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/985403
4 UCW MAY 23-29, 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. Come on, folks! Four years terms for our elected officials? Are you kidding? Is this community so sadistic and hell- bent on fulfilling that predetermined and haunting conclusion that Fayetteville and Cumberland County will always find a way to rip defeat from the jaws of victory? No doubt Fayetteville is experiencing a growth spurt stimulated by the new $38 million baseball stadium and the Houston Astros' 30-year commitment to play ball in the city. Currently, we have about $100 mil- lion of new economic development in down- town Fayetteville. is is a good thing, but the prevailing question in the minds of many residents is "does this community have the dedicated, intelligent and business-savvy leadership capable of managing growth of this magnitude?" Many think not. And this comes on the heels of the unfortunate situation Fayetteville just endured with ex-District 2 Councilman Tyrone Williams. Williams resigned his position several weeks ago in disgrace after the city council voted to start the process to officially remove him from office for perceived ethics violations that took place within weeks of his tenure. Many city and county residents feel this situation demonstrates the prevalence and permeation of the problem of hav- ing unqualified and incompetent people in leadership at municipal and county government levels. Political correctness and apathy are major disincentives for nurturing good, honest and well-educated people to seek offices of leadership. If our community is to move forward and achieve social, cultural and economic stability on par with our North Carolina counterparts, we must find a way to en- courage strong and capable citizens to step forward to serve this community while discouraging those opportunists who only intend to park themselves in those posi- tions for convenience and prestige and to enjoy a source of supplemental income. ese posers are easy to identify. ey contribute little or nothing by way of in- novative thought or vision while mastering only the art of getting elected. Anyone who attends Fayetteville City Council or Cumberland County Commissioners meetings on a regular basis or watches them on TV can easily iden- tify these governmental freeloaders. Here are the three of the most common and conspicu- ous signs: 1. ey lack intel- lectual capacity, which makes them appear confused on the simplest matters, rendering them helpless to reasonably evaluate the magnitude of situations affecting the city and county. 2. ey have an impulsive and constant need to grandstand for the gallery or TV cameras. is manifests itself in the asking of dumb and irrelevant questions while elaborating on Mr. Obvious-style observa- tions. is kind of conspicuous behavior wastes time and serves as a motivated diversion to cover up the fact that: 3. ey have shown up unaware of priori- ties and unprepared for the meeting. is is obvious to the informed public and even more obvious, distressing and annoying to those commissioners and councilmen try- ing to rightfully serve their constituents. e most frequent and recurring complaint we hear is "…they just don't read their packets." Packets refer to the information provided to them in advance of the meeting about the topics and details of what is going to be covered in that meeting. ey receive these packets so they can be informed of the is- sues and business of government. Four-year terms should not be the remedy or reward for those whose talents lie only in knowing how to get elected in a mostly protected district. Nor should this kind of behavior go unchallenged or be ac- cepted by constituents. Two-year terms are plenty long enough to learn proper policies and procedures of our local government. I'll close with these related thoughts and warnings of sorts: Political correctness inhibits free speech and restricts our right to free expression. is is what gave us Ty- rone Williams. ere was no vetting. Way too many people, including prominent, well-positioned citizens, knew of Williams' character (or lack thereof ), his reputation and dubious business dealings. Yet, no one came forward. Additionally, our entire community should always be skeptical of people who show up on the political scene seeking office without any previous community involvement, voice, presence or involve- ment in the process of government. At some point, we need to ask why and not be afraid of the answer or consequence. e answer needs to be much more sub- stantial than "it's a white district" or "it's a black district" or whether it's a Democrat or Republican seat, or "wow, I could use the money." Fayetteville and Cumberland County need people who care. We need leaders who have integrity, competence and intelli- gence. We need leaders who are visionaries. If our elected officials don't have these qualities or can't prove their worth in two years, they will not be able to do it in four years. Let's be realistic and practical in this decision. Let the people decide. In the meantime, think about this: What cost- or tax-saving measures have been introduced or initi- ated during the last two years? anks for reading Up & Coming Weekly. Poor timing: Why four-year terms are a bad idea by BILL BOWMAN Four-year terms should not be the rem- edy or reward for those whose talents lie only in knowing how to get elected in a mostly protected district. HIGH 83 HIGH 84 MAY 24 MAY 25 MAY 26 MAY 27 MAY 28 MAY 29 Thunderstorms PM Thunderstorms Mostly Cloudy Rain Scattered Thunderstorms Thunderstorms LOW 66 LOW 72 LOW 71 LOW 68 LOW 70 LOW 71 HIGH 84 HIGH 85 HIGH 86 HIGH 82