By Lolita Huckaby
BEAUFORT
“At some point, enough’s enough. You have to walk away.”
That’s what Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner told a Savannah television reporter last week when explaining his surprise decision not to seek an eighth term in office this year.
As should be well-known now by anyone who watches local politics, Tanner’s decision comes not only as a surprise but so does the timing, days before the March 16 opening of the political parties’ candidate filing period. The deadline for candidates wishing to run on a party platform in the upcoming primaries is March 30 which doesn’t give a potential candidate for the sheriff’s office much time … unless they were aware of Tanner’s plans and had quietly begun planning a campaign.
The 66-year-old Sheriff, who’s already spent 28 years trying to bring law enforcement to the county, isn’t the only high-profit individual planning an exit.
Beaufort County Council Chairwoman Alice Howard, a Republican who represents District 4 which includes Port Royal, Mossy Oaks, Shell Point, etc., has said she’s not going to run a fourth term.
And seven of her fellow council members will be up for re-election this year so there’s definitely potential for big changes. Or not.
The comings and goings of the county employees, numbered at around 1,100, is nothing new, accelerated in the past four years with the controversy and eventual departure of County Administrator Eric Greenway.
As a matter of routine, the administrators routinely recognize long-term employees at the Council’s bi-monthly meetings.
Just last month, the county’s Detention Center Director Col. Quandara Grant was honored after 31 years with the department, and Deputy Administrator John Robinson, who stood in at one time as County Administrator until Michael Moore was hired, is now running the center until a director can be hired.
Across Boundary Street at City Hall, the departure of Public Information Officer Ashley Brandon was announced last week after three years of taking public heat for city activities, including the release of an incorrectly redacted Freedom of Information Act request centered on a once-missing teenage girl.
Her departure follows the departure of Assistant City Manager JJ. Sauve who went back to the hills of North Carolina at the end of 2025 after a year on the job, and then, the Capital Improvement Projects Manager Raul Dominguez who departed just as the Charles Street Stormwater Drainage “Big Dig” swung into motion.
All said, you almost need a score card to keep up with who’s where. And that certainly will be the case in the coming three months as political candidates emerge from the woods and elected officials opt to slip away.
When you think about it, Tanner’s farewell remarks almost make sense. He wants to play more golf and he’s got yard work to be done.
Long meetings highlighting County, City work gatherings
BEAUFORT — On the subject of government meetings, both the County Council and Beaufort City Council have been putting in some long hours. And they’re not even into the heart of budget season yet.
Downtown property owner and frequent City Council observer Graham Trask took the Beaufort city officials to task last week when he commented, at the very end of a four-hour meeting, that the length was “way too long.”
Of course, the elected officials had a ton of issues to discuss from plastic bag restrictions to the sale of property in the city-owned Industrial Park to tightening the downtown noise ordinance. There was even a request, also granted, to allow for a mini-carnival and craft market in the Downtown Marina parking lot during the weekend prior to July 4.
The council decided last year to limit official meetings to once a month with a second workshop session added to their schedule.
The County Council, likewise, has been seeing longer meetings but none as long – yet — as the record eight-hour meeting when the vote to deny zoning changes for Pine Island development was taken before a crowded audience. Public comment for that meeting alone, took more than four hours.
The Port Royal Town Council, on the other hand, has been able to limit its monthly meetings to approximately an hour, even when they have citizen proclamations that often draw a crowd.
To the public’s advantage, meetings are now broadcast so interested citizens can watch from the comfort of home. The County has its own broadcasting channel so viewers can watch on TV or YouTube while Beaufort city and Port Royal town meetings can be viewed on Facebook.
But with the lengthy work sessions, plus committee meetings County Council members endure, it will be interesting to see if potential candidates for the eight County Council seats and two City Council seats think twice about running.
Good try for transparency Hilton Head Island
Speaking of meeting protocol, a Hilton Head Island Town Councilwoman made the news last week when she criticized her colleagues for meeting behind closed doors to discuss items, in her opinion, not qualified for executive session.
The Island Packet reported the councilwoman challenged the mayor and even tried to bring the discussion items into the open but could not get a second for her motion to do so.
“When we lose the faith of those we represent, we lose everything,” Council Member Tamara Becker told her colleagues.
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. The Rowland, N.C. native’s goal is to be factual but opinionated, based on her own observations. Feel free to contact her at bftbay@gmail.com.