Cold Spring Mayor D. Angelo Penque is seeking his third term this November, and his challenger Stephen Cunningham hopes to be elected for his first.
Penque was elected Cold Spring mayor in 2015, and he said his top priority at the time was public safety. Today, he tells LINK nky that safety, specifically “creating a first-in-class Police Department,” has been one of his most significant accomplishments as mayor thus far.
Safety is something he said made him want to run for mayor in the first place.
“My desire to become mayor stemmed from the discovery of used needles on the street in our community,” Penque said. “I knew something needed to be done, and when the current mayor (Nancy Bay) decided not to run again for office, I felt that based on my law enforcement and private sector business experience, that I was well equipped to serve as Mayor of Cold Spring.”
Safety of all citizens, fiscal responsibility and transparency are Cunningham’s top priorities should he be elected to office, he said.
Regarding transparency, Cunningham said one of his biggest plans is to immediately implement the city checkbook online so citizens can monitor financial maneuvers anytime they want.
Cunningham said his interest in politics started in 2014 when he started following local government.
He first considered running for Campbell County Commission District 2 because he thought the current commissioner, Geoff Besecker, would run for a different position. Cunningham said he dropped out when he found out that Besecker was running for reelection.
Cunningham has lived in Northern Kentucky all his life.
He grew up in Alexandria and has spent 17 years living in Cold Spring. He said it’s important to have someone running the city who is familiar with the area and noted that the current mayor is not from Northern Kentucky.
“I’ve got so many relationships, friends, people I know in this area that know what kind of person I am,” Cunningham said. “Life is about relationships in the mind of many, and I certainly have that. I do my best to be nice to everyone.”
Cunningham is a PGA Class A professional and worked at AJ Jolly from 2011-2017 as the assistant golf professional. From there, he went to Pendleton Hills in Butler, Kentucky, and became the head golf professional. He said the course was financially on its last leg, and he was part of the resurgence.
He said his efforts at Pendleton Hills didn’t go unnoticed. He was inducted into the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame this year for his contributions to the golf business.
He is now a stay-at-home dad to his two young kids. He said it’s “the toughest job I’ve ever had.”
Cunningham currently serves as Treasurer of the Campbell County Republican Party.
One thing he said he has learned from that position that would carry over to mayor should he be elected is accountability. He said he has strict deadlines he must meet for a job that has zero pay as treasurer. He also said he treats his role as treasurer like a business, just like he would run the city of Cold Spring like a business.
Cunningham also does fundraising and event coordinating for the Campbell County Republican Party. Two of his “most notable accomplishments” he said he has had in his just over a year in the role are a golf outing and a winter mixer he planned that raised over five figures.
Penque was born and raised in New York and lived in Virginia for 40 years before residing in Cold Spring in 2011.
Before his move to Northern Kentucky, Penque spent 30 years in law enforcement as a detective for the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and as chief of police for Middleburg, Virginia.
Before joining the police force, he served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War era.
He said those combined experiences taught him “discipline, teamwork, and sometimes you need to be tough to get things done.”
Penque has a background in business, running resorts and restaurants, along with his own small business.
After he moved, he said he felt the need to become involved in the city.
“Given my life-long history of public service, I again felt the need to become involved,” he said.
Before he was elected mayor, Penque served on the Cold Spring Board of Adjustments.
Aside from safety, Penque said some of his accomplishments as mayor thus far are the construction of the new community center and amphitheater. He said this creates a “meeting hub” for residents, which was done debt free.
Penque said he has focused on investing in “skilled public works and city administration teams that work closely together for the benefit of Cold Spring residents.”
Lastly, he said the city had not seen a property tax increase since he took office, and they have had a budget surplus every year.
He said he would continue to work on these things should he be reelected.
Penque said you couldn’t stop progress in the city, but you can work to ensure “smart growth” happens.
“You can’t, unfortunately, agree with everyone,” Penque said. “You can’t tell everyone you’ll take care of everything they want. It’s impossible and a naïve outlook. I have led the city as a full-time mayor for the past seven years, working under the premise of doing what is best for the city as a whole. That has been my guiding compass in all the decisions I have made on behalf of the city’s residents.”
