self for 20 years of service faithfully rendered to the City of Frisco and its Citizens and do hereby proclaim March 20th as:

“Neil Self Day”

And encourage all citizens to congratulate Neil on his 20 years of service, and thank him for his dedication to our community.

WHEREAS, long before women gained regular admission to the military, they worked as nurses, water bearers, laundresses, and cooks, sometimes served as spies, and saboteurs, and on occasion even took up arms; and

WHEREAS, in 1901 the United States Army created a nurse corps, the US Navy and Marine Corps enlisted women as yeomen and reservists to free their male counter parts for combat; and

WHEREAS, the army established the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corp, later known as the Women’s Army; the Army also created the WASP, while the Navy organized the waves, the Marine Corp established the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve, and the Coast Guard created a reserve unit known as the SPARs. In 1948 an Act of Congress granted them permanent status in the regular and reserve forces; and

WHEREAS, Grace After Fire, a 501 (c) (3) Texas-based nonprofit organization strives to give women Veterans the support they need to restore and sustain a high quality of life while transitioning from service within those regular and reserve forces to civilian life, including women Veterans in our community and is working to raise awareness about the contributions of women Veterans.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Maher Maso, Mayor of the City of Frisco, do hereby proclaim, March 2012, as:

“WOMEN VETERANS MONTH”

And call upon all citizens to express our gratitude to the women who have served our Nation with tenacity, courage, and professionalism, and they are deserving of their fellow citizens’ deepest gratitude and unfailing support.

WHEREAS, Fire Chief Aubrey “Mack” Borchardt and his family have been an integral part of the City of Frisco for 30 years; and

WHEREAS, Mack has been a lifelong resident of Frisco graduating from Frisco High School; and

WHEREAS, Mack began his fire service career in 1973 as a Frisco Volunteer Fire Fighter then after graduating from  the Richardson Fire Academy he was named as the Chief of the Frisco Volunteer Fire Department and later that year began his fulltime fire service with the City of McKinney; and

WHEREAS, Mack left McKinney and began his career in Frisco as the City Administrator and Fire Chief of the Volunteer Fire Department in November of 1982; and

WHEREAS, Mack became the city’s first, and has remained its only, fulltime Fire Chief of the Frisco Fire Department in November 1987; and

WHEREAS, the population of Frisco was approximately 1,820 at the time he began service and now has passed 123,000 citizens; and

WHEREAS, under Mack’s management, the Fire Department has grown from an all volunteer department to a department of over 140 fulltime members which still maintains a strong and active volunteer membership; and

WHEREAS, the Fire Department has grown from a single station to a network of seven stations to include Central Station which also host the City’s emergency operations center, training facilities, and Safety Town; and

WHEREAS, Mack has long been a strong advocate of fire and injury prevention both for the public and the firefighting staff; He has instituted a strong citywide fire prevention program and acquired apparatus and other equipment with the latest safety equipment; and

WHEREAS, Mack has provided the enduring vision for the development and future of the City of Frisco Fire Department, excellent stewardship of its resources, leadership, abiding love and compassion for our citizens, and uncompromised devotion to duty; and

WHEREAS, The Frisco Fire Department would be a lesser institution but for the great skill, dedication, and acumen of Aubrey “Mack” Borchardt.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Maher Maso, Mayor of the City of Frisco, on behalf of the City Council and the Citizens of Frisco, do hereby bestow Special Recognition to Aubrey Mack Borchardt and his family for 30 years of service faithfully rendered to the City of Frisco and its Citizens and do hereby proclaim December 2011 as

“Aubrey Mack Borchardt Month”

encouraging all citizens to congratulate Mack on his 30th anniversary of service, and thank him for his vision for the City of Frisco Fire Department and his dedication to our community.

WHEREAS, Lee Myrben and his wife Billie moved from San Diego, CA to Frisco, TX in 2004; and

WHEREAS, Lee Myrben served in the U.S. Navy Aviation from 1955 to 1977 during that time he made six tours aboard the carriers, one on the USS Wasp, three on the USS Midway and two on the USS Ranger.  Three of the tours were during the Vietnam War; and

WHEREAS, Lee Myrben, after serving in the military, worked in the civilian environment in programs and projects for corporations and the government for 27 years.  He was involved in programs such as the design stage of the Blackhawk Helicopter, F18, and programs associated with engineering, logistics and training of new and improved equipment; and

WHEREAS, Lee Myrben, as a civilian employee, became a member of the National Corrosion Control Engineers, the National Logistics Engineers and the San Diego Engineering Society. With the SDES, he served as President which was the umbrella for 22 engineering societies within the San Diego area; and

WHEREAS, Lee Myrben retired in 2003 as Director of National Security Solutions and as the Director of the Coast Guard Program and moved to Frisco, Texas in 2004; and

WHEREAS, Lee Myrben has spent his time in Frisco volunteering heavily in our community.  He has served as the Post Commander of the Frisco VFW Post 8273, a chairman of the Panther Creek HOA, the Frisco Community Parade committee, the Memorial Day committee, is currently the chair of the Frisco Veterans Advisory committee and is working on the upcoming Frisco Veterans Job Fair.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Maher Maso, Mayor of the City of Frisco, do hereby proclaim October 15th, 2011 as:

”LEE MYRBEN DAY”

And encourage all citizens to join me in thanking him for his tireless efforts in serving our Country and the City of Frisco.

