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In 2025, Fayetteville made steady, practical progress that residents can feel in everyday life. This is because City Council set clear priorities and City staff followed through with disciplined work across the organization. We strengthened the “behind-the-scenes” systems that help the City run smoothly by going live with Oracle HUB, which improves how we track work, manage information, and serve customers over time. At the same time, we stabilized our workforce by reducing both turnover and vacancies, which is important because it helps City services stay consistent, responsive, and dependable instead of being slowed by constant staffing gaps.
We also kept a strong focus on listening to you. Across public forums and hearings, hundreds of your friends and neighbors took the time to sign up, speak, and participate in local decision-making. That kind of engagement makes us stronger and helps ensure community voices shape the direction of Fayetteville. On the ground, we invested in safer streets and better connections between neighborhoods. City Council adopted the Pedestrian Plan and Supplemental Pedestrian Plan, and we expanded and improved how you can raise neighborhood traffic concerns. This made it easier to request traffic calming through an online process. Throughout the year, the City installed new sidewalks and continued improving connectivity throughout Fayetteville, adding safer crossings in key areas and working with NCDOT to improve pedestrian signals at major intersections. We also took targeted steps to slow traffic where it matters most by lowering speed limits on several neighborhood streets, helping make daily travel safer for families, walkers, and drivers alike.
Downtown, we moved toward a better parking experience by beginning a new effort to modernize parking management, which is about making visits smoother for you and your guests as the city center continues to grow. We also maintained reliable basic services, including a strong solid waste collection performance that you count on week after week. Across transportation and connectivity, we made meaningful improvements in public transit by strengthening service, improving staffing stability, and adding cleaner vehicle options so more people can get to work, school, medical appointments, and daily errands with greater reliability. Our goal is to make FAST a system of choice, not need. At the airport, we continued securing major funding and making improvements that support travel, business growth, and regional connections for the community.
Taken together, 2025 was about making Fayetteville the best place to live, work and recreate. We want it to our community to be easy to live in: a City organization that runs more smoothly, a community that is heard more clearly, safer streets and better walking connections, reliable services, and stronger transportation options. It’s the kind of progress that doesn’t always make headlines, but it makes a real difference in how residents experience their city every day.
Best,
Dr. Douglas J. Hewett
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