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)