Cumberland County Board of Commissioners District 2: Pavan Patel Candidate Questionnaire

Name as it appears on the ballot: Pavan D. Patel

Party affiliation: Republican

Previous elected offices held: N/A

Age as of Election Day: 33

Immediate family members:  Dr. Amruta Bahekar (wife); Dr. Divyang Patel (father); Mrs. Gira D Patel (mother); Ms. Shivani Patel (sister); Dr. Puja Patel (sister)

Occupation (employer, where you work, what you do): CEO & Owner, Willow Group Investments; Managing Director, Willow Equity

Website and campaign social media: electpatelnc.com, Elect Pavan Patel for County Commissioner 2024! and @pavanpatelnc 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?

Support the county’s education goals by partnering with Fort Liberty to build a new high school. This will provide a much-needed, state-of-the-art facility for students. The partnership will save time and $60M, which can be reallocated to the other 80+ CCS schools.

The EPA has assessed only six “forever” chemicals, but I’ll promote policies to hold contaminators accountable for all chemicals affecting our community. We must ensure full accountability for the harm caused. My long-term focus will be on increasing Cumberland County’s value by engaging with N.C.’s booming economy. Too many opportunities pass by Cumberland for places like Wake, Durham, Mecklenburg and New Hanover. I aim to create higher-paying jobs by encouraging companies that want to bring value here while acting responsibly. The [Methodist University Cape Fear Valley Health] Medical School provides a perfect chance to attract health care companies to Cumberland County.

One project I would cancel or postpone is the proposed downtown Fayetteville Crown Event Center. Its costs have skyrocketed, construction has been delayed and the original concept has been watered down. It does not bring value to the entire community, especially District 2, and will add a financial burden of over $60M+ from the originally planned $85M, plus an additional $30M+ for a parking deck. I believe strong, fiscally responsible leadership is needed, and while the center could be a highlight for the county, I don’t want future generations bearing the debt. Now is not the time to break ground on this project.

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?

In many ways I understand the frustration of the two commissioners that are not seeking reelection. I have a strong point of view of the role of county commissioners, which is to listen and represent the wishes and needs of our residents. The role requires that we work for the best interest of our community, not for the specific interest of my own political beliefs. When elected, I promise to listen, use common sense, and work with my fellow board members to do what is right. As a resident of Cumberland County, I believe we need to hold our elected representatives accountable for their leadership — this is a servant leadership role in our local government, the job is to do what our families, friends and neighbors are asking.

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

PFAS, GenX, and other contamination issues in our county are a hands-down travesty. The residents of Cumberland County deserve better.

As per the current issues that we are facing, we need to hold Chemours responsible. As a county commissioner, I will promise to work with our elected state and federal leadership, municipality leaders and community advocates to fight the legal battle. We need to send a clear message that the county and its residents will not pay for the clean up of the polluters’ senseless practices. We need to encourage all leadership to increase efforts to start the clean-up process and extend clean water throughout the county. For example, we are maybe another decade away from potentially having clean water in just our Gray’s Creek area. This is unacceptable, and the time wasted will continue to have negative health and quality-of-life effects on our residents.

When looking at new projects and businesses that want to come to our county to set up shop, we need a board of commissioners that is willing to hold those parties to their word, starting day one. Trust but verify, we need a board that is comfortable doing the needed due diligence and not one that enjoys the nice promotional headlines.

We need action.

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?

My two grandfathers always said the same thing to me — no one can take your education away from you. In my personal opinion, education of our youth is the same as investing in our future. If you have a retirement account, pension fund, 401(k), a rental property or plan to take invest in yourself — you’ve taken the responsible steps to secure your personal future. In order to secure our community’s future, shrink the brain drain, increase student enrollment and attract more educators, bus drivers, teaching assistants, etc., the board of commissioners need to work hand in hand with the board of education, talk to teachers and parents, to first understand the real needs at the day-to-day level (what are students, families, and educators asking for?). We need to understand the inefficiencies that currently exist in our county budget, and find the wasted spending to secure our academic needs; while also working with our state and federal officials to secure needed funding. Every year that is not meeting the demands of what students require today is another year of obstacles instead of opportunities.

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?

It is important to me to keep at the front of mind, that we are all one large community. This is not NYC, Miami, LA, Chicago, etc. We are a tight-knit county with 330k+ residents — these are the folks that you call family, are friends and peers, the neighbors that you see walking in your neighborhood or shopping at the grocery store. We are in a position that when we align the goals of the individuals with the resources of the county and multiple municipalities, we will create a tremendous amount of value to our community. Proudly calling Fayetteville home since 1996, 28 of my 33 years on this world — I see the divided needs between the cities and towns, and the county. We need to seek leadership that cares enough, even when ideologies don’t align, to work for the betterment of all. Specifically speaking to the seat I hope to hold as representative of District 2, I need to see more collaboration and support between the county and the many other municipalities/neighborhoods from Hope Mills, Eastover, Gray’s Creek, Stedman, Vander, to Linden. If the county commissioners are doing their job right, we should have more engagement, involvement and support. I am running for this office to serve our county with a the priority of true servant-leadership.

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