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/1482573
4 UCW OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 1, 2022 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 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 WRITERS Alyson Hansen Ashley Shirley Kathleen Ramsey Jason Brady Chayenne Burns Laura Browne Katrina Wilson Jyl Barlow INTERN R. Elgin Zeiber CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Mary Zahran, John Hood, Michael Futch, Richard McDonald, Cynthia Rossw COVER Design by Courtney Sapp-Scott Photos courtesy Sweet Valley Ranch, Cape Fear Botanical Garden, Fayetteville Zombie Walk. 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. 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. Association of Community Publishers No doubt about it, six is more than two. Six is also better than two, espe- cially when it comes to choosing our elected city leadership. Who wouldn't want to have more choices on who runs their city? So why are our existing city leadership so adamantly against the VOTE YES Fayetteville Charter Referendum? You would think that giving every citizen (every Democrat, every Re- publican, every Independent) resi- dent four more choices in determin- ing Fayetteville leadership would be a stimulating campaign message that would resonate among voters. Well, the hard truth is city offi- cials are not being honest with the citizens of Fayetteville. is is very concerning. Even more concerning is Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin and staff along with several members of our City Council are systemati- cally trying to divide our commu- nity racially for the sole purpose of maintaining their seats, power and stranglehold control over our local government for their personal gain. is opinion is based on informa- tion, observations and facts that their supporters have chosen to ignore to the detriment of our entire commu- nity. It is unconscionable that they would perpetrate a lie so egregious as to state that increasing city represen- tation by adding four "at large" seats and providing each citizen six votes rather than two is a racist maneuver to get Blacks out of power. is is absurd, ridiculous and an insult to the Black community. We currently vote for "at large" posi- tions in the elections for Cumberland County Commissioners, Cumberland County Board of Education, and board members of both Spring Lake and Hope Mills. All of which have an impressive amount of Black representation. So, why not Fayetteville? e answer lies in the thread of incompetence and corruption that has permeated our local government and manifested itself under Mitch Colvin's leadership. e only way to eradicate this cancer and rid our city of fiscal ir- responsibility, incompetence and mismanagement is to Vote Yes for the Fayetteville Charter referendum that will provide us more citywide rep- resentation so we can be the city we need to be and take our place in the respectable ranks of other first class North Carolina cities. You deserve it. We deserve it. Fayetteville deserves it. Vote Yes. And remember, six is always more than two! ank you for reading Up & Com- ing Weekly. PUBLISHER'S PEN City officials are intentionally misleading residents by BILL BOWMAN BILL BOWMAN, Publisher. COMMENTS? BILL@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910-484-6200. Letters to the Editor Do YOU have something to say? We want YOU to be heard! We want EVERYONE to be able to voice their opinions on current community events. Let us be a place to start much needed conversations. ALL VOICES WELCOMED! EMAIL: editor@upandcomingweekly.com CALL: 910-484-6200