Pender Commissioners Take Up Vacant District 1 Seat Again Oct 5
The Pender County Board of Commissioners agenda for Oct 5, 2026, lists the appointment to the vacant District 1 seat as item 4.1. (Pender County, via CivicClerk)
We read the county’s posted agendas for Sept 8, Sept 21 and Oct 5, the full Oct 5 agenda packet, and the two state laws that govern the empty seat and the board’s quorum.
The District 1 Seat and the Oct 5 Meeting
- The vacancy: the five-member Pender County Board of Commissioners has had four members since Aug 1, when District 1 Commissioner Brad George’s resignation took effect.
- What waited: the Sept 21 meeting had no quorum, which held up a water grant resolution facing a Sept 30 state deadline, two sewer-related zoning hearings in Topsail Township, and about $2.5 million in contracts.
- Oct 5: the appointment is item 4.1 on the agenda for the 6 p.m. meeting in Burgaw, along with most of the delayed business.
- Nov 3: Republican Shayne Frey and Democrat Tim Zizack are on the ballot for the seat, and every Pender County voter votes in that race.
The Pender County Board of Commissioners has been one member short since Aug 1. On Sept 21 that shortage, combined with two absences, left the board unable to vote on anything.
The business that waited included a $28 million water project application with a state deadline of Sept 30, and two zoning hearings for sewer and wastewater facilities in Topsail Township. Most of it is back on the board’s Oct 5 agenda, along with a vote to fill the empty seat.
What the Vacancy Has Delayed
A county board needs a majority of its full membership present to act, and an empty seat does not lower that number. State law, G.S. 153A-43, says so directly: “The number required for a quorum is not affected by vacancies.”
For Pender’s five-seat board, that means three commissioners in the room. With only four seats filled, two absences are enough to stop a meeting.
That happened Sept 21 at the Hampstead Annex, located at 15060 US 17 in Hampstead. Chair Randy Burton was in Florida on business, and Commissioner Jerry Groves said in an email he would not attend “for my personal safety,” WECT reported. Vice Chair Brent Springer and Commissioner Jimmy Tate were there, and no votes could be taken.
We compared the Sept 21 agenda with the one posted for Oct 5. Six of the larger items from Sept 21, and where each stands now:
| Item | Oct 5 Agenda |
|---|---|
| Grant application resolution for the West Pender Water Project | Back on the agenda |
| Rezoning of about 32 acres for a wastewater treatment facility in Topsail Township | 8 p.m. public hearing |
| Revised permit for a sewer treatment facility in Topsail Township | 8 p.m. public hearing |
| $1,171,729 contract for the county’s Well Filtration Project | Back on the agenda |
| $1,328,425 increase for the county fleet garage design | Back on the agenda |
| Rezoning of about 630 acres for 1,023 homes in Long Creek Township | Not on the agenda |
The water item had the tightest clock. The county is applying for a $25 million state loan and a $3 million state grant to run water lines into western Pender County, and the application was due Sept 30, Port City Daily reported. After talking with the funding agency, the county is moving ahead with the application, Fox Wilmington reported Sept 25, and the board’s resolution is now set for Oct 5.
Why the District 1 Seat Is Empty
The seat has been open since Aug 1, and the Republican Party’s pick to fill it has been challenged inside the party and tabled by the board. The steps so far:
| Date | What Happened |
|---|---|
| Aug 1 | Brad George’s resignation from the District 1 seat takes effect, Port City Daily reported. |
| Aug 20 | The Pender County Republican Party’s executive committee votes 15-14 to recommend Beth Burns, a member of the Pender County Board of Education, over Shayne Frey, the party’s District 1 nominee for November (WECT). |
| Aug 28 | Chair Randy Burton files a complaint questioning whether Burns’ husband, a voting member of the committee, should have taken part (Port City Daily). |
| Aug 31 | The state Republican Party rules the vote stands (WECT). |
| Sept 8 | Tate moves to appoint Burns and gets no second. Springer’s motion to table the appointment “until litigation has concluded” passes 3-1, Tate opposed (WECT). |
| Sept 19 | The state party’s Plan of Organization Committee issues a final decision upholding the recommendation (Port City Daily). |
| Sept 21 | Two commissioners are absent and the meeting in Hampstead has no quorum. |
| Oct 5 | The appointment is item 4.1 on the agenda. |
How and When the Seat Gets Filled
Pender is one of the counties covered by G.S. 153A-27.1, which gives the job to the remaining commissioners. The appointee must be from the same party and the same district as the commissioner who left.
