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: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1365823
4 UCW APRIL 28 - MAY 4, 2021 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR April Olsen editor@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Dylan Hooker art@upandcomingweekly.com EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Keyuri Parab REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING ASSOCIATE Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/SALES ADMINISTRATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Margaret Dickson, Pitt Dickey, D.G. Martin, John Hood, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Crissy Neville COVER "New Kelp City" by Skylor Swann. ––––––––––– 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 welcomes 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. © 2020 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. Various ads with art graphics designed with elements from: vecteezy.com and freepik.com. PUBLISHER'S PEN City courts cajun company money grab by BILL BOWMAN 82 64 82 83 79 82 63 64 83 66 64 65 THU APR 29 FRI APR 30 SAT MAY 01 SUN MAY 02 MON MAY 03 TUE MAY 04 89 70 84 55 74 52 79 58 84 62 87 63 Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy PM Showers Association of Community Publishers Here we go again. Fayetteville, hold on to your wallets. Fayetteville's Pub- lic Works Commission, our Hometown Utility that provides water, electricity and sewer services to about one-third of the Cumberland County population, is again the proverbial Holy Grail of efficient revenue-producing utilities. Our city leadership is intrigued at the thought and prospect of looting and pillaging its coffers with the assistance of Bernhard Capital Partners of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a private equity man- agement company with NO track record in successful utility management. Yet, they scour North Carolina for mu- nicipalities that are incredibly desperate for money or overly staffed with fiscally ignorant and incompetent leadership. is being the case, no wonder Bern- hard has planted themselves firmly in Fayetteville with their rapacious sights set on our Hometown Utility. I'm just an average Fayetteville resident. I don't fully understand the complicated and complex negotiations that go into making up multi-million dollar transactions like this; however, I can recognize the elements of a potential ruse. e Bernhard Capital group has all the signs that shout out, "DANGER, WILL ROBINSON, DANGER!!!" Let's hope our city officials hear that precautionary warn- ing because selling PWC could have them dancing with the devil and living with a poor and costly decision for the next three decades. Yes, all the signs are there: Unpublicized meetings with Fayetteville city officials, the restrictive non-disclosure agreements Bernhard makes everyone sign, promises of utility rate reductions and ratepayer re- bates, financial contributions to local and state politicians, the hiring of a local law firm and out of town PR firm, appearances on local radio shows expounding on the benefits of such a deal, and the promise of relocating the Bernhard headquarters in Fayetteville with additional pledges of many more Bernhard companies to follow suit. Wow! ose are the kind of entice- ments a city and economic development office can really get their arms around. Right? One central question remains, and it's the hardest one to answer and al- ways seems to come back and haunt the negotiations. at is: Why would the city of Fayetteville sell a utility asset organiza- tion that leads the state and nation in low equable utility rates, profitability, cus- tomer service, community responsiveness, and is an award-winning model of effec- tive and efficient corporate management, proficiency and fiscal responsibility? Good question, huh? Well, I'm sure many of you can answer that question in one word: Greed. In two words: Immense greed! Unfortunately, the attributes PWC seems to enjoy the city of Fayetteville has found to be elusive to them. Significantly, over the past decade. If you need evidence, look no further than services provided by City Hall. Look at our elevated crime rate, the filth, and litter that carpets our streets, the hordes of homeless panhandlers menac- ing our businesses, destroying our prop- erty, defecating in our storefronts, and running off our customers. And, when it comes to fiscal responsibility, Fayetteville taxpayers need only to look across the street from City Hall at our new parking deck we paid PCH $18 million to build. Of course, it came in years past due and mil- lions of dollars over budget. Recently, our Mayor and City Council then paid PCH another $500K of taxpayer money for a practically useless concrete corner in the same building. Incredible. Again, I'm a taxpaying citizen, not a rocket scientist, but is this the responsible leadership you would entrust to negoti- ate the sale of one of our most valuable assets? I think not. With Bernhard's track record of having No Track Record in utility management, placing hundreds of millions of dollars in their hands would be the height of irresponsibility and reck- lessness. I hope that the Fayetteville community speaks up loud and clear on this issue before we get stuck with another PCH parking deck fiasco. Only this costly mis- take is guaranteed to be around, haunting us for thirty years. Everyone must demand answers from Mitch Colvin and their ONE Fayetteville City Council member. Ask why they would consider selling such a valuable asset like PWC when it is recognized as one of the most well-man- aged, profitable and responsive utilities in the nation. Not to mention having the lowest consumer utility rates in the state. Fayetteville needs to ask that question before it is too late. ank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COM- MENTS? BILL@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910-484-6200. rough NextGen Utility Systems LLC, Bernhard Capital Partners seeks to manage dozens of mu- nicipal utility systems in the Southeast. (Photo by Layni Menard/e Advertiser, 2018)