PENDER COUNTY — A slate of three new Republican members are preparing to join the Pender County Board of Commissioners with goals of controlling development, keeping county infrastructure up to date and improving staff retention. Aside from addressing starting priorities, District 1 candidate Shayne Frey also discussed his rocky road to the dais.
Though the county maintained its red status against a state of blue wave changes, two commissioner candidates ran unopposed: Andy DeVane in District 3 and incumbent Jimmy Tate in District 4.
Frey ran against Democrat Tim Zizack and received 55.71% of the vote. Ryan Collins of District 2 received 59.7% of the vote against Democrat Brookey Hardee. Frey told Port City Daily he is prepared to represent all Pender County residents in all five districts.
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He and fellow candidate Collins both cited managing growth within the county as their top priority once seated in December. Pender County is currently one of the fastest growing counties in the state and has seen a population increase of 19.8% between April 2020 and July 2025.
“One of the things that the builders developers like to do when we have RA zoning — residential or agricultural — we have a limit of one house per acre, right? They like to change that so they can get more money and put four houses on an acre,” Frey said. “I believe if the order or the UDO [Unified Development Ordinance] says one house per acre, we have to keep it that way.”
Collins did not respond to Port City Daily’s request for an interview upon winning his seat; however, in his candidate questionnaire early this fall, he had concurred with Frey’s stance on development and controlled growth.
“I do not believe we should routinely increase density through rezoning when the roads, schools, water and sewer, or emergency services cannot support that additional growth,” Collins wrote.
Commissioner Tate also did not respond to PCD’s request for an interview, but in his primary questionnaire said commissioners should enforce the Land Use Plan and development should occur where infrastructure already exists or is planned.
A representative for Pender County was not able to respond by press on how many residential developments that are not “by-right” — meaning the proposed development does not follow existing local zoning laws — are approved in the county.
Aside from controlling developments coming in, candidates also pointed to the importance of county infrastructure keeping up with the rate of development.
“We need to get our house in order,” DeVane told Port City Daily on Wednesday.
When asked about policy changes he would like to see to ensure infrastructure meets the needs of new and current residents, DeVane said he would need to talk to constituents first.
“Before we start changing policies, I want us to hear from the people who live in
those communities and let them help guide those changes,” he said. “We need to make sure our roads, schools, water, sewer, and public safety services can support growth
while protecting the quality of life for the families already here.”
Frey seemed to concur, saying the county is “behind the eight ball” in its infrastructure needs: “I don’t think anyone’s going to argue that we have a traffic problem up and down [Highway] 17. I don’t think anyone’s going to argue with you to say Pender County Schools is splitting at the seams on the east side, you know, with students.”
Seven of Pender County’s 18 schools are at 100% capacity or over. Currently the district is working on building J.H. Lea, a new K-8 school set to hold 2,300 students and renovating Topsail Middle School, which will accommodate 600 high school students.
Within the next 10 to 12 years Pender County School District is expecting an increase of 3,000 to 5,000 students. Frey suggested looking into impact fees as a means to get funding for building schools as the population grows.
Impact fees are a one-time charge imposed by local governments and paid by developers. The fees are meant to cover a development’s needed services and infrastructure — water, sewer, roads, emergency services and schools. North Carolina law only allows sewer and water system fees — a type of impact fee — but does not permit others. Approval from the state General Assembly is needed to charge general impact fees for roads, libraries, schools and parks.
“There has been other counties in North Carolina that got approval to allow additional impact fees other than just the water and sewer and the safety type stuff,” Frey said, adding that he hopes to talk to local representatives Brent Jackson and Carson Smith. “Allow us to have impact fees because we don’t have enough tax revenue to build all these schools that are required for all of the kids that are already here, let alone the ones that are coming.”
While Collins, Frey and DeVane all pointed to development and infrastructure as a top concern, DeVane did depart from the group when it came to his number one issue he believed should be addressed within the county.
“The new board should focus on personnel within the county to ensure that we can properly serve the public,” DeVane said. “We need to ensure that all departments are properly staffed, properly trained, properly funded to to serve the people of the county.” He pointed to the county’s emergency services as an example.
In July the Pender EMS and Fire merger consolidated Pender EMS and Fire, a private non-profit fire and emergency services provider, to be under county control. Pender EMS and Fire Assistant Chief Mark Haraway told commissioners between March 2025 — when the merger was announced — and October 2025, 42 employees with Pender Fire and EMS left their jobs.
Currently, 15 EMS and seven fire services vacancies remain. A county report from September noted understaffing had resulted in firehouses and EMS stations needing to close for a day.
Including emergency services a spokesperson for the county, Brandi Cobb told Port City Daily 92 county positions are currently vacant throughout 16 departments. The largest openings are 21 in the sheriff’s department, 18 in the jail and the 15 in Emergency Medical Services.
Cobb did note that 11 out of the 12 detention officer vacancies in the jail did not become active until Oct.1, meaning the county has had just over a month to fill those positions.
Other open positions include six in social services, one in the county manager’s office and one in the finance department.
When asked how he would address personnel issues, among his other priorities, DeVane said he’d need to get more information before presenting solutions.
“It’s going to be one of those until we can see underneath the hood and truly get a grasp of what’s going on, it would be hard for me to give any credence or any decision making at this time,” DeVane said.
While not stated as their number one priority, both Frey and Collins did say in their candidate questionnaires they would push for stronger employee benefits and stronger pay as a means of addressing county staff retention rates.
Frey also addressed the recent challenges presented to his district seat, as it went vacant in August upon Commissioner Brad George’s resignation. Frey and Beth Burns applied to the Pender County GOP Executive Committee to fill the seat in the interim before the election. But what followed were several weeks of controversy and three challenges, two by a sitting Pender County commissioner, Randy Burton.
Burns won the appointment by one vote, which resulted in queries to the state over fairness and who was allowed to vote. In the end she was seated on the board in October — one month prior to the midterm election.
When asked if he supported the process in filling the vacancy, Frey told Port City Daily Wednesday the challenges submitted over Burns’ appointment were done in-line with regulations.
Frey also spoke to public pushback regarding the District 1 seat not having a sitting commissioner for two months while challenges against Burns took place. He emphasized that commissioners, regardless of their district, represent the whole county.
“This is an at-large county, which means my home of record has to be in District 1, however you serve all five districts,” Frey said, adding that while there was no sitting District 1 commissioner, the remaining four members were still working for and representing the people of that district.
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