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/1183910
4 UCW NOVEMBER 13-19, 2019 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/EDITOR Stephanie Crider editor@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Jenna Shackelford jenna@upandcomingweekly.com HOPE MILLS AND SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR Earl Vaughan Jr. EarlUCWSports@gmail.com REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Elizabeth Baker art@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING ASSOCIATE Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/SALES ADMINISTRATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, Karl Merritt, John Hood, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Prudence Mainor, Avery Powers, Eliza- beth Blevins, Crissy Neville ––––––––––– 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" publica- tion 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 publica- tion consideration, but assumes no responsibility for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or mate- rial. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. 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 out- door locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. © 2019 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 ele- ments from: vecteezy.com and freepik.com. N.C. Civil War History Center: The "Citizens have Spoken!!" No, not really! by BILL BOWMAN PUBLISHER'S PEN e "Citizens have Spo- ken!! No Civil War muse- um!" at was the subject of an email sent to Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin and state Rep. Elmer Floyd this past Saturday. Penned, of course, by an anonymous source who didn't want to man (or woman) up to the subject matter. e message was anti- North Carolina Civil War & Reconstruction History Cen- ter and stated that the results of the Fayetteville elections Nov. 5 was a mandate against the project because most of the pro-Civil War History Center coun- cil members lost their seats, proving that the majority of Fayetteville citizens oppose and reject the project and want nothing to do with having this "toxic and controversial" project in our community. Mr. or Ms. Anonymous declared that "A clear statement has been made by the voters." I wish we knew the name of Anony- mous so I could address the topic directly. Calling this statewide Civil War History Center an "expensive ridiculous Civil War project" only confirms the lack of knowledge and understanding this person has of its benefits and remark- able opportunities our community will have to improve the quality of life of all our citizens, increasing our prestige and notoriety throughout the state while increasing pride, education and under- standing of generations of our North Carolina heritage. Not taking advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity by moving forward with the project will leave an indelible mark of ignorance and naivety on future generations residing in the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. ere is no doubt in my mind that Anonymous, when asked, could not articulate how our community would benefit from this state-operated $60 million facility as it will create nearly 200 jobs and attract 160,000 visitors while generating $20 million a year in revenues for our community. Would this not be a great asset to Fayetteville and Cumberland County? Not embracing this project is the kind of toxic thinking and leadership that stifles a progressive and growing community like ours. It demonstrates no wisdom, logic or vision — three things that will be missed when Ted Mohn exits his role as city council- man of District 8. All the newly elected council mem- bers must waste no time getting ori- entated and up to date on current city business and basic issues or run the risk of being collectively blamed for every failure and misstep that takes place in the city during the next two years. From where I sit, only Chris Davis has dedicated the time and effort to prepare himself for the task at hand. With tens of millions of dollars at stake and several major issues currently confronting the Fayetteville community, there will be no do-overs. is is why losing conscientious city representatives like Mohn will make moving the community forward even more difficult. Mohn's honesty, his calm, consistent demeanor, common sense, logic, insights and remarkable vision have served as the stalwart of most important city decisions and ac- tions. His response to this situation and the mayor's upcoming Nov. 14 public hearing on the History Center is the near-perfect example of Mohn's logic and vision. Within hours of receiving a copy of Anonymous's email to Colvin and Floyd, Mohn sent a heartfelt recom- mendation to Colvin strongly suggest- ing that he cancel the Nov. 14 public hearing. Mohn felt the mayor would run a risk of damaging his credibility and reputation since knowledgeable sources on social media were already beginning to question the intent, timing and purpose of such a meeting since the 2020/2021 state budget allocating the $46 million to the museum project has not yet been approved. In addition, he warned a premature meeting would ap- pear to be a blatant "appeasement public hearing" and not an actual or practical public hearing where all 10 City Council members were present and relative to the process since future discussions or decision-making authority concerning the city's $7.5 million contribution to the museum was in the future city budget. If the meeting is held, Mohn will be there, but it is senseless since the incom- ing council's strategic planning retreat is in February. In addi- tion, and equally important as planning, Mohn pointed out that councilmembers Johnny Dawkins and Bill Crisp will not be present that day. Dan Culliton of District 2 has already voluntarily vacated his position and Jim Arp is also on his way out. His points are all well made and beg the question: What would be the purpose of such a meeting? Mohn genuinely cares about the city, Colvin and the percep- tion of both. e optics of this are just not good. Mohn went on to suggest the public hearing be postponed until the new year — after the new council has been installed and the status of the $46 million and intentions of the North Carolina General Assembly are known. ere's not much to disagree with here. is Civil War History Center proj- ect started over a decade ago. By who? People with vision. Community lead- ers. People who care about the future of Fayetteville and Cumberland County and preserving and improving our qual- ity of life for generations to come. We agree with Mohn. We also recognize that City Council- woman Tisha Waddell of District 3 is having a community meeting Friday, Nov. 15, at Simon Temple AME Zion Church from 6-8:30 p.m. to discuss im- portant city-related issues and to solicit unfiltered feedback on topics like the condition of city streets, the Civil War History Center, stormwater, sidewalks, safety etc. is is real leadership. is is real community involvement. is is real vision. is is looking into the future and demonstrating a responsible, sincere and heartfelt passion for constituents. We applaud and support her efforts and the efforts of those elected officials that share her values. Doing the right things for the right reasons have never failed to have the right results. ank you, Ted, for your service and wisdom. To Councilwoman Waddell, we say, "Go git em!" You are what this community needs. Let's hope the newly elected city council shares the same vision. ank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COM- MENTS? BILL@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910-484-6200. Outgoing District 8 City Council- man Ted Mohn District 3 City Councilwoman Tisha Waddell