Thursday, July 17, 2025

2 positions restored during elections board emergency meeting, though not divulged to public

The New Hanover County Board of Elections has added back two key positions it announced it lost at an emergency meeting. (Port City Daily/Shea Carver0

NEW HANOVER COUNTY — The New Hanover County Board of Elections told the public in mid-June the county’s funding of its agency could reduce election accuracy and voter accessibility, in part due to the loss of two key positions. However, there was more going on behind the scenes that is now coming to light.

READ MORE: BOE: Early-voting access, election accuracy in jeopardy after county budget cuts

The county board of elections called an emergency meeting on June 18 to discuss challenges it faced due to the county’s newly adopted budget, which passed in 3-2 vote by the Republican majority. The county budget was reduced by $36 million and more than 70 positions, including a data systems specialist and logistics coordinator for the BOE. 

The county elections board was also told it could no longer have enhancements it requested to its budget, including six new positions and a software upgrade, altogether totalling around $250,000.

As a result, BOE Director Rae Hunter-Havens told the board and public during the special called emergency meeting she didn’t think the elections board could conduct the upcoming municipal election and 2026 primary “accurately, securely and within all the deadlines and other requirements.” She described the data systems specialist and logistics coordinator as senior positions needed to ensure part-time and temporary staff completed their tasks correctly, along with fulfilling other important elections office procedures. 

Port City Daily reported on the meeting on June 19, the same day an email from County Manager Chris Coudriet was sent to commissioners noting the piece “does not exactly align” with data from the county’s budget team and updated information on the two positions. 

Turns out, while the BOE was unpacking details during its meeting, the county’s human resources department was messaging elections staff. These exchanges would lead to the restoration of the specialist and coordinator positions by 6 p.m. on June 18, a half-hour after the meeting started. Yet, it was never relayed to the public during the meeting — nor was it answered by Hunter-Havens upon Port City Daily asking in numerous followups whether changes had been put into place since the emergency meeting.

The restoration of the BOE’s two positions came at a cost, though. In exchange for adding them back, a third position, a communications specialist, was removed.  

The positions

According to the county, the communications position was being transferred from the county’s communications department to the board of elections in April and interviews for the role started May 9. An offer was made on June 6 but then rescinded following the county’s budget passing and the need to cull positions. 

Coudriet confirmed to commissioners: “I do own the fact that particular position remains vacant post budget adoption and for some period of time looking forward. It sat unfilled for nearly one third of the fiscal year.”

Had the role been filled earlier, it would not have been subject to a position hold or reduction,” a county spokesperson told Port City Daily. 

In the June 19 email, Coudriet said the BOE was asked to hold off on-boarding the communication specialist to help achieve overall operating reductions across the county. He also noted the BOE could probably fill the position in time for the 2026 filing period and primary.

However, the county confirmed to Port City Daily on Monday, June 23, the data specialist and logistics coordinator were both restored. 

PCD requested Hunter-Havens provide updated information about the positions on June 18 and ahead of the following day’s publication, but it went unanswered. Once pressed upon confirming the positions with the county, the director claimed they were a personnel matter and discussion had to be limited, as their re-establishment was not made official until “days following the board meeting.” 

Former board chair Derrick Miller — whose term ended Tuesday as a new Republican-leaning board prepares to take over, though Miller will continue to serve as Democratic member — said it wasn’t an intentional mislead of the public. 

“A lot of county staff were watching our meeting virtually,” he told PCD. “As best as I can tell, the meeting started a conversation among them.”

Miller answered PCD’s questions as a former BOE member, not an acting one. Per a new state law, the state’s appointees will not be sworn in until July 22, leaving the county without a board of elections as it navigates the county’s adopted budget cuts. Hunter-Havens, under guidance by the State Board of Elections, will continue operations in the meantime.

After the emergency meeting, Coudriet informed commissioners the logistics coordinator and database systems specialist were once considered for “potential savings through a hiring freeze,” but maintained their funding remains in the current budget.

The logistics coordinator and database systems specialist positions were vacated after the November election and remained empty until May. Though the logistics coordinator was filled, the BOE made the decision to separate with the individual shortly after their on-boarding process completed. 

“I hope they get it right this time,” Coudriet wrote to commissioners regarding the vacancy. “The other has been vacant for an extended period of time too. The last election concluded in December. This is effectively July.”

Another logistics coordinator has been selected and is undergoing background screening; the start date is mid-July. The database systems specialist joined the BOE on Tuesday, June 24.

Hunter-Havens said the BOE maintained communication with HR about an appropriate timeline for recruiting and hiring the two positions. She explained they remained vacant after the election while the BOE prioritized completing all post-election responsibilities, budget development and discussion, and a relocation from one office to another. 

Hunter-Havens stood by everything she said in the June 19 emergency meeting: “The information that our board shared at the emergency meeting was accurate at the time of the meeting and vetted by county staff involved in this process,” Hunter-Havens indicated to PCD.

The BOE’s emergency meeting on June 18 began shortly after 5:30 p.m. As confirmed by the county, human resources staff informed elections staff that one position would be funded at 5:36 p.m. Another message was sent at 5:50 confirming the return of the other position.

“As the meeting closed, it seemed something had shifted within the county, but we did not yet have anything official in writing confirming that the positions were restored or unfrozen,” Miller said. 