WHEREAS,                   Beta Sigma Phi has grown into an international organization for women with 160,000 active members; and

WHEREAS,                   Beta Sigma Phi has 737 chapters in the state of Texas. The members raise more than $3 million for local charities and donate over 200,000 volunteer hours in an average year; and

WHEREAS,                   Beta Sigma Phi of Texas is holding a state convention in Frisco October 14-15, 2011 at the Frisco Conference Center; and

WHEREAS          ,         the City of Frisco welcomes the delegates and applauds Beta Sigma Phi for its social and cultural work both locally and internationally.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Maher Maso, Mayor of the City Of Frisco, Texas do hereby proclaim October 14-15, 2011 as:

“BETA SIGMA PHI DAY”

WHEREAS, 17 minutes later, at 9:03 a.m., hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center; and

WHEREAS, at 9:37 a.m., the west wall of the Pentagon was hit by hijacked American Airlines Flight 77, the impact of which caused immediate and catastrophic damage to the headquarters of the Department of Defense; and

WHEREAS, at approximately 10:00 a.m., the passengers and crew of hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 acted heroically to retake control of the airplane and thwart the taking of additional American lives by crashing the airliner in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and, in doing so, gave their lives to save countless others; and

WHEREAS, nearly 3,000 innocent civilians were killed in the heinous attacks of September 11, 2001; and

WHEREAS, countless fire departments, police departments, first responders, governmental officials, workers, emergency medical personnel, and volunteers responded immediately and heroically to those horrific events; and

WHEREAS, 10 years later, the people of the United States and people around the world continue to mourn the tremendous loss of innocent life on that fateful day; and

WHEREAS, on the 10th anniversary of this tragic day, the thoughts of the people of the United States are with all of the victims of the events of September 11, 2001 and their families.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Maher Maso, Mayor of the City of Frisco, Texas do hereby proclaim September 11, 2011 as:

“A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE”

And encourage the observance of the moment of remembrance to last for 1 minute beginning at 12:00 noon Central Daylight Time marking the moment in an appropriate manner, including by ringing bells, blowing whistles, or sounding sirens.

We are working closely with the Frisco ISD and evaluating and taking action on several fronts.  It is our belief that this zoning case is harmful to both Little Elm and to Frisco. My hope is that we can end up finding a solution that Little Elm will work with us on, but in the end, my responsibility is to our City and Citizens. I am happy to answer questions on this issue and will keep our citizens updated as we move forward to a beneficial resolution for our citizens.

This is where my history and record will show my approach to dealing with excessive and destructive multi-family zoning:

One of the first platforms I ran on when I was first elected in 2000 was the critical need to reduce the apartment zoning in Frisco.  In 2000, we had approximately 65,018 units of Multi-Family (MF) zoning. That was a very serious problem for a city when our comprehensive plan recommended approximately 15,000 units city-wide.  My 3-step plan was put into action by the City Council at our work session in 2000. From 2000 until 2008, we  reduced MF zoning by 35,347 units to 26,671.  Since elected Mayor, we continued to work at reducing the MF zoning to reasonable levels and we are currently at 24,850 units.  That is a total reduction of 40,168 units!

I am committed to bringing the number of apartment zoning down to level that will provide housing for our residents yet not over-saturate our city.  I am also committed to ensuring that the zoning by Little Elm near our Trails neighborhood will not stand and negatively impact the quality of life and public safety of our residents.

In my fifty-plus years of coaching basketball, thirty-five in the NBA, I have had the rare opportunity to have been in 49 of our states and more than half that many foreign countries.  I have spent considerable time in every major geographical area of our country.  Now that we can live anywhere in the world that we choose, we have chosen Frisco, Texas.  When we moved here in 2000 there were less than 35,000 residents, but the folks here had the vision to invest about $500 million in bond money between the late 90’s and 2005 to be able to facilitate what Frisco has become today.  It is a fact that we have bragging rights for being rated among the best cities of 100,000 plus residents both state and nation-wide in nearly every category, including tax rate, infrastructure, safety and other essential elements of a world class city.  Quite honestly, I had NEVER encountered anyone here who is critical of what we have here or less than thrilled to be a part of what we have built here–not until this bogus campaign of Chicago-style politics that is being run against Mayor Maso; one that is filled with personal agenda and stats that are turned to sound effective but in reality that speak half-truths.

Maso is a genuine public servant who has been involved as a part of the great leadership here for much of the past decade that has seen our population quadruple.  But because of the vision of our leaders in that time, we have been able to keep pace with the infrastructure, to have the best schools in the area, increased jobs even in the recent downturn, 4^th safest city in the US due to great police and fire depts. and wonderful facilities for youth, elderly, sports enthusiasts and on ad infinitum.  This has been done while keeping taxes down to near the lowest level in the area.  And the only debt we have is a result of expenses that the people voted for—i.e. taxation WITH representation, as it ought to be.  This is what true conservatism is:  keep government small, keep spending down, and answer to the will of the people.  When the people vote to go into debt for items or services they deem necessary or highly desirable, it is up to that government to spend that money wisely, but in line with the voter’s wishes.  Frisco does that.  It is not a bridges to nowhere citizenry or government.

I hope that those who have not lived here as long, or are just passing through,  can vote for the type of folks for mayor, council and school board who had the vision these past several years to keep our city ahead of track due to great planning.  This is the critical need for a city that is projected to double in population in the next 20 years or so.  To do otherwise is to go backwards. For that to happen we need to rer-elect the man with a positive approach to that vision instead of an outlook of hesitation, doubt and fear.  Being mayor of a city of 120,000 is a full time job and that is what Maso gives it.  It is not a start-up, part-time position, but one that requires positive public service experience.  It is important to keep the same kind of leadership that has moved Frisco to the position it now enjoys.  No going backward! Vote for Maso.

Del Harris, Frisco,TX, April 29, 2011