Hope Mills' new mayor on development, transparency and preserving history
Army veteran and business professor Jessie Bellflowers made waves Nov. 7 when he unseated Mayor Jackie Warner in her bid for a seventh term, and the former Hope Mills commissioner plans to bring further changes to the small town based on his core tenet of increased public input.
Surrounded by friends and family on Monday night as he was sworn in by Cumberland County Superior Court Judge Jim Ammons, Bellflowers applauded Warner for her service and thanked those who had supported him.
"On behalf of the board, we may not get it all right, but we surely will not intentionally get it all wrong," Bellflowers later told the standing-room-only crowd. "And that's our pledge as we go forward from tonight."
In a question-and-answer session with The Fayetteville Observer on Thursday, among the topics discussed, Bellflowers, 67, shared the things he plans to address and some of the creative ways he hopes to tackle the town’s biggest issues.
His answers are excerpted below and have been edited for brevity and clarity.
On transparency in local government
Q: Transparency was one of the issues you ran on. Can you talk about what some of your plans are for promoting a more transparent government in Hope Mills?
A: Transparency is just being open in every issue that comes before the board to make sure that all the research and all the documents that support that issue are available to the public because not everybody can come to a 7 o’clock meeting on Monday nights. Another part of transparency is, in February, I’m going to ask the board if we can schedule a community public forum in a different time, a different location. We’ll probably do it every quarter because I want the public to have the opportunity to come to a full board and present whatever issues, concerns or problems that they have, or if they just want to make recommendations or suggestions to the board without using the three-minute time limit that’s at a regular board meeting. It’s an opportunity that I would like to see the public use. I’d also like to establish some type of open email platform where if someone has a suggestion or problem … they can send it.
On sharing Hope Mills' history
Q: Do you have any particular plans for trying to bring Ole Mills Day back, or do you feel that it makes sense right now with budgetary constrictions to put that on pause?
A: In Hope Mills, or any small town as far as this goes, there are what I call community events that are non-negotiable. They are the culture, the background, the fabric of that community. And this is one of them. Why it was canceled — we can go back and forth all day over the reasons why it was canceled or not, rescheduled, not rescheduled because of funding, but it really was an opportunity for the community to come together and local vendors. See, the town really didn’t lose that much money on this at all. All they had to do was host it down at the ballfield. Vendors would rent out spots and they would sell a lot of the crafts to the public. It was really a huge, huge community event. Now, I understand that the Hope Mills Police Foundation is going to pick up some of that and they want to do it in October, but it’s going to be a partnership with the town. Going forward, it’s not going to go away, we’re gonna do it. It’s going to probably be in a different location. My vision there is that since the ballfields were constricted, the existing ballfields, and there’s one part of Ole Mills Day that was huge for the public, and that was the tractor pulls — so my vision here is to move it to the former golf course where we have enough space that we could put in sand for tractor pulls and really make it a full-day event … Also with it is the Ole Mill Reunion, so that’ll come back together. I think there was some talk about some function maybe in spring on the Charter Day in March, so that’s something that we’ll look at also in December.
Q: Do you have any plans for continuing to preserve Hope Mills’ history?
A: I want to continue that pursuit of looking for a location for a Hope Mills museum. On Charter Day, the chapel is going to be open and we’re asking a lot of the citizens to bring historical artifacts to put on display for that weekend in the (Thomas Campbell Oakman) chapel. So, I think that’s where we’re going to start. I don’t know what it’s going to look like, but it’ll be an opportunity to reunite that opportunity of looking for a building for a Hope Mills museum. The one that the town had before was just too small. It really wasn’t ADA-compliant. It was an old mill house there off Trade Street, but there are some other opportunities that may be available depending on funding.
On the biggest issues impacting Hope Mills
Q: You’ve mentioned that you’re especially concerned about Hope Mills losing sales tax revenue in the coming year. Can you share more about that?
A: Sales tax revenue is going to revert back to the county. … All nine municipalities, counting us, are all going to lose sales tax to the county in 2024 or 2025 — that’s the next budget year, when it’s going to come into play. So, that’s $1.8 million lost revenue to the town that’s operating on a $15.5 million budget. That’s a huge impact. There is not a strategic plan to entertain that loss currently … I’m going to ask the board if we could schedule our first priorities meeting second week of January so we can start the process and have some open dialogue and collaboration on where do we go from here and what does this $1.8 (million) look like?
(According to a news release from the county, the Board of Commissioners intends to vote in 2024 to change the sales tax distribution to ad valorem, meaning the revenues from each municipality go into one county pot. If the distribution changes, it will go into effect in July 2025.)
Q: Not everyone is happy about the Hope Mills Rockfish baseball team coming to town. Are you planning to address the issue?
A: The board voted on this team coming to Hope Mills, and a week later, I think, the contract was actually signed. And then right after that, there was a public survey that was distributed by the town and the question was, would you support or do you agree with a ball team coming to Hope Mills? Well, really, that’s kind of a misleading question, because I can also say that I can put a survey out and say, “Would you like to see a Texas Roadhouse restaurant come to Hope Mills?” What do you think the result would be? Overwhelmingly yes. The issue I have is not so much this ball team; it’s the contract of the ball team that has certain issues that concern me. Some of it is how much maintenance and how much support does the town have to provide to this ball team? It’s a 10-year contract, and it looks like we have to provide all of the maintenance for the field … And then up to $100,000 investment into the field. And then when does the town start getting a return? Because we’re going to be doing all of this maintaining, and that’s going to be costly. So, those are the things that I’m looking at. And then why would the town have to provide an alcohol license? ... Those are the things that I would ask for more clarification on. I know the contract’s in play, but I’d like to have a little bit more clarification on why it’s in the contract... Then, of course, we’ve got our Dixie Youth and our normal baseball teams. How is that going to work in concert during the summer months? We only have four fields out there, so we’ll be down one. … I would ask the board to revisit the contract. … I felt like the board should have waited and let the new board that’s coming in make the decision on a 10-year contract. I feel that was a misstep, but nonetheless, we can revisit the tenets of the contract.
