Cumberland County Board of Commissioners District 2: Peter Pappas

Name as it appears on the ballot: Peter Pappas

Party affiliation: Republican

Previous elected offices held: N/A

Age as of Election Day: 46

Immediate family members: Parents Mr. and Mrs. Bill Pappas and Brother John

Occupation (employer, where you work, what you do): Baldinos restaurant owner and commercial realtor

Website and campaign social media: cumberlandfirst.org, Peter Pappas for County Commissioner and @pappasforfayetteville on Instagram.

1. What three projects or proposals will you present to the board, and to county residents, if you’re elected? And what (if any) projects or proposals would you seek to eliminate and why?

I want to bring better jobs to the county, enhance access to PFAS-free municipal water and ensure our law enforcement has the resources they need to protect us. For jobs, I would engage with Fay/Cumberland Economic Development, assess the pipeline of prospects they have and ensure they have support to get what’s needed to land the jobs. Municipal water, I would create a productive partnership with PWC stakeholders, and use some of the unused $10 million in ARPA funds that need to be earmarked before the Dec. 31, 2024, deadline to help with the planning of an expanded water system. Lastly, with law enforcement, since staffing is a core concern, the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners can ensure the sheriff has whatever budgetary resource he needs to hire competitively and fill vacant positions.

2. The two Republican commissioners, Jimmy Keefe and Michael Boose, will move off the board in December. They’ve said it’s difficult for Republicans to accomplish much on the board as it’s presently constituted. What’s your response to that, and how would you answer a claim that this board doesn’t promote bipartisanship?

The Cumberland County Board of Commissioners has a lot of untapped potential to better the lives of our citizens. Pursuing better paying jobs, getting clean water and supporting law enforcement is neither a “red” or “blue” issue, so let’s not make it so. Everyone on that board is present because they have their own plan to help their community, so I believe the intention is there. My plan is to continue to listen to the people around me and make the absolute best decision I can make at the time. Compromise needs to be brought back to the table; I must remain cognizant that if I’m in office, I also represent the 49% who did not vote for me, but I have a duty to all, and I take that charge seriously.

3. Discuss how you and this board would address PFAS contamination and the other environmental-related problems facing Cumberland County.

We need to stop “planning” and get to the “doing.” I’m delighted to see PWC and the county announce their collaboration for bringing municipal water to the two schools, but no timeline was discussed, and to my knowledge, no news outlet followed up — no one is holding these folks accountable to establishing a date of completion. There is an entire apparatus under county government, from the county manager on down, responsible to diligently get this finished, but the leadership hasn’t tasked anyone to be vocal and transparent about expediting the project. Someone told me it could take “10 years,” and that is the most unacceptable thing I have heard when it comes to something as basic as clean drinking water.

4. Declining enrollment and the end of COVID-related federal funding present Cumberland County’s public school system with some significant fiscal challenges. How will the board of commissioners help mitigate those challenges?

To answer this question, I believe it’s important to define the different roles that different governing bodies have on our school system. The role of the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners is to supplement the school board’s budget — primarily the county pays for the capital things, buildings and their maintenance, and the state pays the teachers. The school board and its superintendent must formulate a fiscally responsible plan to request more funds from the commission, so we can quantify how much taxpayer money is needed. I personally would stipulate that as part of filling those requests, we receive audits of school performance and retain the right to adjust our funding according to the results.

5. What role does the board have in cultivating better collaboration with the other governmental bodies in Cumberland County, such as the Fayetteville City Council, and what are some examples of synergy that could be produced with more collaboration?

The city of Fayetteville is but one of the several municipalities that comprise Cumberland County — many folks tend to overlook that. I have spent time in Wade, Eastover, Stedman, Hope Mills and Spring Lake, and I can tell you, those folks feel underappreciated and underrepresented. Since the city of Fayetteville is the largest, it gets the most attention, but everyone’s tax money spends the same, and as such, the Fayetteville City Council should join in regular meetings with all the municipalities. I believe the cult of personality and undue partisanship kept the boards from meeting, and in the middle, the taxpayer suffers from the actions of certain people. I know most everyone on the Fayetteville City Council, and I know or have at least met, the people on the county commission. I know we can get in the same room on a regular interval, and really collaborate to do the big and difficult things our community needs.