PENDER COUNTY — After a political cartoon mimicking a few commissioners appeared in a Pender County newspaper, the board took up the vote for a different media outlet to handle their public notices and legal advertisements.
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Pender County commissioners voted 3-2 on April 22 to change publications from the Pender-Topsail Post and Voice to the Wilmington StarNews. It’s a move some think was made in a retaliatory effort.
“Only in a communist country like Russia or China does the government try to destroy media it doesn’t agree with,” Pender resident Kenneth Ramsey said during the public comment section of the meeting.
Proponents argued the move is for modernization and to better reach citizens of Pender County, while others agreed commissioners should switch their business to another paper, due to the cartoon being a “disgrace.”
Hampstead resident Beth Butler was of the latter.
“This is very disrespectful to have commissioners in a drawing, defamed like this,” she said at last week’s meeting. Butler held up the paper and walked it around for those in the audience to see.
The agenda item to take up legal notices appeared to be brought forth by former county manager Micheal Silverman, but originally was suggested at the behest of Commissioner Jerry Groves. Groves’ support only came to light after newly appointed commissioner Jimmy Tate grilled staff on who was responsible for instigating the issue.
Groves owned up to it: “It’s time to cut through the chase … this is what we as three county commissioners have to put up with. The citizens’ money are paying for this — this is money they are paying for and it’s time to stop.”
Groves held up the March 20 edition of the Pender Post, showing a cartoon depicting himself, Chair Randy Burton and Vice Chair Brent Springer as puppets, along with former school board member Phil Cordiero as the puppet master.
The Pender Post ran the cartoon in response to what the paper perceived as Cordeiro’s background influence over the three commissioners and a lack of transparency in their actions. It ran on the editorial page — one of the first times a political cartoon has appeared on the Post pages in the last decade, according to Andy Pettigrew. The Pender Post is owned and managed by Pettigrew and his wife, Katie.
Pettigrew told Port City Daily the paper used to run political cartoons based on state and national politics but have since phased them out.
“Political activist Phil Cordeiro has Mr. Springer and Mr. Burton as part of his political cabal, if you will … he is directing them at what to do,” Pettigrew said on a phone call Monday. “Now, Mr. Groves, he’s just along for the ride, but he hates us anyway.”
Pettigrew said he never faced opposition from county commissioners over editorial content in the past, but pointed to Groves taking issue with the publication and its publisher since being elected to the board in 2022.
At a commissioner meeting just last month, Groves took to his mic: “Mr. Chair, Mr. Chair, I’m not going to sit here and watch him laugh at me — Andy Pettigrew,” Groves said, pointing to the publisher.
Two days later Pettigrew submitted an op-ed to WHQR, defending the choice to run the cartoon. It was inspired by the commissioners’ action to bypass rules at a March 10 board meeting for the EMS and fire merger that Pettigrew said contradicted their and Cordeiro’s emphasis on maintaining open government.
“The Board had a habit of adding items to the agenda at the beginning of the meeting, which did not allow the public to see what was happening and allowed the Board to move through agenda items without any public input,” Pettigrew wrote in the op-ed.
Cordeiro responded to the cartoon with his own op-ed on WHQR, citing personal experience and knowledge helping offer solutions to local leaders rather than criticizing them:
“My motivation for sharing ideas with our leaders in Pender County government is simple: I have real-world experience in local government, and I feel complaining about problems doesn’t solve them — offering innovative solutions to those who have the ability to effect change is.”
A weekly newspaper published in Burgaw, the Pender Post has provided its services for print notices and advertisements in Pender County for more than 15 years. According to statute 50 1-597, a county has to publish legal notices in a newspaper that meets certain requirements.
The county’s chosen publication must have paid subscribers in the county, a periodicals mailing permit in that county, consistent weekly publication, and charge no more than local commercial rates for advertisements.
Pettigrew told PCD the county’s change to the StarNews directly affects the bottom line for the Post because of it being a smaller publication. He said the Post has approximately 5,000 paid subscribers. According to Vice Chair Springer, the StarNews has approximately 10,000 print subscribers, but it is unclear how many of those subscribers reside in Pender County.
StarNews publishing company, Gannett, told Port City Daily that they do not publicly disclose circulation data on the market level.
Pettigrew said he had to eliminate the three-page sports section from the Pender Post this week as a result of the commissioners’ decision. Data presented during the meeting by county finance director Meg Blue showed the Pender Post received more than $80,000 from Pender County for legal ads in 2024. The loss of revenue led to him letting go of his sports writer, Bobby Norris, who has been with the Pender Post for 15 years.
“All the parents in three high schools that got kids that are playing sports this spring, that aren’t going to see the coverage now in the last month of their high school career, their seniors, yeah, and I just can’t, there’s nothing I can do about that because it’s just a fact,” Pettigrew said. “Those things end up on refrigerators all across the county and scrapbooks … and I really hate that.”
