Rachel Lewis Hilburn

Voters turned out in larger numbers for this year’s municipal elections.  Brunswick County saw a 2% increase compared to 2017.  In Pender County, turnout ticked up about a point and a half, and in New Hanover County, 19% of registered voters cast a ballot.   That’s the biggest jump – nearly four-and-a-half points compared to 2017. 

If you traveled to London and someone asked you to tea, would you know what the invitation meant?  What about an invitation to supper, cream tea, high tea, or afternoon tea? 

The City of Southport saw all its incumbents thrown out.  The same two mayoral candidates faced off for the third consecutive time – which turned out to be the charm for Challenger Joe Pat Hatem.  He unseated Mayor Jerry Dove by a very large margin – taking 63% of the vote. 

Brenda Bozeman has served as the Mayor of Leland for eight years – which means she’s served four terms.  Here's a look at what her fifth term could mean for Leland.

H2G0 could be back on track for its own reverse osmosis water treatment plant.  Brunswick Regional Water and Sewer H2G0, the utility that serves just over eleven-thousand people in Brunswick County, is embroiled in a legal battle over its assets and direction.  

This year’s election is the closest race Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo has seen in his 12 years at the helm of city government.  It's the first serious challenge since 2007 to a Mayor now embarking upon his seventh term. 

The Town of Burgaw had three open seats on its Board; all three incumbents won re-election:  Vernon Harrell, Red Robbins, and Bill George, will serve another four years. 

In the Town of Surf City, which stretches into Onslow County, the fiercely-fought battle between long-time incumbent Mayor Doug Medlin and current City Council Member Jeremy Shugarts ended with Mayor Medlin easily winning the seat again  with 67% of the vote.

Tuesday is Election Day for most municipalities in North Carolina.  And the prevailing sense among poll workers and voters is that more people are turning out to vote in municipal elections than in years past. 

This month's topic:  Donald Trump:  Impeach or Not?  It's a look at the qualities we seek in our leaders.

At first glance, it looks as though early voting in New Hanover County is up slightly in the first twelve days compared to the last municipal election.  As of October 29th,  2019, 18% more people voted compared to 2017.   This does not necessarily mean that voter turnout as a whole will be higher in 2019; that remains to be seen. 

Greg Buscemi is hoping to be the next Mayor of Wrightsville Beach.  He’s a practicing lawyer, loves the beach, and says the current Board of Aldermen is not doing enough to communicate with its citizens.  

Jeremy Shugarts is a member of Surf City’s Town Council with two years left in his term.  But he’s running for mayor this year, partly, he says, because the Mayor controls the agenda.

Shugarts agrees with Surf City’s current strategy of keeping zoning ordinances strict on the beach while letting commercial development blossom on the mainland. But, he says, local government isn’t listening as well as it should to constituents.  One way to solve that:  create more citizen advisory committees – in addition to the existing six. 

The City of Wilmington boasts a population of around 122,600 people.   That’s a U.S. Census Bureau estimate for 2018.  But the largest municipality in New Hanover County is still expected to grow over the next quarter century, and planning officials project a population spike of about 57,000 more people by 2040.  That’s only 21 years out.   In New Hanover County, the current population is 237,689.  By 2038 – 315,475.  That’s county growth of about 33%. 

Southport is a waterfront city at the confluence of the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean in Brunswick County.  

Southport has grown by 25% in the last eight years to nearly four-thousand people.  That’s according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  The City is governed by a six-member Board of Aldermen divided into two wards.  John Allen, a candidate for one of two open seats in Ward Two, says he wants to heal the mistrust between citizens and local government.

Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and contributes to the second most cancer-related deaths in men in the United States – and in North Carolina.  That’s according to the Centers for Disease Control.  But in 2015, the cancer that killed the most North Carolinians:  lung cancer.

Oak Island Town Council member Jeff Winecoff is seeking a third term. He tells WHQR he wants to see the town’s general fund debt paid off completely – and he hopes to find grant money for a renovation of the Town’s recreation center. 

World tennis champion Althea Gibson gave Lenny Simpson his first tennis racket.   She's called one of the greatest tennis players who ever lived by the coach of Venus and Serena Williams.  She's the woman who broke the international tennis color barrier, and who now has a monument outside Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.  

Surf City is a beach town in Pender and Onslow Counties with a population of slightly more than three-thousand people.  Mayor Doug Medlin grew up on Topsail Island, raised his kids there, and now they’re raising their children in town.   

Love Letters, a play by A.R. Gurney, tells its story with two actors who sit at a table throughout, read their letters from over the years to each other, and never touch. 

There are two open seats on the board of Brunswick Regional Water and Sewer H2G0.  That’s the water and sewer utility in Brunswick County whose customer base is mostly Leland residents – one municipality within the county.  H2G0 does not however, serve Brunswick Forest and Windsor Park, but it does serve Belville, parts of Navassa, and some unincorporated areas of Northern Brunswick County.

It was January of this year that WHQR brought together about a dozen people, diverse in age, ethnicity, and political affiliation.  Our objective:  to see how the tone and quality of the group’s conversation changed over the course of the year.  And to find out whether these people could come to value spending time together. 

Leland is the most populated municipality in Brunswick County.  If Bob Campbell wins a second term on its Town Council, he says he’ll work to create more affordable housing.  

Sea levels will rise faster and higher by the end of the century than earlier estimates – even if the world meets the long-term goals set out in the Paris Agreement.  

About a dozen people, diverse in age, ethnicity, and political leanings, are engaged in a year-long experiment in civil discourse.  Each month, we bring you a conversation with members of the group.  

Lynn Barbee wants a seat on Carolina Beach Town Council.  He’s lived in the town most of his life, and he figures that gives him a good understanding of the tension between old-timers and newcomers.  

Scott Monroe’s campaign for a seat on Wilmington City Council marks his first attempt at elected office.  This former firefighter and Marine says his highest priority is smart development and improved public safety.

The Town of Leland turned thirty this month.  The current population, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, is about twenty-two-thousand people.  That’s growth of about 61% over the last nine years.