News

Currituck Board Expands to Seven members

by John H Snowden, III
Publisher / Editor
nencnews@yahoo.com

Monday night will mark an historic event in the history of Currituck County government, when a newly elected At Large and District 2 commissioner will be added to the five member Board of Commissioners.

In the 2006 General Election, voters approved expanding the Currituck Board from five members to seven members. In their approval they also voted to create new residency districts from which commissioners candidates will be chosen.

After some wrangling and map drawing by the newly elected Board of Commissioners, the new residency districts were: District 1 - representing Gibbs Woods, Knotts Island and the Currituck Outer Banks; District 2 - Currituck County mainland south of Grandy; District 3 - Currituck County mainland from Grandy north to Maple Road; District 4 - from Maple Road north to Beechwood Shores; District 5 - Moyock; and two At- Large seats.

Up for grabs in the 2008 election were the District 1 seat - held by veteran incumbent Ernie Bowden of Carova Beach; the newly created District 2 seat; the District 4 seat held by incumbent J. Owen Etheridge of Shawboro; and a newly created At-Large seat.

The May 2008 primary elections saw incumbent Bowden lose his seat in the Democratic primary to political newcomer, Michael Cherry of Carova Beach. In the District 1 Republican primary, Vance Aydlett of Knotts Island defeated Keith Hill of Corolla.

The District 2 Democratic Primary saw Jerry Wright slide by challenger Roy Etheridge, while Republican John Rorer did not face a challenge.

Neither Republican incumbent Owen Etheridge, nor Democratic challenger Johnny Messina, of Bells Island faced a primary challenge.

In the race for the newly created At Large seat, Democrat Stanley Griggs - of Poplar Branch - bested his opponent William Etheridge - of Moyock - to advance to the general Election, while Republican hopeful S. Paul O’Neal of Waterlily went unchallenged in the Republican primary.

Republicans Regain Seats
The November General Election saw a Republican sweep of local seats, with Aydlett defeating Cherry in District 1; Rorer defeating Wright in District 2; Etehridge defeating Messina in District 4; and O’Neal defeating Griggs for the At Large seat. The Republican sweep of the four seats spelled the end of Democrat controlled Board which existed after the 2006 General Election.

Sitting Commission Chair, Barry Nelms, Co-Chair Gene Gregory and member Janet Taylor - all Democrats, will now find themselves in the minority.

Swearing In
After taking their oath of office from the Honorable Judge Cole at the Monday, December 1 meeting. Board members will take on the task of electing a new chairman and co-chairman for the Board of Commissioners. This practice is observed the first meeting of December in every year.

The Board meeting will be held at 7:00 pm on Monday, December 1 in the Commissioners meeting room at the Historic Currituck County Courthouse.

Contact the author at:
nencnews@yahoo.com

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