According to Pettigrew, the most common legal ads posted by the county in the Pender Post are foreclosure notices. The county also prints estate claims, public auctions, government contracts, and county announcements.
Commissioner Tate said he opposed the switch to the StarNews based on the county’s multi-year relationship with the Post, which started when Tate was first appointed to the board in 2007. Tate called the Post cost-effective for the county, as well as for residents.
Blue — who was appointed interim county manager after commissioners fired county manager Silverman at the same meeting — referenced 2024 data showing the county paid $84,974 for 209 legal ads in the Pender Post.
Conversely, the county paid $1,052 for one ad in the StarNews in 2024, Blue said. She called Pender Post more consistent with charges, whereas StarNews’ rates fluctuate.
“It does depend on what day and all of that kind of thing, how big your ad is,” she told commissioners. “They don’t typically give out pricing until they basically tell you to send them your ad and they’ll tell you how much it costs.”
The board also took up subscriptions costs for the residents — the ones who benefit from the notices. The StarNews offers its combined physical paper and digital subscription for around $440 per year plus tax, according to their website. Subscribing to just the digital paper costs $99 for the first year and $149 plus tax each year after.
Pender Post charges $45 for an annual print and digital subscription. For in-county residents, it costs $35 annually for the paper edition. It is important to note that the Pender Post publishes weekly editions while StarNews posts daily.
Some residents addressed the effects of increased costs.
“It appears our county commissioners aim to bankrupt our local paper of record for editorial differences of opinion,” Rochelle Whiteside said. “This flies in the face of the First Amendment. I hope that our county commissioners will show themselves to be responsible stewards of our taxpayer money.”
Tate told Port City Daily an added bonus for Pender Post is it publishes the commissioners’ agenda at no charge (ed. note: Port City Daily does as well).
“It was clear to me that the Pender Post and Voice was the less expensive option for taxpayers,” Tate said.
George agreed with the sentiment. He added he wasn’t comfortable with some of the information provided during the commissioners’ meeting when it came to the legality of the advertisement switch.
“The interpretation provided by legal counsel on the issue … when making decisions that affect the entire county, I believe it is important to move forward with absolute clarity and confidence in our legal footing,” he said.
George was speaking about the line of dialogue wherein commissioners discussed at the meeting details of the law in regard to where the paper is published. According to statute 50 1-597, a county can choose a paper for its legal ads if it is published in the county or if no paper meets qualifications, the county can look at papers in neighboring counties. The legal question is whether or not “published” applies to the paper’s circulation or where it is physically managed and operated. StarNews is set up in Wilmington but covers and distributes to multiple counties in southeastern North Carolina. The Pender Post offices are in Burgaw and it covers Pender County only.
Commissioners wanted absolute legal certainty before changing publications for county notices. Tate questioned whether county attorney Trey Thurman had reached out to the county court clerk for her opinion on the matter, per a request Tate made before the meeting. Thurman responded he spoke to one of the clerk’s assistants but assured the board, according to his understanding, the StarNews would be acceptable.
“The clerk told me specifically that she would not accept it or it would not be accepted,” Tate addressed to Thurman. “That’s why I asked you to reach out to her for legal opinion, so we would not be suspect in our speaking for her today.”
Burton told Port City Daily he supported the change due to StarNews’ broad reach to citizens of Pender County, also echoed by Springer who touted StarNews’ paid subscription base being double that of Pender Post. Springer considers the commissioners’ change fiscally responsible since the reach is greater.
“The StarNews also serves the entire 6th judicial district, including both Pender and New Hanover Counties, which is particularly important for legal notices related to estate claims, foreclosure sales, and public auctions that require regional visibility,” Springer said.
Commissioner Groves did not respond to Port City Daily’s request for comment by press; however, he took his concerns to social media on March 25:
“The Pender Post has hit rock bottom, just a reminder, no matter what page the Pender Post puts me on I will never stop fighting for the Citizens of Pender County. We are 300 million in debt and climbing, you are heading for the biggest tax increase in the history of Pender County if something isn’t done. The Pender Post will do anything to stop me from helping you! God bless Pender County and the Citizens.”
Cordiero told PCD he believes the decision to change papers is not for editorial reasons, but rather an opportunity to reach more people and help modernize the county.
“StarNews advertises in a much more robust way than Pender post does,” Cordeiro said. “For example, their Facebook page and their social media presence is probably 100 times what Pender Post’s is.”
According to StarNews’ publishing company, Gannett, legal notices are not posted on StarNews’ social media, but they are embedded in online articles and on the electronic edition of the newspaper.
Groves’ motion to approve the county doing business with the StarNews was seconded by Springer, with Burton providing the deciding vote. Commissioners Tate and George voted in opposition.
[Ed. note: The story was updated following a response from StarNews’ publishing company, Gannett.]
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