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Publisher's Pen: Mitch Colvin’s Downtown Convention Center push demands accountability before ambition

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Tuesday, 09 June 2026

Written by Bill Bowman

For more than three decades, Up & Coming Weekly has chronicled the growth, struggles, and aspirations of the City of Fayetteville. We have championed bold ideas, celebrated progress, and supported leaders willing to invest in our community’s future. But we have also learned—sometimes the hard way—that ambition without accountability is a recipe for disappointment.
The latest push by Mayor Mitch Colvin and the Fayetteville City Council to pursue a downtown convention center demands that we pause, reflect, and ask the questions that responsible stewardship requires. The citizens of Fayetteville are not suffering from a lack of imagination. They are suffering from a lack of trust.
The City’s tarnished track record cannot be ignored. When the city proposes another major construction project, residents do not react with excitement—they react with skepticism. And who can blame them? Fayetteville’s recent history is littered with costly missteps:
• The Rosehill Road debacle, where delays and mismanagement eroded public confidence.
• The Bragg Boulevard fire station catastrophe, a critical public safety project plagued by planning failures.
• The botched Tennis Center construction, which became a symbol of poor oversight and questionable decision making.
• The Mohammed Mohammed fiasco, which raised serious concerns about integrity and transparency within city operations.
These are not footnotes. They are warnings.
Each failure chipped away at the public’s faith. Each controversy left taxpayers wondering whether their leaders were being forthright. And each mismanaged project makes it harder for residents to accept the city’s assurances that “this time will be different.”
Mayor Colvin argues that Fayetteville is the only major North Carolina city without a convention center and that the city must take control of its own economic destiny. He points to the county’s cancellation of the Crown Event Center and its history of placing major facilities outside the downtown core.
But the mayor’s argument overlooks a critical truth: Fayetteville city leadership has not demonstrated the competence or cohesion necessary to manage a project of this scale.
Even members of the City Council acknowledge the public’s distrust. Councilmember Shaun McMillan noted that residents already “follow the money” and suspect that “something ain’t right.” That sentiment did not appear out of thin air. It was earned.
A feasibility study may tell us what a convention center could cost. Fayetteville’s track record tells us what it will cost: more than projected, more than budgeted, and more than taxpayers were prepared for.
Adding to the public’s concern is the ongoing animosity between the mayor, certain council members, and Cumberland County leadership. Cooperation has been replaced with confrontation. Shared goals have been overshadowed by political turf wars.
This fractured relationship does not inspire confidence. It undermines regional progress. And it leaves residents wondering whether major decisions are being driven by vision—or by vendettas. A convention center should be a unifying project. Instead, it risks becoming the latest casualty of a political feud that has gone on far too long.
Fayetteville deserves bold ideas. It deserves economic opportunity. It deserves leaders who think big.
But big thinking must be matched with responsible governance. Before the city commits to a convention center—or even a feasibility study—residents deserve:
• A full accounting of
past project failures
• Clear reforms to prevent future mismanagement
• Independent oversight of major capital projects
• A renewed commitment to transparency and public engagement
• A functional working relationship with Cumberland County
These are not obstacles. They are prerequisites.
Fayetteville cannot build a convention center on a foundation of mistrust. It must first rebuild confidence in the institutions responsible for stewarding public resources. Fayetteville’s future is bright. Its potential is real. But progress requires more than ambition—it requires accountability.
If city leaders want residents to believe in a downtown Fayetteville convention center, they must first show that they have learned from the past, repaired fractured relationships, and recommitted themselves to the principles of honest, transparent, and competent cooperation in governance. Only then will the City of Fayetteville be able to build something worthy of its citizens. Jus sayin!
Thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly.

