About Sally Kost

Sally, a native North Carolinian, and her family have lived in the Triangle area for over twenty years. They reside with their three dogs in northeast Chatham, east of Jordan Lake.

Sally and her husband Tom have been married for 32 years. Tom is a molecular biologist at GlaxoSmithKline. They have one son, Ryan, a graduate student in cultural anthropology at George Mason University.
Sally is running as a team with Jeffery Starkweather (District 2). Kost said, “Our experiences in public financing, economic development, land-use planning and citizen advocacy make us keenly aware of the costs and impacts of unmanaged growth and the importance of open, responsible and informed governance.”

Sally earned her undergraduate degree in political science from North Carolina State University. She earned her Masters in Public Administration from Tennessee State University, and has worked in the public sector for over twenty years. Her career path has been in public budgeting, school finance, and long range planning.In addition to her political advocacy, Sally has extensive professional experience in government. Having worked at all levels of government, federal, state and local. Sally enjoyed county government the most. “County government is the level of government closest and most accessible to citizens.”

Sally with her son Ryan and husband Tom.

Before returning to North Carolina, Sally worked as a school program auditor for the State of Tennessee; as a fiscal analyst for the Nebraska Legislature; and as a budget analyst for the Federal Reserve in Washington, DC.
In North Carolina, Sally has worked for local government, dealing with many of the issues and challenges that Chatham now faces. As budget director for Orange County from 1991 to 1997, Sally was involved with two bond campaigns, capital financing, debt modeling, helping to develop school building design standards, and administering a $90 million budget. She previously served as a budget analyst and budget director in Wake County, where she spent much of her time on school capital planning.

Sally is currently chair of the Chatham County Planning Board. She is the former vice chair of the Chatham Coalition and until announcing her candidacy for county commissioner, she was the precinct chair for the East Williams Democratic Precinct.

Sally has worked on community and environmental issues for many years and is a member of the Haw River Assembly, Sierra Club, and Nature Conservancy. She is also a member of the Triangle J Smart Growth Committee, Chatham‘s Major Corridor Task Force, and the Chatham County Democratic Women.