Up & Coming Weekly

What We Say In 2010 by DAVID G. WILSON The now public demise of Docks should have surprised no one. The Hay Street entertainment and dining facility was established with business plan criteria fraught with cooked and created fi nancial expectations. A modicum of business sense applied to the numbers presented to the Fayetteville City Council in March 2005 would have revealed that Dr. Mel Henderson was pursuing an impossible ambition. If we give the then sitting Fayetteville City Council credit, at least for the most part, for being in possession of such business understanding, why then was the loan request approved? And why were the banks so easily duped by a whining Dr. Henderson and slick talking Marshall Isner, then president of the Downtown Development Corporation? It might be helpful to recall that this same city council voted to forcibly annex 43,000 citizens and 27 square miles without any idea as to how to pay for the infrastructure that the city was by law required to install in the newly annexed areas. So lack of reasoning ability should not be absolutely ruled out as an explanation for the council’s strange decision in favor of Dr. Henderson’s loan request. Another quite plausible explanation could have been the question of where the money was to be sourced. Federal Community Block Grant funds covered 40 percent of the city’s participation, so the money wasn’t altogether the local taxpayer’s money. That made a reckless decision okay it would seem. Another explanation could have been Isner’s presentation to the council. His really absurd projected fi nancials must have been compelling to a naïve city council. Then city manager Roger Stancil, true to form, never said a word about Henderson’s pie-in-the-sky plan even though he had to have known the project was destined to be a fi nancial disaster. Isner brokered the deal for Henderson, insisting that the plan was a slam dunk. Later, when it was obvious that Docks was a failure he maintained that he had always been skeptical. You can’t have it both ways, Marshall, and the record is clear. The council’s inexplicable majority vote on the project could be rationalized from a race perspective. All of the votes for Dr. Henderson, who is black, and his scheme were by black council members. All opposed votes were by white council members. The city was considering the 300 block project proposed by white businessmen so fair is fair. Then Mayor Pro Tem, Lois Kirby, who is white, was not in attendance at the hands are to be kept in plain view and you are not to make any sudden movements. 3. At the request of any law enforcement offi cer, you must display both the permit and valid identifi cation. 4. You may not, with or without a permit, carry a concealed weapon while consuming alcohol or while alcohol or any controlled substances are in your blood, unless the controlled substance was obtained legally and taken in therapeutically appropriate amounts. 5. You must notify the sheriff who issued the permit of any address change within thirty (30) days of the change of address. 6. If a permit is lost or destroyed, you must notify the sheriff who issued the permit and you may receive a duplicate permit by submitting a notarized statement to that effect along with the required fee. Do not carry a handgun without it. 7. Even with a permit, you may not carry a concealed handgun in the following areas: a. Any law enforcement or correctional facility b. Any space occupied by state or federal employees c. A fi nancial institution d. Any premise where the carrying of a concealed handgun is prohibited by the posting of a statement by the controller of the premise e. Educational property f. Areas of assemblies, parades, funerals, or demonstrations g. Places where alcoholic beverages are sold and consumed h. State occupied property i. Any state or federal courthouse j. In any area prohibited by federal law WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Protest by Docks employees who have not been paid. council meeting when the vote to fund the project was taken. So now the question as to why Docks was a fi nancial debacle is being considered, or at least it should be. The North American Savings Bank may not care why. They would just like to recover some of their non-performing asset, i.e. a $4.3 million loan to Henderson and Docks. The City of Fayetteville loaned Henderson $750,000 of which $450,000 came from city taxpayers. The Cumberland County Business Council (now the Fayetteville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce) loaned Henderson $178,000 to be paid back after fi ve years or December 2010. Since payment of that loan is not yet due it is not in arrears. But it absolutely will be due and the chamber can kiss that money goodbye. Docks was a project that was to be completed in six to nine months but required two and one half years to open for business. It was to cost $7 million for renovations and new construction, including furnishings and equipment. The fi nal tally is about $11 million. Slippage of $4 million or 57 percent is suspicious and reeks of an intentional low cost estimate and poor management of the work. Even Isner’s grossly infl ated guesses regarding patronage of 178,000 annually would not have supported that much indebtedness. Now Docks is closed and probably will never reopen, despite Dr. Henderson’s ridiculous insistence that “he is arranging new fi nancing.” The city and county have never collected a penny of property taxes from Docks and never will. Dr. Henderson may have taken himself and others into bankruptcy. The community is left to wonder how so many, including dozens of Docks employees, could have been duped by so few. Dr. Henderson also may have to answer to a judge and jury about his failure to pay sales taxes on his equipment and revenues. He certainly owes his former employees a sincere dose of honesty regarding the condition of his now defunct business. Henderson also must face serious charges for his failure to forward to the state and federal government payroll taxes taken from his employee’s earnings. Those guilty of such transgressions often go to prison. COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 222 or editor@upandcomingweekly.com. k. Any local government building if the local government had adopted an ordinance and posted signs prohibiting the carrying of concealed weapons 8. If you are in a vehicle and stopped by a law enforcement offi cer, you should put both hands on the steering wheel, announce you are in possession of a concealed handgun and state where you have it concealed, and that you are in possession of a permit. Do not remove your hands from the wheel until instructed to do so by the offi cer. If you meet all of the legal requirements, there are still some things you need to know. North Carolina is a Castle Doctrine state and has a stand-your-ground law. In short, this law permits the use of deadly physical force against an intruder in your home. The law, N.C. General Statute 14-51.1 reads: Use of deadly physical force against an intruder. (a) A lawful occupant within a home or other place of residence is justifi ed in using any degree of force that the occupant reasonably believes is necessary, including deadly force, against an intruder to prevent a forcible entry into the home or residence or to terminate the intruder’s unlawful entry (i) if the occupant reasonably apprehends that the intruder may kill or infl ict serious bodily harm to the occupant or others in the home or residence, or (ii) if the occupant reasonably believes that the intruder intends to commit a felony in the home or residence. (b) A lawful occupant within a home or other place of residence does not have a duty to retreat from an intruder in the circumstances described in this section. (c) This section is not intended to repeal, expand, or limit any other defense that may exist under the common law. It is important that you understand what is considered deadly force. This type of information can be gained in your gun classes. AUGUST 11-17, 2010 UCW 9 DAVID G. WILSON, Contributing Writer.

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