Skip Watkins

New Hanover County’s Board of Commission has three of five seats open this year.  

Jonathan Barfield is the only incumbent  running for re-election, while Commissioners Pat Kusek and Woody White are not.  As part of the 2020 CoastLine Candidate Interviews, WHQR spoke with all six of the candidates.  Here are excerpts from interviews with three of them.

New Hanover County’s Board of Commissioners has five seats.  Each member is elected to a staggered, four-year term.  In 2020, there are three open seats.

New Hanover County voters have created a Democratic majority on the Board of Commissioners.  And they’ve added a few to what was a fully Republican Board of Education.

Julia Olson-Boseman is running for one of two open seats on the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners.  The Democratic challenger is in a field of four candidates:  two incumbents – Republican Skip Watkins and Democrat Rob Zapple – and a Republican challenger – Eric Lytle.  

Republican incumbent Skip Watkins is running for a second term on the Board of Commissioners in New Hanover County.  He’s in the race for the two seats with Democratic Incumbent Rob Zapple, also a Board member of WHQR, and two challengers:  Democrat Julia Olson-Boseman and Republican Eric Lytle.  

New Hanover County Commissioners have rejected a proposed limit on travel expenses for Board Members. 

At Monday's regular meeting, Commissioner Woody White suggested travel decisions be shaped by the answers to three questions.

"Is the travel, whether it’s by a commissioner or particularly by employees or department heads and so forth, is it necessary for licensing and certification?  Secondly, is the topic of the conference relevant to an issue we’re addressing?"

New Hanover County residents will see a two-cent property tax increase in the next fiscal year. 

This broadcast of CoastLine originally aired on January 14, 2015. 

Seating the two newest commissioners in New Hanover County has been anything but smooth. 

New Hanover County Commissioners are likely to decide next week whether to green-light the issuance of a $40 million bond to pay for construction and repair projects at Cape Fear Community College. 

Four candidates competing for two seats on the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners met Monday night in WHQR's MC Erny Gallery to distinguish themselves from their opponents. 

In yesterday’s municipal elections, Wilmington’s three incumbent city council candidates kept their seats, beating out three challengers. Kevin O’Grady, Charlie Rivenbark and Earl Sheridan will all begin new four-year terms. Mayor Bill Saffo, who ran unopposed, will also continue to serve the city for another two-year term.

In yesterday’s municipal elections, Wilmington’s three incumbent city council candidates kept their seats, beating out three challengers. Kevin O’Grady, Charlie Rivenbark and Earl Sheridan will all begin new four-year terms. Mayor Bill Saffo, who ran unopposed, will also continue to serve the city for another two-year term.

Last night’s race was a close one. It wasn’t until close to ten o’clock last night that incumbent Earl Sheridan, a political science professor at UNCW, pulled slightly ahead of Skip Watkins, a local financial advisor.

The role of WAVE Transit – the public transportation system – that operates both within and beyond Wilmington City limits -- has evolved into a source of heated debate between the city and the county. 

Six Wilmingtonians are running for three open spots on their city’s council. And curbing Wilmington’s highly publicized crime rate is a top priority for each. The hopefuls agree that higher police officer pay would fortify intervention efforts; however, they have disparate ideas when it comes to preventing the root causes of crime. The value of youth-oriented social services is the source of greatest contention.

Skip Watkins says he’s dreamed of serving in public office his whole life. A father, financial advisor and longtime volunteer with the Cape Fear Festival and Expo and the Azalea Festival, Watkins cites frustration over Wilmington City Council’s recent efforts to acquire a minor-league baseball stadium as the catalyst that ultimately spurred him to run for a seat on the Council. If elected, Skip Watkins hopes to provide the City with a dose of what he describes as “fiscal guidance.”