January went by so fast so I am glad that it is a Leap Year and we get an extra day in February.

Erika and I have a busy night tonight as our daughter has her first high school softball game of the year at 5:30. It’s a little cold for softball but should be ok. Friends of ours, who own the company Webfratelli, are having a happy hour event at Kotta Sushi here in Frisco that we are trying to find a way to get to. We love sushi and love hanging out with friends.

After that we are attending a Mardi Gras celebration at our Church, St. Francis, and then have a surprise 40th birthday party for another friend of ours. Just a typical busy Friday night!

By the way, I was able to get a long overdue massage today by Jennifer Miles of Swept Away Massage, www.sweptawaymassage.com, and I highly recommend her.

From a City Council standpoint, we will have an all-day work session tomorrow, February 2, as we discuss a whole bunch of burning issues. We will be discussing items such as roads and transportation, park development, cultural offerings, public safety issues, and lots more. There are so many things going on in Frisco, like always, and we will try to get through as many of these topics as possible. I’ll give an update in a future blog.

That’s it for today. Real busy day so I will write more over the weekend.

Can you believe that January is just about gone? I don’t know where the month disappeared to!

This was one of the busiest months I can remember at HRchitect (where I work). Business is doing great and we have big plans for this year and beyond. I love my job and the people I work with and look forward to going to work each day.

I wrote a campaign blog message yesterday about an upcoming event at Lochrann’s Irish Pub that we are really looking forward to. I hope you can attend.

As I mentioned to a bunch of people back in late December, we avoided events in November and December for several reasons. One is that most people just weren’t thinking about the May Mayoral election at that time (and probably still aren’t) and it really wasn’t a time for campaign events but rather a time to spend with your friends and family as you enjoy the holiday season. Another reason is that Erika and I moved into a new home a week before Thanksgiving and got married just after Thanksgiving. Things were a little busy on our end, but absolutely wonderful!!!

Now that we are about to enter February and are just three months away from the big mayoral election, we are about to enter a busy time and there will be lots of campaign related events. I absolutely love campaigning though and meeting new people so I am really looking forward to it.

I’ve decided that I will start “blogging” on a much more regular basis and invite you to check back often. Sometimes I will write about the campaign and other times about life in general.

Speaking of life, I thank God every day for everything He has given me. I am blessed with such a wonderful family and the greatest friends any person could ever ask for.

Last night we took the kids “Kobe Steak and Sushi” to celebrate Erika’s birthday. The food was great and the chef put on a great show for us.

After getting home, I decided that I was going to finally watch “The Making of Born to Run”. Many of you know that I am a HUGE Bruce Springsteen fan. I’ve seen him some 30-odd times over the past 25 years and it is a great passion in my life. In any event, the 30th anniversary of Born to Run was in 2005 and in the re-released box set was a DVD of the making of that album. I’ve been meaning to watch it for years but it was just one of those things I never got around to doing. Anyway, I was going to watch a little bit and watch the rest later as I had a lot of work to do and had to get some work done on the newsletter as well. To make a long story short, I simply couldn’t shut it off. There was amazing footage and interviews and to say it was done extremely well would just be an understatement. I was blown away by it. Of course it just made me stay up later because the work didn’t get done by itself while I was watching it!

In any event, that’s enough for today. It’s gonna be another busy day at work!

“It ain’t no sin to be glad you’re alive”, Bruce Springsteen from the song Badlands. What a great song!

Matt

Hello everybody,

Erika and I are so grateful for the outpouring of support and encouragement that we get everywhere we go and from everyone we meet. We love meeting new people and hearing about their hopes and concerns about Frisco. We love reconnecting with others and talking about where our City is going. Simply put, we want to reach out to every corner of Frisco and to as many people as possible as this campaign and the office of Mayor is all about the great people of Frisco.

