ORANGE COUNTY – Rural Orange County resident, Mark Marcoplos says he will seek a seat on the Orange County Board of Commissioners.
“We’re facing really challenging times with budget issues, pressure from the state—the state legislature’s making it difficult for municipalities,” Marcoplos says. “So, we’re going to have to make some really tough decisions.”
***Listen to the Interview with Ron Stutts on the WCHL Wednesday Morning News***
Marcoplos previously announced on WCHL that he would seek the next vacant seat after his supporters asked if he was interested in the North Carolina House 50 seat previously held by Valerie Foushee. Just before going on WCHL, he shared on Facebook that he was more interested in helping the county on the local government level.
Marcoplos lives in Bingham Township west of Chapel Hill and Carrboro and owns and operates a small residential construction company. He has served on the Orange County Economic Development Commission, the Orange County Planning Board, and he served twice as chair of the Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) Board of Directors. He has also had his hand in multiple other community activities, which he outlines in his press release.
The Orange County landfill closed this past summer, and now the county’s solid waste is shipped to neighboring counties. Marcoplos says that’s one of his biggest concerns for the future of the county.
“The commissioners have just kicked the can down the road for the last couple of decades, and now we’re sort of beholden to Durham, we’re beholden to a waste company—you know, out of sight, out of mind,” Marcoplos says.
He says he wants to focus on making sure this doesn’t become a financial burden for the county and its residents.
“We don’t know how much it’s going to cost when fuel prices go up, when contracts with waste companies are renegotiated,” Marcoplos says. “We really need to have an end game for our solid waste management that includes us having as much control as we possibly can of our waste stream.”
Marcoplos passed on the opportunity to throw his hat into the ring for the North Carolina House 50 seat when it came up last fall. Valerie Foushee left the seat to become the State Senator for District 23.
He says he wants to focus on the county he’s grown to love in the 40-plus years he’s been here on a local level.
Click here to read his press release.
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