Our guest this evening was Mayor Jacques Gilbert. He thanked us for the service that we have provided to the town of Apex over the years and then provided us with a very thorough update on many of the things going on in Apex. In fact, he covered so many topics it was hard to take notes that fast!
The meeting started off with a funny story about how he took coach Roy Cooper’s class on government back when he was at Apex High School and how it must have worked because he is now the mayor! Everyone got a chuckle from that.
This year is the sesquicentennial of Apex! It’s hard to say but it just means that this is the 150th anniversary of the town. The actual date was Feb 28th, 2023 but there are celebrations planned all year long. It’s called “All In For Apex”. On September 23rd there will be a “Party In The Peak” which you can find out about on the town website.
Jacques informed us that he had finally discovered the secret of how to unite the entire town (something previously thought impossible). The secret is to bring in a Cookout! He was excited to announce that there is a Cookout restaurant coming and as far as he can tell everyone (especially the Apex High students and faculty) is excited about that!
Some of the topics other topics covered were: The mayors internship program, Pleasant Park, Enchanted Village, the Downtown Plan, the upcoming election, the fact that the town is planning to initiate imminent domain to create some parking in downtown, Veridia updates, financial state of the town, and much more!
He also informed us that the town staff had planned to start charging fees for non-profits for events around town but he opposed that and took it to the town council and got that defeated (but only by a 3-2 vote).
At the end fo the meeting there were quite a few questions asked and answered to it was clear that everyone was fully engaged. We thank mayor Jacques for meeting with us this evening and also for wearing his special shoes that he only wears for “VIP”s – we are honored. Of course, we let him know that to us “VIP” is an especially important term because that is what we call “Visually Impaired People” who are the primary target of our service in Lionism.
We also presented Lion Joe’l Lynde with her 15 year membership chevron. Pictured below is Lion John Lynde (club secretary) presenting Lion Joe’l Lynde with her award.
