Fayetteville volunteer running for Ward 4 City Council seat
Posted on Saturday, August 30, 2008
Ward 4 resident Craig Honchell is ready to shift from community involvement to local politics as another way to help his community.
"I've been concerned about the possibility of tax increases, developments I've seen coming into the city, and a real lack of jobs and industry coming into the city," Honchell said Friday.
"We need to get Fayetteville back on track with industry and green industry," he said.
Honchell, 39, is a manufacturing engineer at Bargo Engineering, where he's worked for three years. Before that he worked for 15 years at Superior Industries in Fayetteville. He has lived 14 of his 18 years in Fayetteville in Ward 4.
Honchell volunteered for 10 years at the Fayetteville public school system, the Donald W. Reynolds Boys and Girls Club and for the city Parks and Recreation Division. And he has been recognized for his volunteerism.
"As a councilman, I think I can bring a fair and objective approach to city politics," Honchell said.
He said past projects have taken too long to complete.
"We need to set a timeline within a project, and the council members need to be held accountable to that timeline," he said.
A timeline is needed to avoid delays and excessive costs for city projects such as the sewer plant, Honchell said.
"They had a $ 60 million overrun on that project, I don't understand how that happens in city government," he said, adding that he thinks he can help keep projects on track.
In his press release he wrote that Fayetteville needs to be brought back to economic prosperity through innovative development and a return of industry to insulate the city from impending tax increases.
"I feel that the economic boom times have passed Fayetteville by; we need to assert ourselves back in the industrial culture and bring stable, high paying jobs back to our area," he wrote in his announcement.
He said the challenge is to bring in industry that is compatible with Fayetteville's culture. He is also interested in how the city's 2025 Plan is used, neighborhood concerns about new developments, and finding a way to educate new university students about life in the city.
"I look forward to the chance of a lifetime to represent the citizens of Ward 4 and ultimately Fayetteville as a whole. I would approach this job as I would any other that I have had, I will be objective, fair and responsible with the duties given to me," he wrote.
Honchell and his wife, Sandy, have a daughter, Cassie, who attends Fayetteville High School.
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