Hope Mills Bee

Hope Mills Bee what's buzzing in Hope Mills A thoroughly local website. Hope Mills Bee is about Hope Mills. Not all of it will be pretty. Not all of it will be ugly.

We will try to report what is relevant to the people who live here or people who want to live here. The truth is what we should all focus on, and the truth about Hope Mills, just like the truth about everywhere, is somewhere in between pretty and ugly.

"Trust us," they say.But then they tell you that multiple Double-A baseball teams are talking about moving into an unbui...
05/13/2025

"Trust us," they say.
But then they tell you that multiple Double-A baseball teams are talking about moving into an unbuilt , barely-planned wagon wheel sports complex. And those Double-A teams would help fund the complex.

I googled. The only "Double-A" teams I can find are the second-highest level of minor league baseball.
It still doesn't make sense.
But it's what they told you.
Is it what the consultants told them?
It might be, but they say they talked to the teams personally.
So it's not just an idea. It's activity.

[These are going to be seen as "sly comments" that end up being screenshotted and shared off of "dumb websites" every day. Add them to the pile of reminders about what is and what isn't real.]

[City View article, May 2023.]

05/13/2025

"How can I trust you if you don't tell me the truth?"

Missed Thursday's "Talk It Out?"All in all, response seems to be that this one was less hostile in its origins than the ...
05/12/2025

Missed Thursday's "Talk It Out?"

All in all, response seems to be that this one was less hostile in its origins than the first one, but this one also had some hostile moments from town staff. It's hard to tell which of these speeches were canned and prepared, too, but obviously some were planned to be part of the docket.

Want to listen? There's a link to the audio in the comments.

Here's a text rundown:
Some speakers may have spoken multiple times. A few names are mentioned in the recording. They are left out here. You may be able to tell who's who anyway. Scroll along! This is done as a service to anyone who can't make public comments at other forums because "life."

___________________________________________________
0-2:33 Intro: arts, town traffic promo.

2:34- Citizen asks why we or the board vote if the only option the board ever has is to do what the staff recommends.

9:20- Another citizen talks about growth being inevitable but needs to be managed better. There's talk of things for kids to do such as a BMX track.

15:44- A former commissioner mentions choices the board has in voting.

17:44- Another citizen, perhaps the first one again, says growth needs to be better managed.

20:50- A citizen asks "How many tire places do we need? Planning is terrible." Discussion of the area near Jack Britt is pointed out to be actually Fayetteville's jurisdiction, as if that zoning takes it completely out of discussion for our town, which there is a lot of down there, in doughnut holes and spots.

24:50- A commissioner describes the Chamber as not a business development agency, but a networking agency.

26:33- A citizen wants others to support the board. Their jobs are hard. We need to be positive together.

29:50- The mayor details his willingness to recruit new businesses.

30:40- The mayor laboriously explains in almost a hide-and-seek form that developers own property...because citizens sell them property. Town manager gets credit for starting up a Planning Review Board committee 2 years ago to oversee development.

34:41- Mayor refers to a v**e shop wanting to open near his home, says "I was instrumental in saysing 'nope, you're not putting it there.'" And it didn't get put there. Toward the very end, in response to a citizen's question, he seems to completely backtrack on this claim. Mayor lists some businesses that came to town because they bought property from people. There's no need to fear, the oversight Planning Board is fixing everything that was wrong with zoning and planning before 2023.

37:16- A commissioner again defends the Chamber of Commerce.

38:30- Town manager refers to a phone call where a casual restaurant called him and said they weren't interested in opening in our town because of divisiveness and the tone. They "turned tail." Town manager explains why the town can't decline any applications for development that get approved by staff, because we will be sued. It was incorrect to decline Popeye's at Golfview Drive five or six years ago because of traffic.

42:12- Another citizen asks "where are we/they going" to build new businesses? He says government communications should be clearer, and not just presentations at meetings or forums, but in other media, including social media.

