By Delayna Earley and Mike McCombs
The Island News
Stephen Murray resigned as Mayor of Beaufort early Friday morning, September 15, in a long, open letter also posted to his Facebook page.
“I will forever be grateful for the relationships, the support, the kind words, the lessons imparted from so many of you. Local government and some of our partners are full of talented, caring, hardworking people that I have learned so much from. But I believe it’s time for me to focus more on my family, my friends, my businesses, and my health,” Murray wrote.
“Effective immediately, I hereby resign as the Mayor of the City of Beaufort and from all my affiliated board seats. The City is in capable hands with an amazing staff and dedicated council, and I am excited to watch our continued progress … as a private citizen.”
The catalyst
Recently, tensions have been high between the City of Beaufort and the Historic Beaufort Foundation (HBF) due to litigation regarding the construction of a parking structure, hotel and apartments by 303 Associates in downtown Beaufort and City Council voting on Tuesday, Sept. 12, to remove the sentence in the city ordinance that gives the HBF the ability to name one of the five members of the Historic District Review Board (HRB).
It was after the City Council meeting on Tuesday, when Murray, Councilmen Mike McFee and Josh Scallate voted for the second and final time to amend the ordinance, removing the HBF’s ability to recommend a seat to the HRB, that there was an alleged incident between HBF Executive Director Cynthia Jenkins and Murray.
An account of the alleged incident was initially posted online by Beautiful Beaufort Alliance, an organization run by Graham Trask. Trask is a longtime critic of Murray, the parking structure, hotel and apartments that have been approved to be built in downtown Beaufort.
Murray’s final official act as mayor was to appear Thursday night at the open house for the Reimagine Ribaut project at Technical College of the Lowcountry (TCL). The City of Beaufort is a stakeholder in the project along with the Town of Port Royal and Beaufort County.
Council members surprised
Under the Beaufort Code of Ordinances, as mayor pro tem, City Councilman Mike McFee in the acting mayor of Beaufort until a new mayor is installed by way of a special election.
“We’ve still got a good leader, Mike McFee,” said Councilman Neil Lipsitz. “He’ll be very good. We’ve got a special election coming up, but hopefully he’ll retain the seat. He’s been on Council for 26 years. He’s got a good eye on Beaufort.”
McFee said that he was “pretty blindsided” by Murray’s decision to resign.
“I don’t think anyone expected him to resign,” McFee said. “When we did talk, he kept reiterating the fact that he has a business here, he has children here that are going to grow up here, and he was getting tired of the constant attacks. From a healthy standpoint, the demands on him from his personal life and this, he just didn’t want to continue doing it.”
Lipsitz said that he thinks that the most recent attacks on his character are why he resigned.
“I was shocked,” Lipsitz said. “I know his reputation means a lot to him. It was being attacked. And I think it was the final straw.”
Fellow Councilman Josh Scallate also said that he didn’t know anything about the former mayor’s decision to resign.
“I don’t fully understand the reason for the decision, but I hope that the decision was made in the best interest for his family and that he can take some time and be with them, because I know that’s important,” Scallate said.
Scallate continued by saying that this job requires a lot of time and commitment and Murray gave that for “many years” and the city of Beaufort should be thankful for that.
“I was very comfortable with Stephen’s long-term leadership possibilities. We didn’t always agree. There were differences of opinion. But overall, he was good. I liked his enthusiasm, his youthfulness, his visions for the future,” said Councilman Mitch Mitchell.
When reached for comment, former Beaufort mayor Billy Keyserling said, “This is not a time where I would recommend anybody be a public servant. I’d thought I’s never say this but I’d not recommend anybody run for public office today.”
Moving forward
McFee, and the other council members, received a letter from Murray by email letting him know of his resignation early on Friday morning and said that they have texted a few times, but McFee is respecting Murray’s wish not to reach out to him.
“I did text and tell him that I’m disappointed and very sorry,” McFee said.
Murray responded by saying that McFee will be fine and to hold it together until they can move forward.
McFee said that the city will continue with its strategic plan – all the ordinances and plans are in place from a policy standpoint, and they are just going continue going forward.
“It’s business as usual, we’re just one man down for a period of time,” McFee said.
Scallate seconded that statement and said that, “It’s a great loss, but we do have a good team at the table and hopefully we can just continue with the momentum that we have and bring sustainability to our future.”
When asked about how he feels about being mayor, McFee said that truthfully, becoming mayor this way feels “pretty bad.”
“This is not what I wanted,” McFee said. “If I had wanted to be mayor, I would have run for mayor two years ago, but I made the choice not to because I have enough irons in the fire.”
He followed up by saying that he would “handle this” as he needs to and make a decision as to if he would be the best person to serve as mayor moving forward.
At this point, McFee has not ruled out running for mayor in the special election in December.
According to a release from the City of Beaufort, the special election is expected to be held on Dec. 12, 2023. Details regarding the filing period will be forthcoming.
Murray wore many hats
Murray was elected mayor in 2020, succeeding Keyserling, a three-term mayor who did not run for re-election. His term was set to end in 2024.
He first ran for City Council in 2014, winning a seat, and ran unopposed for a second term in 2018 before pursuing the mayor’s seat.
Murray, a third generation Beaufortonian and a graduate of Beaufort High School, is a fixture in the Beaufort community in more ways than his time on City Council or as Mayor of Beaufort.
He is the CEO of Kazoobie Kazoos and the owner of New South Shirts. Kazoobie Kazoos is a small business that manufactures plastic kazoos and other musical instruments. It twice has won the National Blue Ribbon Small Business Award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. New South Shirts specializes in digital garment printing, embroidery, event merchandising and promotional products.
Murray was a member of the founding Board of Directors of the Beaufort Digital Corridor, as well as a founding Chairman and member of the Board of Directors of the Beaufort County Economic Development Corporation. He was also recently elected to positions in two statewide organizations – he was elected president of the Association of South Carolina Mayors and an at-large delegate to the Board of Directors of the Municipal Association of South Carolina (MASC).
He resigned from those boards and positions, as well, on Friday.
“I’m resigning … from my affiliated board seats,” Murray said in a letter separate from his resignation letter as mayor. “I plan to lay low for a while to focus on the things noted in my letter, but please reach out if I can ever be of non-political assistance. Keep up the great work!”
“Mayor Murray leaves a legacy in Beaufort that is nothing short of remarkable,” Beaufort Digital Corridor Executive Director Jess O’Brien said in a statement emailed to The Island News. “As a founding board member of the Beaufort Digital Corridor, he embodied a relentless passion for fostering job growth and high-paying opportunities right here in our community. His unwavering commitment to volunteerism and support for our organization has been a driving force behind our success.”
Murray is a Past President of the Leadership Beaufort Alumni Association, a Riley Institute Leadership Diversity Fellow and a former Lowcountry Rotarian.
Now, as a private citizen, he’ll spend more time with his wife and twin daughters.
“I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders,” Murray said on Friday afternoon.
Delayna Earley lives in Beaufort with her husband, two children and Jack Russell. She formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She joined The Island News in 2022. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
