Up & Coming Weekly

June 28, 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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4 UCW JUNE 29 - JULY 5, 2022 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM A referendum on changing Fayetteville City Council representation from nine districts to five districts is headed for the general election ballot in November. Two former mayors, two former mayors pro tem and two past city councilmen have been working for more than a year to reduce district representation on the elected body that governs the city. ey needed 5,000 signatures from reg- istered voters who live in the city to change the structure of the nine-district council to five districts, with four at-large members, and they got the signatures and more. "e city of Fayetteville was notified that there were enough signatures for it to be placed on the ballot," Angie Amaro, in- terim director of the Cumberland County Board of Elections, said Tuesday. "e item will be placed on the agenda for the City Council's last meeting in June." ere's some irony here. Current council members like the idea of representing their community neigh- borhoods. ey like knowing their con- stituents. And it's less expensive running for a district seat than campaigning for an at-large seat. No matter, it is a state statute that the Vote Yes Fayetteville initiative be placed on the November ballot as the initiative has met all petition requirements for a referendum. "Having served as a district represen- tative and at-large, I can see the benefit of having at-large representation," says Bobby Hurst, a spokesman for the initia- tive that includes former four-term Mayor Tony Chavonne, the publisher of CityView TODAY; former two-term Mayor Nat Robertson, former Mayors pro tem Jim Arp and Wesley Meredith, and past council members Ted Mohn and Wade Fowler. e current council has 10 members, eight of whom are African American, in- cluding Mayor Mitch Colvin. "is isn't racial," Hurst says. "It's about good government." Vote Yes Fayetteville is proposing a mayor, four at-large council representa- tives and five district representatives that initiative leaders say will give all residents more representation on the City Council. "Local governments across this country are moving to a mix of district and at-large representation," Hurst says. "We need more than just one person, the mayor, looking at the big picture on de- cision-making. Fayetteville needs elected officials with long-term vision for a better Fayetteville without being obligated to just a few groups in their small district." Securing the 5,007 signatures, according to Hurst, was a 12-month effort. "Hundreds of Fayetteville residents have been working to secure the necessary signatures to give the people the oppor- tunity to vote for the structure of their City Council," he says. "During that time, we received donations from over 350 individ- uals demonstrating broad support for this initiative." Hurst says he submitted the 5,007 signatures to the Board of Elections on March 18, and the board certified the signatures 2 and a half months later. "Each voter that signs the petition has to be checked in our system to see if they are registered and eli- gible to sign" as a city resident, Amaro says. "Staff began work- ing on the petition in early and late April, and the petition was completed and spot- checked shortly after the May (primary) election. e City of Fayetteville was noti- fied that there were enough signatures for it to be placed on the ballot." "It is up to City Council now to pass a resolution putting the question on the bal- lot," says Linda Devore, a member of the elections board. Should city residents approve the measure in a referendum, Hurst says, new districts will have to be mapped. "Feedback that I received from many people were the benefits of voting for six rather than just two people to represent them," Hurst says. "is provides citizens more representa- tion resulting in more accountability and transparency in our city government. My opinion is that a council member that has worked hard for their constituents for a better Fayetteville should not have a prob- lem with campaigning in a larger district or at-large." Pros and cons e Vote Yes Fayetteville referendum is headed for the November ballot. Some are for it, including Freddie de la Cruz, who is running to unseat Mitch Colvin for the mayor's gavel in the July 26 city election. "I actually was a team captain knocking doors gaining close to 80 signatures," de la Cruz says. "To me, it is a no-brainer — six versus two representations." Some are against the initiative, including the mayor. "I am not supportive of the current Vote Yes proposal," Colvin says. "I have served as both a district rep- resentative and mayor, and I believe the district representative model provides focus on the specific issues of the district's residents. It's impractical to believe we ob- tain higher-quality education by increas- ing the size of the classroom. is is the same concept of the Vote Yes. Increasing the size of districts dilutes representation, in my opinion." Epilogue But the bottom line in the Vote Yes Fayetteville referendum will be you – the registered city voter. It's your choice come November. It's your vote. With six votes — one for mayor, four for at-large council members and a district council member, too – you'll have more elected city leaders to vote for and to hold accountable on issues in the city. Editor's Note: for additional information on the Vote Yes Fayetteville initiative, visit https://www.voteyesfayetteville.com/. STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR Emily Sussman editor@upandcomingweekly.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Hannah Lee assistanteditor@upandcomingweekly. com ART DIRECTOR Courtney Sapp-Scott art@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Isaiah Jones graphics@upandcomingweekly.com STAFF WRITER Alyson Hansen Ashley Shirley Cindy Whitt MARKETING ASSOCIATE Linda McAlister linda@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/SALES ADMINISTRATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Bill Kirby Jr., Pitt Dickey, Dr. Shanessa Fenner, Rabbi Dov Goldberg COVER Design by Courtney Sapp-Scott and Isaiah Jones, 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 Vote Yes Fayetteville initiative secures 5,007 signatures by BILL KIRBY JR., CITYVIEW TODAY BILL KIRBY JR., CityView TODAY, UP & COM- ING WEEKLY. COMMENTS? BILL@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910-484-6200. Informational graphic depicting the goal of the Vote Yes Fayetteville initiative. (Photo courtesy of www.voteyesfayetteville.com)

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