Controversial Facebook post ignites war of words among Pender County leaders

PENDER COUNTY (WWAY) — Over a month ago, WWAY posted a story on the station’s website about the arrest of Theodore Wilson for the possession of fentanyl.  

His photo was reposted on the Pender County Republicans Facebook group by Rufus Temple, the Precinct Chair of Lower Topsail.  

In the Facebook post, Temple compared Wilson to Pender County Commissioner Dr. Jimmy Tate, saying quote “Looks a lot like Jimmy Tate. Maybe it’s his long-lost cousin.”  

Current Chairman of Pender County Board of Commissioners, Randy Burton, responded on Facebook saying quote “This is a personal attack on another human, we citizens of Pender County are better than that.”  

“It’s not about personal attacks. If we have visions and issues, policies, we can talk and debate that. Politics are a nasty thing, and I got to know about that back in 2018 on another election and through this process, you see people’s underlying true colors, but personal attacks have no place in the public light,” said Burton.  

The dispute spilled over to the front page of the Pender-Topsail Post and Voice which labeled the post as a racist Facebook remark.  

The paper, published by Andy Pettigrew, has included critical cartoons of Pender commissioners, insinuating their puppets. 

Pettigrew later sued the commission for withdrawing advertisements. 

“It’s over 100,000 dollars that was spent by Pender County. Three commissioners voted for that, to end that relationship, and ever since they’ve lashed out at those commissioners,” said Temple. 

Temple claims the paper is now painting him as a racist, which he says were far from his intentions. 

 “This is about a local husband and wife ‘newspaper’ team that has a track record of harassing, intimidating, and smearing people that they see as in their way,” said Temple.  

Temple says his article is another personal move. 

“They’ve smeared their names, and now they’re going after me because I challenged them on Facebook about a non-issue,” stated Temple.  

In his post battle with Burton, Temple claims Burton should focus on pressing issues within the county, such as pressing growth, unhindered development, and traffic. 

Burton says politics has become too personal. 

“We need to focus on issues; we need to focus on the general population we deserve,” said Burton. 

Ultimately, the victim in this whirlwind is Dr. Tate, who claims he wants to rise above.  

“Unfortunately, due to the advisement, I cannot comment on the post made by Mr. Temple at this time,” said Tate.