Up & Coming Weekly

January 25, 2022

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.

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6 UCW JANUARY 26, 2022 - FEBRUARY 1, 2022 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM LETTERS TO THE PUBLISHER It is also saddening to see just how quickly some so-called leaders in this city, even faith leaders have jumped to fan the racial flames. ey call for peace while giving inflammatory speeches and posting dog whistles on their time lines. ey call for peace publicly but secretly advocate for war. ey publicly pray to the God of Heaven while privately hoping that all hell breaks loose. is city has been through enough, and the last thing that we need are "leaders" who will see these tragedies to capitalize on hate and division. We need LEADERS who will bring this city together! If we are going to be "America's Can Do City" we have to first be "America's Can Do Better City." We must be that city on a hill; we must be that beacon of light that the rest of the nation looks to when the seas are raging, the pressure is high, and the fires of hate and division are being fanned. Fayetteville, we are a city of hope, passion, compassion, faith and prayer. We are a city that understand the importance on coming together. We cannot allow hate traffickers and race-baiters to activate their divisive agenda and further tear our city apart. e wolves are howling, the vultures are circling, and the sharks are going in for the kill, but we must be the true gatekeepers of peace that we are called to be. We mourn these tragic losses of life, and we pray the comfort of God for the families left behind. Let us seek justice through peace, not through war. And let us resist the urge to hate. Let us come together in prayer and let us seek God for guidance! We have an opportunity before to show the nation and the world what "can do" really looks like, and I know that we can do it. Let us Lead Fayetteville Forward. TOGETHER ank you, God bless you, May God bless the city of Fayetteville, the families of those we've lost, and may God continue to bless the United States of America. Franco Webb Well, since I have decided to run for the Mayor of Fayetteville, I should intro- duce myself. I was born in Germany in 1966 of Italian and Greek descent. I lived there with my brother and sisters until an American family adopted my older sister and I. My dad was third generation U.S. Army and proudly serving our great nation, and luckily he got stationed at Fort Bragg. I fell in love with Fayetteville. I graduated from E.E. Smith High School and attended college in Indiana to be closer to my family. However, I found my- self drawn back to the Tar Heel state and returned to Fayetteville. Once back, I attended Campbell University and followed my father's footsteps by enlisting in the U.S. Army, where I served with the 82nd Airborne Division and 7th Special Forces Group[(Airborne)]. While still serving at Fort Bragg, I joined West Area Fire Station 15 and have been a firefighter for 33 years. My children were born and raised here, and I currently own and operate several Fayetteville businesses. I can't imagine living anywhere else. I love this city and feel it is vitally important to take an active role in it. I have been president of the Aaron Lakes West and Wells Place Community Watch, Vice-Chair for the Fayetteville/Cumberland Human Relations Commis- sion, where I'm presently serving as a commissioner. I'm past Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Council and work with many veteran groups and local non-profit organizations. All in an attempt to make life better for Fayetteville and Cumberland County citizens. We help and support each other, and it's what neighbors do. I want to provide Fayetteville with common sense leadership, transparency, more and better services, and fluid communica- tions between City Hall and our citizens. I believe we need "A Fayetteville for the People." I want to be the peoples' mayor. I am running on a platform based on what the people want: Public Safety: Fayetteville has experienced a record-setting crime rate since 2016. e city's 2021 homicide rate is at record levels at 48 during 2021, up from the previous record of 32 in 2016, while other various crimes continue to rise dramatically. e brazen murder of an unarmed motorcyclist during an alterca- tion last week [Jan. 1 to 8] on Skibo Road and the recent shooting and death of Jason Walker on Bingham Drive are only two very dire examples of how 2022 is starting. Traffic in Fayetteville is horrendous and dangerous in Fayetteville for both passengers and pedestrians. Traffic citations and stops have fallen from approximately 70,000 per month to about 22,000 in 2021. Yes, there is a shortage of law enforcement officers patrolling our streets, and it is the police officer's instruction to stand down and ignore minor infractions. is is why we have too many unlicensed off-road ATVs and dirt bikes speeding in and out of traffic on the city's busiest streets, pulling wheelies, darting in and out of traffic, and knowingly and wantonly disregarding the law and putting our citizens in great danger. Unpunished minor crimes, beget more enormous crimes. I will work with all Law Enforcement agencies in providing them with the tools needed to properly "serve and protect" Fayetteville citizens. Economic Development: I know that top industry businesses would like to set up shop in Fayetteville. We must provide them decent incentives to locate here. We need to make it easy to do business here. is will give us high-paying jobs and a solid tax base. I will work with the Fayetteville Economic Development team to do whatever it takes to bring these companies to Fayetteville. Education: (Work Experience Education) Training and teaching our citizens the proper skills needed to land one of these higher paying jobs is necessary for showing our citizens that we care and want them to succeed. I will work with Fayetteville officials, the Chamber of Commerce, F[ayetteville ]T[echnical] C[ommunity] C[ollege,] and other local organizations to ensure that Fayetteville has a fighting chance to land these jobs. City Beautification: Not long ago, we achieved, for the third time, All American City status. Fayetteville was recognized for being clean and beautiful. We need to be proud of our city. A clean city is a reflection of its citizens. I will work together with the Fayetteville Beautiful organization to bring that beauty back to our city. I know this is a huge platform for any candidate. Yet, anyone who loves this community knows that these are the issues of most significant concern and should be the highest priority. ey are my highest priority. is is why I am asking for your vote [and] support. "A Fayetteville for the People" Franco Webb for Mayor of Fayetteville Nyrell Melvin In 1961, Ronald Reagan said, "Free- dom is never more than one generation away from extinction." is statement rings true even now, 60 years later. In 2020, COVID-19 descended upon our nation, and at the time, we moved cautiously, many of us willing to follow the guidance of the CDC amidst the un- certainty. But as we learned more about the virus, that it has a 99.75% survivabil- ity rate, somehow the restrictions grew tighter, and the mandates began to affect every aspect of our lives. At the same time, Fayetteville faced riots that ravaged our very own neighborhoods and small businesses. Police were attacked, racial tension reached an all-time high and the citizens of our fair city were more divided than ever. It seemed our way of life, not only here in Fayetteville but through all of our country, was being turned on its head with no one seeking to set it right. I thought to myself; I could sit idly, grateful that my family was making it through, or I could do everything in my power to make a change for all of Fayetteville. I choose to make a change. My name is Nyrell Melvin, and I am running for mayor here in Fayetteville, North Carolina. I ask for your vote that we may stand together for the values that make our city great. Every single American has rights and freedoms granted by God and protected by the Constitution. It is the job of elected officials to protect those rights, not to take them away. Here, today, I stand for your freedoms. According to the Constitution, I stand for every law-abiding citizen's right to "keep and bear arms." Our neighborhoods have seen a massive increase in violent crimes in the last two years, and Fayetteville citizens need to know that they can protect their homes and families. I believe strong families are the building block of a thriving community, but the family unit is under attack. e worst attack on the family is abortion, America's greatest injustice of our time. We've seen injustices cast lasting darkness upon the nation throughout our history, injustices such as slavery. But slavery, unlike abortion, was ultimately abolished, and today we look back in horror at its evils, all while we continue to slaughter nearly 3,000 unborn children every day. If elected, I vow to protect those innocent, defenseless lives, all while working to make adoption more

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