Carolina Beach fills open council seats | News

CAROLINA BEACH, NC (WECT) – Carolina Beach has filled its two open council seats.

In a meeting Tuesday evening, Sarah Friede nominated Tom Bridges. He was voted in unanimously.

Mayor Bob Lewis then nominated Jody Smith, who was also voted in unanimously.

Because the appointments will only last for one year, Mayor Lewis said they wanted to make a decision quickly, as opposed to drawing out the process over months.

When making his nomination for Smith, Lewis said he wanted to lean towards someone who has lived in the community longer than some of the other potential candidates.

Last week, Carolina Beach Town Council members met to interview the
top candidates out of 16 who applied for both mayor and the vacant
council seats. That's when Lewis was nominated for mayor, voted on and
approved.

The vacancies came after former Mayor Ray Rothrock, former Councilman Lonnie Lashley and former Town Manager Tim Owens all resigned at a regularly-scheduled town council meeting in November.

Candidates included the following:

• Douglas Andrews
• Michael Tom Bridges
• Dennis Hagestrom
• LeAnn Pierce
• Jody Smith

Tom Bridges is a former school principal from the Charlotte area.  He is now retired.  "I'm not a politician," said Bridges.  "I just care about the town and I want to do the best I can to
help the town and make the decisions that will help us progress and move
forward."

Jody Smith is a UNC-Wilmington graduate who now owns her own business in Carolina Beach.  "Now is the time to put negativity aside and move forward," said Smith.  "Now is the time to tackle the hot button issues head on and move forward as a team."

Both Bridges and Smith will start at the next town meeting in January.

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