Q: The interim town manager is quickly coming up on a year in that position. Are you hoping to address hiring a permanent town manager once you’re sworn in?
A: We’re not going to immediately do anything with that decision until we get to the priorities meeting in January. But that is a discussion that the board should have together of how we go forward. I have some thoughts about that I want to share with the board about what that process looks like.
Q: There’s been some discussion about allegations of discrimination and illegal behavior from the Hope Mills Police Department. Are you hoping to take a closer look at that once you’re sworn in?
A: Yes. That’s concerning. … Dec. 18, we’re going to get a legal brief from our town attorney about any legal issues the town is involved in. Also by that opportunity, I would like to have a briefing on exactly what’s going on in all of our departments as a new board. I’ve heard allegations, but that’s all that I know that they are is allegations. I don’t know if they’re true or untrue until we get to that point.
(The Observer reported in April that a former Hope Mills police officer filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint against the town and the Police Department alleging racial discrimination. In 2021, a former and a current officer filed discrimination lawsuits against the Police Department.)
On development
Q: How do you plan to strike the balance between overdevelopment and underdevelopment?
A: I am going to ask the board if we can create a new committee, the Economic Development Committee. It’s going to be made up of major stakeholders of the community to entertain the smart growth. That’s what we’ve got to be, is smart about where that growth is for residential and commercial. We’ve got more and more people that are wanting to come to Hope Mills … but we’ve got to provide services to them. We annex them in and they build residential communities, we’ve got to provide all the essential services. How are we going to do that? That’s where we start the collaboration piece. One of the anchor members on the side of the town will be the Chamber of Commerce. I’d like to see a representative from Cumberland County Schools. I’d like to see a representative from the Fayetteville-Cumberland Economic Program. … I’d also like to see a few citizens serve on this committee, as well. That’s one way we’re going to entertain looking at economic development.
On what he hopes to accomplish
Q: What is the most important goal you’re hoping to accomplish or make progress on over the next six months?
A: There’s two issues. One of them, of course, is the sales tax revenue loss. I think we have to have a solid, workable plan in place for that. I think that’s going to consume the first six months …
The other one is going to be the future of the former golf course. In the priorities meeting that we’re going to have in January, I think that’s where we need to really look at where we’re going to go forward with that plan. The voters were very loud and they were very clear about how they feel about the future of the golf course... They spoke loud through the election. It’s been on social media, it’s been word of mouth. I heard about it at the polls. … It is a very sensitive subject.
And then the third one is … protecting the integrity of neighborhoods. With all the commercial development that wants to come to Hope Mills — and there’s plenty — we have to protect the integrity of the neighborhoods, which comes back to the proposed hotel. I was at a chamber meeting and some folks asked me, “Why don’t you want a hotel in Hope Mills?” I heard that Election Day, I heard it this week. “Why don’t you want another hotel? You teach business at the college and you’re a part of all these advisory committees.” I’m not opposed to a hotel. It’s not about the hotel. That could be a Texas Roadhouse and I would still say no because it’s all about the location. … I would support a hotel somewhere else in Hope Mills or down at the I-295 bypass.
There is one position that I would like to pursue, and that is a grant writer. There is a tremendous amount of opportunities, especially for small towns like Hope Mills. But it’s also time-consuming research... I would ask the board to either look at a permanent position or outsourcing … That’s going to work hand-in-hand with the other committee I am recommending to the board. It’s a culture and arts committee.
(Hope Mills residents spoke out against a proposed hotel on the site of a former golf course this summer, and the developer withdrew his zoning request, noting that he planned to resubmit his request at a later date.)
Q: How do you plan to promote unity amongst the Board of Commissioners?
A: I work at (Fayetteville Technical Community College) with Mayor Pro Tem (Kenjuana) McCray, and I want to say that both of us are fortunate to work at one of the very best community colleges in the state... We’re family-oriented as a community college, and that is what I would like to see as a board. I would like to see the same culture as we navigate these challenges because these are going to be some tough ones. … I want to honor Jackie (Warner) and her 12 years of service. I think she’s going to remain involved in the town, and I certainly hope so. … We haven’t talked. … She hasn’t reached out to me. I was just hoping that maybe we could get together prior to Monday night, but we just haven’t.
Q: Is there anything we haven’t asked that you think people should know?
A: What people want in elected officials is for you to be honest, have integrity and to just present the facts and let them make an informed decision on what those facts are. That’s what citizens are looking for. Just be transparent, be open, be approachable and include our voice. That’s why I ran.
Got a tip for a follow-up story? Government watchdog reporter Lexi Solomon can be reached at ABSolomon@gannett.com or 910-481-8526.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: New Hope Mills Mayor Jessie Bellflowers shares vision for town's future
