Cumberland County commissioners elect Glenn Adams chairman, Toni Stewart vice chairwoman

Cumberland County commissioners elected Glenn Adams as their chairman Monday.

Adams, who has served as vice chairman for the previous year, represents District 1 on the Board of Commissioners. The board elected Toni Stewart, who represents District 2, as vice chairwoman.

Both votes were unanimous among the five commissioners taking part in the meeting, which was broadcast on the county's YouTube channel.

Outgoing Chairman Charles Evans participated in the meeting through a telephone conference call connection. Adams, Stewart and commissioners Jeannette Council and Larry Lancaster were at the meeting, but commissioners Michael Boose and Jimmy Keefe were not.

Boose said he didn't attend because there wasn't much on the agenda other than the leadership votes and nobody had asked for his support to become chairman. He said he wouldn't have voted for Adams, but without a reason to recuse himself from the vote he would have had to vote against him.

Boose said he feared that such a vote would have cause the discussion to spiral out of control into a dramatic situation. 

"So, I just didn't go," he said.

Boose said that if he would have attended the meeting he would have voted for Stewart.

"She will do a great job," he said.

Keefe could not be reached for comment.

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Evans presented highlights of the past year in a video that was shown during the meeting, including the county’s branding efforts, its new website, plans for helping the homeless, and using federal COVID-19 relief funds. The county also is working on a new 911 center, announced a new training center for Fayetteville Technical Community College and has initiated efforts to help those with private wells contaminated by GenX, he said.

Evans nominated Adams and Stewart for the leadership posts. 

Adams congratulated Evans on his accomplishments as chairman. Adams talked about moving forward with the projects Evans discussed.

Adams said the county continues to face challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Just as we think we’re about to come out, there’s a new variant,” he said. “One thing we know is, this county is resilient.”

Adams, who also serves as chairman of the Fayetteville State University board of trustees, is a senior partner in the Adams, Burge and Boughman law firm.

Local news editor Steve DeVane can be reached at sdevane@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3572.