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/1056332
4 UCW NOVEMBER 28-DECEMBER 4, 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. Cover photos credited to the following: Soldiers walking in a line in desert, a U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Alejandro Pena; Color photo at bottom credited to VisitFayettevilleNC.com, the rest are con- sidered public domain via wikimedia. Various ads with art graphics designed with elements from: vecteezy.com and freepik.com. It's time for our community to give metro government a second thought. We need to have that serious conversa- tion about the future of our community. We are growing at breakneck speed, desperately trying to find our place in the 21st century. Yes, we are making progress, but not at the pace we could if everyone in the city and county governments were work- ing together for the betterment of all residents — regardless of where citizens live, their economic status, race or po- litical affiliation. Decades have passed, and other North Carolina cities have grown and prospered while Fayetteville and Cumberland County have all too often acquiesced into mediocrity. We deserve better. Recently, our Cumberland County leg- islative delegation met with Fayetteville City Council — without our senators, of course, who obviously had more important things to do than meet with constituents. ink about what prior- ity Cumberland County has with them. e purpose of this meeting was to hear what the city's priorities are and find out how to assist our leadership in moving the city forward. It's a great idea — except that a similar meeting will be held separately with our elected Cumberland County commis- sioners. And therein lies the problem. e dirty little secret that's not a secret at all is our city and county operate as separate and divided agencies to the detriment and peril of the residents. Sure, in public they both claim emphati- cally that they work closely together in cooperation and respect. However, their rhetoric and actions reflect otherwise. is no doubt frustrates our state legislators, who could accomplish much more in Raleigh on behalf of our community if unity, cooperation and a common vision were present. After all, our state elected officials represent all the residents and rightfully refuse to be referees in local conflicts. e result? Little gets done on our behalf, and our community suffers. A perfect example is the ongoing situation con- cerning a centralized and consolidated 911 center. Everyone agrees we need it and acknowledges the economic benefits it would bring to the community, yet our two divisive govern- ments can't agree on where it should go or who should run it. And it's all to the detriment of local residents who deserve the very best services when it comes to health and safety. Yet the center is not forthcoming, and taxpayers are picking up the tab for such inefficiency, delays and procrastination. A metro government may not solve all the problems, but it would be a step in the right direction. It's difficult to ask our state legislators to be effective in Raleigh when they are relegated to representing and serving two conflicting entities. I know this conversation may be futile, but what would be the harm in having a joint public hearing or town hall meet- ing on this subject? Let's get the topic of metro government out in the open and see how the public feels about it. Education and awareness may be the only things needed to assist our elect- eds in doing what is best for all citizens. What do we have to lose? Besides, if metro government is not in our future, maybe electing responsible and respon- sive county commissioners and city councilmen is. We'll see. ank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. Is metro government in our future? by BILL BOWMAN BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COMMENTS? BILL@upandcomingweekly.com. 910- 484-6200. HIGH 66 LOW 50 HIGH 53 HIGH 70 LOW 45 HIGH 59 HIGH 66 HIGH 65 LOW 49 LOW 58 LOW 52 LOW 37 DECEMBER 3 DECEMBER 2 NOVEMBER 30 DECEMBER 1 DECEMBER 4 Sunny Mostly Sunny AM Showers Partly Cloudy Showers Showers NOVEMBER 29 Our state legislators could accomplish much more in Raleigh on behalf of our community if unity, cooperation and a common vision were present.