Voters' Guide 2022: Meet Fayetteville City Council District 2 candidates Ingram, Williams
Shakeyla Ingram is the incumbent in District 2. Her challenger is Tyrone Williams. Ingram said in a past letter that, during her tenure, she made sure all streets in Savoy Heights were on the resurfacing schedule; supported small businesses through incentives; financed an affordable housing study; and encouraged minority-led development. Williams, who served on the council previously, said in a past interview he is running because the council needs someone who understands contracts, and that he has knowledge of economic development. He supports more investment in infrastructure and workforce development.
Here are their answers to a candidate questionnaire from The Fayetteville Observer. Some Voter Guide profiles ran before the primary in May. They have been edited for style and grammar.
Shakeyla Ingram
Ingram did not respond to the Observer's questionnaire.
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Tyrone Antonie Williams
Age: 53
Immediate family: Three children
Occupation: Real estate investor/developer
Elected office held: Fayetteville City Council District 2. Also served on Economic Development Board in Norfolk, Virginia, and Safety and Procedures Board, Norfolk and Southern Railway
How can the city address the increased number of murders? Is the Police Department doing all it can, in your opinion?
In my opinion, unfortunately, the Police Department has some difficult tasks. It is trying to find the answers through multiple applications and a systematic outlay of problems. For example, a Fayetteville police sergeant was charged with assault with a deadly weapon after a warrant says he used his Taser. The police sergeant deployed his Taser into the back of the man five times while he was in handcuffs and in custody. The arrest warrant also claims that the man did not attempt to assault the police sergeant or any other officers present before, during or after the Taser was fired. The man was initially arrested on Feb. 26 on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. According to the warrant, he refused to take a breathalyzer test and blood test to determine his blood alcohol levels. Obviously, there were two people involved in this incident that had ongoing problems that from a mental state should have previously been addressed in a humane society. Trusting police officers is one of the issues that needs to be addressed in residents' early years, with citywide programs. The police sergeant should have been trained properly — as well as ongoing training of the adequate procedures in handling a situation when a person refuses Breathalyzer and blood tests. We have to insert the human aspect into everything that we are trying to accomplish in our society. This incident could have been a murder. Thank God for the intervention of other officers, who prevented that from happening. This has to be a community that sees things happening and gets involved early to make a positive change in our society.
Can the city and Cumberland County improve their relationship? What joint projects do you think might be useful to consider going forward?
The city and Cumberland County can improve their relationship. For example, the collaboration of both with MetroNet has begun a 2-year project installing nearly 1,000 miles of fiber optic infrastructure throughout Fayetteville and the entire Cumberland County area. Their work with fiber optics will include installing services underground in public rights-of-way (using boring equipment), on utility poles, and private property. MetroNet, their contractors, and/or work are not managed by the Public Works Commission. This partnership shows the crossing of lines for the greater good of the citizens. Going forward I would like to see the city, Cumberland County and Fort Bragg collaborate on an amusement park to attract individuals inside and outside the community. This would be an opportunity to create employment, encourage activity in kids, improve property values and provide connection space. A perfect location in District 2, which will be my district once elected, for an amusement park would be the former Swamp Dogs stadium. I have been in ongoing open dialogue with the assistant to the garrison of Fort Bragg, a county commissioner and the Fayetteville mayor. Hopefully, we can all come together and work on bigger projects which will benefit all communities.
Downtown has received plenty of attention when it comes to economic development and new initiatives to encourage investments. What is your plan to encourage development and investment in the rest of the city?
My plan to encourage development and investment in the rest of the city includes utilizing American Rescue Plan (ARP) money, which has already been funded to the city of Fayetteville at $40.4 million. Using STEM programs, research industries and incubators to assist the youth at both high school and college levels via training, education, creating high level jobs and technology would be ways to boost education in the city. We should work to maintain the smart youth within our city versus them leaving the area to seek advancement outside of the city. For example, attracting industries and companies such as Big Pharma, Pfizer, Moderna, PPD and Icon, would boost the economy and stimulate development tremendously.
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This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Voter Guide 2022: Fayetteville City Council District 2