45:10- The mayor starts a brief excursus into other things going on that they have shared. This town gloss includes mentions of Economic Development Committee, for oversight, and a Strategic Plan that is "now in place" but still being discussed.
This segment ends in generic staff slams against "the Chatter" and other social media.

47:10- A citizen asks "Why trust staff?" because of continued disrespect.
48:44- A commissioner "but but but"s into the response by saying the citizen "represent a group" but not explaining what she means by "group." But after the mentions of social media, anyone should be able to tell.

50:12- The mayor says we're all entitled to our own opinions, but not our own facts.

50:38- A citizen (who had probably spoken earlier) urges others to help "the higher ups" help us help us. He doesn't like complaining. He also talked about BMX again.

51:55- A citizen wants longer commission terms so they can get things done. They need more than 2 years to learn. If they get longer terms, then don't do well, we can always vote them out. This will come up again later.

54:00- A citizen comments this meeting is not as hostile as the last one, and says the board needs accountability, transparency, and someone to proofread their messages and storyboards at Heritage Park. He also mentions keyboard warriors and healthy eating choices. He asks about a forensic audit for the town. Mayor replies the budgets are all on the website. Mayor continues by plugging the upcoming budget workshops and next week's board meeting where the budget will be discussed. A former commissioner asks if this budget presented will be balanced. The mayor assures us it always is. The former commissioner and another citizen say the last one had modifications all through it. Discussion ends with the mayor reminding us the Planning Board packets are on the website, and "we're not hiding anything." The mayor acknowledges he "hears" he got that 'better communications, better trust, more active in the community," are solutions for the town from citizens. "Let's get this budget right, can we at least agree on that?"

1:08:17- A former commissioner reasks: "can you provide a balanced budget for us?"

1:10:51- Mayor glosses a commissioner for working to bring public transportation to town for 4 years.

1:12:11- A commissioner explains how she doesn't trust the county because some of their officials tell her something different about FAMPO than other municipality officials tell her. She doesn't trust them. There's a few expletives included.

1:13:53- She concludes this by asking the question the citizens are asking the board: "How do we trust them if they don't tell us the truth?"

1:15-17- Town manager explains the misperceptions of citizens that nobody on the staff cares about this or that, but they only care about that or this. The mayor shuts down this segment.

1:17:03- A citizen asks if the town can declare a moratorium on development so they can make corrections to the plans and ordinances.

1:19:32- Another citizen (who may have spoken before) says town officials shouldn't get frustrated from discussions, if citizens cussed, they would be kicked out.

1:21:42- The mayor's wife explains how hard he works and how much he cares and listens. "He's trying."

1:23:25- A citizen says we need to see results, but we get mixed messages. There is discussion of a shuttle service that was talked about a few years back as part of the transportation needs. A commissioner replies.

1:26:30- The mayor turns the talk to committees, volunteering, how a committee saved the town millions in the dam replacement escapades, touts the Historic Preservation Committee.

1:29:04- Parks & Rec director stumps for his department, at a low volume. A former commissioner asks if he can "speak up." He retorts "I AM SPEAKING!" and then, thankfully, speaks louder, but still really doesn't say anything beyond defending himself and the department: that citizens "want want want" and there's a wait list in the department for people who aren't on social media who want more things from the department. But "it doesn't matter" to him, he'll do whatever the board tells him to do, and he's been doing this for 22 years....none of which anyone asked. He also says he has screenshots he receives "every day" from "sly comments on dumb websites." Which must go far beyond the local news groups and fb pages I know of, because if his department comes up once a month in my world, it's more than the usual. Unless he writes a butthurt letter about other town officials berating him. But that was only one time we know of, and it will never die.

1:30:48- The mayor starts a stump speech about the P&R Building and history of it. It was built in 1983, "eons ago." He tells of trips to municipal (not 'muncipal') conferences and how other places work together. He throws some vision out, says he looks to past mayor pictures on the board room back wall for guidance and inspiration. He ends this segment by reminding the audience that they can come to a meeting, but when he offers, usually "just 3 people show up."

1:35:40- A citizen again reminds him that people don't show up because of disrespect.

