Fayetteville voters turn down move to add at-large seats to city council

A push to add at-large seats to the Fayetteville City Council was voted down.

Supporters said the move would have given residents more choice on who represents them. Those against the proposal say it was an attempt to dilute Black voting strength in the city.

The Fayetteville City Council is composed of nine individual districts with the mayor being the only one who runs at large. On the ballot Tuesday was an opportunity to add some more at large seats, but the voters said no.

The campaign to change Fayetteville's city charter has been heated. The "Vote Yes" advocacy group gathered the needed 5,000 signatures to get the measure on the ballot. But the city council voted against it. The advocacy group took the matter to court and won. Last night, the measure failed.

Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin says the majority of the nine city council members are persons of color. Colvin viewed the referendum as an attempt to dilute the minority vote in the city.

"The citizens spoke loud and clear," Colvin said. "It was a resounding victory to vote against this power grab. I'm looking forward to moving on and getting to the business of the city."

The city council is currently made up of nine members elected from single districts.

The "Vote Yes" referendum would have had five single districts and added four at-large seats, with the mayor still running at-large.

Fayetteville Mayor Nat Robertson was one of the supporters for change and was surprised the measure fell short by about 6,000 votes.

"I think the more people you can vote for and the more people that are accountable to you, the more responsive the government is to you," Robertson said. "The scope is you can vote for six people instead of just voting for two."

While the "Vote Yes" referendum failed, voters did pass three separate bond issues worth $97 million. The money will build a new 911 center and two fire stations, improve roads and transportation and take aim at making housing available and affordable.

"We're blessed that the two fire stations we're looking at, as well as our 911 center, we actually have some idea of where those are going to go," said Fayetteville city manager Douglas Hewitt. "And so were very, very, very comfortable that we're going to be able to accelerate and get these projects out on the streets."

With those bond issues passed, it will now be up to the nine individual city council members and the mayor to move forward with those projects.