A smiling Black man with glasses. There is a logo at the bottom of the image for the City of Fayetteville
Credit: City of Fayetteville

Name as it appears on the ballot: D.J. Haire

Previous elected offices held: I’ve served on Fayetteville City Council since 1998 – 2013, 2017 to present.

Age as of Election Day: 67

Occupation (employer, where you work, what you do): City of Fayetteville, & Real Estate Manager, Self Employed.

Best phone number and email for voters to reach you. Website and campaign social media:

1. Give us your elevator pitch in 200 words or less. Why are you running for this office? What makes you the most qualified candidate?

I’ve loved serving people since I was a boy. I started out serving my Dad, Pastor WJ Haire Sr. Carrying his Bible & bags for him during preaching engagements. Dad taught me & my siblings the sense of caring for others and to pay attention to others needs as you would for yourself.

I’ve tried to articulate that as a Public Servant: being at Community Meetings, returning calls, texts & emails quickly, just listening to my Residents wherever they live in Fayetteville or County.

2. What do you view as the three most pressing issues facing your district and the city as a whole? How will you address them as a city council member?

I’m glad this question stated issues pressing in my District. As of day one of becoming an elected public servant, the concerns haven’t changed alot. There are bigger ones that could be mentioned but my neighborhoods speak loud on the following:

Speeding on neighborhood streets, having clean neighborhoods/city and having city & neighborhood violations come into compliance quickly. I’ve heard these concerns for years. We the City have made improvements, but the need for improvements are still there.

I’ll continue to work with neighborhood to organize Community Watch Groups, another safety tools, continue to improve Police & Fire budgets for wages, technology, etc. I’ll continue working with Council on improving ordinances for quicker compliance dates.

3. What’s the best or most important thing the Fayetteville City Council has done in the past year? Additionally, name a decision you believe the council should have handled differently. Please explain your answers.

It’s very difficult to say what’s the most important thing the City has done for there are several!

We have improved the Police & Fire Departments wages & step plan. Improved our Bus/Transit system to include more routes, hire a company to oversee new construction projects and the list goes on.

There should have always been an oversight management company for all our major construction projects!

4. Last year, the City of Fayetteville sued a contractor for abandoning over $6 million in construction projects. The city has since hired new contractors to finish the projects. What steps will you take to ensure Fayetteville is able to successfully complete capital projects in the future?

I’ll repeat my answer from question 3: There should have been an oversight construction management company hired and in place to over see our hiring, construction, inspections, payment process, etc on our major construction projects

We have now hired a company Barr & Barr to do just that.

5. While overall crime in Fayetteville has decreased by around 13% this year, the number of homicides and incidents of juvenile crime have increased. The Fayetteville City Council recently enacted a youth curfew ordinance. Would you have voted in favor of it? How will you work to improve public safety and reduce crime in the city?

I truely believe that our Police Department should have as many tools in its toolbox to help suppress crimes, which includes our present curfew that I supported. Our FY25 Budget also funded additional funds to improved police new technologies, like cameras so the city can be seen better.

We the City has also started our Office of Community Safety Department, for after hours programs to help our youth engage in other activities. I’ll personally continue speaking at Community Meetings & one on one conversations to parents to help us. We need all partners on board!

6. How will you work to attract and retain new businesses and other development to Fayetteville? Name another municipality you believe has made smart decisions about sustainable growth and development, and describe what it has done that could be implemented in Fayetteville.

I participated in a City Council Conference in Greensboro earlier this year. Some of my one on one conversations were about having a clean & safe City. Same things we talk about.

I will continue to push with Council on having a clean City. We push our State & Federal Lobbyists to sale our city. A clean city sales better.

I believe in, our City believes in using incentives to help draw new businesses & keep existing businesses. I’ll continue that support. I’ll continue to support giving grants & other supports to our own local business community. I’ll continue to support my Council with working with partners. This is a collaborative effort, all hands on deck!

7. The county and city have often struggled to determine who is responsible for addressing homelessness. How would you work with the Cumberland County government and other community partners to decrease homelessness in the city?

I’ve learned that partnerships work! We all must work this issue! We must continue these conversations, & partnership where we can. I will continue to support this initiative.

Partnerships even outside of government must continue to be apart of the process.

Presently the city provides the Resource Center, the Manna partnership with continued support through our Community Development Department & others Partners. I’ll continue to give my support in these areas and continue to be open to new directions. It takes All of us!