PENDER COUNTY — On the job for less than two months as planning director for Pender County, Tim Owens has resigned, officials confirmed.
Owens’ resignation was effective on Monday June 8, a Pender County spokesperson Brandi Cobb detailed to Port City Daily. His departure from Pender County is a “return to retirement,” Cobb added.
During his introduction at the Pender County Board of Commissioners budget workshop, held a month before he resigned, Owens explained he was “happy” to be there and added: “I’m gonna be the best director I can.”
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He was hired April 27, with a salary of $118,740.74.
While the process for hiring a new planning board director has not yet started, former assistant planning director Justin Brantley will serve in Owens’ position.
Owens’ work in area government dates back two decades. In January 2024, he announced to Wrightsville Beach aldermen he would be retiring “effective immediately.”
His retirement came on the heels of a petition that outlined allegations against former Fire Chief Josh Haraway. Owens was implicated in one of the complaints outlined in the petition, as it claimed that employees were told to no longer go to HR if they had an issue but instead “go through Chief Haraway and the town manager first.”
At the time of Haraway’s retirement then-alderman Ken Dull, now mayor, told Port City Daily Owens had “been a great manager and he’s been working on planning retirement,” reassuring that Owens was not leaving as a result of resignation or firing.
The same month the petition went live, the Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen held a special meeting, in closed session. The board would not confirm what was being addressed in the meeting other than that it pertained to a personnel matter. Two days later Owens retired.
Before working at Wrightsville Beach, Owens had previously served as Carolina Beach’s town manager, resigning in 2013 after serving the town for six years before going on to hold the same position for Wrightsville Beach.
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