Democratic presidential primary proves we’re off to the races
By Lolita Huckaby
BEAUFORT
By most accounts, Saturday’s Democratic presidential primary here in the Palmetto State was a success for President Joe Biden and his re-election bid.
He won 96 percent of the votes cast and will take the state’s 55 delegates to the national Democratic Convention when they get together in Chicago in mid-August.
But, as you may have already heard, only 4.27 percent of Beaufort County’s voters went to the polls Saturday (or voted early), about the same percentage of voters statewide.
What you also know is South Carolina’s one of 24 states that have “open” primaries; you don’t register by political party here so you can vote in either party’s primary … either … not both.
It’s a certain bet that the higher primary turnout will happen in two weeks, on the 24th when the Republican party has its primary. Former Gov. Nikki Haley is counting on her fellow South Carolinians to boost her campaign to challenge former President Donald Trump for the party’s nomination.
Again, the local polling places will be open and staffed from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. At least the state is paying for the costs of running these special election events, not the local elections board.
But then again, those are still our tax dollars funding these democratic exercises that seem to draw more media attention than voters.
City Council retreat refocuses direction for future spending
BEAUFORT – Speaking of tax dollars, Beaufort City Manager Scott Marshall made an interesting comment last week during the city council’s two-day planning retreat.
Actually he made several interesting comments, but he pulled out the old cliché “expected to do more with less” and put his twist on it “you only do less with less,” putting the council on notice that approach to government services isn’t realistic.
These annual planning retreats are used as a prelude for the coming budget discussions by local government entities. And during an election year – which this is for the County Council, school board and Beaufort City Council – politicians generally shy away from any talk about tax increases.
Marshall didn’t say he and the finance officers would be coming in with a budget that depends on tax increases – most of these local governments are pretty good at finding grants or increasing “fees” – but his point was obvious after listening to the array of projects council members hope to implement.
Improvements to the Pigeon Point Park playground equipment, the Pigeon Point boat ramp, the 1st S.C. Volunteers Park on Boundary, drainage work on Duke Street and at Battery Shores – the list coming from the retreat was extensive.
Mayor Phil Cromer had his own summation: “we got a lot of projects but not a lot of money.”
Marshall, who celebrated his first anniversary with the city last month, also made what he called a “radical” proposals to change the format of city council meetings. To start with, his suggestion to reduce formal council meetings from two to once a month, augmented by one council work session, was favorably received.
The Port Royal town council already has that schedule – a work session on the first Wednesday of the month, a council meeting on the second Wednesday. Special meetings as needed.
Marshall also suggested limiting the public comment periods during meetings to five minutes, something Beaufort County County already does although they have a 15-minute limit. Another suggestion was to create a special agenda section for consent items, a feature Beaufort County Council instituted two years ago to shorten the length of meetings.
A quarterly capital projects update work session was another recommendation, designed to give the city elected officials progress reports on the multitude of projects going on.
The Council will have to vote on a resolution to accept these suggestions at some future meeting but if last week’s discussion was any reflection, we can expect to see shorter meetings.
Lolita Huckaby Watson is a community volunteer and newspaper columnist. In her former role as a reporter with The Beaufort Gazette, The Savannah Morning News, Bluffton Today and Beaufort Today, she prided herself in trying to stay neutral and unbiased. As a columnist, these are her opinions. Her goal is to be factual but opinionated, based on her own observations. Feel free to contact her at bftbay@gmail.com.
