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/578278
4 SEPT 30 - OCT 6, 2015 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Well, you c an t a lk unt il you are blue in t he face about esc a lat ing Fayet tev ille and Cumberland Count y 's image and qua lit y of life by increasing loc a l amenit ies like park s, sw imming pools, a r iver wa lk , a dow ntow n per for ming ar t s center and baseba ll st adiums; however, t he rea lit y is t hat t he absence of honest , loc a l leadership coupled w it h an overabundance of polit ic a l shenanigans, seems to be imbedded in Cumberland Count y. While local politicians (note politicians, not leaders) remain silent, local residents scratch their heads and shout out loud, "Are you kidding me?" Such was the reaction of residents last week as our local county commissioners clandestinely agreed to enlist our local legislative delegation in a plot to hijack the $5.6 million hotel occupancy tax, which is collected annually. Currently, the money is split between the Arts Council, Crown Coliseum and the Fayetteville Area Convention and Visitor Bureau. No more, if the county commissions get their way. Why? They won't say. No transparency and even less explanation. T he commissioners, w it hout ex planat ion, except to say t hey are not pleased w it h t he way t he money is being spent , want to t a ke t he money away f rom t he Tour ism Development Aut hor it y, a board appointed by t he commissioners. Hmmmm? T hat 's interest ing. T hey are not pleased w it h t he board t hat t hey appointed and are unable to dea l w it h t he sit uat ion to t he point t hat t hey enlisted t he leg islat ure to change t he law. T hat k ind of judg ment raises eyebrows and fosters dist r ust in our polit ic a l leadership. It 's t he near per fec t ex ample of t he self- ser v ing , backdoor polit ics t hat has st y mied development in Fayet tev ille for dec ades in bot h our count y and cit y. Fayet tev ille ac t iv ist Sharon Va lent ine w rote a g reat opinion piece in last Sunday 's Fayet teville Obser ver. She ex pressed her displeasure over t he way t he Fayet tev ille Cit y Council disrespec ted her f r iend, Councilman Bobby Hurst . Hurst ser ves as t he chair of t he appoint ment commit tee, whose t ask was to screen applic ant s and ma ke a recommendat ion to t he cit y council on someone to f ill t he ex pired PWC ter m of businesswoman Ly nne Greene. I'm not sure what the qualifications are to oversee PWC's $500+ million annual budget, but Hurst wanted to appoint Juanita Gonzalez, who many perceive as Hurst's unqualified plant to undermine and dilute PWC's authority. An action, I might add, that the disputed 100- year PWC Charter was designed to prevent. However, in a brilliant and unprecedented maneuver by the majority of city council members, local resident Evelyn Shaw was nominated for the position from the floor. Checkmate! Consequently, Shaw was voted in, Gonzalez out and Hurst was outraged. W hy? Because t he process was v iolated? No. Because his misuse and abuse of his polit ical of f ice was t rumped by his polit ical peers. He was out maneuvered. Yet, in life t wo w rongs do not make a right . Nonet heless, t his is bad news for t he "good g uys" or in t his case, a communit y, like ours, w it h awesome potent ial and a desperate need for 21st cent ur y leadership. It 's not at a ll sur pr ising t hat t he t hree 2016 President ia l f ront r unners are Tr ump, Carson and Fior ina–a ll not able Washing ton out siders. W hy? Bec ause c areer polit icians are more and more being perceived by t he A mer ic an elec torate as unt r ust wor t hy, self-ser v ing , unreliable and unaccount able. T he old say ing a ll polit ics are loc a l, leaves us hoping t hat t he cit izens of Fayet tev ille and Cumberland Count y w ill pay at tent ion to t hese recent abuses of t r ust and aut hor it y and encourage good people to seek leadership posit ions. T his is t he only way we c an restore fait h and t r ust in gover nment and successf ully move our communit y for ward. St ay t uned and t hank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. PUBLISHER'S PEN Checkmate! Legislation Hits Road Block by BILL BOWMAN BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COM- ING WEEKLY. COMMENTS? Editor@upand- comingweekly.com. 910.484.6200. Banquet rooms available up to 100 guests STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Janice Burton editor@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR Stephanie Crider stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com ART DIRECTOR Sara Smith art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Erinn Crider, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Heather Griffiths BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Karla Allen karla@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com ACCOUNTING Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com Beverly Pone beverlypone@upandcomingweekly.com Jennifer Lewis jennifer@upandcomingweekly.com Melissa Zalaznik melissa@upandcomingweekly.com ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan Street 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 infor- mation 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 per- son. ©2007 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. "Shaw was voted in, Gonzalez out and Hurst was outraged." Checkmate!