Jordan’s challengers saying nothing new

Voters in Fayetteville should stop and look at the record of public service and public accountability of Mayor Lioneld Jordan.

Despite what all three challengers in the mayoral race have said, none of them talks with any authority to the personal or professional commitment necessary to be the mayor of a city, a progressive city, like Fayetteville.

In last Sunday’s newspaper, I was amazed that both the previous challengers to Mayor Jordan have nothing new to say over what they both expressed in 2016.

One candidate seems to be a very frustrated land/ building/subdivision developer who simply does not like all the rules and regulations of the codes, such as the Southern Building Code, that inhibit his personal financial success.

The other candidate cannot separate himself from thinking he and he alone can run the city without any need for a chief of staff. He will take a pay cut while claiming he wants a livable wage for Fayetteville citizens. This candidate keeps reminding us how “poor he has been despite” a career as a Wal-Mart retiree and self-employed business financial adviser.

The third candidate wants another swimming pool built to unite the community. And this candidate very plainly cannot serve due to some very regrettable mistakes in his past involving prison time and property damage.

I look back on the public service of Mayor Lioneld Jordan and I see a man truly committed to all of the citizens of Fayetteville.

I hear no anarchy or dissension within the city employee ranks. I see both the Fraternal Order of Police and the local firemen have, again, endorsed his reelection. I see a mayor who has never missed a public event for the city — such as the annual Lighting on the Square, Fayetteville High School homecoming parade, Pride parade, Mardi Gras parade, or any of the Veterans Day parades and celebrations, and the list could go on and on. Has there ever been a more accessible mayor for Fayetteville? I doubt it.

Lioneld Jordan and the city have built over 26 miles of walking and bicycle trails in our city. He has led a revamp of many of the city parks and done so without incurring massive debt. The city audits are clean; the finances of the city are strong while the city continues to grow.

Fayetteville continues to rank high on national, regional and even state polls of job growth and new job and business creation.

When I listen (and read) the comments of the three challengers in this race, I see nothing of Fayetteville’s future, but lots of the winkwink rhetoric of good-old-boy hopes that, if they’re elected, they will then see what the job can do for them and maybe you, too.

I’ll be voting, again, to reelect a real mayor, an active, honest public servant who cares about this city and Fayetteville’s future.

MAYLON RICE

Fayetteville