Five of the 15 candidates on the Nov. 7 ballot for Fayetteville City Council — as well as both mayoral candidates — gathered Thursday for a forum hosted by advocacy groups Cape Fear Indivisible, Organizing Against Racism: Cumberland County, Common Cause N.C. and Fayetteville Freedom For All at Smith Recreation Center.
Incumbent Mayor Mitch Colvin and challenger Freddie de la Cruz began the night with a 40-minute discussion on issues facing Fayetteville, while City Council candidates followed separately. Attendees included District 1 incumbent Kathy Jensen and her opponent, Alex Rodriguez; District 3 incumbent Mario Benavente; District 4 candidate Stuart Collick; and District 9 incumbent Deno Hondros.
Long-term plans for Fayetteville
Candidates opened the forum by envisioning what their goals would be for Fayetteville in the year 2030. Colvin, who has served three terms as mayor, said he wants Fayetteville to be on the same economic and industrial level as other cities in the state, such as Charlotte and Raleigh. In particular, he wants to hone the defense and medical sectors of Fayetteville’s industry.
“In the years 2034 and 2033, I think we will see a vibrant community that's defined by medical and defense, that has a great quality of life and is full of opportunity,” he said.
His opponent, de la Cruz, said his plan for the city focuses on affordable housing, quality jobs, and an improved relationship with Fort Liberty in order to leverage its resources.
“Based on my experience working with the military, I believe I'm a better candidate to work with our sister, Fort Liberty to do just that,” said de la Cruz, citing his 32 years of service.
Among City Council members, Hondros pointed to three areas he believes the council should target to improve economic development: improved quality of life, affordable housing, and “public safety for all.” Hondros said those, specifically housing, would make Fayetteville a city that attracts new industry.
Collick, seeking the District 4 seat against incumbent D.J. Haire, who did not attend the forum, said he wants the city to prepare for veterans and their families who might settle in Fayetteville, as well as building out more resources for youth in the city — such as establishing more Boys & Girls Clubs.
Benavente, the District 3 incumbent, also spoke about the need to ensure younger residents stay in Fayetteville.
“The way to do that is by making sure that we focus on the things that are there to keep young people here and keep this community viable,” he said.
Jensen, the District 1 incumbent, said she wants to focus on her district’s growth, specifically in light of Fayetteville’s comparatively low cost of living. Her challenger, Rodriguez said he wants Fayetteville to have higher-salaried jobs to attract more workers to compete with businesses and industries in the Triangle.
Crime and policing
With the recent discoveries of four bodies within a month along Bragg Boulevard, violence and crime remained major topics of discussion throughout the forum.
De la Cruz spoke to the value of leveraging the Fayetteville Police Department’s assets to fight crime.
“I believe that if we have a safe community … we'll be able to have people in industries and companies that want to come and live and work in Fayetteville,” he said.
Colvin said he wants to devote more funding to the newly developed Office of Community Safety, which seeks to address mental health crises, homelessness and violence interruption programs without policing. He added that he wants Fayetteville to take a proactive, rather than reactive, stance on crime.
The City Council portion of the forum was more spirited, with candidates proposing a number of varying approaches to tackling Fayetteville’s crime.
“As a former law-enforcement officer,” Rodriguez said, “you have to unrestrain the police.”
Benavente disagreed.
“It’s not about ‘un-restraining,’” he said. “It's about reducing the number of times that the citizens have to interact with law enforcement, because what poor people need are resources.”
Jensen said she wants to work on transitioning Fayetteville-area schools to be staffed with Fayetteville Police Department officers instead of Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office resource officers in order to foster better relationships between youths and police.
Collick said he wants the people of Fayetteville to “get with the police,” while Hondros said his approach would focus on improving police recruitment and retention, supporting the OCS, and creating more youth and juvenile intervention programs.
Homelessness
With August’s opening of the city’s Day Resource Center, and the county’s plans for a new shelter, addressing Fayetteville’s homelessness population was also a topic of discussion in the mayoral portion of the forum. Colvin praised the opening of the resource center, and the city’s tentative plans to transition a motel into 172 units available for six- to nine-month stays.
De la Cruz questioned the amount of money being spent by both the county and city on separate facilities and initiatives. He said a total of $8 million was allocated to the new resource center and the county is planning to spend $50 million on its new shelter; he’d like better collaboration between the two.
Affordable housing
As rent prices continue to rise nationwide, finding affordable housing may become a deterrent for people seeking a move to Fayetteville.
Colvin said he wanted to make more programs for “the middle people” — those making $15 to $16 per hour — who may not be able to afford high rents or purchase a home.
De la Cruz again spoke about the need for city and county collaboration to expedite the construction of new housing, as well as using city housing bonds to fix and repair dilapidated rental properties.
Rodriguez said he wants to help homeowners with costs by lowering property taxes. Jensen, his opponent, spoke about the young makeup of Fayetteville’s population who may be juggling student loans and car payments on top of rent.
“The generation that's coming up, we have done no favors for,” Jensen said.
Benavente disagreed with Rodriguez’s argument that lowering property taxes would have benefits for housing costs.
“The only reason that (the) city of Fayetteville has any money to work with is because of property taxes,” he said. “I want you to point to what page you want to rip out of that budget to make the property taxes go down.”
Collick said he wanted the city to revitalize many of the abandoned homes across the city to use as affordable housing, while Hondros hoped streamlining processes to put more houses on the market would incentivize more affordable housing projects in the Fayetteville area.
Absent from Thursday’s forum were both candidates from District 5, incumbent Johnny Dawkins and opponent Kathy Greene. Greene told organizers she had a prior commitment, while Dawkins backed out a few days earlier, according to a forum organizer.
District 2 incumbent Shakeyla Ingram and challenger Malik Davis were also not present Thursday. An organizer said Ingram canceled because of a family emergency and Davis had a prior commitment. It wasn’t clear clear why the remaining candidates in Districts 3, 4 and 9 — Michele Dillon, D.J. Haire and Fredlisha Lansana — were not in attendance.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov 7. The early voting period runs through Saturday, Nov 3. For more information, visit the Cumberland County Board of Elections website.
Contact Char Morrison at cmorrison@cityviewnc.com.
