NEW HANOVER COUNTY — John Lyon is running for a seat on the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners.
Three seats are up for election in 2020, two of the seats are uncontested as current commissioners Woody White and Patricia Kusek have both announced they will not seek reelection; Commissioner Jonathan Barfield has filed to run for reelection.
Lyon worked for AT&T for 44 years and retired as regional director of external affairs. He is now the vice president of New Hanover Printing and Publishing. He and his wife Kathy live in Wilmington; they have three grown children and one grandchild.
Lyon has served on the Wilmington Business Development board, as well as having been an ally member of North Carolina’s Southeast regional economic development organization. Lyon currently sits on boards for the UNCW Cameron School of Business, the Cape Fear Council Boy Scouts, and Communities in Schools of Cape Fear. Lyon serves as treasurer for the Carrington Woods HOA, Vice President for the local Penn State Alumni Chapter, and member of the Downtown Wilmington Rotary Club.
Lyon was formerly on the statewide board of Communities in Schools of North Carolina, the boards of both the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce and the Burgaw Area Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Cape Fear Junior Achievement board where he served as chairman. Lyon has also served as the 2nd Vice Chair of the New Hanover County GOP and chaired the Leadership Development Committee; he is also a former precinct chair.
Lyon said his campaign would focus on controlled growth and fiscal responsibility.
“In talking with my friends and colleagues, be they Republican, Democrat or Independent, it was near unanimous that their expectations of County Commissioners is for them to focus on the continuous, gradual growth of our local economy and to be a wise steward of our available tax dollars. And with those two concepts as the cornerstone of my platform, I plan to combine my wide-ranging business background with my personal background of community involvement to continue to make New Hanover County a place where businesses and people are proud to call home, a place where they want to live, work and play,” Lyon said.
Other key issues, Lyon said, were improving transportation infrastructure, supporting the film and tourism industries, strong first responder departments, safe-water legislation, and supporting the growth and quality of the New Hanover Regional Medical Center.
