CAROLINA BEACH — Former council members in one beach town attended their last meeting this month, as two new members prepare to be sworn in at the beginning of December in Carolina Beach. Mike Hoffer and Joe Benson are wrapping up their four-year terms, as Wayne Rouse and Vincent Losito prepare to take over their seats.
READ MORE: Carolina Beach vendors face stricter ATV regulations
ALSO: CB residents could get new neighbors: Miniature goats
In the Nov. 4 election, Carolina Beach residents Rouse — former planning board chair and board of adjustment vice chair — and Losito, an accountant, secured their places on the council in a runaway race, as no one else filed to run. Mayor Lynn Barbee also was re-elected to serve his third term.
Rouse, Losito and Barbee are expected to be sworn in during the Dec. 9 council meeting
Losito moved to Carolina Beach six years ago. He and his wife were frequent visitors from Greensboro for 14 years before they made the move and opened Island Accounting and Taxes. Losito began immersing himself into the community and has since served on the Carolina Beach Centennial Committee, Carolina Beach Mural Project and Police Foundation.
Rouse has been a pillar of Carolina Beach for more than 15 years — from working in local government to conducting nonprofit work with Crawl for Paws, co-founded by Rouse in 2014. A 501(c)(3), Crawl for Paws raises money for local charities, nonprofits, and animal shelters in the county; the nonprofit donated to the Carolina Beach Police Department’s K-9 unit in the past.
Rouse also fundraises for the Carolina Beach Police Department and serves with Losito on the Carolina Beach Police Foundation.
His first time running for town council, Rouse said it wasn’t his idea to throw his hat into the ring.
“In one night, four people asked me if I was going to be home,” he recalled. “And one, two, three, four people stopped by to tell me I need to run for office.”
Though he said he did not campaign, Rouse said he decided to give in to their requests to help his community. They asked for help, he explained, and he answered.
It’s Losito’s second time running for council; he lost to Hoffer and Benson in 2021 by 643 and 701 votes respectively. But this year Losito sought the seat again to address infrastructure needs in Carolina Beach — in particular, budgeting for it. He took what he learned from his first time running and applied it this year, such as utilizing contacts made when campaigning in 2021 to help advertise his candidacy and get out into the community.
“There were a lot of things I didn’t know about how government is run, versus private industry,” Losito said about his first campaign, “and what actually goes on behind the scenes of the town. Having learned a lot over the last four years, that helped with running this time.”
Losito has spoken to both exiting council members Benson and Hoffer since the election has passed, he said.
“They both, through their experiences, said: ‘Don’t get distracted by the things that aren’t necessarily as important. Keep an eye on the priorities, have a thick skin, and stay off of Facebook.’”
Benson told Port City Daily he wanted to step down to focus on his personal life and his business, Air Commando Enterprises, LLC. He also plans to work on building his “contract gig.”
Having served on Carolina Beach town council for four years and before that was voted as mayor in 2017, Benson said he is proud of his accomplishments. But he attributed the “real” work to town staff. Yet, one stand-out initiative he was proud to take on: highlighting the infrastructure needs on the north end of Canal Drive and the continued impacts on local residents.
Canal Drive has been the subject of much frustration for Carolina Beach residents. The north end of the road has consistently been inundated with flooding from storms and King Tides for years, which causes ongoing road closures and creates barriers for residents traveling from their homes to the store, work, school and the like.
Also an issue: rising sea levels that cannot be mitigated by stormwater systems.
To date, there has been construction on the stormwater drains and irrigation systems at Scotch Bonnett Lane and Clam Shell Lane, funded by FEMA. It’s set to be completed within three months, according to Benson.
“A municipal government owes its citizens a serviceable road. That’s nothing extraordinary or unprecedented,” Benson said.
Hoffer called Benson his “brother from another mother” and described his colleague as a watchdog, ensuring town staff was on top of ongoing projects on Canal Drive and improving infrastructure of the roads.
Any regrets Benson has had during his term has come from a failure to respond to the community’s needs and people who reached out to him, he added.
Hoffer, who served one term on council but decided not to campaign again because of fatigue, said going into local government with a specific priority or passion makes for better results.
“When you run on a really specific agenda, like I did, you got to work hard to try and show the world you’re going to accomplish some of these goals,” Hoffer said.
Hoffer was advocating for making the town greener and safer for cyclists and pedestrians before he ran for council the first time. He served on the Bike/Pedestrian Committee for six years just prior to running in 2021. Hoffer also served on the planning board with Rouse around six or seven years ago.
Hoffer has been pleased with doing his part on the beautification committee, including the facilitation of planting a hundred canopy trees along medians and sidewalks over four years. He wants to continue working with the committee as well and will keep his eye on the groundbreaking of St. Joseph Street’s multi-use path construction, already approved. The project was supposed to be completed by spring of 2025 but has been delayed.
