SOUTHPORT — In a contentious vote, Southport’s aldermen chose a new member to conduct business on its planning board rather than reappointing a former one.
READ MORE: Southport PB begrudgingly approves mixed-use plan following 2-year process
After serving since 2022, Sue Hodgin did not secure her position on the planning board Monday, despite support from some current planning board members and aldermen. The Southport Board of Aldermen voted to fill her seat, 4-2, with a new appointee, Doug Luehe, during a tense meeting.
Southport Planning Board members argued Hodgin did not have performance issues but was not being recommended for reappointment due to past public criticisms of city leadership. Some aldermen defended the move as part of an effort to bring fresh voices to the board.
In the end, aldermen favored Luehe, and another appointee, Ed Eckart, was confirmed by the same margin as an alternate. Maria Horton was also appointed in a 5-1 vote to an open full-member position.
Several planning board members who spoke during public comment — such as Kevin Locklin, John Bove, Larry Ashley and Fred Fiss — emphasized the political motivations of the board of aldermen should not impact Hodgin’s reappointment but questioned if it’s what informed the decision.
Hodgin has not been afraid to speak out about disagreements with city decisions. For instance, a decision in February forced the planning board to approve a mixed-use site plan from Full House Properties, LLC, that Hodgin said at the time had “glaring” safety concerns. Particularly, there was an issue with the parking configuration that would make residents back into a busy intersection, as approved by the board of adjustment, unbeknownst to the planning board.
Though allowed by-right, the project came forth in 2022 but was stalled by requirements of studies and multiple site plans. Hodgin noted there was a communication breakdown among boards and staff, which she considered a failure to Southport citizens. During the planning board’s February meeting, she read a statement outlining the board was required to greenlight the project, regardless of their concerns.
“This applicant and council have already advised the city that if this board tables the matter for any other discussion, they will issue a writ of mandamus [a court order requiring a government to perform its duty legally] forcing us to come back and approve his submission,” she said. “We basically find ourselves with our collective backs against the walls because of a procedure failure.”
Vice Chair Kevin Locklin praised Hodgin’s steady guidance during public comment Monday.
“It’s unequivocal that every member believes in her leadership, her education, her unselfishness, her skill and her knowledge,” he said.
Locklin, who helped Aldermen Frank Lai and Rebecca Kelley vet candidates, said they all agreed Hodgin was qualified for the position, other than a few minor critiques noted as not “substantive.”
From a candidate pool of eight, Lai said Hodgin was included in final consideration with four others before they decided to move forward with the three recommended appointees — Luehe, Horton and Eckart.
“What came up in the conversations were criticisms,” Locklin said of Hodgin. “There were criticisms of terse emails, to say mow over issues. There’s a criticism over she’s a divisive, which I have no idea what that means other than ‘she disagrees with.’”
Hodgin’s board hasn’t always been in lockstep with the aldermen. For instance, earlier this year the planning board unanimously agreed the historic courthouse should be retrofitted for government use, but didn’t think the police department should move back in it, due to growth and space needs. The alderman voted against the planning board’s recommendation, 4-2, in April; the police department will move back to the courthouse and share the space with council chambers.
More recently, Hodgin took issue with how conditional zoning was added to Southport’s land code, as the planning board had supported staff to include it in its toolbox more than a year ago. However, the aldermen did not vote in favor of it.
It reappeared in April this year, only this time at the behest of the aldermen and developers East West Partners and Bald Head Island Ltd. In order for the developers and the city to form an annexation agreement and move through the build-out of more than 1,000 homes as part of Waterway, a conditional zoning was requested to be added into city ordinance. While Hodgin supported the move, she also called it a shame that leaders didn’t listen before and be proactive when staff and the planning board suggested it originally.
Hodgin has been vocal beyond city business as well. During the 2023 mayoral election, former Mayor Joe Pat Hatem ran for re-election against Rich Alt, with Alt taking the position in a tight lead. During public comment before Alt was sworn in, Hodgin claimed “there was no real win for Southport in this election.”
