Editor’s note: This column was corrected on June 16 to reflect the correct property tax rate in Fayetteville. The city approved a budget with a property tax rate of 44.95 cents per $100 of assessed value, not $44.95 per $100 assessed value. CityView apologizes for this error.
City Manager Douglas Hewett is lauding the Fayetteville City Council’s adoption on June 9 of the 2026 municipal operating budget of $315.2 million and a Capital Improvement plan of $91.8 million while reducing the lowest property tax rate in 30 years at 44.95 cents per $100 assessed value. “This budget is a win for Fayetteville,” Hewett said in a news release about the 9-1 vote of Mayor Mitch Colvin, Mayor Pro Tem Kathy Keefe Jensen, Malik Davis, Derrick Thompson, D.J. Haire, Lynne Bissette Greene, Brenda McNair, Courtney Banks-McLaughlin and Deno Hondros. Council Member Mario Benavente voted in opposition. “It reflects our commitment to safety, neighborhoods and economic development while also being sensitive to household affordability,” Hewett said in the release. “We’ve developed a budget that balances today’s needs and tomorrow’s opportunities. It strengthens services, supports our workforce and positions Fayetteville for long-term success.”
Capital investments, according to the release, include $30.7 million for stormwater improvements, $20.6 million for public safety and technology and $9.5 million for parks and recreation. The budget includes $6.2 million for additional community needs such as public safety cameras, neighborhood enhancements and sidewalk expansions. And there will be no fee hikes for stormwater ($84 annually), solid waste ($275 annually) or transit bus fare ($1.25 per adult passengers). “We should have gone revenue neutral,” Benavente said about his opposition to the budget. “We should have done more for the Office of Community Safety, and we honestly should have looked at some services that we can do without, but it doesn’t seem like we were being as fiscally conservative as we could have been this year,” hence, his vote, and Benavente stood his ground. The councilman received abrupt disagreement from Greene and Jensen.
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“Together we have navigated through some ups and downs, literally through storms and rains, through moments of civil unrest and challenges during the George Floyd period, through economic and physical” and fiscal “impacts left on our community from a global pandemic,” Mayor Mitch Colvin said Tuesday in his State of the City “Fayetteville 2050” address at City Hall.,” “But in spite of all of our challenges, the state of our city and our community and our ‘Can Do’ spirit remains strong.” He reminded us of downtown’s past of topless bars, strip clubs, boarded-up and vacant buildings, and how far our downtown and city have come in the past 25 years. “… We’ve had some great leaderships in the past, but we’ve also made some very costly decisions in this community. Short-sightedness and lack of vision and lack of forward thinking continue to plague us… So, I ask you again, what type of community do we want to leave our kids and our grandkids in the next 25 years? The 51-year-old, four-term mayor did his homework, touched a lot bases, and it was an insightful presentation.
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A 36-year-old man is the victim of a fatal shooting at 3:29 a.m. on June 8 in the 3600 block of Dornoch Drive near Yadkin Road, according to a news release from the Fayetteville Police Department. It is the 26th city homicide of 2025, according to the FPD. There were 27 city homicides in 2024. Detectives, according to the FPD, believe two individuals were breaking into vehicles at the apartment complex when the shooting occurred.
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Leaving dirty dishes overnight in the kitchen sink isn’t for me.
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Good fathers hoist us on their shoulders, play catch with us in the front yard, cheer for us at Little League baseball games, assure us there’s no boogeyman under the bed and reluctantly but proudly walk daughters down the wedding aisle, because it’s all part of being a good father. If you are a son or daughter with a good father, be sure to count your blessings on Sunday, and tell your daddy what he means to you.
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Douglas Massengill, principal at Massey Hill Classical High School, and Catherine Abraham-Johnson, principal at Terry Sanford High School, will be swapping leadership roles, according to a news release from Cumberland County Schools. Massengill has been principal at Massey Hill Classical since 2022. Abraham-Johnson has been principal at Terry Sanford since 2023. The transfers, according to the release, were authorized by Superintendent Marvin Connelly Jr. for the 2025-2026 academic school year.
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Harvey Oliver always liked stopping by my desk at The Fayetteville Observer newsroom, where he enjoyed waxing poetically about this city and its people, and his golfing days with E. Harvie Ward at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before his college golf days, he was a member of the 1941 Fayetteville High School state champion golf team, won the 1942 N.C Junior Golf Championship and was the 1944 state high school golf champion. And not many could claim to defeating golfing legend Arnold Palmer, but Harvey Oliver surely took the measure once of Palmer when UNC played Wake Forest. John Harvey Oliver Jr. died at age 98 on May 26.
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Jim Kizer was the gifted civil engineer who earned the respect of land developers in Cumberland County and beyond. He had a pleasant way and was good to look upon. He was known, too, for his tenor voice in the Haymount United Methodist choir or just singing to himself while landscaping or gardening at his home. James “Jim” Madison Kizer was 85 when he died June 2.
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Dick Perry was that good soul of a gentleman with a love for his family, this community and musical notes of his passion for the saxophone. A native of Schoolfield, Va., and World War II veteran, he arrived in this city and worked at WFAI radio before later joining the advertising department of The Fayetteville Observer for the ensuing 32 years. He and his wife of 74 years were faithful members of Hay Street United Methodist Church, where Perry sang in the choir for more than 50 years. As a musician, he performed with bands and other Fayetteville musicians to include Dave Blume, Bobby Wren, Roy Roach and Wally Hinkamp. He once played with the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus and with Gladys Knight and the Pips at the Crown Theatre. Always cordial, he was a good and decent man, and ever the gentleman. Richard James “Dick” Perry died at age 96 on June 6. A Celebration of Life and Remembrance is scheduled for 2 p.m. today at Hay Street United Methodist Church.
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Artwork has become a creative accent to downtown Fayetteville, and there’s more to come. “As more travelers prioritize unique cultural experiences, ArtScape positions downtown Fayetteville as a place where creativity lives on every corner,” Robert C. Pinson, president and chief executive officer for the Arts Council of Fayetteville-Cumberland, says in a news release about Artscape 9, which will be on display from July until June of 2026. “It turns our city into a gallery without walls – free, walkable and accessible to all.” You can learn more about ArtScape 9 and sponsorship opportunities by sending an email to Josh Murray at joshm@theartscouncil.com or calling (910) 323-1776.
Sunday: Downtown Crown Event Center decision a matter of fiscal responsibility and priorities
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961