(Photo: Mayor Mitch Colvin speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony for the MacArthur Rd. Sports Complex in April. Photo courtesy of the City of Fayetteville, NC's Facebook page)

Troy's Perspective: Celebrate Bill Hefner Elementary School

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Tuesday, 02 June 2026

Written by Troy Williams

Bill Hefner Elementary School (PK-5) in Cumberland County is conveniently situated off Cliffdale Road in the welcoming Montibello housing subdivision, a community with a proud history. Named after Congressman Bill Hefner, the school has been serving families since 1995, supported by federal initiatives near military bases. Its longstanding presence as one of two public schools within the vibrant Fort Bragg community reflects its deep roots and commitment to local education.
In the past, Bill Hefner struggled with a "low-performing trap." When test scores decline, teacher morale often drops, which in turn affects overall progress. However, a couple of years ago, Cumberland County School administrators reassigned Dr. Zakiyyah Backman, previously at Westarea Elementary, to lead Bill Hefner. Dr. Backman's success at Westarea, once a low-performing school, and her proactive approach have begun to turn things around. Her attention to detail and positive energy are helping to address previous challenges. Preliminary test results are very positive, although we won't know for sure until the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction releases the official results.
Cumberland County at-large school board member Greg West said, "Dr. Backman and her team have worked extremely hard to improve Bill Hefner Elementary, and I truly believe the school is moving in the right direction. We should have a clearer picture when the latest test results are released around Labor Day."
I wholeheartedly support Mr. West's perspective. This school year, I had the wonderful opportunity to volunteer at Bill Hefner. Witnessing the incredible interactions between teachers, staff, students, and parents was inspiring and truly uplifting. It was an unforgettable experience that deepened my appreciation for our school community.
I want to acknowledge the achievements happening at other schools in Cumberland County; there are many successes beyond what I've seen. However, I can't help but celebrate Dr. Backman and the dedicated staff at Bill Hefner for their outstanding work during the 2025-2026 school year.
Bill Hefner Elementary collaborates with local institutions and the community, creating a mutually beneficial network that transforms education into a hands-on, career-oriented experience. The Leadership Class of 2026 from the Greater Fayetteville Chamber unveiled new "Buddy Benches" at the school last month. The ceremony included students, school staff, district leaders, School Board members, community members, and Leadership Fayetteville alums.
The benches are designed to support children who may feel lonely, isolated, or unsure of their place on the playground. If a student is seeking someone to talk to or play with, they can sit on the bench to signal to their classmates that they are looking for a social connection.
Summer break is a crucial 8- to 12-week academic recess for both students and teachers. For students, this time off is vital for mental health and relaxation. Meanwhile, teachers also need this break to recover from burnout and prepare for the upcoming school year. However, for Dr. Backman and other school administrators, there is little time for rest. They are busy preparing for the next school year and don't enjoy the same long break. Both groups truly deserve our applause and encouragement.
Extend a little kindness whenever you encounter them. It’s what makes a difference.

