Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1042784
4 UCW OCTOBER 24-30, 2018 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM PUBLISHER'S PEN STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/ EDITOR Stephanie Crider editor@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly. com ASSISTANT EDITOR Leslie Pyo leslie@upandcomingweekly.com SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR Earl Vaughan Jr. EarlUCWSports@gmail.com REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Elizabeth Long art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner SALES ADMINISTRATOR/ DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan St. P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: (910) 484-6200 FAX: (910) 484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publication with local features, news and information on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly welcomes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publication consideration, but assumes no responsibility for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the pub- lisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publication. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and distributed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. ©2018 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. Various ads with art graphics designed with elements from: vecteezy.com and freepik.com. Many residents of Hope Mills are scratching their heads trying to figure out the thought processes and logic behind Mayor Pro tem Mike Mitchell and Com- missioners Meg Larson and Jerry Legge's position on rejecting the Lone Survivor Foundation's offer to purchase property on Lake Bed #2 for the construction of a $1.5 million military veterans retreat. e retreat would serve local vets and their families by dealing with the numer- ous physical, emotional and mental in- juries caused by the ill effects of combat. What are these commissioners think- ing? is proposal was rejected without much discussion or debate. More puz- zling and even more disturbing to the residents of Hope Mills is that this hasty decision was made without a public hearing that would give the residents an opportunity to voice their opinions on how they felt about the LSF project or the best use of the town's assets. ere are so many questions and so few answers as to why this trio of elected officials would be so adamantly against a Hope Mills economic development project that would generate jobs, benefit local military veterans and area busi- nesses and uplift the entire community – especially when Hope Mills is participat- ing in Cumberland County's Hometown Heroes celebration, and the local Hope Mills Chamber of Commerce is honoring the Lone Survivor Foundation and all local Hope Mills veterans at its annual Chili Cookoff Nov. 10. Maybe we can remedy some of this frustration with an explanation. First, Larson and Mitchell don't get along with each other. Both of them have their sights set on being the next mayor of Hope Mills. However, they bonded together after finding one objective they had in common, and that is to make sure they dismiss, obstruct and elimi- nate any and all Hope Mills initiatives that may reflect positively on Mayor Jackie Warner. In other words, neither of them are going to do any- thing, say anything or initi- ate anything that would reflect positively on the mayor – even if it means ig- noring the citizens of Hope Mills, stifling economic development, retarding business growth or embar- rassing and damaging the reputation of the town. is is why they nixed the LSF project and then concocted the conspiracy theory that the mayor and her son Teddy, who works for the Fayetteville Cumberland County Economic Development Corporation, were in collusion on the LSF deal. Collusion? And to what end? Wanting to bring economic growth and develop- ment to Hope Mills? Attempting to sell virtually useless land for the purpose of providing veterans medical and thera- peutic services that could enhance the lives of thousands? Unfortunately, Larson and Mitchell will continue to be obstructionists when it comes to anything the mayor could possibly get credit for or anything they feel would further ingratiate her into the hearts and minds of Hope Mills resi- dents. Well, to that I say, "lots of luck!" Mayor Jackie Warner loves Hope Mills, and Hope Mills loves her. She and Com- missioner Jessie Bellflowers were the only Hope Mills elected officials who took the time to attend Cumberland County's State of the Community Luncheon hosted by the Greater Fayetteville Chamber last week. ey were surrounded by the Hope Mills management team that Warner so graciously recognized. Warner didn't speak long and barely looked down at her notes as she spoke about Hope Mills with pride and confidence. Here is a leader who is honorable, talented, compassionate, empathic and energetic. She has no rea- son to feel threatened by petty politicians like Mitch- ell and Larson, who have already exposed the flaws of their character. Legge sits to their left hopelessly waiting for his only rel- evant directive, which is to raise his hand when he gets their nod. e two beacons of hope for the town are allies Commissioner Pat Edwards, who has never wavered from supporting Warner, and Bellflowers. Bellflowers once fell victim to the pres- sure and intimidation of Larson and Mitchell, but, unlike Legge, has seen the light and has begun to think for himself and express his own opinions without being bullied or influenced by the others. At this moment, Hope Mills has one of the most talented and competent leader- ship teams ever assembled under the di- rection of Town Manager Melissa Adams. ese hardworking folks create a solid foundation upon which to build a bright and prosperous future. We see people coming forward and Hope Mills organiza- tions starting to form to discuss the future of the town and the type of leadership that is capable of achieving goals. is is a good thing. Actually, this is a great thing. We do not see four-year terms for elected officials in Hope Mills' future, but come 2019, we see not a wave of change but a tsunami of positive leadership coming forth for the betterment and growth of the Hope Mills community. We can't wait. ank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. Hope Mills residents ask, 'What are they thinking?' by BILL BOWMAN BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COMMENTS? BILL@upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. OCTOBER 25 Mostly Cloudy LOW 41 HIGH 64 OCTOBER 29 Partly Cloudy LOW 43 HIGH 59 OCTOBER 28 Partly Cloudy HIGH 64 OCTOBER 26 Rain LOW 46 HIGH 55 OCTOBER 27 Showers LOW 46 HIGH 54 HIGH 64 OCTOBER 30 Mostly Sunny LOW 42 LOW 46 Mayor Jackie Warner has no reason to feel threatened by petty politicians.