LELAND — Leland voters went in a new direction in the municipal elections, electing newcomers Frank Pendleton and Leland Hyer to the Leland Town Council and unseating council member Bill McHugh.
ALSO: Leland council initiates open-burn ban for land-clearing amid public outcry
Pendleton led all candidates with 3,142 votes. Hyer, the other successful newcomer, secured the second seat with 2,588 votes, defeating incumbent McHugh, who finished third with 2,401 votes. The 187-vote margin between Hyer and McHugh falls outside the state’s 1% recount threshold.
This year’s municipal election had a surge in citizen engagement overall. In the race for two council seats, approximately 5,151 individual voters cast a ballot in 2025, a jump of more than 140% from the estimated 2,139 voters who participated in 2023.
The two seats up for grabs were held by McHugh (D) and Richard Holloman (R), the latter of whom did not seek re-election.
With the addition of Pendleton and Hyer, both registered Republicans, the five-member town council is now composed of a majority of Republican members — Veronica Carter unaffiliated — though the races are nonpartisan.
Pendleton, a business executive with self-storage company Boxwell, said he believes his high vote count was a direct result of voter frustration with the previous council’s handling of fiscal policy and development. He told Port City Daily voters he spoke with were primarily motivated by two issues. One came with the town’s 2024 tax increase. It was raised by 17%, though originally was pitched 70% until residents pushed back.
The other issues Pendleton said voters expressed frustration with was over open burning. Council recently passed a ban on development-related land clearing open burning in October, just days after a large burn was conducted near the Brunswick Forest neighborhoods. Pendleton pointed to the contentious council meeting where the ban was enacted as a moment solidifying voter dissent.
“There were probably 450 or 500 people in the Leland Cultural Arts Center, and they refused to let anyone speak,” Pendleton said. “The whole meeting lasted less than 10 minutes, so people were upset about that, and I think they carried that to the polls, and they said, ‘You know, the current council isn’t listening to us.’”
Pendleton campaigned on a promise of bringing professional accountability and transparency to the council, which he said resonated with voters who felt current leadership was not listening and important decisions were being made behind closed doors. He held public forums during his campaign for voters to voice their opinions and plans to continue his campaign-trail efforts while in office to ensure all residents feel heard.
“What it felt like is that the town council meetings were planned theater, like there was a pre-meeting where everything was decided, and that what was in front of the public was simply for show,” Pendleton stated. “I think people need to see the real discussions, and they need to feel like their comments, when they go up and offer their three minutes of speaking, that it has an impact.”
With experience managing corporate budgets, Pendleton is committed to scrutinizing the town’s finances, stating he will prioritize needs over wants come budget season.
“I want to look at the budgets, I want to look at the head count,” Pendleton explained. “I want to make sure we’ve got the right people in the right positions and we’re spending the right amount of money.”
Pendleton is ready to work with remaining council members, Carter and Bob Campbell, as well as Mayor Brenda Bozeman and fellow newcomer Hyer. He said he will emphasize professionalism and respect, to “build alliances” on issues that matter to the public.
“I don’t expect that we’ll ever agree on everything, and that’s OK because in many cases, disagreement is healthy,” Pendleton said. “That way, you learn to understand someone else’s perspective, and it gives you the opportunity to gain more insight into an issue that you may have pigeonholed yourself in.”
The second new voice joining the council is Hyer, a long-time educator and school administrator who is focused on balanced, community-minded planning. Hyer, who holds two master’s degrees — one in STEM Education and another in school administration — campaigned on the belief that Leland council leaders must manage rapid growth without overburdening residents. Speaking with Port City Daily about his campaign, Hyer pointed to essential services needing to keep up with development — a refrain he heard on the campaign trail frequently.
There are people in nice, well-developed neighborhoods who don’t have cell service and are concerned that they can’t call for an ambulance, or they can’t call for police or fire if they can’t get cell service,” he said. “They’re just concerned that our infrastructure is not keeping pace with the growth in our community.”
The town has the authority to advocate for issues like improvements to major state roads, such as state-maintained U.S. 17 and N.C. 133, or the regulation of cell service providers to mandate better coverage.
“There are many things that we need to advocate for,” Hyer said. “I think that role of advocacy is one that I’m looking for, to take those concerns from our citizens to whoever is the regulatory authority that governs roads or cell service or or any other aspect of infrastructure.”
Also eager to foster more public participation, Hyer intends to initiate a civic leadership program aimed at involving residents directly in the governance process. He modeled the idea after successful municipal initiatives, specifically citing programs like “Leadership Raleigh,” which offer participants an intensive, months-long view into the inner workings of local government, budgeting, and community issues.
“I think that it’s time for us to have something like that in Leland,” Hyer said. “What I’d like to do is get more people involved in the governance of our town.”
He stressed his education and experience — which includes time working as a staffer in the U.S. House of Representatives and eight years as a financial representative with Northwestern Mutual — have prepared him to prioritize collaboration and civility on the new council.
“I think the key to this is relationships and civility and agreeing to disagree at times,” Hyer said. “We may not always agree, but I will always be civil with my colleagues.”
His collaborative approach has already extended to outgoing member McHugh, who Hyer messaged a lot back and forth during his campaign run.
“[Bill] has pledged to help me in any way he possibly can,” Hyer said, “and I know that the reason he did that is he loves the Town of Leland and he wants there to be some consistency in the leadership.”
As the election closes the chapter on McHugh’s four-year term, the sitting council member said he is open to serving as a resource for Pendleton and Hyer if needed. McHugh mentioned sometimes the systems in which the state operates can be convoluted.
He also reflected on pride for his accomplishments while serving on the council.
“We’ve set the course for the next 20 years of this community,” McHugh said, highlighting key actions during his term, including the implementation of the 20-year road resurfacing program and securing the development-related burn ban.
Losing to Hyer by just under 200 votes, McHugh ultimately attributed the thin margins and high voter engagement to disagreement among residents over Leland’s pace of change, still calling the large turnout “wonderful.”
“I think it speaks to how rapidly this region is changing and developing and you know, for better or for worse, people are concerned,” McHugh stated. “There’s people that want to keep the train rolling, there’s people that want to see things slow down, and I think that’s got them more engaged.”
Despite his defeat, McHugh confirmed his commitment to the town is far from over. While he is unsure of next steps moving forward, he desires to stay involved with the community.
Regarding unfinished business, McHugh recently set in motion a discussion on the town’s tree canopy ordinances, for which he had directed town staff to investigate and prepare findings for council’s consideration in early 2026.
“I’ve already told the two incoming election winners that this is coming, so I hope that they’ll be prepared and that they’ll take actual action to do more to protect trees and the tree canopy,” McHugh said.
The election results will be officially certified following the Brunswick County canvass on Nov 14. If the results stand, Pendleton and Hyer will be sworn in and officially take their seats at the town council meeting on Dec. 18.
[Ed. note: The article has been amended after press to correct the party affiliation of council member Veronica Carter, who is registered as Unaffiliated, not as a Democrat.]
Have tips or suggestions for Charlie Fossen? Email charlie@localdailymedia.com
Want to read more from PCD? Subscribe now and then sign up for our morning newsletter, Wilmington Wire, and get the headlines delivered to your inbox every morning.
