Holly Ridge may add new council member

HOLLY RIDGE, N.C. (WNCT) — Holly Ridge may appoint a new council member Wednesday night. The opening comes from former council member Pete Parnian becoming mayor last month.

According to the meeting agenda, the council is going to interview candidates Wednesday. This is the fourth vacant seat this year for the council.

Parnian was originally appointed in February as a councilman. He was taking over former Councilman Aaron Ritter’s seat.

However, just last month, Parnian was appointed to be the mayor after Jeff Wenzel resigned in August. Dorothy Royal, of the town, said that it’s not only an issue when someone that hasn’t run in the past gets appointed, but also when no one new wants to apply.

“We seem to have a lot of people that used to be in office wanting to be reappointed. Holly Ridge needs new blood,” Royal said. “Holly Ridge needs new ideas. It needs to get forward in our thinking and start understanding that this is a very fast, growing, diverse community that demands better and when you have thousands of taxpayers who are writing those tax checks this time of year, you want something back for your tax dollar.”

Many of the current seats are up for re-election next year.

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