The Cumberland County Board of Commissioners got off to a solemn start at its first meeting of the year Tuesday, beginning with a moment of silence for two community members who died over the holidays.
Chairman Glenn Adams held the moment of silence for Lenora Wiseman, the director of Wiseman Mortuary, and James Christian, a former alderman for the town of Spring Lake. Wiseman died Dec. 29, according to her obituary, while Christian’s family posted on Facebook that he died Dec. 30.
After the moment of silence, the board recognized county employees who received awards at the end of 2023 from the Partnership for Children of Cumberland County and the North Carolina Public Library Directors Association.
Commissioner Jeannette Council, Cumberland County Director of Public Health Jennifer Green and the Cumberland County Department of Social Services each received Kindness Awards from the Partnership for Children. While introducing the recipients, Adams said that he was inspired by the work that county employees had done for the partnership, a nonprofit that supports families with infants and children up to 5 years old.
“I don’t think any one organization got as many [awards] as Cumberland County,” he said.
Daniele Malvesti, a community relations specialist with the Partnership for Children, gave brief remarks during the recognitions.
“There’s a lot of really great work that’s being done by the county and by a lot of people in our community,” she said. “We can’t do it alone. Because of that, we would like to honor a few individuals who have gone above and beyond over the years since the beginning of the time that the partnership began its great work in 1993.”
Council, Green and employees from the Department of Social Services were presented with certificates of appreciation from the board.
Marili Melchionne, the executive assistant to Library Director Faith Phillips, was also recognized for being named the North Carolina Public Library Directors Association’s Friend of the Year in November.
Dennis Cedzo, the chairman of the library’s board of trustees, said he has worked with Melchionne for more than a decade.
“She’s just a fantastic person; very conscientious,” Cedzo said. “She really is on point with everything and, a lot of times, kept us very well-organized.”
Cumberland County career fair
The board also heard a presentation from Dominique Hall, the county’s director of human resources, on the county’s career fair, which will take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 12 and 13 at the Crown Expo Center at 1960 Coliseum Drive.
“This event is not just about job opportunities,” Hall said. “It’s about fostering transformation in the lives of our citizens. Our theme — New Year, New Career, Empower Your Future — symbolizes the fresh beginnings and endless possibilities that a new year brings.”
In addition to providing information about county jobs, the fair will also offer an interview clothing giveaway, criminal record expungement services, professional headshots, military transition services and resume writing assistance, Hall said. She noted that the fair will have food and refreshments, a kids’ table and an Internet cafe, where attendees can fill out county job applications and take skills tests.
Hall’s presentation was met with skepticism by some board members, including Commissioner Jimmy Keefe, who questioned why the county was doing work for the fair that it pays other organizations and people to do.
“We have workforce development. We have NCWorks [Career Center]. We have all of these other things,” he said. “Why is Cumberland County going to share the burden of all of these headshots and resume writing and mock interviews?”
Keefe said he believed the county’s money would be better spent on incentives like raises, increased benefits and a better work environment that would retain current employees.
“This is way beyond our scope and our responsibility as county government,” he said.
Hall said the idea of the fair was to make the process simpler for job applicants.
“We’re just making it convenient for all of our citizens to receive those services,” she said.
When Commissioner Veronica Jones asked what the cost of the fair would be, Hall replied that her team did not yet have a total cost.
Adams encouraged his colleagues to view the fair as an additional opportunity for residents to learn about the workings of county government.
“People don’t understand the difference between city government, county government, between what we do, what they do,” he said. “It’s just difficult to hire in this day and age.”
In other business:
- The board unanimously approved its consent agenda, which included paying $16,118.60 in outstanding vendor invoices from the previous fiscal year and making three amendments to the budget for fiscal year 2023-2024, which began on July 1, 2023, and will end on June 30 of this year. The amendments recognized $200,000 in grant money to Spring Lake for park improvements; $91,097 in state aid to the library; and the use of $76,850 in contingency funds for additional security at the library.
- The board considered nominations to fill two vacancies on the Fayetteville-Cumberland Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission. Vice Chairwoman Toni Stewart nominated Antonio Renteria and David Breece, while Boose nominated Louis Wood and Stacey Bolton.
- The board unanimously approved the reappointment of William Stritt to the Mid-Carolina Aging Advisory Council.
- The board unanimously approved the appointments of Nathan Cuffee and Raqi Barnett to the Civic Center Commission.
The board will next meet for an agenda session at 1 p.m. on Jan. 11. Its next regular meeting will be at 6:45 p.m. on Jan. 16.
Lexi Solomon can be reached at lsolomon@cityviewnc.com or 910-423-6500.
