By Lolita Huckaby
Welcome to the ‘long, hot summer’
BEAUFORT
Lots of things going on in this heat of the summer. The 68th Water Festival is behind us and the XXXIII Olympiad is underway to occupy our time in air-conditioned comfort.
With all the rain that accompanied Friday night’s Parisan opening ceremonies, comparisons could be made to the Water Festival’s planning team, which had to study the weather radar, knowing it could do little about the elements. Decisions were made to cancel two major Festival events but, as we know, the show went on and a “good time was had by all,” as they say.
An interesting note: at least two “local” men – Will Moss, son of Dean Moss and Alice Varner, and Zach Graber, son of Scott and Susan Graber – are working behind the scenes to bring the Olympics to the NBC viewing public. Both men, who grew up here in Beaufort, work in the network’s production department and were assigned to work on the Olympic coverage.
Kudos to them. They’re use to rain events.
Filing continues for city elections
BEAUFORT – Speaking of summer events, the 2024 fall school sessions are about to begin and if you’re too old for school, well, you could run for Beaufort City Council.
There are 15 days left to file for the two open council seats and the mayoral office which will be on the November ballot.
Councilmen Neil Lipsitz and Mitch Mitchell are up for re-election and have filed to run again for the non-partisan office. So have Josh Gibson, who lives in the Old Commons neighborhood and ran for council in 2022, and Julie Crenshaw, who lives on the Point.
Mayor Phil Cromer has also filed for re-election to a four-year term.
County Council continues trying to prove ‘transparency’
BEAUFORT – Beaufort County Council made an attempt at transparency last week when they issued a six-page statement reportedly based on findings in a 30-page audit report for which county taxpayers paid $350,000.
Their attempt has raised more questions than it answered.
The statement basically directed the new county administrator Michael Moore to tighten up the county procurement process especially the Purchase-card system that the report, by the Haynesworth Sinkler Boyd law firm, highlighted in their findings given to the Council in March.
Last week’s statement came after a special called meeting, the majority of it held behind closed doors. Three council members – Tom Reitz of Hilton Head, David Batholomew of Lady’s Island and Paula Brown of – objected to the discussion, described as a “legal briefing,” in closed session. They were outnumbered.
The Council has still declined to release the full document and now we know Sheriff P.J. Tanner and various news organizations – including The Island News — has asked for the full document and been denied.
Indeed, former county Administrator Eric Greenway, who lost his job with the county a year ago, has asked to see the report, as well, and his attorney told reporters he had not been interviewed by the Haynesworth Sinkler Boyd team.
We still don’t know the results of the separate investigation into Greenway’s alleged misconduct in office by the state Attorney General’s office which was requested to take over the matter after Sheriff Tanner and 14th District Solicitor Duffie Stone passed the ball. Representatives from that office had repeatedly stated they’re unable to comment on ongoing investigations.
In the meantime, we do know a hearing before the state Ethics Commission is scheduled this fall for former County Parks and Recreation Director Shannon Loper on five counts of misusing her office.
Greenway, former Assistant Deputy Administrator Whitney Richland and former county Capital Projects Coordinator Eric Larson are also under investigation for ethics violations. All four are no longer on the county payroll.
Also, what we do know is that the county leaders, as well as the municipal ones, are counting on voters to support a one percent sales tax referendum in November which is designed to raise $950 million for a number of highway projects as well as bike paths, sidewalks and more open space.
The sales tax also has provisions for expanded bus service and emergency evacuations.
(FYI: the Beaufort County government website – beaufortcountyscgov.salestaxreferendum – has a lot of information about the proposed sales tax including a FAQ section that answers a lot of questions.
If the elected officials, especially those on County Council, are hoping voters will trust them enough to endorse this newest transportation improvement plan, they’re gonna have to work for it. Getting rid of some of the former administrative team may have been a first step. Hiring a new administrator is another.
But as Dean Moss, chairman of the citizens task force that put the improvement plan together, told a group last week, the issue facing voters is not about that extra sales tax since local shoppers were already paying a one percent sales tax for the county’s green space program which will expire in December 2024. It’s about leadership.
Let’s talk some more about litter
BEAUFORT – Speaking of leadership, the goal of a cleaner, less littered roadside is being advanced by groups and private individuals sick and tired of garbage messing up the landscape.
One group, organized by the Coastal Conservation League and the Port Royal Sound Foundation, tackled a small stretch from the county office building at the corner of Ribaut and Boundary, down to the First S.C. Volunteers Park, former site of Wendy’s.
And their collections, after an hour, were interesting. The number of liquor mini-bottles and beer cans clustered around the county parking lot, raised questions. So did the number of plastic bags and Styrofoam cups that littered the short stretch.
In the mix were at least five mylar ballons and one lost beach ball.
Interesting, because these are some of the items Keep Beaufort County Beautiful are hoping the county leaders, and municipal ones as well, will help restrict. The county’s single-ply plastic bag ban has been in place since 2018 but KBCB would like that ban extended to the heavier plastic bags as well as plastic cutlery you get in take-out meals as well as Styrofoam take-out trays.
KBCB members realize they have their work cut out for them, in terms of education. While some businesses are already moving in that recyclable direction, elected officials have said publicly the problem lies more in educating the public to the negatives of littering. And the necessity for enforcing existing littering laws.
Beaufort county certainly isn’t the only local tackling the issues of litter and importance of recycling and it’s certainly been discussed at length over the years. The county has a recycling division which helps organize programs like Adopt-a-Highway cleanups and beach and river cleanups.
Officials don’t have to reinvent the proverbial wheel when it comes to amended ordinances. The issue now is just getting this particular wheel to roll.
Dukes becomes District’s 3rd Circuit Court Judge
BEAUFORT – The 14th Judicial District has a new Circuit Court judge seat and it belongs to the county’s Master-in-Equity.
Marvin Dukes III who has served as Master-in-Equity and a special Circuit Court Judge for the past 17 years was sworn into office earlier this month.
Dukes became the 14th District’s third sitting Circuit Judge. He serves along with Judge Robert Banks of Walterboro and Judge Carmen Mullen of Hilton Head.
The seat, which provides a much-needed additional judge for the five-county district, was created two years ago but funding for the position went into the budget this year.
The county’s Master-in-Equity, which carries a six-year term, will be appointed by Gov. Henry McMaster.
Camp Jubilee gets green light for variance
BEAUFORT – In the last Lowdown report, the activities of the county’s zoning board of appeals were highlighted.
The seven-member citizens panel was in the spotlight, for some, last week when they granted a zoning variance to the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina for Camp Jubilee a new summer camp/retreat center on Lady’s Island.
The 42-acre property project on Brickyard Point Road was delayed at the June meeting after board members questioned some of the details for the 26 building complex which will come with four docks on Broomfield Creek.
While some neighbors expressed concerns about the plans for the currently wooded area, the board unanimously agreed with most citizens who crowded the meeting. They granted the needed variance.
The county planning staff, which had no objections to the plans, noted that, by right, the property could be developed to accommodate new 26 single-family homes on the rapidly changing island.
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.
