PROFILE: John Antoine Miner, Fayetteville, NC mayoral candidate
posted by DorMiya Vance | October 18, 2021 | In NewsRepublican Fayetteville mayoral candidate J. Antoine Miner, or John, got his roots in observing various communities and their issues at a noticeably early age. As a child, Miner was born in Harlem, where he watched his large family grow and expand with the community.
Miner, as a teen, worked with his friends in his neighborhood, reporting crimes to the local police. Working around family and friends pushed him to find a way to “become the difference” in the city of Fayetteville.
“Growing up, we didn’t have a lot of money. We struggled, like everyone else,” Miner said.
Miner’s keen sense of community while watching his mother work as an entrepreneur generated Miner’s “hustle” mentality.
“We grew up with that faith in God. Having that drive instilled in us to go after what you want out of life regardless of all of the things that may come at you,” Miner said.
Miner and his family migrated to Fayetteville, NC, in 2008 with the military, after being stationed in Fort Bragg.
“Coming from NYC, Fayetteville was like a culture shock for me. It was small. I went to city hall one day, and when I walked in, the entire city hall only consisted of maybe three floors. In NYC, the city hall is a complete block. Several floors with thousands of offices in there,” Miner said.
Miner questioned the higher-ups and what they were doing to help the city of Fayetteville.
“I reached out to former councilwoman Kady-Ann Davy, and I asked her, after seeing homeless situation in Fayetteville and neighborhoods that look like third world countries, I didn’t understand it because I’m thinking this is a small area. Why does this problem look so big in such a small area? So, I asked her, ‘what is going on in your city?'”
According to Miner, Fayetteville faces issues of crime and safety, homelessness, and economic accountability. Though the current mayor of Fayetteville, Mitch Colvin, pushes “building a viable workforce, investing in infrastructure and expanding our city’s connection to the global economy,” Miner has observed, “the current mayor and city council fail to lead this city in a productive, cohesive, and unifying way.”
Meeting with former councilwoman Davy, Miner was disappointed and did not receive the answers he needed, so he took matters into his own hands. Though he was still in the military, Miner stood on faith to get involved in helping the Fayetteville community.
“…I started the church; I used the church as a launching pad to get involved in the community. I sent my staff in the community out to do a survey. The survey asked, ‘if you had your ideal church in this community, what would that church look like [and] what services would that church offer?’” Miner said. “When we brought it back and reviewed the survey, we began to put programs in place, and we reached out to the Fayetteville police department and said, ‘look, we have an issue in this area, and we need to fix it.'”
Miner’s campaign stands on “faith, family and freedom” as he moves forward in his mayoral candidacy. Being a single parent of two drives his campaign. Miner intends to battle the issues of crime and safety, homelessness, and economic accountability within Fayetteville going into the election season.
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