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/697728
JUNE 29 - JULY 5, 2016 UCW 9 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM One of the problems with politics is that too many decisions are based on what looks good in the headlines instead of attacking the real cause of an issue. This is why many of our problems such as poverty and vio- lence continue year after year. We must identify the root cause of a problem in order to develop an effective solution that will prevent the issue from repeating itself. For example, after a tragedy such as the terrorist attack in Orlando, we must ask "why did this happen?" The emotional reaction is to blame guns, but that is not why this attack took place. It happened because of hate. It happened because of a warped way of thinking. And it is that root cause that we must address in order to prevent these types of tragedies. As a veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq I can assure you that taking away guns will not have the slightest impact in preventing these types of tragedies. Victims of hate have been killed with rice-cookers, cell phones, fertilizer, vehicles, ball bearings, knives, rocks, ropes and the list goes on and on. Every minute we spend debating something that is not the root-cause is another minute wasted. It is another minute that the next terrorist has to prepare for a future attack. Many have forgotten about the ongoing War Against Terror because they believe it is being fought in some far-off land. What makes this war unique and dangerous is the fact that it is not being fought over borders. It is being fought over a mindset. The war isn't fought with just bombs and bullets. It is fought with propaganda, brainwashing, fear and hate. Therefore the war can- not be fought solely by the military, it must be fought by each of us. We are all soldiers in this war and must face the reality that it has arrived on our shores. We must defend our nation by fighting back whenever we observe hate. In order to combat this enemy we must unite as Americans. We must stop separating ourselves into groups. Remember the saying, "United We Stand, Divided We Fall?" Lately, we are the ones dividing our nation, not the enemy. We have separated ourselves by political party, by race, by sexual orientation, by religious beliefs. We only pay attention when something happens to our particular clique. Our enemies do not care about our politics, our race, our sexual orientation or our religion. They kill Christians, Jews, Muslims, males, females, Republicans, Democrats, blacks, whites, gay people and straight people. You could say that they are "Equal Opportunity Murderers." We must understand that an attack against the LGBT community is an attack on all Americans. A black child killed by gangs in Chicago is an attack against all Americans. A threat made against a religious group in New York is a threat against all Americans. The spread of hate can be stopped if we unite and defend all of our Ameri- can brothers and sisters by refusing to tolerate this type of behavior. We need to start cooperating with law enforcement during investigations, report the suspicious behavior of our neighbors, report threatening comments made on social media and confront coworkers who make derogatory comments. If we all unite as Americans and acknowledge that enough is enough, we can stop the spread of the enemy's propaganda, end their recruiting and defeat their ideology. This is the ultimate battle of good versus evil and it will be won with our minds and our hearts. I'm a baseball junkie. Fayetteville is my hometown. Would I love to have a minor league baseball team here in Fayetteville? You bet your sweet bippy I would. In fact, I'd like to have the Atlanta Braves pick up and move right here to Fayetteville. Is that practical? Probably not, but I would still like to have a major league franchise here. So I attended the City Council meeting last Monday night to hear a presentation by the Barrett Sports Group on the feasibility of bringing a new stadium to Fayetteville. I was expecting a lot of smoke and mirrors, but the presentation was surprisingly objective and candid, presenting both pros and cons. The study compares Fayetteville with several other cities that presently have minor league baseball teams. On the one hand, it appears Fayetteville is the right size for a project like this, and we have a competitive edge over most other ballpark projects. On the other hand, we rank 13 out of 15 markets when it comes to median household income, and we have the highest unemployment rate of any mar- ket surveyed. On this basis, the average ticket price is expected to be about $7.50 --- not a lot for the average baseball fan, but not much reimbursement for the taxpayer, either. The study ranks us at the bottom when listing the number of corporate employers with over 500 workers. We're also dead last in number of corpo- rate employers with more than $20 million in annual revenue. Because of this weak corporate base, the project study includes only a small number of corporate suites in the projected stadium complex. In other words, those suites help taxpayers get their investment dollars back, but Fayetteville won't need very many suites. Overall, Barrett Sports Group gave a balanced presentation for a beauti- ful stadium. I thought it was fair. But I am a little concerned by the apparent willingness of City Council to make a speedy decision on the matter. Appar- ently, the Houston Astros are forcing our hand by requiring a signed letter of intent within the next 30 days. They may get it, but let's not rush into this. The big picture is very nice, but the devil is always in the details. I remember when we broke ground on the Crown Coliseum, almost 30 years ago. Back then, we all had grand ideas about what that facility could mean to Fayetteville and Cumberland County. Elected officials and the Chamber of Com- merce lined up to support the mammoth undertaking, expecting it to make a lot of money, based on a national consultant's glowing feasibility study. So we built the monster, and it has lost about $2 million every single year since then. That's a total of at least $54 million, and probably more. Sure, we all enjoy the concerts and sporting events and high school graduation cer- emonies there, and it has brought some money into this area, but nowhere near enough to make up the yearly losses that come directly out of taxpayer pockets. Keep in mind this was a county undertaking, not the city. None-the- less an elected government entity. And because of that experience with the Crown Coliseum, this baseball stadium project needs to bring in enough money to pay for itself. In the Monday session of Council, Councilmember Mohn had the good sense to ask if the city could commit to a lesser amount than the $45 million pro- posed price tag for the stadium. He suggested the city commit to $25 million only, leaving some room to expand into a larger facility, if the project succeeds. Mohn's question is worth serious analysis and discussion. We might do well to find some partners in this expensive endeavor. After all, we have already lost more taxpayer money on the Crown Coliseum than the total proposed price tag for the stadium. We got snookered once. Everybody makes mistakes now and then. But let's not get fooled a second time! Combatting the Root Cause of Evil by DAN TRAVIESO Fool Me Twice? Shame on Me! by MIKE CHANDLER DAN TRAVIESO, candidate N.C. State Senate, district 21. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200 MIKE CHANDLER, Contributing Writer and Financial Advisor at World Equity Group . COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly. com. 910.484.6200 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The spread of hate can be stopped if we unite and defend all of our American brothers and sisters