New Bern Alderman Candidate (Ward 6) Bob Brinson stated, “I am opposed to any development of Union Point Park in whole or in part. I am not opposed to commercial or residential development in New Bern, but we must balance it with the historic nature and charm of our communities including downtown. Putting a luxury hotel or any building on Union Point Park is not smart growth. To do so would destroy the charm that draws tourists and new residents to New Bern.”
Brinson went on to say, “I fear that if we start chipping away at Union Point, we will be chipping away at the downtown and historic charm that draws so many people to our city. Business development is one of the issues that I am campaigning on, but this is not the type of smart growth we need. Selling or even giving part of it to a developer feels like we would be selling our city’s soul for the sake of trying to bring in more revenue or more jobs to the city. Most of the jobs created are of the lowest hourly wage. What we ‘gain’ is not worth the cost. Our city has character. Once given away, it is not easily regained.”
Brinson acknowledged, “I do not know anything more than what was on the agenda packet for the February 8th Board of Alderman meeting and what has been published so far in the Sun Journal and New Bern Live. I like most New Bernians are looking forward to hearing the rest of the story.”
Brinson offers this as an alternative, “I understand the need for more downtown hotels to gain more and larger events to the Convention Center. But Union Point Park is not the solution. Let the developer buy the Sudan Temple property (on both sides of East Front Street) or the old Holiday Inn Property owned by the Front Street Developers, LLC. City government, and in this case, city-owned property, is not the solution to every problem.”
Brinson concluded with the following: “There are those that could say we have Lawson Creek Park, Glenburnie Park, and Martin-Marietta Park and that we can replicate all the events we have in Union Point Park at one of those waterside venues. While a factually true statement, Union Point Park literally and figuratively embodies the town motto that ‘Everything comes together here.’ We need to preserve it for future generations.”
By Committee to Elect Bob Brinson