Up & Coming Weekly

July 19, 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 JULY 20 - 26, 2022 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Ok, Fayetteville City Municipal elections are fast approaching on July 26. By now, most are aware that voter turnout has been pretty lackluster during the Early Voting period, which began on July 7 and runs through Saturday at 3 p.m. on July 23. As I write this, less than 1300 residents have made it down to the Board of Elec- tions on Fountainhead Lane in downtown Fayetteville. Observers say that is disap- pointing and pathetic, but I say it's engi- neered and self-inflicted! It makes you won- der what the Cumberland County Board of Elections were thinking when arranging the Early Voting period or if they were thinking at all. Many others are speculating such neg- ligence could only be intentional with the intent to design and engineer a voting pe- riod that fosters low turnout to shore up and protect the incumbents. is would make a great debate, with plenty of evidence substantiating this notion. Our current nine districts form of city government and the Board of Elections couldn't have made it more difficult for Fayetteville residents to participate in one of America's most cher- ished rights, the right to vote. Voting disincentives are many. ere is only one inconvenient Early Voting location in Downtown Fayetteville. Some residents in outlying districts must travel 12 to 15 miles and 30 to 45 minutes to reach the polling location. Voters only get to vote for two out of 10 candidates, not making the journey downtown worthwhile. e only (inconvenient) Early Voting location in downtown Fayetteville closes at 5 p.m. and does not provide those voters who are getting off work at 5 or 5:30 in the evening an opportunity to vote. However, 5 p.m. is when the county election officials get off work. ere were too few relevant candidate forums and no debates, especially at the district level. Consequently, voter aware- ness of the candidates and the critical issues that impact the residents of Fayetteville is lacking. During the past several weeks, I have fielded many personal calls and requests from friends, family and residents asking me, "Who should I vote for?" Even though many newspapers and media outlets across the country endorse political candidates, Up & Coming Weekly does not. However, here are my assessments of all 20 candidates. ese are based on their achievements, community involvement, work ethic, integrity and overall willing- ness and desire to represent all Fayetteville residents of all districts. ese candidates know and love this community and have demonstrated their advocacy for doing what's in the best interest of Fayetteville's citizens, businesses and organizations while enhancing our quality of life through better and more efficient government. I have bolded the candidates demonstrat- ing the values I feel Fayetteville needs to move successfully into the 21st century. Mayor • Mitch Colvin - incumbent • Freddie de la Cruz District 1 • Kathy Keefe Jensen - incumbent • Alex Rodriguez District 2 • Shakeyla Ingram - incumbent • Tyrone A. Williams District 3 • Mario (Be) Benavente • Antonio B. Jones - incumbent District 4 • omas C. Greene • D.J. Haire - incumbent District 5 • Johnny Dawkins - incumbent • Frederick G. LaChance III District 6 • Peter Pappas • Derrick ompson District 7 • Brenda McNair • Larry O. Wright, Sr. - incumbent District 8 • Courtney Banks-McLaughlin - incumbent • Michael Pinkston District 9 • Deno Hondros • Yvonne Y. Kinston - incumbent Most of my preferred candidates, not all, favor term limits and adding four at-large seats to the Fayetteville City Council. is would give Fayetteville citizens six votes when choosing municipal leadership, rather than only two (one for Mayor, four for at- large council members, and one for their district). Many pundits are calling this a "friends and family" election, meaning that because of the collective barriers to voting men- tioned above, the winning candidates will be determined by how well they turn out the vote. One thing you can count on, and I have said this many times before, is that we will ultimately end up with the Fayetteville leadership we deserve. ank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. 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 Jason Brady MARKETING ASSOCIATE Linda McAlister linda@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/SALES ADMINISTRATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Margaret Dickson, ,John Hood, Cynthia Ross, Dan Debruler, Ben Sessoms COVER Design by Courtney Sapp-Scott 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 Association of Community Publishers Early Voting misses the mark by BILL BOWMAN Photo courtesy of Pexels. BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COMMENTS? BILL@upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. 82 64 82 83 79 82 63 64 83 66 64 65 THU JULY 21 FRI JULY 22 SAT JULY 23 SUN JULY 24 MON JULY 25 TUE JULY 26 94 76 92 74 91 74 89 73 88 74 90 74 Scattered Thunderstorms PM Thunderstorms PM Thunderstorms Scattered Thunderstorms Scattered Thunderstorms Scattered Thunderstorms

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