Mario Benavente, a former Fayetteville City Council member known for shaking things up on that body, indicated he would pursue a similar path if elected as an at-large Cumberland County commissioner, as he turned an otherwise low-key candidates’ forum Feb. 19 into more of a spirited debate with the incumbent at-large candidates — Marshall Faircloth and Veronica Jones — who flanked him.
Benavente, a graduate of E.E. Smith High School, blamed the county Board of Commissioners for the delay in building a new school. He also criticized Faircloth and Jones over how each said they might respond if federal immigration authorities sought to conduct enforcement actions in Cumberland County.
Debate emerges over E.E. Smith’s future and potential ICE operations
In the case of E.E. Smith, the Cumberland County Board of Education is tasked with the decision. The decision on how local authorities might react to Immigration and Customs Enforcement would fall to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. Benavente suggested, however, that commissioners were not helpless in that they had budgetary authority for both bodies…