Press release from the Buncombe County Republican Party:
Anthony Penland has been nominated to fill the unexpired term of Mike Fryar on the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners.
Anthony Penland is a lifelong resident of the Swannanoa community in Buncombe County. He attended Swannanoa Elementary School and is a 1986 graduate of Charles D. Owen High School. After graduating from high school, Anthony attended Montreat-Anderson College and the University of North Carolina at Asheville studying accounting, business administration and history. In 1990 he joined the Swannanoa Volunteer Fire Department as a volunteer firefighter and in 1992 was elected to the fire department board of directors, holding the office of treasurer until his hiring as a full-time firefighter in 1995. In 2001 Anthony was appointed fire chief of the department. With Anthony’s time as treasurer and his tenure as the fire chief, he has 20 years of budgeting experience with a nonprofit corporation. He has been in public service for thirty years.
Anthony holds an Associate Degree in Fire Protection Technology from AB Tech and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Fire and Emergency Service Administration from Fayetteville State University. Anthony has received his Chief Fire Officer Designation from the Center of Public Safety Excellence. He has served and is serving on several local, regional and state organizational boards that are dedicated to improving the safety of our public servants and better protection for our citizens. He currently serves the Western North Carolina Association of Firefighters as the secretary. He is the immediate past president of the North Carolina State Firefighters Association, having served and chaired the legislative committee. Being an advocate for the 50,000 firefighters who make up the state association. He is a past president of the Buncombe County Fire Chief’s Association.
Anthony is an avid sports fan and started his many years of coaching at Charles D. Owen Park coaching the Senior Babe Ruth Team. In 1989 Anthony started out what would turn into a 28-year run of coaching and mentoring our youth, while coaching football, baseball and basketball.
In Anthony’s professional and volunteer service he has dedicated himself to putting others before self.
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