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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24 NOVEMBER 1 - 7, 2017 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Chalmers McDougald 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. W hat will you do specifi- cally to create better communication and co- operation between the two governing bodies? McDougald: Better Communications start with simple discussion of what we see our respective bodies doing for the people we represent. At the end of the day the majorit y of people we all represent are all the same people. I believe we all want to do the best job we can for the citizens. However, until commonsense dialogue happen we will not see a coming together of the respective governing bodies. I will help in fostering a commonsense dialogue between the govern- ing bodies, to assist us in developing a compromise, and thus meeting the needs of the people we all 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 Fayetteville's lack of economic development and our continued failure to attract large corporate headquarters, technolog y companies and manu- facturing firms. W hat role do you feel the city plays in local economic development? McDougald: The role of the cit y in economic development is as vital as any other governmental or nongovernmental entit y. We all want to create viable opportunities for our citizens to live, work and play. Economic development is a key part of that equation. Good jobs that pay healthy wages are more important than the industries that decide to locate in the cit y. The decision to locate in Fayetteville is not the cit y's to make, but the business that has explored the opportunit y to come here. I know first-hand that Fayetteville has given ever ything it has to give to attract those businesses that come look- ing. The major difficult y for the governing body is not knowing exactly why a company does or does not locate here in most cases. The cit y has many roles in local economic development, such as funding, negotiating terms, and helping business to achieve success. Johnny Dawkins District 5 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 specifically to cre- ate better communication and cooperation between the two governing bodies? Dawkins: The first thing the City Council and the County Commissioners must do, is to agree to meet monthly for the next year. Then, after a year, we may be able to move to a quarterly joint meeting, as was done when I was previously on the City Council. I have proposed a dinner meeting, but if lunch works better, for the majority, then we should meet at lunch. I've found that you shouldn't talk, when you have food in your mouth. We have two ears and one mouth, and we should use them accordingly. Each member of the City Council and the County Commission must understand, and must appreciate, the needs of the city and the county. With better understand- ing, and with mutual respect, we should be able to iron out our differences, and we should be able to create solutions, which will best serve all of our citizens. Open and transparent meetings, on a regular schedule, is what I recommend. On the issue of the 911 Emergency Center: the city is fully accredited, and the county's 911 center has a lapsed accreditation. The city needs to operate the 911 center for the county, because the 911 center is a core competency of the city. The county staff, earlier, even recommended the city operate the 911 center. On the issue of the sales tax distribution: I favor a multi-year phase out of the agreement made over 10 years ago, to go back to the distribution which will be most fair to Fayetteville. The majority of the sales, generating sales tax revenue, in Cumberland County, occur in the city of Fayetteville. Yet, the change should not be immediate, because the county and the other municipalities need five to seven years to prepare. Plus, by that time period, the county and the other municipalities should have substantial sales and economic growth to offset any reduction in sales tax revenue, which they are receiving today. On the issue of the new baseball stadium: The property tax revenue amounts generated by the over $60 Million of new private investment, around the baseball stadium, will benefit the county by over 50% more than the city. My hope is the county will realize this new property tax revenue, and offer to assist the city in paying for this new baseball stadium. 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? Dawkins: The city's primary role is to create an environment for private en- terprise to take risks, create jobs, and succeed in whatever business endeavor undertaken. If we are hoping to bring new industry to our area, the city should support the Fayetteville Cumberland County Economic Development Corpo- ration. The FCEDC must work closely with the federal Department of Com- merce and the state of NC Commerce Department, the county of Cumberland, the Chamber of Commerce, and the city staff to create an attractive package to bring new industry and jobs to Fayetteville. They must leverage our job-ready, highly educated members of the military, when they separate or retire from the US Army or the US Air Force. Moreover, FSU, FTCC, and Methodist University are graduating highly educated, energetic young people, who are ready to start their careers. If we don't have job opportunities available for them or for the military separating or retiring, then they move to other cities. Election 2017 Fayetteville City Council Candidates All voting places in Cumberland County are open from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. every election day.