When that commissioner was elected as a party’s nominee, the board must first consult the party’s county executive committee. The law says the board “shall appoint the person recommended” if the party makes its recommendation within 30 days of the vacancy. The Republican executive committee voted 19 days after the seat opened.
The appointment is item 4.1 on the Oct 5 agenda, listed ahead of all other business. We read the full 366-page agenda packet, and it names no appointee and holds no memo or draft resolution for that item.
Whoever is appointed serves a short term. The seat is on the Nov 3 ballot, and the winner takes office in December. Pender commissioners must live in the district they represent but are elected countywide, so every Pender County voter casts a ballot in the District 1 race, according to the county’s board page.
Burns’ resignation from the Board of Education takes effect once her oath as a commissioner is filed, Pender County Schools confirmed to WECT in August.
What a Full Board Changes
The quorum stays at three whether the board has four members or five. With five seats filled, the board can have two commissioners absent and still have three present to vote.
The delayed items do not depend on the appointment. Each needs three commissioners present Oct 5, as it did Sept 21.
The Oct 5 Meeting
| Detail | Oct 5 Meeting |
|---|---|
| When | Monday, Oct 5, 6 p.m. Topsail Township zoning hearings at 8 p.m. |
| Where | Pender County Public Assembly Room, located at 805 S. Walker Street in Burgaw |
| Appointment | Item 4.1, ahead of all other business |
| Public comment | Item 7 on the agenda |
| Watch | Livestream on the county’s YouTube channel, where the Sept 8 and Sept 21 meetings are posted |
| Agenda | The county’s CivicClerk meeting portal |
| Questions | Tracy Sholders, Clerk to the Board, 910-259-1200 |
Still Open as of Oct 1, 2026
The county attorney told the board Sept 8 that “an appeal of the opinion and a demand for arbitration was filed,” WHQR reported. No court case over the appointment has been reported as of Oct 1, 2026.
Whether the state accepted the water application without the board’s resolution by Sept 30 has not been announced. The Long Creek Township rezoning has no new hearing date on the county’s posted agendas, and minutes from Sept 21 are not posted.
Sources
- NC General Assembly – G.S. 153A-43, Quorum: a majority of the membership is a quorum, and vacancies do not change the number.
- NC General Assembly – G.S. 153A-27.1, Vacancies on board of commissioners in certain counties: the appointment process, the 30-day party recommendation, and Pender’s inclusion in subsection (h).
- Pender County – Board of County Commissioners (BOCC): five members elected at large, the vacant District 1 listing, meeting times and the clerk’s number. Retrieved Oct 1, 2026.
- Pender County – CivicClerk meeting portal: posted agendas for Sept 8, Sept 21 and Oct 5, 2026, and the 366-page Oct 5 agenda packet. Retrieved Oct 1, 2026.
- Pender County – YouTube channel: livestreams of the Sept 8 and Sept 21, 2026 commissioners meetings.
- WECT – Two Pender commissioners miss meeting, lack of quorum delays move to appoint Beth Burns: who was absent Sept 21 and the reasons each gave.
- Port City Daily – Approval of waterline grant delayed after Pender leaders fail to form quorum: the loan and grant amounts and the Sept 30 deadline.
- Fox Wilmington – Grant application for western Pender County water project to proceed: the county moving ahead with the application, Sept 25.
- Port City Daily – Pender County GOP has 2 commissioner nominees to fulfill Brad George’s term: George’s Aug 1 resignation date.
- WECT – Pender GOP executive committee taps Beth Burns for county commission seat: the 15-14 vote, Burns’ background and the November District 1 candidates.
- Port City Daily – State GOP dismisses complaint against commissioner appointment in Pender County: Burton’s Aug 28 complaint and its grounds.
- WECT – NCGOP issues ruling after Pender County commissioner appointment challenged: the state party’s ruling.
- WECT – Pender Co. commissioners table Beth Burns’ interim appointment: the Sept 8 motions and the tabling vote.
- Port City Daily – State upholds appointment of interim Pender County commissioner: the Sept 19 Plan of Organization Committee decision.
- WECT – Beth Burns to leave Pender Co. school board after commission appointment: the resignation and when it takes effect.
- WHQR – Pender County Board of Commissioners discuss EMS merger and table Beth Burns’ appointment: the county attorney’s statement on the appeal and arbitration demand.
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