Deno Hondros - City Council District 9 Fayetteville, NC

09/19/2026

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09/18/2026

Firefighter applications are open until Sept. 25
Fayetteville, N.C. – Applications are now open for both entry-level and fully certified firefighter positions with the Fayetteville Fire Department (FFD). Applicants can apply online at FayettevilleNC.gov/Jobs. Applications are open until Sept. 25.

Applicants who meet the minimum qualifications will take part in several assessments to proceed through the selection process. Assessments include a written exam (no fire experience required), a physical ability test and panel interviews.

Entry level candidates selected for the FFD will attend a six-month fire and EMS training academy at the Fayetteville Technical Community College Fire and Rescue Training Center, a 24,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility.

Lateral entry programs are available for current, full-time firefighters who meet certain requirements and may be eligible for elevated pay grades upon hire.

“Joining the Fayetteville Fire Department is an opportunity to build a meaningful career while serving the community,” Recruitment Captain Stephen Shakeshaft said. “We’re looking for people who want to be part of a team, support one another and make a difference for Fayetteville residents every day.”

Benefits of working with the Fayetteville Fire Department include:
Starting salary range of $45,000 to $52,310 d.o.e.
Fully paid Fire Training Academy for inexperienced candidates
Abbreviated academy for lateral-entry and fully certified candidates
Educational incentive pay for Firefighters who pursue associate’s or bachelor's degrees
Regional Fire Training Facility for continued education and professional development
A defined career development plan allowing firefighters to pursue specialty training in hazardous materials, urban search and rescue, fire investigation or community risk reduction. Each track provides step-plan pay increases for time in service and training.
Multiple specialty programs and divisions including drone operations, strategic planning and emergency preparedness, logistics, and many more.

The city has also taken proactive measures to protect the health and well-being of its firefighters by implement cancer screening as part of its annual physical examinations. “The One Test,” a state-of-the-art blood test that checks for a panel of protein biomarkers potentially indicating early-stage cancer.

In addition to providing cancer screenings, FFD houses three crisis response dogs trained to help reduce stress and anxiety at fire stations and emergency scenes. The dogs support first responders by helping them decompress after difficult calls, ease tension, lower anxiety and reduce the long-term effects of post-traumatic stress while supporting overall heart health.

The FFD is one of only 127 agencies worldwide to be both accredited with the Commission on Fire Accreditation International and receive an Insurance Services Organization protection classification of Class 1, the best available rating.

Interested individuals should visit FayettevilleNC.gov/Fire, contact Recruitment Captain Stephen Shakeshaft at (910) 676-1716 or [email protected] for more information.

Providing fire protection to the residents of Fayetteville. This is accomplished with a staff of over three hundred personnel, seventeen fire stations, and a vehicle fleet equipped with a large cadre of specialized equipment.

09/18/2026

Fayetteville is looking toward the future with 910 Future Festival Week, a three-day celebration bringing together workforce development, entrepreneurship, youth engagement, arts, culture, live entertainment and community pride Sept. 24–26.

09/11/2026

It’s hard to believe September 11 was twenty-five years ago. My wife was in New York that day, and even though she wasn’t in Lower Manhattan, her memories are very different from mine in Fayetteville. When we talk about it, I’m reminded that the same morning lives differently in each of us. In a military community, it also marks the beginning of years that would ask so much of the people around us.

What really hits me on this anniversary is that an entire military generation is now eligible for retirement. People who were young enough to be figuring out what to do with their lives when those attacks happened have since served full careers. They signed up to serve this great nation, and twenty-five years later, we can see just how much that commitment meant for them and their families. Around Fort Bragg, those years are part of our community’s story, written in deployments, homecomings, children growing up, and friends we still miss.

But before September 11 became a turning point in our history, it was a morning when thousands of people went to work or boarded a plane expecting to come home. I keep thinking about the families who have now spent a quarter of a century without someone they love. All the birthdays, holidays, and ordinary days they should have shared. Time passing doesn’t make those people any less missed.

My wife and I will never remember that day in exactly the same way, and neither will everyone reading this. I hope we keep making time to hear those memories, especially as more young people come to know September 11 only through what we tell them.

Today, I’m remembering those we lost, the first responders who answered the call, and the military generation that stepped forward to serve this great nation. Twenty-five years later, I’m still grateful for that service, and I know there are families right here in our community who still carry its cost.

09/11/2026

City seeks nonprofits for leadership
and capacity-building program

The Stronger Partners Initiative is designed for established nonprofit organizations serving the Fayetteville community. Apply by Sept. 21.
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - The City of Fayetteville’s Economic & Community Development Department invites established nonprofit organizations to express interest in the Stronger Partners Initiative, a program designed to strengthen nonprofit leadership, organizational capacity and community connections.

Stronger Partners brings nonprofit leaders together with local experts, institutional partners and one another to think strategically about their organizations’ futures. Through practical learning, facilitated discussion and relationship-building, the initiative helps leaders connect their vision with the resources, leadership and partnerships needed to achieve it.

The initiative begins with four Stronger Partners Roundtables, each focused on a key question:
Defining the Vision: What is the future we’re trying to create?
Resourcing the Vision: How do we secure the resources to achieve it?
Leading the Vision: Who will help guide and sustain it?
Expanding the Vision: Who can help us accomplish more together than we can alone?

Each Roundtable combines expert insight, facilitated conversation, structured networking and a hands-on Leadership Lab, where participants apply what they’ve learned to their own organizations.

The Roundtables are the first component of a broader effort to build lasting connections among nonprofit leaders and organizations that support their development. Stronger Partners invests in the people, organizations and relationships behind the work—because stronger nonprofits make stronger community partners.

To be eligible for Stronger Partners, organizations must:
Be recognized as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Have been in continuous operation for at least three years.
Have an established governing board that meets regularly in accordance with its adopted bylaws and provides organizational oversight.
Employ a full-time or part-time Executive Director or equivalent chief executive.
Provide services that benefit City of Fayetteville residents.

Eligible organizations interested in participating should apply by Sept. 21 at FayettevilleNC.gov/StrongerPartners.

Roundtable participation is by invitation only.

Meeting the eligibility requirements and submitting an interest form does not guarantee an invitation.

09/09/2026

9/7/2026