Hoffer said he has already encouraged both Losito and Rouse to find something they’re passionate about and make it a priority during their terms.
For Rouse it is support for first responders and public safety officers — including staffing, funding, and resources like equipment.
“We have to plan because of the type of community we are. We’re a resort area. We’re visitor driven,” Rouse said, pointing out increased occupancy and population sizes during beach seasons. “We have to have the resources to manage that kind of crowd.”
With a background in finance, Losito believes he will bring value by aiding town staff in its budgeting needs. While Losito lauded the staff for the work already done, he believes having someone on council with a background in finance would be an improvement to how decisions are made and reviewed.
“I think having a finance set of eyes on things lets us take a different view of the budget process than we’ve traditionally had in areas where we could spend a little better,” Losito said.
Carolina Beach has a $35.8 million budget for the 2025-2026 year. It funds new personnel — which makes up a lion’s share of the general fund at $12 million — and maintenance to stormwater force main and piping, comprising the bulk of the enterprise fund at $8.7 million.
Also building upon the priority from Benson’s term, Losito wants to put together a maintenance plan for Canal Drive’s north end. He imagines any work will require digging the pipes from under the street to see what the issue is exactly.
Storms like 2024’s Potential Tropical Cyclone 8 brought upward of 20 inches of rain to the island in some areas and contributed to Losito’s desire to improve the town’s maintenance schedule and planning. He called the changes that followed — cleaning out drains, for example — “reactionary” when it should have been routine care.
Stormwater management is another concern of Rouse’s. He thinks a plan should be put into place for stormwater retention program upgrades — updating more pipes and improving the sewer system. He said the improvements would then lead to more water storage capacity, or the ability to add more.
Rouse is thinking ahead to the growth of the town and increased tourists to the area. According to NCDEQ, Carolina Beach’s water supply demand is 53% of the total supply, but demand is expected to increase over the next few decades, with the demand being 66% of the total water supply in 2060.
Rouse said the infrastructure plans would be a long-term goal, extending past the four years of his term — and Losito’s. However, creating a template for the project’s duration, whether it be 10 or 15 years, will allow future council members and town staff to have a guide to follow.
Rouse said paying for stormwater retention program and irrigation system will taking strategic planning when it comes to funding — ”and then understanding and setting expectations for the project that things are going to be done within budget and on time,”
While Losito doesn’t presume to immediately have the answers or long-term solutions, he agreed devising a plan and timeline on stormwater and flooding solutions is important, but more so to communicate it to the community — and that includes offering more clarity on town dealings, like the budget.
“We can do a better job of explaining where there are larger fluctuations year over year in the budget,” Losito said, adding that residents should be able to understand why their taxes go up when and if they do.
Though taxpayers didn’t see a tax increase this year in Carolina Beach, they did in 2024 by 9%.
Transparency remains top of mind for Losito. He did not believe the best method for communication with residents, whether through the town or council members, involved posting about decisions and news on social media or Facebook. Losito said it often gets buried, lost, or muddied with other information or new posts.
Eager to begin his term alongside Rouse, Losito called his fellow council member a friend and someone whose background of working on the planning board would add valuable insights and opinions to the council.
“Wayne Rouse has more institutional knowledge of what goes on in Carolina Beach than most anybody,” Losito said.
Rouse was appointed in 2017 as chair of the planning board. During his time on the board, he has overseen proposals from Harmony Hospitality for its incoming SpringHill Suites, the parking program’s free parking extension from 2022, among other projects and rezoning requests.
When Losito first met Rouse four years ago, he said he was running for town council. Rouse was moderating a candidates’ panel at Good Hops Brewing and despite knowing that Losito was new, didn’t ask any “gotcha” questions.
“I stayed close with Wayne over the last four years and he’s such a huge source of information,” Losito said.
Losito said once sworn-in, he hopes to lead by example — not just empty words.
“The passion for the community of Carolina Beach is what’s driving me, so hopefully that helps in the leadership capacity,” he said.
As for what’s next for Benson, he said he will be giving back to the community by helping a “lone fashion victim,” referring to Hoffer — who protested and said Benson should look in a mirror. But in all seriousness, Hoffer commented that in two years, when the terms of Mayor Pro Tem Deb LeCompte and council member Jay Healy end, Hoffer may seek re-election.
“I don’t mind giving the town two terms,” he said. “I just can’t give them two back-to-back.”
Mayor Barbee wasn’t available for an interview.
The Dec. 9 meeting where both new council members and the mayor will be sworn in can be found here.
Have tips or suggestions for Emily Sawaked? Email emily@localdailymedia.com
At Port City Daily, we aim to keep locals informed on top-of-mind news facing the tri-county region. To support our work and help us reach more people in 2026, please, consider helping one of two ways: Subscribehere or make a one-time contributionhere.
We appreciate your ongoing support.
