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 27 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Election 2017 Fayetteville City Council Candidates John Miner District 8 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 stadi- um. W hat will you do specifically to create better communication and cooperation between the two governing bodies? Miner : The f irst t hing t he Cit y a nd t he Count y must do is put t heir egos aside a nd remember why t hey hold t he posit ions t hey were elected to by t he people. Second ly, in order to create a bet ter level of com municat ion bet ween t he t wo gover ning bodies, each body must have a clea r understa nding of what its role is in t he projects in quest ion. T he issue t hat I see is a cont rol issue a nd t hat issue a r ises when clea r ex pectat ions a re not understood. T he Cit y a nd t he Count y br ing t hese mat ters aga in before t he people a nd LISTEN to t he voters. W hat a re t he people say ing about t hese items? How do t he people feel? We con- sta nt ly forget t hat we ser ve at t he PLE ASU R E a nd DIR ECTION of t he people. It's not about us, it is a nd SHOU LD a lways be about t he people. T he people of t his Cit y were a nd st i l l a re ha rd pressed aga inst t he baseba l l stadium a nd t he major it y of t hem were not a pa r t of t he deliberat ion pro- cess a nd t hose who were a nd who voiced t heir object ions were ut terly ig- nored. T here is a si lent major it y t hat dema nds to be hea rd, a nd if t he Cit y a nd t he Count y wou ld simply lea r n to listen to t hose voices cr y ing out across t his Cit y a nd Count y we wou ld have less f r ict ion bet ween t hese t wo elected bodies. As fa r as t he Joint 911 Center is concer ned. T he Cit y 's 911 Center a long w it h t he Count y 's a re bot h about $15M away f rom being complia nt, which wou ld place a roug h ly $30M f ina ncia l burden on t he t wo bodies combined, which w i l l event ua l ly be pushed to t he people for repay ment. However, t he cit y 's system is f u l ly accredited as is not t he case w it h t he Count y. I believe t hat in t his case, t he Cit y shou ld ma inta in jur isdict ion over t he 911 Center if a nd when it was to become joined. If t hey come toget her t hat wou ld a l lev iate about $15M wor t h of f ina ncia l burden on ta x payers. I believe t hat t hey shou ld a lso st rong ly consider Ft. Bragg in t hat pa r t- ner ing equat ion, which wou ld help to m inim ize 911 m isf ires t hat ta ke place when cer ta in ca l ls to 911 a re made a nd a re routed to t he w rong dispatch center simply because t he systems as w it h t he Cit y a nd Count y don't com municate w it h each ot her. As fa r as which sa les ta x dist r ibut ion t he Count y shou ld implement. Aga in, for me, it a lways goes back to t he people. W hich implementat ion wou ld be less pa inf u l a nd more benef icia l to t he cit izens a nd residents? T he people shou ld never suf fer because t hose t hey elected a re incapable of doing what t hey were tasked to do on Elect ion Day. UCW: T he cit y's tax base is more dependent on residential properties than any other major cit y in North Carolina. T his is primarily because of Fayetteville's lack of economic development and our continued failure to attract large corporate headquarters, technolog y companies and manufacturing f irms. W hat role do you feel the cit y plays in local economic development? Miner: I feel t he Cit y plays a Major role in t he loca l econom ic develop- ment a nd/or t he lack t hereof. Fayet tev i l le seems to have a n inclusion problem. T he reason I believe t hat Fayet tev i l le ca n't or has a ha rd t ime conv incing major cor porat ions to come to t he Cit y a nd headqua r ter here is t hat Fayet tev i l le does not k now how to capita lize on t he resources t hat it a lready has. You have to be able to conv ince boa rd members a nd sha re- holders a nd sta keholders t hat your municipa lit y is conducive for g row t h. A re people com ing to your cit y a nd pla nt ing t here which is good for t he cor porate bot tom-line or is t his a n env ironment w it h a hig h t ur nover rate. Hig h popu lat ion t ur novers a re never good for t he cor porate bot tom- line because cor porat ions have a f iducia r y responsibi lit y to sha reholders a nd sta keholders a nd popu lat ion instabi lit y ma kes t hem ner vous. A lso, what is t he work force compr ised of ? If it is too ex pensive to hire a nd t ra in your employable work force you w i l l send cor porat ions in t he ot her direc- t ion. You must have a wel l-ba la nced work force. W hen your work force is too top heav y cor porate leaders beg in to fea r your ma rket a nd move on elsewhere to a move user-f r iend ly ma rket. If Fayet tev i l le wa nts to be at- t ract ive to major cor porat ions seek ing a new place to ca l l home we M UST ensure t hat t hey have somet hing wor t h com ing home too a nd t hat t he people who w i l l occupy posit ions w it hin t hese cor porat ions a re properly, t ra ined a nd ready to meet t he cor porate dema nds t hat accompa ny such a cor porate t ra nsit ion.