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/58270
STAFF bbowman@upandcomingweekly.com editor@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERS Janice Burton Joy Crowe MANAGING EDITOR Caroline Goins stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com hal@upandcomingweekly.com Linda McAlister Brown ltmcmd01@aol.com OFFICE MANAGER Laurel Handforth officemanager@ upandcomingweekly.com Mary Catherine White ACCOUNTING accounting@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Alicia Miller art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Mar tin, Pitt Dick ey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Jhana Lewis, Erinn Crider, Karen Poppele, Heath- er Griffi ths, Beth Solzsmon-Carpenter, Shannon Angry –––––––––––– 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. Subscriptions can be purchased for $30 for six months or $60 for 12 months, delivered weekly by first class mail. ©2007 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. MARKETING/SALES Hal Nunn ASSOCIATE EDITOR Stephanie Crider PUBLISHER Bill Bowman INSIDE PUBLISHER'S PEN by BILL BOWMAN I love the Fayetteville-Cumberland County community and have ever since I arrived here as a young soldier in November 1968. Ahhhh, that was a very good year and the beginning of a love affair with a community that reached out and touched someone ... me. However, things do change over a course of 40 plus years. Thank goodness the changes that have occurred in Fayetteville and Cumberland County have been good for me, my business and the community-in spite of sporadic voids in local leadership we have experienced over the years. The challenges and resulting problems we have faced did not come from our leaders' ability to make decisions, but, rather from their consistent inability to make the right decisions. Put another way, our community leadership has always been swift and profi cient at making quick-draw wrong decisions, but have been clumsy, slow and insecure when called upon to make good, prudent decisions for the residents they represent. Here are some examples of quick-draw decisions: • Ticket Gate • Fayetteville's Vietnam sister city recommendation • The Quaker House participation in Heroes Homecoming • Recent moratorium on consent searches and the resulting consequences • Supporting and allocating city/county resources to Jubilee House without checking validity of the project or permits • Endorsing the presence of a charter school in Downtown Fayetteville before weighing the effects it will have on Cumberland County public education, the downtown merchants and the overall economic development, health and well being of Historic Downtown Fayetteville • Signing a city proclamation recognizing and endorsing the anti- American Moorish National Separatist movement and, most recently, allowing our city to lose two competent managers and city servants; our police chief, Tommy Bergamine, and our city manager, Dale Iman. In every case, well planned and thought out decisions from local leaders, along with some input from non partisan taxpaying citizens, might have resulted in outcomes more refl ective of a healthy happy populace. In the case of Bergamine and Iman, both seem to be victims of the inability of local governmental offi cials to communicate, negotiate and compromise with each other for the betterment and enrichment of the Fayetteville's Weather Forecast March 16 Fayetteville's Weather Forecast Friday Thursday March 15 Saturday March 17 Dale Iman. community and its residents. And, oh, at what cost to the taxpayers? Filling these positions will waste valuable time and human resources that could be spent making our community a much better place to live. It will waste money. Yes, this unfortunate situation will cost local taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Ouch! With the sluggish economy, sky-high gas prices, record unemployment and cutbacks on both the federal and state levels, we do not have the funding for local fi re fi ghters, police offi cers, teachers, recreational facilities and basic city services like leaf and garbage pick up, yet we always have enough taxpayer money for projects like the Jubilee House and for replacing police chiefs and city managers every fi ve years or so. What's wrong with this picture? All I can say is Fayetteville and Cumberland County leadership can do better, and must do better — because we deserve better. An All-America City deserves All-American leadership. Especially, if we are to grow and prosper. We speak often about our Fayetteville Young Professionals and how we want and expect these young people to want to stay here and work, raise a family and be a part of a prosperous growing community. Yet, we set such poor examples of leadership. Leadership at times that is so inept it makes them skeptical and apathetic toward wanting to even try to make a difference. We need people in public offi ce who care more about the people and the community than they do about themselves. Public service is about public service. It's not about an individual's personal needs or wants. Fayetteville and Cumberland County has grown in spite of itself. BRAC was a bonus, a blessing and a gift. We were fortunate in this regard but, then again, missed a great opportunity to put our best foot forward and capitalize on the opportunity. All we can do now is wait and see what develops in our future. No one really knows what will happen next. However, we do know it will be expensive. So in closing, let me say this: Please, from here on out, let's go a little easy on the Chamber of Commerce by backing off the harsh criticism of it's lack of performance when it comes to economic development. After all, they aren't the ones who create the environment, it's our local leaders. Thanks for reading Up & Coming Weekly. We are always here for BILL BOWMAN, Publisher. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcom- ingweekly.com CalCall 910.354.1679l 910.354.1679 Sunday March 18 Monday March 19 Tuesday March 20 Calendar ........................................... 14 Concert Connection ........................ 18 TV ..................................................... 20 Free Wheelin' Feelin' ....................... 21 Movie Review .................................. 22 Horoscopes/Advice Goddess ......... 23 Classifieds ........................................ 24 Games .............................................. 26 A Failure of Leadership High 81 Low 53° Partly Cloudy 4 UCW MARCH 14-20, 2012 High 76° Low 52° Partly Cloudy High 72° Low 53° Showers Forecast available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 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