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/1417018
4 UCW OCTOBER 6-12, 2021 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Janice Burton OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR April Olsen editor@upandcomingweekly.com PRODUCTION MANAGER/ GRAPHIC DESIGNER Dylan Hooker art@upandcomingweekly.com STAFF WRITER Elaina J. Martin REPORTER Jeff Thompson MARKETING ASSOCIATE Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/SALES ADMINISTRATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Margaret Dickson, Pitt Dickey, D.G. Martin, John Hood, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Crissy Neville COVER Design by Dylan Hooker –––––––––––- 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 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 outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Army Airfield, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. © 2020 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. PUBLISHER'S PEN Is Fayetteville leaving the Best of the Best behind? by BILL BOWMAN 82 64 82 83 79 82 63 64 83 66 64 65 THU OCT 07 FRI OCT 08 SAT OCT 09 SUN OCT 10 MON OCT 11 TUE OCT 12 78 58 80 59 79 58 78 58 80 59 81 58 Mostly Sunny Mostly Sunny Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Association of Community Publishers Over 200 people representing the best of the best businesses, institutions, and organizations in Fayetteville and Cumberland Country assembled at the Crown Coliseum for our 24th An- nual Best of Fayetteville Awards Party. In attendance, showing appreciation and extending congratulations to the honorees, were Shari Fiveash of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, Randy Fiveash, interim President of the Fayetteville Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Jackie Warner, Mayor of Hope Mills. No one representing the City or Cumberland County was there. Personal invitations were not issued, nor were they required. Over the years, our elected city and county officials were more than anx- ious to attend any prestigious local event that showcased the people, businesses, institutions and organiza- tions that define the quality of life in our community. After all, it is a con- gregation of their constituents. Or is it? Fayetteville is currently struggling with that question, even though everyone is quite aware of the answer. And, that is NO! With our city divided into nine sepa- rate and distinct districts, I'd wager each council member wouldn't find six attendees living or working in their specific section. And, with this being the case, why bother showing up all? Unfortunately, this thought process has become the mindset of most of our cur- rent elected officials of the Fayetteville City Council. is situation and mind- set must change if Fayetteville as a community is to grow and prosper. You can't grow and become a great City if you leave entire segments of the community behind. Bobby Hurst, a former five-term City Councilman in District 5, recently reminded us of this dire warning and prediction that resonated nearly a decade ago from the Fayetteville City Council's 2012-2013 budget meeting. Sadly, that prediction has become a sad reality as nine individual districts try to govern over 210,000 residents by focusing only on the needs of their ward while ignoring major issues and situations affecting the entire city. It's a matter of record that Fayette- ville's growth is not keeping pace with the rest of the cities in the state. ere is a reason for that. e City of Fayetteville has an inferior and embar- rassing Report Card when it comes to leadership and management : We cannot become a better city by continuing to leave people behind. By focusing on each of the nine individual districts, they are collectively ignoring major citywide issues. Ultimately, our horrific statistics will continue to worsen unless collective voices are heard regarding the future of our city. Fayetteville residents from all districts will suffer and die due to this poor governance, unabated homicides and neglected infrastructure main- tenance like stormwater unless the citizens vote to change the structure of city government by designating four of the nine citywide districts as At Large districts. is would give Fayetteville residents six votes when it comes to elections rather than two. What's not to like about that? A Fayetteville resident gets to vote for five council members and the mayor rather than just voting for the mayor and one district repre- sentative. Common sense dictates that it's a shame we even have to make such an argument. However, I just did. I encourage you to sign the Vote Yes Fayetteville petition at www.voteyes- fayetteville.com and give every citizen (Black, white, Asian, Hispanic, rich or poor) the right to vote on this critical issue. Fayetteville's future depends on it, and you can rely on that. In closing, let me say that even though we currently have a terrible report card, it definitely can be im- proved just like any other academic institution: i.e. Get a better curriculum. Hire better teachers and, if need be, replace the principal. We have plenty of options. e best one yet : 6/4 Vote Yes Fayetteville. ank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COM- MENTS? BILL@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910-484-6200. Black Fayetteville registered voters 45% Compassion for Fayetteville's poor and powerless Police Department Leadership Police Recruitment (50 ocers down) Overall crime rate increase 2021 Homicide rate increase 81% 2021 murder victims this year Black Property damage increase Trac Fatalities increase Trac Accident increase Overall attention to city's infrastructure needs Attention to the city's overall stormwater needs Actions to assist residents (Shaw Heights) with essential city services (sewer and police protection) A D D- F F F F+ F F F D- F F LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT REPORT CARD