Board of Commissioners

The Town of Magnolia is governed by a Mayor and a five-member Board of Commissioners. Commissioners are elected to four-year staggered terms and the Mayor to a four-year term. Elections are conducted on a nonpartisan basis, and all seats are at-large. The Mayor Pro Tempore is elected from among the Board of Commissioners and conferred the powers and duties of the mayor in the case of the mayor’s absence.
I hope to see you soon.”

Meetings
Meetings of the Board of Commissioners are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 6:00pm in the Conference Room of the Magnolia Town Hall (Magnolia Municipal Building), located at 110 E. Carroll Street. The public is given an opportunity to speak at every meeting for three minutes on any topic. A sign-up sheet is available at the entrance of the Conference Room for anyone who would like to address the Board. Notice of a recessed meeting will be posted on the Town website with details of when the Board will reconvene.

Agendas and Minutes
Meeting minutes are maintained by the Town Clerk and available by request. Meetings are livestreamed on the Town’s Facebook page and posted as recordings.

Mayor Pro Tem
Jeanine Cavenaugh

Daughter of Leo and Wanda Cavenaugh.

Occupation:

“I was employed by James Sprunt Community College for 30 years as the Coordinator of Foundation Services. In this position I had accounting, fundraising, and special events responsibilities. I retired in 2016. Since then, I occasionally coordinate special events.”

Recreation:

“I am an avid crafter who enjoys sewing, painting, woodworking, flower arranging, and wreath making. I also enjoy playing the piano and putting together jigsaw puzzles.”

Why I chose to serve:

“After attending Board meetings over the years and seeing issues being brought before the commissioners not being resolved month after month, I felt it was time to stop complaining and step up to the plate. I feel if a citizen voices a concern, it should be heard and addressed in a timely manner. Having held numerous leadership roles over the years both professionally and through volunteering, I felt my experience could help me make a difference in our town.”

Town Commissioners
Ethelene Southerland

Ethelene Southerland was born on May 1, 1951 in Magnolia, NC. She attended P.E. Williams Elementary School in Magnolia and graduated as salutatorian of her class. She is furthermore a 1969 graduate of E. E. Smith High School Kenansville, NC and 1971 graduate of Southeastern Business College in Durham, NC. Ethelene moved to Maryland in 1972 and worked with the Atomic Energy Commission in Bethesda, Maryland. She later transferred to the Dept. of Commerce in Washington, DC. In 1971, she married Jackie Southerland, and they moved back to North Carolina. She was interviewed in 1974 by Carolina Telephone Company to work in the Clinton, NC office and retired in February of 2014 with 40 years of service. ‘I loved my job and the people that I worked with.’ Ethelene is the mother of two daughters, Serita Southerland and Deana Southerland Ivey, and one son, Jackie L. Southerland, Jr. She is the proud grandmother of Brianna Michelle Barnes Ivey.

“In 2021, I was elected as commissioner in the town of Magnolia. I enjoy this position, and I strive to do what I can along with the other commissioners to make our town better for the residents of Magnolia, North Carolina.”

Elvenia Raye Wilson

Appointed Term 2021 – 2023 ; Current Term Elected 2023 – 2027

Ms. Wilson is the widow of former Commissioner Robert M. Wilson and mother of 3 children, Montrena, Robert Dion (deceased), and Brian V. Wilson. In addition to her children, she has 4 grandchildren, Michael A, Nina, Keyshawn, and Quenten; a great grandson, Lucis, and a great granddaughter, Laila. Ms. Wilson attended the NC League of Municipalities, Essentials of Municipal Government 2024 Ethics Training and Utilities of Management Best Practices. She is a member of the Board of Directors for Sarah’s Refuge Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse Member on the Magnolia Town Recreation Board, an Ordained Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, and has an Associate Pastor Doctorate from the NC School of Theology and Biblical Studies. Ms. Wilson is retired from Property Management and studied Business Administration at James Sprunt Community College in Kenansville, NC, and additionally received a Certificate of Completion from the Funeral Director Program at Fayetteville Tech, Fayetteville NC.

Perry Raines

Commissioner Perry Raines, the husband of Diane Raines, has been a truck driver for 53 years. For recreation, Mr. Raines enjoys watching sports and the Education channel. In his role as town commissioner, Mr. Raines is dedicated to improving the image of the town and serving the citizens of Magnolia.

