Up & Coming Weekly

June 15, 2021

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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4 UCW JUNE 16-22, 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 STAFF WRITER Audrey Hogue REPORTER Jeff Thompson 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 Cover photos of the Civil Rights March on Washington Aug. 28, 1963, courtesy National Archives. –––––––––––- 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 Army Airfield, 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 Councilwoman addresses rumors by TISHA WADDELL 82 64 82 83 79 82 63 64 83 66 64 65 THU JUN 17 FRI JUN 18 SAT JUN 19 SUN JUN 20 MON JUN 21 TUE JUN 22 83 64 89 70 88 72 87 70 86 70 88 71 Thunderstorms Thunderstorms Mostly Sunny Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Cloudy Association of Community Publishers is week Publisher Bill Bowman yields his space to Fayetteville City Councilwoman Tisha Waddell who sets the record straight and combats the rumors and innuendo that have undermined her effectiveness as a pub- lic servant. ank you, Councilwoman Waddell, for serving our community. To my Fayetteville constituents: I am not running for re-election, and I am also NOT running for Mayor. I appreciate all the sup- port I have received and even the naysayers, as you have each helped me grow. I am also grateful to the handful of people I shared my decision with before submitting this article that completely under- stands why this is my choice. ere was a marked difference between the first two years I served as an elected official and what will be my last. I was fortunate to serve with councilmen like Ted Mohn, Bill Crisp and Jim Arp. ese leg- islators weren't perfect, but they researched, were more consistent in policy application, and were not afraid to challenge the status quo. It was demanding but rewarding. I learned quickly and was complete in my decision-making. I earned a stable reputation as one who weighs the facts and makes deci- sions based on what's in the com- munity's best interest, whether it was popular with the political bullies or not. I regret that those new to their positions have not benefited from serving under different conditions and hope the tide shifts for them and all of us represented by them. Had my first two years been anything like my last two, there wouldn't have been a second term. It is difficult to accept the amount of hypocrisy and fear in our lo- cal government and even more so that it is excused as expected. We should not expect our leaders, at any level, to be ego-driven or in- consistent in process and policy. Disagreements should not be al- lowed to become flashpoints, and unstable agitators should not be permitted to pull focus away from our legislator's actual responsi- bilities. e abusive mishandling by members of the Council or members in the community of our leaders should not be tolerated. Whether we like them or not, they were elected by a majority of the people who voted and belong pre- cisely where they are. Initially, I only promised to do my part to communicate and make sound decisions. Focusing on sharing the tools needed to guide their elected's choices for this city and removing barriers to access between them and their represen- tative has hopefully helped District ree understand their power. When looking back, I hope the things people remember are that I supported legislation that seeks to increase transparency in how the Council makes decisions. I've called for undeviating policy prac- tices in the hopes that we could level the playing field for future council members to be able to do their job. I've helped the Council shift its focus from implementing fee increases to more meaningful investments into our neighbor- hoods through street resurfacing and stormwater investments. ere have been measurable successes in some regards, and in others, the needle has barely moved. I respect each of my peers on Council and recognize where we have worked well and where there is room for improvement. It was my great pleasure to work in this capacity, and I will always be fond of how God chose to use me in this season. I have learned that it isn't one person's job to change leadership, directly or indirectly. at is the job of all the citizens in this city who are of voting age. So, as some celebrate the announcement of my departure from the Fayetteville City Council and others are sad- dened to lose me as one of their champions for common sense in governing, the takeaway for all should be to register to vote, VOTE, and then hold your elected accountable by staying involved. Your city is counting on YOU! TISHA WADDELL, City Council, District 3. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484- 6200. City Councilwoman Tisha Waddell, District 3.

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