“Sue Hodgin and I couldn’t be further apart politically, but I’ll defend her right for freedom of speech every single time,” planning board member Ashley told the aldermen. “It is your job not to snub committees just because you don’t like what they have to say. It is not your job to appoint friends or campaign contributors to committees just because you like what they say better. It is important that you appoint folks that have a keen interest and something to offer that particular board. Anything less is not only snubbing that member that you’re rejecting or the board on which they sit, but you’re also snubbing our community as a whole.”
Alderman Karen Mosteller voiced concerns over a lack of clear justification for not reappointing Hodgin, saying the move left her “struggling to understand” the rationale.
She also noted that if the board moved forward with all the recommended appointees, 75% of the planning board would have less than six months experience.
Alderman Robert Carroll agreed with Mosteller and pushed Kelley and Lai to answer why Hodgin wasn’t recommended.
“When we narrowed it down, we had four exceptionally strong candidates. Candidates that you would be happy to have on anything,” Lai said, including Hodgin. “I’ve never seen candidates as strong. The leadership abilities that we’re seeing in these candidates is incredible.”
A few qualifications included experience as a mechanical and general engineer from Luehe, experience as a project manager from Horton, and disaster volunteer work and HOA leadership from Eckart. Luehe also has military experience and served as chief of staff for San Francisco’s region 9 Environmental Protection Agency.
Kelley said there was no requirement to reappoint existing members and that the city had an opportunity to bring in new voices. She added Hodgin wasn’t unqualified.
“There’s no precedent to have to reappoint someone who’s on the board already. So we are looking to give opportunities to people who stood up and said that they want to help Southport,” Kelley said.
Earlier during public comment, other planning board members spoke in favor of Hodgin as well. Bob Lambert, who joined the board in January, called her the board’s most experienced and knowledgeable member.
“I can’t think of anyone better to learn from and it really concerns me that there’s an effort, or might be an effort, to take the most qualified, most experienced member of the planning board,” he said.
Planning board member John Bove, whose term also began in January, said Hodgin exemplifies the mission of the board, making her the best choice for the position.
“Sue welcomes input from all the members, provides focus and organization and has an unparalleled knowledge of the history and process that is critical to the function of the planning board,” he said. “To me, it’d be unfortunate if the planning board assignments are made on the basis of politics and not what is best for the residents of Southport.”
After Mosteller made a motion to reappoint Hodgin, Alderman Marc Spencer commended her but disagreed, arguing committees should serve the board of aldermen’s goals. He also added he viewed the planning board members speaking on the issue as wrongful lobbying.
“This is the board’s appointment. It is to serve the board, not for these committees to tell us who they want on these boards,” he said. “When a committee comes and they’re adverse to what we want, would you want that board to be serving you?”
Carroll replied: “Yes, I do want people that disagree with me. That’s one of the things that makes us work well together, you and me. That’s the whole point of this.”
Spencer said administrations in charge should be able to have the boards that will empower the agenda they were elected on. Yet, he thought conflict and political activism compromised the process.
Mosteller disagreed, stating the planning board was not driving the board’s decision but advocating for who they believed would make the strongest board. She added their attempts to do so were legitimate in her eyes.
“All of our citizens, regardless of sitting on a committee or not, are entitled to free speech. They’re entitled to not be penalized in some arbitrary way because they criticize us,” Mosteller retorted. “Marc, we’re used to being criticized, you know. We signed up for that, y’all, but it cannot influence what we do.”
After Carroll further questioned why his fellow members thought removing a member with institutional knowledge was the right choice, Spencer quipped: “You don’t believe in new ideas?”
This statement prompted Carroll to shout his response across the room.
“You don’t want new ideas, you want people standing behind your thought process,” Carroll yelled. “You’ve said it!”
Mayor Rich Alt took control of the room before turning the board to a vote, which put new leadership on the board. The next planning board meeting will be held on July 17.
Port City Daily reached out to Hodgin but did not hear back by press.
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