On that note, February 11 is the first day to officially file to run for Mayor and therefore I will be filing that day. As a result, we would like to invite you to a campaign “meet and greet” that evening at Lochrann’s Irish Pub, as we enter the campaign season. We hope you can attend and bring along your friends and colleagues to meet with us. It will be from 6:30-8pm.

Election Day is May 10, just over three months away, and I am looking forward to continuing our work as your next Mayor. I have spent the past six years on the City Council and have so much more to accomplish. And perhaps most importantly, we are at a historic time in our city’s future, and continuity in city government is vital to our continued success and smart growth as a city. As the only candidate currently serving on the City Council, I will be able to take our city forward with no down time or learning curve.

As we are all well aware, Frisco needs leadership, experience, integrity, vision, dedication, passion for our city, the ability to work with others and the ability to make things happen. During my tenure on the City Council, I have demonstrated that I possess these qualities and more. I’m now asking you to join me in making the future brighter for all our citizens. The best is yet to come and I want you to help, as this is our City and together, we can make a difference and be proud of what we can accomplish.

I believe our ability to be a great city, and the strength of Frisco lies in you, and all the great people of Frisco. We will face many challenges in the coming years and I am confident that as your Mayor, we will take these challenges head on and turn difficulties into opportunities, weaknesses into strengths, and failures into victories.

Please help to get your friends out to join our campaign and most importantly to vote, as every vote really does count. We must work together to ensure that people are not only registered to vote but that they come out and vote this May.

To join our team or to help our campaign in any way, including financial support, please visit www.MakeMattMayor.com

Thank you, and God Bless you and your family!

Matt and Erika Lafata and family

July 24, Frisco, TX – Matt Lafata announced this week that he will seek the office of the Mayor of Frisco in the May 2008 election.

“With my City Council term expiring in May of 2008, so many people have been asking what my future plans will plan,” stated Matt Lafata. “First of all, my company will continue to produce the weekly Frisco Community email newsletter. It’s become such an important informational resource tool for Frisco that I can’t imagine it ever ending.”

“As for political aspirations, I certainly have those and will be running for Mayor in 2008. I have spent months talking with a lot of different citizens to get their feedback and advice. Most importantly, I consulted with my family, my employer, and through prayer, I looked to God. The balance that I have achieved in my life over the past year between my faith, family, friends, work, and public life has put me in the best place I have ever been in my life. I am very grateful for the opportunities that continue to come my way, and that I am surrounded by so many people who are such positive influences in my life. All of that has made this decision possible.”

Matt was first elected to the Frisco City Council in May of 2002 with 68% of the vote. He was re-elected to a second term in May of 2005 with 92% of the vote.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time serving the City of Frisco over the past five years and look forward to continuing to do so well into the future,” continued Lafata. “Together, we have accomplished a great deal for the people of Frisco, and there is so much more that I want to do to continue to increase the quality of life we enjoy here in this incredible city. You can also be assured that I will continue to work hard and fulfill my duties as a Council member throughout this process as well.”

“My public service has and will continue to center around ‘Preserving Frisco’s Past and Defining Frisco’s Future.’ So many great things have happened over the past few years related to this, and I thank everybody who has helped in any way.”

“Frisco is an amazing city, and together, we will continue to tackle the issues that face our fast growing city. The majority of citizens I talk to absolutely love living in Frisco, and I will continue to devote my efforts towards quality of life initiatives, infrastructure improvements, public health & safety, tax base balance, arts & culture, parks & trails development, among other issues.”

“The last five years or so have seen tremendous growth and change in Frisco, and the next 5-10 years will be even more exciting. The growth will continue and we will also face different kinds of challenges: that of a maturing city.”

“Our great city needs to have continuity and experience on the Council during this critical growth period. Frisco needs leadership, experience, integrity, vision, dedication, passion for our city, ability to work with others and the ability to make things happen. I have demonstrated time and time again that I possess those qualities and more, and will be honored if the voters of Frisco choose to elect me as the Mayor of this wonderful city next May.”

