Savva Kostis Questionnaire Responses 2026 General

1. Please share your overall professional and personal background and explain why you are running for seat on the Watauga County Board of Commissioners.

I am a Watauga County native, and my family has deep roots here despite my uncommon name. My maternal family has been in Watauga County since its early days (the Wilcox and Aldridge families). My dad immigrated here from Greece, and he met my mom while attending Appalachian State.

I grew up in Watauga, attended both Cove Creek and Watauga High School where I played football and wrestled, and I went on to follow in my father’s footsteps to wrestle at App State while earning my degree in Construction Management and Business. There I met my wife, Stephanie, who is a longtime Watauga County teacher, and we’re raising our 6 year old daughter here. She is a first grader at Hardin Park, which is also where Stephanie teaches.

I have spent my career in the construction business, working in estimating, project management, budgeting, and managing people. I’ve also had the opportunity to serve on the Watauga County Planning Board, where I’ve been involved in discussions about the challenges facing our county and worked with others to find practical solutions. That experience has given me a better understanding of the planning process and the importance of balancing different perspectives and long-term impacts. I believe this specialized skill set will add to the great work the Board of Commissioners is already doing.

As the only candidate for County Commissioner that was born and raised in Watauga County, I’m running because I care about where we are headed, and I want to bring a practical, local perspective to the Board of Commissioners. I will listen, reflect, and collaborate with anyone willing to work to find realistic solutions.

2. Candidates for County Commissioner seats this year are running to represent specific voter districts. How do you plan to bring a different and important perspective to the County Commission for your district?

District 2 is a diverse district with established neighborhoods, businesses, and a significant amount of student housing. I think that gives me an opportunity to bring a wide range of voices and perspectives to the Commission. My goal would be to genuinely listen to the people in my district and make sure their concerns are represented, even when those concerns are different from one another. Whether it’s a working family, a business owner, a longtime resident, or a student, I think all of our voices are important and I want to be an advocate for each and every one. Being both a born and bred local as well as an ASU alumnus, I have the unique ability to connect with the variety of residents our district is home to.

3. If elected in November, please identify the three most pressing issues you will bring to the Board for consideration and why.

Investing in our schools: Watauga students and teachers work hard, and our schools have a strong track record that ranks consistently at the top of the state. I want our facilities to reflect that success. We have schools and major building systems that are getting older, and we need to be realistic about what needs to be maintained, what needs to be renovated, and what eventually needs to be replaced. My construction background and insight can be incredibly beneficial to the commissioners table when working on this issue.

I’ve spent my career dealing with construction costs, budgets, schedules, subcontractors and the long-term consequences of decisions made on a job. I know that putting off a problem doesn’t usually make it cheaper. At the same time, I don’t think we should tear something out and replace it just because it’s old. We need to look at each building, understand its condition, and spend the money where it makes the most sense. Our schools all have different needs, but they are also at significantly different stages in their lifecycles. A school that needs a major HVAC or roof replacement is a different situation from a much older facility that may require much more extensive renovation or eventually make more sense to replace. We need to look at each one individually and have a long-term plan for all of them. The County is already planning significant funding for school facility needs, so I think we need to be smart about how we prioritize and phase those investments. My goal would be to work with the School Board and staff to develop a realistic long-term plan instead of waiting until something fails and then having to react.

Local Opportunity: I want to make sure people who grow up here have opportunities to build a life here if they choose. That means supporting the local businesses that are already here, creating opportunities with good jobs, and making sure our young people have options if they want to stay or come back home. I think economic development should be about more than simply bringing in another business. We need to help the businesses we already have succeed, make it possible for people to start and grow businesses here, and make sure we have the infrastructure and workforce those businesses need. For me, this is especially important for the young people who grow up here. A Watauga High School graduate may leave to go to college, learn a trade, or pursue a career somewhere else, and that’s part of life. But if they want to come back home and build a career and raise a family here, I want Watauga County to be a place where they have that opportunity.

A couple of examples of partnerships to support this local opportunity include: “Rise Caldwell and Watauga” is a new internship program geared towards the trades. Watauga County Schools also has a fantastic partnership with Caldwell Community College through “Watauga Innovation Academy” where students can earn college certificates in Automotive Technology, Welding, Drafting, and Health Sciences alongside their high school degree.

As a contractor, I see this need first hand. I want to build on the local community college partnerships and expand on giving students the ability and pathway to starting their own business locally. The connection with Caldwell Community College is especially near and dear to my heart because my grandfather was a vital part of securing the land where Caldwell currently sits.

Traffic: We know traffic is an issue, and we know where the biggest problems are. I don’t think people want to hear about another study without action. I want to see us do something especially before more road construction projects begin. Let’s look at things like changing signal timing, fixing problem intersections, and finding ways to connect some of our secondary roads so we’re not putting all of the traffic on the same few “main” roads. We’re never going to get rid of traffic, but I think there are some common-sense things we can do to make it better, and I’d like to see us get started.

4. If you could eliminate or substantially reduce one line item in Watauga County’s budget, what would it be and why?

If I could substantially reduce one line item, I would look closely at outside consulting and professional services. I think we should use outside consultants when we truly need expertise that we don’t have in-house, but we should regularly ask whether that expense is still necessary or whether the work can be handled by county staff. My approach to the budget would be to look for areas where we can save money without cutting services people depend on. I’d rather find savings through efficiency, eliminating unnecessary expenses, and making better use of the resources we already have than make cuts just for the sake of making cuts. As a taxpayer, I want to know that every dollar being spent has a good reason behind it.

5. Do you support or oppose the County’s distribution of sales tax revenue to the County municipalities based on an “ad valorem” versus “per capita” formula? Please explain.

I think this is a question where I would want to look at the actual numbers before saying that one method is automatically more fair than the other. To me, it is a little like asking whether a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable. There is a reasonable argument for both methods, but I think the important part is understanding what the numbers actually show.

The ad valorem method distributes sales tax based on property tax value, while the per capita method distributes it based on population. In 2013, when the County changed from per capita to ad valorem, there was a significant financial difference between the two methods. The County and several municipalities worked out an arrangement where Beech Mountain, Blowing Rock, and Seven Devils agreed to provide the County a percentage of the financial change back to the County.

I also think it is important to remember that the numbers from 2013 are now more than a decade old. Watauga County’s population, property values, and tax base have changed significantly since then. I would want to see an updated comparison showing what each municipality and the County would receive under both formulas before taking a firm position.

That history tells me this is not simply a question of one formula being right and the other being wrong. Different municipalities can be affected differently depending on their population, property values, and the services they provide. The county also had the opportunity to change it back under democratic control several years later and they did not.

My goal would be to make sure the distribution is fair, predictable, and allows the County and municipalities to responsibly plan their budg