Eric Graham

Eric Graham, a graduate of Winston-Salem State University, earned a BA in Mass Communications with a concentration in Radio and Television and a minor in History; with an emphasis in African-American Studies, where he had an opportunity to study under some of the best political minds, scholars and historians at Coltrane Hall, which was the Political Science Department at WSSU.
During his collegiate years and after graduating, Graham has lectured on various topics at NC A&T State University, Bennett College, Salem College, Livingstone College, and the NAACP Youth Conference to name a few.
But, here are a few of his numerous accomplishments: while returning home:

2004 Invited and lectured at Wholistic Wellness and Healing Conference for African-Americans Conventional and Complementary Approaches for Optimum Health at Morehouse College, where they presented their powerful presentation Fast Food Nation: Battle of The Bulge, which took an in-depth look at how fast food diets affect the general health of African-Americans in the United States.

2007 invited to the 37th Annual Black Congressional Caucus Young Leaders Recognition Reception in Washington, DC, where he was recognized as an Emerging Future Leader in Black America

2007 invited to attend the Black Counseling and Psychologist Conference of Howard University due to his literary work dealing with children affected by Hurricane Katrina, Divorce, and War by Dr. Ivory Toldson, now, the Director of Education Innovation & Research at the NAACP..

2007 Invited to attend the 6th Annual Juvenile Justice Institute Conference in Raleigh, NC teaming up with Tony Asion, the director of Public Safety for EL Pueblo in a workshop exploring CULTURAL COMPETENCY TRAINING FOR WORKING with African-American and Latino Families

2008 participated in Capital University in Columbus, Ohio Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Learning, where he presented a lecture entitled: Father To Son: The Power of Myth Within The African-American Community

2010 as a Reporter for The Warsaw-Faison & Wallace Enterprise Newspapers his stories always highlighted the accomplishments and the best of citizens from Magnolia, which appeared in Annie Maude Pickett Smith’s excellent book The History of Magnolia

2011 attended workshop designed to fight Human Trafficking by Pam Strickland, the founder of the Eastern North Carolina Stop Human Trafficking

2012 created a BACK TO SCHOOL WITH THE A NEW ATTITUDE literacy program, with the help of his therapeutic children’s books, which were designed to improve the reading skills and comprehensive reading levels of students as well as teach them about the importance of self-esteem, academic success, bullying, personal hygiene, self-defense, self-control, and personal responsibility in the classroom and at home that was embraced by the Duplin County School System and awarded one of the BEST CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS IN THE STATE

2012 Created an Anti-Gun, Gang, & Drugs Program as well as an Anti-Bully Program with the help of his cartoon character Bobbee Bee “The Hater,” which is a clever acronym for His Anger Teaches Everbody Reality

2012 addressed The Daycare Provider’s Conference hosted by the Duplin County Partnership for Children on the subject of STRESS, WORKER BURNOUT, COMPASSION FATIGUE, and STRESS REDUCTION in a workplace environment or daycare facility with the Smart Start’s Training Specialist Toni Hudson

2013 Participated in the Duplin County Summer Enrichment Program at E.E. Smith Jr. High School

2014 Spear-headed the Duplin County Library Summer Reading Program, with the help of former Librarian Donna Jones

2015 Participated in Magnolia Pride Day capturing the beauty of the people and the moment through the lens of his camera

2016 Volunteer Little League Baseball Coach For The Rose-Hill Park Recreation

2016 Worked with the Magnolia Chief of Police Donald Hall after the tragic shooting death in Cleveland, Ohio, which involved a 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was playing with a realistic-looking fake handgun in a public recreation area but believed to be a real gun by an officer of the Cleveland Police Department in 2014, to encourage parents of Magnolia not to purchase these realistic toy guns for their children to play with during the summer as well as having all Dollar General Stores nationwide to place them behind the container for purchase.

2017 WON THE DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. “I HAVE A DREAM AWARD for his work within the community

2018 Participated in Auburn University’s Agriculture Department of Agricultural Economics & Rural Sociology Research Study entitled “Right-to-Farm Laws and Rural Sovereignty”, which is conducted by Loka Ashwood, the Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology, who is attempting to understand how right-to-farm laws function in the state of North Carolina. The data collected from this research will be published in a professional journal and/or book and/ or presented at a professional meeting.

2018 Member of Magnolia Town Board Friends of Library Committee, where he traveled to the State Capitol with Public Library Directors to meet with State Representative (both Senators and House of Representatives) to lobby for Libraries

2020 Created an online presence called Magnolia Memories, which highlighted the Elders of the Past to keep their memories alive.

Despite all of this, he states: “His greatest accomplishment was taking care of his grandmother Bertha Graham in her latter years of life.”