Hunter-Havens indicated during the meeting she received “an email” from someone in HR, but said the BOE would need to discuss it in closed session. However, no update was given to PCD on the status of these positions during or in the days following the emergency meeting, despite asking. 

“The county is working through the specifics of the adopted budget and will share updates as plans are finalized,” Hunter-Havens responded. 

One Republican county commissioner attempted to get information but also didn’t respond to PCD. Commissioner LeAnn Pierce forwarded the media outlet’s request for comment on the emergency meeting to Coudriet on June 19 as well (PCD sent the request for comment to all commissioners on June 19; only Stephanie Walker responded). 

The exchange shows Mark Francolini, the county’s chief human resources officer, informed Pierce the BOE was told it could move forward with hiring the specialist and coordinator position.

Neither this email, nor Coudriet’s comment on PCD’s reporting, was shared with the news outlet. PCD obtained the emails on Monday, June 23. 

After learning of the positions’ updated status, PCD asked Hunter-Havens why she did not previously provide the information. The email was forwarded to the county communications team, but BOE Deputy Director Caroline Dawkins responded:

“Given the dynamic circumstances related to the budget, we must be mindful that some of these discussions are personnel matters. We continue to be concerned about the impacts to our budget but are grateful for the continued communication between the county and our office.” 

Personnel privacy laws protect employee information from public disclosure, but because municipalities are public entities, and their employees paid with public dollars, certain items can be revealed. Public record information includes basic employee information such as name, grade, salary, title, and duty station, however, PCD did not ask for any identifying information of employees hired or the candidates in the running for either position. The outlet only inquired about the positions’ funding status, discussed at the public emergency meeting.

Miller defended Hunter-Havens’ precaution to respond about the status update. 

“I can imagine that Rae is constrained from saying much about these positions and the hiring process because of HR policies,” he wrote. “I know she has been in close contact with HR seeking their guidance on what she can and cannot say throughout this process.”

PCD followed up asking Hunter-Havens to confirm the county’s timeline of communication regarding the two restored positions. 

“Given that this is still an ongoing matter, we must be mindful that it remains a personnel matter and information cannot be publicly disclosed unless properly vetted through the appropriate channels,” she wrote. “It remains our plan to communicate any budgetary changes or impacts to our new board at their July 22 meeting as further details are finalized.”

The budget 

Miller stands by the fact the return of the database systems specialist and logistics coordinator doesn’t change concerns he has over upcoming elections. 

“The situation has improved since the emergency meeting,” Miller wrote in an email last Thursday, adding he thinks PCD’s reporting put pressure on the county. “But I wouldn’t say that it has been fixed.” 

He explained the lost-then-restored positions aren’t the only resource issues. The BOE is contending with not receiving its planned enhancements requests, cut when the county’s budget was adopted on June 12.

But, technically, the BOE’s budget is increasing by $344,070 over last year’s allocation. Port City Daily asked Miller to explain his claims of it being cut. For an apples-to-apples contrast, he said, comparisons must be between FY25-26 and another fiscal year with two elections; 2025 will be a municipal election and 2026 will have a primary. 

The last fiscal year with two elections was 2023-2024 and operated with a budget of $1.7 million. The recently approved budget for BOE next fiscal year is $2.1 million, so when comparing the two years, next fiscal year’s budget still increased by $419,990.

Coudriet also defended to commissioners on June 19 the county had increased the BOE’s operational budget by 28.8% and its personnel budget by 14.3% from last fiscal year, with data provided by budget officer Amanda Kostusiak. 

“Operational increases are largely attributed to rising costs in equipment rentals and printing services. The department rents laptops and printers for election-related activities and occasionally rents space to serve as polling locations,” she wrote in an email to the county manager.

While this year likely will bring in less voters, since it’s a municipal election — which doesn’t draw out as many participants as a presidential year — it doesn’t necessarily mean costs go down, Miller said. 

“It is still more expensive to conduct two elections than a single election,” he added. “There is always a ‘natural’ bump up in cost from an even-numbered election year to an odd-numbered election year.”

Also, the BOE maintains it needs more funding to do the same job because of changes to election law, particularly Senate Bill 382. State law now implements shorter deadlines for processing and tabulating absentee, provisional and incomplete ballots. 

At the emergency meeting, Hunter-Havens said she really didn’t know how the BOE would meet the new provisional deadline. Provisional ballots are cast when people haven’t met the qualifications to vote — they could be at the wrong precinct, forgot to bring an I.D. to the polling place or have a problem with their registration. Their votes are tabulated after the board of elections confirms the voter was eligible.

Under S.B. 382, the votes must be researched, reconciled and counted by three days following Election Day. Boards normally have until canvass to do so, which occurred 10 days after the election.

“So: fewer resources, more work, more pressure, and all that against the backdrop of us having already struggled in November,” Miller wrote, referencing the BOE’s failure to count absentee ballots by the state deadline in the last election. “Does that sound like a recipe for success to you?”


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Shea Carver
Shea Carver
Shea Carver is the editor in chief at Port City Daily. A UNCW alumna, Shea worked in the print media business in Wilmington for 22 years before joining the PCD team in October 2020. She specializes in arts coverage — music, film, literature, theatre — the dining scene, and can often be tapped on where to go, what to do and who to see in Wilmington. When she isn’t hanging with her pup, Shadow Wolf, tending the garden or spinning vinyl, she’s attending concerts and live theater.

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