On rare occasions when there is a brief lull in Maher Maso’s perpetually busy schedule, you may catch him on the rooftop pool deck at the Omni Hotel Frisco taking in the stunning views that can be had of the city’s ever-evolving skyline.</p
p>Peering out from this posh perch, it’s not the gleaming glass skyscrapers, rows of residential rooftops, sizable sports stadiums and towering construction cranes dotting the local landscape that impresses Mr. Maso, Frisco STYLE Magazine’s 2021 Person of the Year. Rather, what inspires his awe are the relationships that were forged, fostered and which have flourished as a result of the structures having been built here.</p
div class=”image-main image-align-center”>
During his 16 years spent helping to lead the city – first as a member of the Frisco City Council from 2000-2007, followed by three terms as mayor from 2008-2017 – he worked alongside other civic and government leaders, educators and public- and private-industry professionals from around the globe. Together, they showed the owners and developers of multi-million-dollar sports franchises, state-of-the-art medical centers and sprawling office, residential and retail complexes, among others, why building in Frisco and becoming part of the community was a smart idea amid its continued transformation from a former farming town into the fastest-growing city in the nation.</p
p>“The reality is anybody can build anything. If you can afford it, it’s easy. What makes it successful … is the people,” Mr. Maso says. “When I look around, behind every (building) there is a story – every one has a relationship behind it. The building is just bricks and cement and steel. The key to the success of Frisco is the relationships.” </p
p>Since leaving office four years ago due to term limits, Mr. Maso has continued to serve unofficially as an ambassador for Frisco. In his current role as a principal of credits and incentives for Ryan, LLC, a global tax services and software provider, he works to bring companies to Frisco and elsewhere in North Texas. (“Granted, it’s for pay now,” he says of the private-sector position versus the work he did voluntarily as a council member and mayor). </p
p>“It’s satisfying to give back to the community. I love Frisco. … It’s a great community. If I were to walk away from Frisco, it’d be like walking away from my family and friends,” he says. “I built relationships, and you don’t drop them. … Those relationships didn’t die when I stopped being mayor, and the more successful Frisco is, the more those relationships prosper.”</p
p>Finding his footing</p
p>Mr. Maso was born the youngest of eight children in Madaba, Jordan, an ancient city that is a top destination for tourists who flock to St. George’s Church (where he was baptized decades ago) to view a Byzantine-era mosaic map of Holy Land sites. Seeking a better life in the U.S., the Maso family relocated to Seattle when Maher Maso was around 6 years old.</p
p>Despite the strong emphasis his parents placed on their children’s education, Mr. Maso said growing up he “had no plans” for his future. A sports enthusiast who played soccer and rode motorcycles for fun, “I didn’t think that far ahead,” he says. </p
p>Everything changed when, at age 20 and while attending college classes, he received a cancer diagnosis. Within a week, he underwent surgery. Monthly testing, including X-rays and bloodwork, continued for a couple of years, even after most of the Maso family relocated to North Texas in 1984.</p
p>Mr. Maso said his successful battle against the disease “was difficult. I didn’t really understand it, but the most eye-opening thing was seeing the suffering around you” that others endure. In retrospect, he says, the diagnosis “was probably the best thing that ever happened to me” as it “made me understand the human condition a little better – it made me think more about it.” </p
p>Rather than return to college, Mr. Maso dove head-first into his family’s businesses, which included owning and operating auto service stations, acquiring shopping centers, retail stores and other properties. In the early 1990s, he met and married his first wife, Val, with whom he has three children – son Brandon and daughters Alisa and Layna. The family called Carrollton and Plano home before moving to Frisco in 1992.</p
p>In those days, he estimates more than 6,000 people resided in the city. Farmland and dirt roads comprised the bulk of the local landscape, and the blinking traffic light at Preston Road and Main Street was the only one around. “It was a beautiful area,” Mr. Maso said. “We liked it. It felt in touch with everything we wanted.” </p
p>What he actually wanted was to build a circular driveway at the family’s new home in the Plantation Resort subdivision. After the homeowner’s association denied his construction request, Mr. Maso ran for a position on the HOA board. He eventually became its president (and, consequently, built the driveway of his dreams). His role on the board also served to raise his profile in the city.</p
div class=”image-main image-align-center”>
