Up & Coming Weekly

April 26, 2016

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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APRIL 27 - MAY 3, 2016 UCW 11 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM NEWS Interim Fayetteville City Manager Doug Hewett is taking personal responsibility for management of the city police department. Hewett tells Up & Coming Weekly in an exclusive interview that he intends to oversee the police and fire departments, relieving Deputy Manager Kristoff Bauer of that responsibility. "I believe the scope of public safety requires that the chiefs report to the manager," Hewett said. He pointed out that former Chief Tom Bergamine reported to then manager Dale Iman. Hewett served with Iman as an assistant city manager. He returned to city govern - ment last year and was confirmed by city council last week as interim city manager. Hewett acknowledged that he had been made aware of Police Chief Harold Medlock's discontent resulting from former manager Ted Voorhees' decision allowing Bauer to take oversight respon - sibility for police operations. Medlock would not confirm or deny that he told Mayor Nat Robertson he was considering resigning. The chief said that when he came to Fayetteville three years ago his understanding was that he would answer only to the city manager. "I shared my concerns with the mayor, and, it's behind us now." the chief told Up & Coming Weekly. "I am very supportive of the realignment," said Robertson. "Eliminating a level of management will make the departments operate more efficiently." Hewett said he had no idea of the changes city council was making on the night of April 11. He was home watching the Council meeting on TV when it went into executive session. An hour and a half later Mayor Robertson announced that Voor - hees had submitted his resignation. "I was very surprised," Hewett said, when he got the phone call from Robertson asking him to take over as interim manager. "Having known Ted for a number of years I was concerned." Voorhees brought Hewett to Fayetteville several months ago to serve in a senior management plan - ning role with the business community. "The relationship between the manager and council is one that must be close, and when priori- ties change job security is sometimes called into question," said Hewett. The 45-year-old Hewett served as a Fayetteville assistant manager from 2004 to 2012. He has known, and in most cases worked with, other members of the senior management team for many years. Asked about community changes he's noticed since his return, Hewett said he was "so excited to see a conceptual framework of the multimodal transit center actually come out of the ground." It was a project he had worked on in its infancy. He recalled that the State Veterans Park was still in the planning stages when he left. "We have jobs to do as the city moves forward on the parks bond projects, economic development, public safety and more," he said. The manager added he will have a plan for in- volving council and the community in building our referendum projects. He says he wasn't surprised that the bond passed. "The time was right, it was significant," added Hewett. As for his future, Hewett says he hopes to exhibit a management style that results in a "great relationship with city council." He hasn't said whether he'll seek the post permanently. Hewett to Oversee Police and Fire Departments by JEFF THOMPSON JEFF THOMPSON, Senior News Reporter. COMMENTS? news@upandcomingweekly. com. 910.484.6200. Protect Our Defenders has released a report entitled "Debunked: Fact-Check- ing the Pentagon's Claims Regarding Military Justice" on the heels of an As- sociated Press investigation that shows the Pentagon misled Congress in order to preserve commanders' control over sexual assault cases. Protect Our De - fenders is a human rights organization that "gives voice to the brave women and men in uniform who have been raped or sexually assaulted by fellow service members." "Congress should hold a hearing to investigate why the Pentagon knowingly relied upon false information to derail reforms they oppose," said POD Presi - dent Don Christensen, a retired colonel. In the summer of 2014, Admiral James Winnefeld, Vice-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified before Congress that commanders routinely order cases to trial that civilian prosecutors "refused" to take. He also claimed these cases show there would be "fewer prosecutions" if such decisions were removed from the military chain of command. POD's analysis of the case documents relied on by the military to support these claims, and an investigative report by the AP, reveal that the Pentagon distorted the facts to block reform. "As a result, survivors are suffering and predators are escaping justice," said Col Christensen. The Senate legislation sponsored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., has won the backing of at least 50 senators. But the legislation has twice failed on the Senate floor to meet a 60-vote filibuster threshold. The dispute over Gillibrand's bill centers on the power that senior officers determine whether to send charges to trial. Senior commanders, often general of- ficers, cannot refer cases to a general court-martial unless staff judge advocates have first advised them that the evidence warrants the charges. So, the argument that excluding commanders from the decision to prosecute will mean less justice for victims is a flawed one, according to proponents of Gillibrand's bill. Commanders also reserve the right to overturn sex assault convic - tions. Sen. Gillibrand and the bipartisan group of lawmakers argue that the system is archaic and ripe for bias, particularly for sex crimes. Senators Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Kelly Ayotte, R-NH, have resisted reform and made their case in a USA Today edito - rial, stating that "In two years, there have been at least 93 cases in which civilian prosecutors declined to pursue charges but commanders launched a court-martial. That's 93 victims who wouldn't have had their day in court if commanders lost the ability to bring a case to court-martial." During the floor debate on Gillibrand's Military Justice Improvement Act, Senator Carl Levin argued against the bill, saying, "The evidence shows that removing this authority from our commanders would weaken, not strengthen, our response to this urgent problem." Records provided by the Pentagon show that, in fact, it was not true that cases cited by Admiral Winnefeld claimed civilian prosecutors had "de - clined" them. POD also found no evidence that even a single case moved forward at the "insistence" of a commander. Further investigation by the AP into the decisions of local prosecutors confirmed that in many instances these cases were never refused by civilian authorities as alleged, but were instead turned over only at the request of military prosecutors. These cases were used to successfully influence undecided Senators. Military Sexual Assaults Fact Checked by JEFF THOMPSON Interim City Manager Doug Hewett

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