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 AUGUST 10 - 16, 2022 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Fayetteville municipal candidates and voters have recently slogged through an- other election cycle, an odd one because it was pushed back from fall 2021 by delayed U.S. Census data. e incumbent mayor was handily re-elected, and an incumbent council member posted an astounding almost 70-percentage point win over his chal- lenger. With the election over, Fayetteville's elected officials can now settle into the business of guiding the city. Election peculiarities and individual candidates aside, it is worth remembering running for any elective office is a leap of faith. It takes courage to put yourself into the public arena to be publicly evaluated and openly criticized. Cynics might also say it takes a large ego to believe you are not only capable but should make decisions regarding the lives and fortunes of your fellow citizens. Cynics might add that being in the po- litical spotlight attracts some candidates, and not always for the right reasons. It is not easy to run for elective office. It requires a great deal of time, often taking candidates away from their careers and their families. People who have run for office and those who serve in elective positions at all levels of government tell stories of special occasions missed and personal relation- ships strained. Running for office and serving in one can also be financially difficult as it takes time away from careers and businesses. Candidates and elected officials often find themselves torn between campaign- ing and the responsibilities of their offices and their own work and personal obliga- tions. Running for elective office is also expen- sive. Candidates for office in a city the size of Fayetteville will almost inevitably use paid media to get their messages across to the thousands of registered voters eligible to cast ballots in municipal contests. ese expenditures run from relatively modest sums for palm cards to be given to voters to vastly more expensive mailers, radio and television spots, and, increasingly, various social media ads. A few lucky candidates have both the means and the will to fund their own campaigns, but the majority will raise campaign dollars from family, friends and supporters. Significant time and effort are required to make campaign fundraising success- ful enough to run a competitive cam- paign, and the financial ask itself can be a humbling experience for candidates who cannot promise the donor any return other than "representing you with integrity." So, why do some people decide to "stand for election" when the road is clearly ardu- ous and the elective work itself held in such low public esteem. A zillion years ago when I first ran for public office, a friend asked me "why on earth I wanted to be 'with those people?'" e answer for me was that I genuinely believed that I could represent my com- munity more responsibly than the incum- bent and that the opportunity arose at a point in my life when I was able to mount a campaign. I suspect most of the candidates in Fay- etteville's municipal elections last month would tell us much the same. at said, voters themselves merit some attention and some criticism. Only about 12 in every 100 voters registered in Fayetteville bestirred themselves to vote in July's municipal elections, a humiliating reflection on the city's electorate. If some of our fellow citizens are willing to serve in elective office and put them- selves out for months, if not years, of pub- lic scrutiny and occasionally apocalyptic public criticism, the least we can do is give them a thumbs up — or down. STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com MANAGING EDITOR April Olsen 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 Kathleen Ramsey Jason Brady CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Pitt Dickey, John Sorensen, Jason Canady, Michael Futch, Dr. Shanessa Fenner, R. Elgin Zeiber, Chayenne Burns, Joshua James, D.G. Martin COVER Design by Isaiah Jones MARKETING ASSOCIATE Linda McAlister linda@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/SALES ADMINISTRATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com 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 Election afterthoughts on running, voting by MARGARET DICKSON MARGARET DICKSON, Columnist. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910-484-6200. 82 64 82 83 79 82 63 64 83 66 64 65 THU AUG 11 FRI AUG 12 SAT AUG 13 SUN AUG 14 MON AUG 15 TUE AUG 16 90 71 92 71 91 71 91 71 92 72 92 72 PM Thunderstorms PM Thunderstorms Partly Cloudy Scattered Thunderstorms Cloudy Scattered Thunderstorms