Matt can be contacted at matt@mattlafata.com or 214-336-3355 and his web site is www.matt4mayor.com

Looking back on 2006, it was quite a year. As I was thinking about it recently, I can honestly say it was the best year of my life.

First of all, let me say that I feel like the luckiest person in the world who has hit the lotto of life. I love my job, I love my three kids, I love my fiancée, Erika, I love the city I live in, and I just love my day-to-day life in general. We have wonderful friends who we enjoy spending time with. My youngest child plays soccer, my middle child plays the trumpet in his middle school band, and my daughter plays softball. Of course they do lots of other things as well, but I would have to say these are some of their favorite activities. We enjoy bowling, watching movies, going to sporting events (especially the Tornado hockey games) and just hanging out together. I am very blessed to have such great kids!

The year 2006 began where it left off with my pending divorce still in progress starting with my separation late summer 2005. I had moved into Frisco Square a number of months before that, and was really enjoying living there with all the great amenities the complex offers, and had recently just started dating Erika.

January 2006 held a lot of promise for me as I was beginning my first full year in my new position at HRchitect. I truly enjoy what I do for a living and expect 2007 and beyond to be very successful years at HRchitect. My boss, Rick, is very supportive of my City duties and I feel very blessed to work with such great people.

It was a very busy year for me on the Frisco City Council as well as I entered my fourth year as a Council member. I love being on the City Council, as Frisco is such a dynamic place where one can truly make a difference and a big positive impact on the people who live here today, and who will live here in the future. In effect, we are building a city. I also must admit that I wasn’t as involved as previous years due to the above mentioned divorce and trying to focus on my kids and their needs during that time. I can tell you that I will be (and already am!) back with a vengeance in 2007.

It was an amazing, whirlwind year. Outside of the many trips we were able to take in 2006 by integrating business travel with pleasure, we got to go to several concerts (we are huge music lovers, and living across the street from a major concert venue has its perks!) and numerous sporting events. We made a few trips to New England so Erika could meet my family, and they all got along great, especially with my sister. It was nice to have Christmas with them. Erika has family in Massachusetts as well, so she was able to visit them briefly last summer.

Erika and I were able to spend a lot of time together last year as our kids are with their respective other parents on coinciding weekends. It has allowed us to really get to know each other by being able to spend so much “couple time” together. In the short time that we have been dating, I feel like I have known her all my life. I guess it’s just that way when you finally meet the one person you were meant to be with.

Just a few weeks ago on New Year’s Eve I had a big night planned. I proposed to Erika at dinner, in ten different languages. I started with the more obscure and it didn’t really hit her until I got to the Spanish (she speaks some) and then Italian proposal, which is the one I finished with. We were having dinner at Rick Stein’s Steakhouse (Rick is a good friend of ours) and he was in on the plan with me, so he immediately came over to take pictures and give us a great bottle of champagne. We then had several friends in Frisco who had invited us to parties that evening, so we attended those, and then finished the night at the Embassy Suites at the International Celebration they had going on. My friend and general manager of the hotel, Bill, upgraded us to the Presidential Suite, which was amazing, and had a bottle of champagne, chocolate covered strawberries, and more, waiting for us to celebrate the occasion. What a night! I think we were both just so overwhelmed with celebrating our commitment to each other and what the future holds for us and our (six between the two of us!) children.

I find myself now, at the beginning of 2007, a better person than I have ever been. Erika really completes my life. I also feel like I am a much more spiritual person and find myself closer to God than I have ever been before, as well. I’ve learned a great deal through my experiences over the past year, and also learned even more about how judgmental people can really be. It’s a shame when people judge based upon something they might hear from a third party, or when they hear one side of a story and believe it to be gospel. It’s a shame as I lost a few (instead of some) friends over the past year, or at least people who I thought were my friends, due to that. But hey, what can you do. I am happier than I have ever been in my life and looking forward to a great 2007 and beyond. We are currently looking at building a new home together and are planning a wedding for a future date. Life is great, and we intend to live it to the fullest!