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/917709
4 UCW DECEMBER 20 - 26, 2017 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM PUBLISHER'S PEN STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/ EDITOR Stephanie Crider editor@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Leslie Pyo leslie@upandcomingweekly.com SENIOR REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR Earl Vaughan Jr. GRAPHIC DESIGNER Elizabeth Long art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, Karl Merritt, John Hood, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Lauren Vanderveen SALES ADMINISTRATOR/ DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Linda McAlister Brown linda@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. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly wel- comes 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 Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. ©2007 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. Cover art/Various ads with art graphics designed with various elements from: vecteezy.com and freepik.com. BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COMMENTS? BILL@upandcomingweekly.com. (910) 484-6200. Do we have a staffing problem? by BILL BOWMAN e relationship (or lack thereof ) between the city of Fayetteville and Cumberland County is as legendary as it is pathetic. As we stress over our indel- ible moniker, FayetteNam, we pay little attention to the image we are creating and projecting countywide, statewide and even nationally. Next month, Up & Coming Weekly will celebrate its 22nd year as this community's weekly newspaper. During this time, we have maintained an up-close and personal relationship with the community. It was during this time that I had the privilege of serving six years on the Cumberland County Coliseum board when we built the $60 million complex. I was very proud of that appointment and accomplishment. At the same time, I was confused by the amount of controversy surrounding it – especially between the city and county. I thought this obvious contempt for each other was temporary, a passing thing. I was disappointed to realize the hostility between the two governing bodies was practically embedded in their DNA. at was nearly two decades ago. Fast forward to December 2017. Nothing has changed. If anything, the relationship and com- munications between the city and county have gotten worse. I'm not a detective or historical analyst by any stretch of the imagination, but after the recent bullheaded standoff and debacle concerning the combined 911 call center, I decided to take a closer look and examine the last 22 years of working with both the city and county. It is amazing that our community has accomplished anything over the last two decades considering the high levels of reluctant cooperation. At the same time, it makes me wonder how many achieve- ments, opportunities and developments we have squandered over petty political and territorial issues. I have often written that good government is a result of good leadership. Competent elected officials are essential for long-term growth and prosperity because they have a vision and a plan. Well, here are my findings after 22 years: Since 1996, Fayetteville has had six mayors and the Cumberland County chairman has changed every year. Elected leadership changes every two or four years, respec- tively. Despite the ongoing changes in elected city and county leadership, the un- dercurrent of distrust and hostility remains undeterred despite individual intentions, influence or qualifications. How can this be with so many different elected officials serving both the city and the county and instituting their influence and personality to promote positive progress and change? Instead of looking for things that have changed, I started paying attention to things that didn't change. e one thing I found that the city and county had in com- mon in the category of things that didn't change was the staff. Maybe, just maybe, over the years, department heads and staffers became too entitled and realized the constant turnover of elected officials gave them the inherent power to dictate policy and influence the operations (and attitudes) of both the city and the county. After all, the elected officials depend on important information the staff provides them, and once the elected officials de- cide, it is the staff that is charged with the execution of policy. In the end, it is the staff that dictates and controls the success or failure of a project. is being the case, who benefits the most from city-county contention than the staffers? With these insiders protecting their turf for power and job security, they are the real benefactors of robbing the city and the county of the progress that comes from cooperation and teamwork. Close examination shows that the constant elements over the decades of city and county government are the staff and department heads. Perhaps they have too much power and influence over what goes on with city hall and with the county commissioners. Well, you may ask: how did they get that much power? Perhaps it was by citizens electing unqualified career politicians who don't have the intellect, knowledge or experience to be visionary leaders to positions of prominence. Another indication this may be a prob- lem is the amount of pushback and criti- cism directed at elected officials who press a staffer too hard for information or imply that the staffer needs to do his or her job. I'll conclude with this: everyone wants a better community. Everyone sees and appreciates the opportunities we have with economic development and some of the other major assets we have in Fayetteville and Cumberland County. We need to co- operate. ere is no advantage or future for us if we do not get along with one another. e fact that this situation has existed for so long indicates there is a constant enabler that needs to be addressed. And, since we know it's not the elected officials, we need to look elsewhere. We have too much to lose if we don't get to the bottom of this situation. And we have everything to gain if we do. We have a lot at stake in Fayetteville and Cumberland County, and we need to work together for positive outcomes. e time for protecting turf is over. All elected of- ficials should start demonstrating tough love and start demanding that the staff do their jobs so elected officials can do theirs. anks for reading the Up & Coming Weekly. e fact that the contentious relationship between the city of Fayetteville and Cumberland County has existed for so long indicates there is a constant enabler that needs to be addressed. And, since we know it's not the elected officials, we need to look elsewhere.