Pender County Commissioners votes against resolutions for new district maps, change to district voting

BURGAW, NC (WWAY) — A possible change to Pender County’s districts was not approved Monday night, just one day before the primary election.

Commissioner Brent Springer’s motion to approve the resolution to redistrict, or redraw the county’s five districts, did not receive a second, which means Springer’s motion died.

Springer introduced the resolution back in January in an effort to give the eastern, coastal half of the county, which has a higher population, more voting power.

The county’s districts were last drawn using data from the 2010 census.

Resident Frankie Saunders said Tuesday’s primary election may have influenced the board’s decisions.

“They’re trying to shove as much down our throats as they can before they get elected cause they know there is a lot of people that just does not agree with anything they’ve done and so they know they stand a chance to be voted out and hopefully they are,” Saunders said.

Commissioner Jimmy Tate then made a motion to have staff look at what it would take for the county to change to district voting, which would see each candidate elected by their specific district, not the entire county.

Back in January, during the meeting where he first proposed the resolution, Springer voiced opposition to district voting.

“East side is what puts most of us in office,” Springer said.

“What does that have to do with anything?,” Tate asks.

“Well, if you go to district voting, you’re gonna have potentially a Democrat sitting up here versus a Republican, right? And right now, we allegedly have an all Republican board,” Springer said.

Commissioner Brad George said he was surprised Springer’s resolution was not passed and added he was not sure if the primary had any effect.

He supported Tate’s motion and said residents deserve to have ther voiced heard.

“That motion put the choice in the voters’ hands,” George said. “And I think the citizens, they’re, they’re the ones that need to decide this. I mean, we’ve made a lot of decisions up there that’s not been very popular that we got no community input, no citizen input. And the taxpayers are the ones that pay the tax bill that pays for Pender County to operate.”

The board voted 3-2 against Tate’s motion, with Commissioners Jerry Groves, Randy Burton, and Springer voting against it.

This means the topic of redistricting county commission districts is tabled for now, but could be revisited closer to the 2030 census.