Up & Coming Weekly

October 31, 2017

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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NOVEMBER 1 - 7, 2017 UCW 23 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Jeremy Wright District 3 UCW: Elected city officials and Cumberland County Commissioners have not been able to agree on who would operate a joint 911 emer- gency center and continue to be at odds over which sales tax distribution method the coun- ty should implement. And now, the county seems to be pushing back on how much money it should devote to the city's baseball stadium. What will you do specifically to create better communication and cooperation between the two governing bodies? Wright: Often when observing share issue of the city and county, it involves a righteous rant about what is happening in our communities (city and county) and who is to blame. You can pick many of today's current issues concerning the two and see fingers pointing and accusations of the "other side" being wrong. How- ever, the leaders of both governing bodies are merely produces or our conten- tious society. Whether it is conversations with people in line at Starbucks or seeing the headlines in our inbox, there is an underlying trend: we have stopped listen- ing to people who have a different perspective. We are so sure of our own rightness (or "leftness") that we no longer listen to others. Instead, we are smugly content in our own assumed correctness. This intellectual bullying erodes the sense of community and connectedness in our community. When another person voices an idea that is different than our own, we fail to acknowledge that the other person may have some truth in what they are saying. I would first encourage both governing bodies to listen and keep an open mind. This will yield to an understand of the assets or benefit each body present to finding a resolve. UCW: The city's tax base is more dependent on residential properties than any other major city in North Carolina. This is primarily because of Fayette- ville's lack of economic development and our continued failure to attract large corporate headquarters, technology companies and manufacturing firms. What role do you feel the city plays in local economic development? Wright: The city plays an important role in economic development. By achieving economies of scale, agglomeration, and localization and provid- ing efficient infrastructure and services through density and concentration in transportation, communications, power, human interactions, water and sanitation the city establishes the substratum on which economic develop- ment is built. D.J. Haire District 4 UCW: Elected city officials and Cumberland County Commissioners have not been able to agree on who would operate a joint 911 emergency center and continue to be at odds over which sales tax distribution method the county should implement. And now, the county seems to be pushing back on how much money it should devote to the city's baseball stadium. What will you do specifi- cally to create better communication and co- operation between the two governing bodies? Haire: It can sometimes be difficult to bring people together that have strong and different opinions on a subject matter that can be beneficial to both sides. A few years back while serving on Coun- cil, both bodies came together and had several discussions on how the two boards could combine certain Cit y & Count y Departments to include Parks and Recreation. It was a long process, that took many conversations between the City, County, staff and residents, but we eventually moved forward. I think that open dialogue is a "must" even where there are non-agreements. I would suggest that not only we have combine full body meetings, but also small meetings, or one on one meetings, and even social gatherings between the two boards. This can help build trust, better communication, and bet- ter mutual understandings. I have found in my on business negotiations that sometimes social gatherings help to open up better dialogue. I would pursue these actions. There's always give and take, but we have to continue forward progress for the citizens that we represent. UCW: The city's tax base is more dependent on residential properties than any other major city in North Carolina. This is primarily because of Fayette- ville's lack of economic development and our continued failure to attract large corporate headquarters, technology companies and manufacturing firms. What role do you feel the city plays in local economic development? Haire: I feel that our city plays a major role in our local economic development. When negotiating with future investors or our own local stakeholder investors, we should stay open to tweaking existing policy's that may hinder growth. We should continue to help create an environment of a business friendly city. I was apart of the initiative to hire our very first Federal Lobbyist. I think we should continue with that investment on the State and Federal level. I also think that our economic development growth is not just seeking larger com- panies to our city. We should continue supporting our "Hire Fayetteville First" priority, where we invest in our local and future companies in every area so that they can grow, hire and expand. We should also continue working with our veteran population that brings an abundance of skills to our workforce market. There should also be full collabo- ration with our Education System, working together on how to better equip our up and coming work force. Election 2017 Fayetteville City Council Candidates Did you know ... If you fail to change your address by the registration deadline, there is a procedure that allows you to vote. On election day, you may go to your old precinct and fill out a voter update/transfer form. Then you can take the form to your new precinct where you will be allowed to vote. To avoid this paperwork, change your address by the registration deadline. The deadline is 25 days before an election.

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