As primary election nears, Fayetteville's four mayoral candidates share their plans for office

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- The 2023 election season is kicking into high gear with the primary coming up on Tuesday.

Fayetteville has four candidates running for mayor. Some are running on their years of experience in public office. Others are leaning on their passion for serving the community.

Running for a fourth term, current Mayor Mitch Colvin pointed to his track record in tackling issues including unemployment, drawing investment to the city, and offering more support to entrepreneurs. He said addressing the housing shortage is one of his priorities if he gets another two years in office, as well as optimizing the future workforce.

"Workforce preparation for next-generation jobs is big to me. I think we have to be out ahead of that because the jobs that exist today won't exist tomorrow. I think we have to figure out how to retain our young people and bring them back home after they go and get educated in other cities, in other communities," Colvin said.

Charles Evans said voters should consider his credentials as a former Cumberland County commissioner and Fayetteville city councilman. He says he wants to leverage his experience in the city and the county to enhance their working relationship and improve the rollout of public services.

"I think the approach is to establish what's important to both bodies and bring them together and try to work on solutions instead of just disregarding this particular district or this particular issue with the county. If there's something that we could do to work together, we got we got to do that," Evans said.

Freddie de la Cruz, a former military police officer, says he wants to boost police presence to reduce crime. He said he's also looking to expedite economic and real estate development in the city.

"I want to help with the permitting process. We're having problems with contractors and builders getting things done in Fayetteville and in Cumberland County. And I feel that you know, my leadership, I'll be able to unify the city and the commissioners to get things done in Fayetteville."

Quancidine Hinson-Gribble is a former flight attendant. She is running on expanding support for aging residents. She also wants to deter more young people from turning to violence.

"(I)f we want to stop gun violence and we want to stop crime among our youth, then we need to be able to offer them something in its place and my suggestion is education," Hinson-Gribble said.

Voters are being asked to bring their government ID when they cast their ballot in the 2023 municipal elections.