Leland swears in new Town Council

Leland, NC (WWAY) — It was a changing of the guard in Leland Thursday night, following November elections some new faces joined the town council.

Some were sworn in and there was a reception. Jane Crowder and Jon Tait are new Council members. Brenda Bozeman becomes Mayor of Leland. Pat Battleman was appointed Mayor Pro Tem. The Leland Town Council is now decidedly female.

Walter Futch and Herbert Barnes left office with Thursday night’s meeting, and David Hollis took over as Town Manager from Bill Farris.

We asked Mr. Barnes for some parting advice for the new town council. “Be open, whatever happens let the chips fall where they may then let the public know this is what we have done. Gain the public trust, we don’t have the public trust right now.”

Herbert Barnes also told us he wants to see more people get and vote in Leland, he added “if you don’t vote you can’t complain”.

The minutes of several town closed session meetings were unsealed, WWAY will investigate those minutes.