Thirty-seven residents, including a few former elected officials, signed up to speak Monday during a public hearing about proposed term extensions for Fayetteville City Council members. A vast majority of them criticized the council for considering a longer stay in power without a voter referendum.
Last month during a work session, council member Derrick Thompson proposed the idea of extending council members’ terms. Under his plan, terms would change from two years to four-year, staggered terms, meaning some council members would be elected in one election cycle while others would be elected in the next election.
The City Council voted 8-2 to hold a public hearing on the plan. No final decision on the issue has been made. Council members Kathy Jensen and Mario Benavente voted against holding a hearing.
Before the hearing, City Attorney Karen McDonald said there were two options going forward for the City Council: to approve the term extensions or to put the measure to voters in a referendum. If the council decides to extend terms, McDonald said, voters could demand a referendum if they can gather 5,000 signatures on a petition, according to state law.
Residents’ concerns
During last month’s work session, Benavente called for the council to call a referendum. In 2018, the issue was on the ballot, and nearly 65% of Fayetteville voters rejected extended terms.
In response, Thompson said he does not support a referendum “because we don’t have to.”
Many residents criticized Thompson’s comments.
“Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you need to do something,” said Fayetteville resident Angela Malloy.
Others agreed.
“Politics is an exchange. It is not a gift. My ask as a citizen, as a young taxpaying citizen in District 1, is that you do the work to get reelected before you ask for your terms to be extended. It is arrogant to assume that you deserve a longer time,” said Christian Mosley.
A few residents spoke in favor of term extensions, echoing statements made previously by Thompson, who has argued that the current system runs the risk of the council’s makeup changing too drastically in one election.
“I brought this because it’s not about us. It’s about saving the city money, time, effort and stability,” Thompson said at last month’s work session.
Concerns of former elected officials
Some former elected officials spoke at Monday’s public hearing, also criticizing the potential lack of a voter referendum.
“Citizens deserve a vote. One man, one vote, one woman, one vote, and we ask you to send this to a referendum,” said former council member Yvonne Kinston.
Charles Evans, who most recently served on the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners and before that, on the City Council, also spoke during the hearing.
“I tried my very best to be inclusive of all citizens,” Evans said. “Please don’t take it upon yourself to make that decision for us. Please put that on the ballot.”
Former council member Antonio Jones, because of an illness in his family, could not attend the public hearing, but he did send a statement by email to council members and to CityView prior to Monday’s meeting.
“To boldly declare that as a body, you have a right to do something simply because you can is inconceivable for public servants and sends a very strong message to the general public, whether that was the intent or not,” Jones said.
“Put it to those same voters, so that they can tell you, through a basic democratic process of voting, that they agree or, conversely, disagree with your specific perspective,” Jones continued.
Mayor Mitch Colvin emphasized during Monday’s meeting that no final decision has been made on term extensions and that the issue could still be put to a referendum.
Ben Sessoms covers Fayetteville and education for CityView. He can be reached at bsessoms@cityviewnc.com.