1:37:15- The mayor return to stump for an earlier citizen topic offering about extending to 4-year staggered terms. He says the rest of the board also knows how other towns have instituted extensions and staggering in their towns, from seminars and such.

1:39:50- The mayor continues stumping and resumes responding to things that no one has really said, but that he wants to make part of his repeated argument against (straw man).

1:41:06- Around this time, there is a lot more audio noise.
A former commissioner mentions a Unified Development Ordinance Fayetteville put into effect to control their downtown developments. More talk about 4-year terms and disrespect.

1:44:15- The mayor asks Karen if she has something to say. She does not seem to. This is kind of a Biden moment, like he expected Karen to have something prepared. He says he thought she had something to say.

1:45:57- A citizen talks about her experiences in town, how she just graduated, and there is some applause.

05/05/2025
05/03/2025

CEO of a Minnesota food bank stepped down after word got out she was making $721k a year salary.
Government and NGOs are a great place to stash yourself and get pushed upward. Just don't let anyone find out.

This was sent to those on the town Sunshine List today.Email is entitled "Correction: Evening with the Mayor."This graph...
04/28/2025

This was sent to those on the town Sunshine List today.
Email is entitled "Correction: Evening with the Mayor."

This graphic labeled "correction" is the same graphic used for last week's one-sided meeting. And that meeting was nothing that was promised in the flyer. The only "correction" seems to be the date for the next one. All the promised open communications and information-sharing are the exact same.

Why would anyone expect anything to be different in the presentation if they can't even make the promotional hype LOOK or SOUND different?

The last meeting was a sad joke on all of us. This is your town not even trying to fix the gigantic "mistakes" of 10 days ago, and throwing out the same schtick they think worked 10 days ago. It wasn't their fault you didn't get the message, so they are just going to run through it again, maybe with a different moderator/mic holder/compliment fisher, until you understand.

The sad part is, they know that people noticed the oppressive suspicion and most people don't feel any questions were really answered, there was just some party statements, and deferrals and more promises, like one of the quotes in one of the articles said when someone asked a question "That's a question for Monday night" because the idea of answering it on that Thursday night was just hype.

04/25/2025
04/25/2025

Pick any two people on this earth.
Make them related, in any way, or give them some other common interest and put them in some level of relationship.

If one of them introduced the other one with this rules-laden intro,
would you feel it was one-sided
and the basis of it assumed that the two related people were suspicious, maybe even fearful, about the audience and their behaviors?

If you were in the audience, or had been, what age do you feel these rules were geared toward?
Or what level of behavior and emotional development?
Why do you think they were imposed on the whole framework this way?
Would you feel oppressed and pre-emptively restrained, especially if you didn't intend on doing anything mentioned in the airing of the rules of the engagement?

[video captions provided by capcut or facebook, not sure which]

04/21/2025

The Hope Mills Police Department is requesting the public’s assistance in identifying and locating the next of kin for Paul Wilbur Swaney Jr., who is currently under our jurisdiction.

Anyone with relevant information is asked to contact the Hope Mills Police Department at 910-425-4103.
Information and tips may also be submitted online or by phone through the Fayetteville/Cumberland County CrimeStoppers website or by dialing 910-483-TIPS.** at their earliest convenience. We appreciate your cooperation in this matter.

04/17/2025

******UPDATE AS OF APRIL 17th, 2025 RUNAWAY JUVENILE WAS LOCATED AND IS SAFE ******

**Missing Person/Runaway Juvenile**

The Hope Mills Police Department is searching for Izayah Rypdahl, a 14 year old while male. He was last seen April 15th, 2025 around 5pm on Labonte Dr.

**Anyone with any information regarding Izayah or his whereabouts is asked to please contact the Hope Mills Police Department at 910-425-4103 or dial 911.
Information and tips may also be submitted online or by phone through the Fayetteville/Cumberland County CrimeStoppers website or by dialing 910-483-TIPS.**

04/10/2025

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Hope Mills, NC

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