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/982598
4 UCW MAY 16-22, 2018 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COMMENTS? BILL@upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. 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 SPORTS EDITOR Earl Vaughan Jr. EarlUCWSports@gmail.com REPORTERS Charles Bosworth, Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Elizabeth Long art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Jason Brady, Lauren Vanderveen, Matthew Skipper, Shane Wilson 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. ©2018 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. Hope Mills Mayor Pro Tem Mike Mitchell is concerned about questionable social media practices that are starting to manifest and possibly have a detrimental effect on the town. ese concerns have appeared because of the proliferation of a private Facebook group, the Hope Mills Chatter, which only accepts privileged members who are scrutinized, vetted and pre-approved by the group manager, Lisa Carter-Waring. Nor- mally, this would not be an issue – except some residents have complained that the site is discriminatory and is being used as a political lobbying vessel to bully, intimidate and unduly influence town com- missioners. Residents have complained they have been blocked from accessing the Hope Mills Chatter. Some who have been approved for partici- pation have been abruptly terminated and kicked out of the group when disagreeing with Carter-Waring's dogma or objecting to the mission or mandate du jour. is private social media group includes three prominent Hope Mills commission- ers: Meg Larson, Jesse Bellflowers and Jerry Legge. Some residents suspect the site is being used as a three-to-two conspiracy to control the business and policies of the town. ree out of five town commissioners meeting together equals a quorum. Mayor Jackie Warner is also a member of this group but has no vote. If the three town commission- ers constitute a quorum, their participation in the Hope Mills Chatter may be a violation of the North Carolina Open Meetings Law. is is why Commissioner Mitchell is look- ing into the matter. In the end, their partici- pation may not be illegal, but appearances matter, and the appearance of impropriety is definitely an issue here. Mitchell launched an informal poll on Facebook recently to see how the residents of Hope Mills feel about it; 76 percent of the respondents said they had concerns with elected town commissioners participating in a private and restricted Facebook group. Mitchell said, "I personally believe that public appearance is very important, and when the three commissioners that participate in Hope Mills Chatter (a closed Facebook group with less than 300 mem- bers) vote three to two to take actions, citizens might wonder how much of the decision was previously discussed in the closed group." His point is well-made. Up & Coming Weekly has requested a formal opinion from Amanda Martin, at- torney for the North Carolina Press Associa- tion, concerning the possible violation of the Open Meetings Law. We explained to Martin that the Hope Mills Chatter was only accessible to a select group of people vet- ted and approved by the page moderator, Carter-Waring, and that it includes three sitting commissioners. We also pointed out that Carter-Waring is a paid correspondent for the weekly Hope Mills newspaper, e Sandspur, which is owned and pro- duced by e Fayetteville Observer. I suspect Carter-Waring and Larson are using the Hope Mills Chatter and Carter-Waring's position with e Sandspur to gain and maintain political influence, dictate the commissioners' agenda and control the overall narrative of the town of Hope Mills. Another indicator of this conspiracy was Carter-Waring's and Lawson's organized attempt to discredit Up & Coming Weekly's partnership with the town. Carter-Waring blocked our access to the Hope Mills Chat- ter while allowing other local news media access, including four reporters from e Fayetteville Observer, Greg Barnes (WTVD), Goldy (WFNC) and Gilbert Baez (WRAL). While the content and comments in the chat area are private, the membership list is public, and I have confirmed the informa- tion about who has access to the group. We applaud Mitchell's initiative. is is not and never has been what Hope Mills is about. Adversity and challenges over the last decade have proven the trust, ability, judgement and mettle of leaders like Warner, Mitchell, Pat Edwards, Melissa Adams, Drew Holland, Bob Gorman, who died this November, and dozens of other dedicated employees who know and understand the future challenges that Hope Mills faces. We are proud to serve Hope Mills. e town has publicly endorsed and recog- nized Up & Coming Weekly as its official community publication. Why? Because of our 23-year history of quality, fair and accurate community news coverage across Cumberland County. Hope Mills wanted a valuable, long-term marketing strategy for the enhancement of quality of life and the growth of local busi- nesses and solid long-term economic de- velopment. at's why they partnered with us. at decision was overturned by the Chatter crew, Lawson, and Carter-Waring. In a blatant move to discredit us and stymie our style of positive local news cov- erage in Hope Mills, Carter-Waring unin- vited us from the chat room and ultimately blocked us from the page. She has refused to respond to our inquiries or provide an explanation as to why our newspaper is excluded while she allows other all other media to participate. Many advocates for Up & Coming Weekly have since been involuntarily extricated from the group. However, this is not the main concern. e main concern is if the presence and participation of three Hope Mills Commissioners in this private chat group constitute a violation of the Open Meetings Law. Or, at the very least, is this practice ethically questionable and something that should be discouraged and addressed by the commissioners? We'll see how this plays out. Our newspaper has gained the trust of dozens of nonprofit organizations and hundreds of businesses, civic organiza- tions and government entities. e Hope Mills Chatter, Carter-Waring and Lawson undid a solid, well-thought-out media program for their personal gain and un- dermined the work of Warner, Edwards, Gorman and Adams. I don't know where this social media controversy will end, but, I do know it is not good for the future of Hope Mills. Again, kudos to Mitchell for broaching the subject. In the meantime, we will con- tinue to promote and develop the Hope Mills Initiative by spreading the good news about Hope Mills throughout all of Cumberland County and Fort Bragg – just as the previous leadership intended. Respectfully, Carter-Waring and her few chattering Sandspur followers pale in com- parison to the bold and aggressive positive message that we and the Hope Mills lead- ership intend for its residents and visitors. Hope Mills is becoming prominent and re- spected throughout the county. e town of Hope Mills needs to protect itself from non-visionaries and small thinkers. Whether Up & Coming Weekly continues to be the official media voice of Hope Mills or not will be determined by the town's people. Carter-Waring and Larson do not want the town to have another media voice. ey do not share the vision for growth and economic prosperity of Hope Mills. ey want things to stay the same. No vision, no progress, no growth, no competition, and certainly no Up & Coming Weekly! Mike Mitchell, stay the course. Transpar- ency is vital to free and open government. Demand public input. Demand to hear all residents of Hope Mills – not just a select few. Readers, we would love to hear from you. Send your thoughts and comments to hopemills@upandcomingweekly.com. ank you for reading Hope Mills' com- munity newspaper. Private Hope Mills Facebook group raises concerns by BILL BOWMAN Does the participation of three Hope Mills Commissioners in this private group constitute a violation of the Open Meetings Law?