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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COMMENTARY A Strategic Plan Will Help Solve City's Problems by NAT ROBERTSON I have released our working strategic plan for our first 90 days in office. Our focus on local crime. parallels my earlier stated priorities, including addressing the war on crime and • Meet with the Fayetteville Regional Chamber, the City of Fayetteville Community promoting economic development. It should be obvious that our campaign has put Development office and Fayetteville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau leaders a lot of emphasis on bringing people together. Our plan to see how Fayetteville can better participate in is broken down into two parts, the first is a 30-day plan the recruitment, retention and promotion of local followed by a 60-90 day plan. Both list multiple meetings businesses that will create jobs for our residents. • Reestablish the City/County Liaison committee with the new and veteran council members along with meetings with local, county and state professional and with elected leaders from Fayetteville City Council and political leaders. the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners. Our 30-day plan calls for the reestablishment of This committee will focus on resolving common issues the City/County Liaison Committee that will bring affecting all county residents. Fayetteville and Cumberland County leaders together • Call for each council member to appoint a monthly to discuss common issues. We are also calling representative to serve on a newly established for the development of a Mayor's Business Council that Business Council to further advise the City Council will advise the City Council and staff on enterprise and on enterprise and economic development issues and economic development issues. Our 30-day plan also calls present items/actions that will assist local businesses for each of the council members to appoint a resident in growth and long term prosperity. representative to a new committee that will assess the • Call for each council member to appoint a utility and usability of the Unified Development Ordinance representative to serve on a committee that will (UDO) and make recommendations to the council if reassess the utility and usability of the Unified Nat Robertson discusses economic development with changes are needed. Development Ordinance. Kevin Brooks, an owner of Trimmerz. Photo courtesy of The 60-90 day plan brings players to the table in the 60- to 90-day Strategic Plan www.natrobertson.com. areas of economic development, homelessness, PWC • Revisit, reassess and revise any new or unresolved service in recently annexed areas, customer service issues from the 30-day Strategic Plan. training for city staff and the reduction of duplicated services between the city, county • Host a roundtable with PWC, City of Fayetteville Community Development and PWC. Most importantly, our plan will host a biannual summit on crime, focusing office and the Home Builders Association of Fayetteville to find ways that each on how city, county and state professional law enforcement and court leaders can help of these organizations can better service our residents and future development reduce the crime rate. Also in the 60- to 90-day plan, we are asking City Manager within city limits. Voorhees to develop a five-year budget that will build splash pads at many of the city's • Host a quarterly Crime Summit open to the public with all local, county and state recreation centers. We believe splash pads can be included in the annual budgets and professional and political representatives that will bring to light common resources are a relatively inexpensive way to expand our youth summer programs without the that may be available. This Crime Summit should open conversation regarding our cost associated with building and maintaining community pools and the personnel overall crime rate and ways to reduce it and ways that all agencies can come together. We must present a unified front on the war on crime that can no longer be ignored. that are required to manage them. • Ask City Manager Voorhees to develop a five-year plan that he can present to Our plan is aggressive but realistic. We realize that it will take the entire City Council the City Council that will budget building a splash pad for our kids at each of our focusing on common goals to move things ahead. I believe that we will be able to move faster than the past councils and make great strides in a relatively short time. I'm community centers. • Work with PWC to explore an expedited completion schedule for the recently confident our new council will be as dedicated as I am to put our issues ahead of our annexed areas. egos and get to work for Fayetteville residents. • Host a working meeting with City Council and elected state delegation to discuss Upon being sworn in, I will meet with the following people and/or organizations mandates, revenue and current issues affecting both governing boards. to create a strategic plan aimed at resolving our pressing issues. At each of the • Ask City Manager Voorhees to employ a comprehensive training course for ALL following meetings, a timeline will be established along with specific goals. Measurable city employees on Customer Service. outcomes and objectives will be evaluated and assessed routinely. • Establish and convene a Mayor's Council on homelessness to unite existing 30-day Strategic Plan resources and promote new ideas that may help those who have fallen • Meet with new and Veteran's Council Members individually with City Manager victims to hard economic times and are involuntarily displaced. Voorhees to establish common priorities. • Work with PWC, city and county • Meet with City Manager Voorhees and Chief Medlock to assess the needs of the NAT ROBERTSON, Candidate management to explore a functional Fayetteville Police Department and begin prioritizing budget needs. for Mayor, COMMENTS? Edi• Meet with Chief Medlock and Sheriff Butler to establish a common plan of attack consolidation of duplicated services. tor@upandcomingweekly.com. VOLUME 16 ISSUE ATTENTION LOCAL BUSINESSES...NEED CUSTOMERS? 37 R 14-20, 2011 SEPTEMBE Advertise & promote your business all year long effectively and affordably! SEPTEMBER VOLUME 17 SPECI Publish AL EDITION ed, and Onl Distributed Fayette ine in the ville Advertise, market and promote your business in the and Cum , Ft. Bragg most popular, most read edition of the year! be County rland ar RESERVE YOUR SPACE TODAY! ALL YEA ea R! For more information, rates and deadlines call (910) 484-6200 or visit our Special Edition Coming Sept. 18, 2013 A ISSUE: INSIDE THIS lopments Downtown Deve Senior Corner FTCC Sa NNUA v L 201 e T ED ww Uw IT p.u dpa Mo he atnd re Is ION e In a com t su siin e dgw e ee kly. com of First Annual Renaissance Fair 2013 Best of Fayetteville ISSUE 37 Best of Fayettevill e Edition EVILLE YETT FA 1 Celebrating 50 Years UP & COMING WEEKLY'S 12-18, 2012 Celebrating Businesses, The "Best of the Best" Organizati ons and Pe ople The Fantasticks Opens at the Say Goodbye to Summer at INSIDE THIS ISSUE : Downtown Devel opments Senior Corner FTCC DE SI INe Up Ed ATsi In te UPD da 2 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 0 1 1 website at www.upandcomingweekly.com. JULY 31 - AUGUST 6, 2013 UCW 5