Residents raise concerns about downtown event access, immigrant protections, hospital DOA reports and neighborhood road issues

Several residents used the City Council public forum on Feb. 10 to urge action on distinct local concerns: a downtown events policy that a resident says blocks certain civic groups from participating; requests for renewed council action on immigrant protections and to repeal the city’s no-camping ordinance; reports of emergency response delays and “dead on arrival” incidents at a local hospital; and requests to repair a washed-out road in Raycon Subdivision.

Kalista Cuevas told the council she believes Cool Springs, the organization that manages downtown Fayetteville events under a city-funded contract, is refusing applications from some civic groups and is thereby restricting free-speech access at taxpayer-funded events. Cuevas said Cool Springs “refuse[d] to even accept…