If the Shoe Fits: Learning life lessons in boot shopping

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Tuesday, 02 June 2026

Written by Dan DeBruler

Not long ago, a pastor friend named Jeff jokingly chided, “Your sins will find you out!”
I had probably taken the last doughnut or put regular coffee in the decaf pot or something, but being reminded that the phrase existed made me think about what it means.
I am confident I did my share of bad stuff as a kid – more than I will ever remember or even want to. We all have those sneak-a-cookie stories, or the one where we lied about finishing our homework so we could go out and play.
But I can now honestly admit I tangled with lust before the age of seven.
I grew up in Wichita – a typical Midwest town, burgeoning into a genuine city in the early sixties. Caught between the age of innocence and the shifting of the tides leading to the summer of love, my friends and I were more concerned with baseball, kites, and bicycles than we were with the news about Vietnam or college campus upheavals.
The smell of plain Bazooka Bubble Gum still takes me back to the tissue-paper-under-the-collar haircuts my parents insisted I get for the first seven or eight years of my life.
The barber shop was tucked away on a sidewalk that was more like an alley in Westway Shopping Center. It faced the grocery store at the south end of the center, nestled between a locksmith and a shoe repair shop just across Seneca Street, which I was not allowed to cross on my own. The rule probably stemmed from a little tumble I took off the front of some poor guy's bumper in front of my house several years earlier, but I was not supposed to cross Seneca Street.
Rule or not, I was accustomed to scavenging pop bottles and making the journey —carefully, mind you —to collect the three-cent bounty on each one of them. It was on one such trip that I spotted something that ignited my first tangle with lust.
In the shoe repair shop window sat a pair of black leather cowboy boots — white stitching curling up the shaft, silver-tipped toes catching the afternoon sun. Four dollars, used, and exactly my size — or so I told myself. I begged until my mother, against her better judgment, relented.
When I tugged them on, my toes curled and my heel rode up, but admitting it meant losing them. So I lied with my whole face and walked the squeaky little circle the man asked me to walk.
The blisters came before the week did. Moleskin, bandages, double socks — still, I limped. Those boots eventually went to the back of a closet, but the lesson stayed: what I wanted so badly was never made for me. There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death (Proverbs 14:12). Mercifully, the lesson came cheap — four dollars and a handful of blisters — long before the price got steeper.

Hair on Fire! America's educational report card

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Tuesday, 02 June 2026

Written by Margaret Dickson

Frightened and revolted by the current state of American politics and the extreme rudeness and cruelty that has overtaken our culture?
Terrified by increasingly problematic international situations and growing speculation that the United States is a powerful nation in decline?
Add to your worry list the dismal report card of American education.
Let’s look at what is going on—or isn’t going on—in classrooms all across our country. It is not a pretty picture.
There has been a great deal of research and even more speculation into how the COVID pandemic and subsequent school closures affected students at all levels. The general consensus is that, not surprisingly, the pandemic has negatively impacted student performance by isolating students, exacerbating existing economic and social differences, and accelerating the transition to digital learning, which was not available to many students. Use of digital devices and social media are more at play than ever.
While COVID accelerated the decline in American student performance, the backslide was already underway. What is being called the “learning recession” began years before anyone had heard of COVID. According to the latest Education Scorecard, a data-driven joint project of Stanford and Harvard Universities, American students were making steady if not stellar progress in math and reading scores between 1990 and 2013. It has been a steady and brutal slide downward since.
The nation’s report card, NAEP, released earlier this month, reported the ongoing and alarming decline in both math and science for 8th graders, while barely 1/3 of high school seniors are ready for college level math, and 2/3s lack reading proficiency. International comparisons find American students nowhere in the top 10, with wide disparities among demographic groups and our 50 states.
Closer to home, in North Carolina, educational performance appears to be a mixed bag. High school graduation rates are rising and hit nearly 88-percent on the latest report card, but reading and math scores remain below those in 2019 before the pandemic. Just over half of our students, 55-percent, hit grade-level proficiency, but that leaves millions who did not with considerable demographic and regional disparities.
And, here at home in Cumberland County, our own students come in below the state averages in both graduation rates and grade level proficiency, at 86-percent and almost 51 percent, respectively. The number of low-performing schools increased from 15 to 27 out of a total of 88 schools, including 2 public charter schools.
It is easy and tempting to complain that our schools at all levels must do better and to blame the educators who teach our children and “the school system” for what we might label as failure. But education is a complex and deeply human process that requires both professionals and families and which must be supported by both encouragement and cold hard cash.
North Carolina public schools are generally ranked in the low 20s out of 51 ranked systems, although the ranking rises if our state’s higher education institutions are included in the measurements. State spending on public schools in a state with booming tech and pharmaceutical sectors and with new residents from other states flowing in, is generally ranked somewhere between 48th and 50th.
What is happening in North Carolina’s schools is shameful, not because educators and students are not trying, but because the General Assembly has held public education to a starvation diet for a decade and a half and has added insult to injury by siphoning off billions—yes, with a B— that should go to public education and gifting them to private, largely unregulated schools.
Money is not everything, of course, but it is also true that we get what we pay for.