It’s hot and humid. All I want to do is lie around all day, swat a few mosquitoes, scratch a few fleas, and eat a few mice. But, as they say in my part of the accreted land, no rewards until the job is done. In other words, no rest for the whiney.
Get up! You cannot lie around all day, either. You and I have work to do! Our ordinances and laws - designed to protect and preserve our town- are being ignored or re-written. Our Comprehensive Plan? We won’t recognize it when this Council gets through with it. Town Council is “governing” at lightening speed, and I think it’s intentional.
When a governing body chooses to charge ahead and deliberately keep its plans away from the public, the outcome of this style of governing results in the achievement of their most primary of goals: TO DISENGAGE THE VOTERS ON THIS ISLAND. All of us know some issues. Some of us know none of the issues. But all of us do not know all of the issues. And this Council relies on our inability to absorb all that is going on.
Have you gone to a Council Workshop lately? Council seems to have “caught on” that the public comes and asks pertinent, fact-seeking questions. So what have they done? Now there is precious little business actually being discussed at the one place where all issues should be discussed! And yet Council claims that workshops are where islanders are supposed to come and ask questions!
Currently, an islander would have to attend every one of the seven Committees of Council to possibly get an idea of what really is going on around here. Who has the time for that? Hah! Let’s throw in your long-awaited summer vacation, your friends and family coming to your house to enjoy the beach, and…well, I think you get the picture.
So here are some things that I think you might want to know:
- Let’s start with the budget. It is on the Town of Sullivan’s Island webpage. Take a look at it and see if you might have a question or two about how your tax dollars are being spent. Oh, by the way, get ready for a tax increase!
- At the June 2 workshop, Councilwoman Mary Jane Watson, Chair of the Recreation Committee, asked for $14,000 to spend on an engineering study to consider putting lights on top of the Mound at Stith Park. Who wants lights on top of the Mound? (And even more traffic and more congestion?) I am sure that the folks who live on Patriot Street, Central Avenue, and Station 22 can’t wait to have lights shining into their homes and yards. Why can’t we leave well enough alone? Nope, we have to inch closer and closer to change this island into Coney Island.
- And check this one out: Mary Jane also requested money to fund a staff position for a Recreation Director on the on the island (see attachment below). So now we discover that Town Council wants to use our taxes to pay for a Recreation Director, administrative costs, and program costs. Once this door opens for a recreation center, it will never close. And funding will increase substantially. Keep in mind that we live adjacent 2 acclaimed recreational centers. One on the IOP and the other in Mt. Pleasant.
- Does Sullivan's Island even have enough residents to support a paid Recreation Director and a recreation center? Or is this another one of those things that would be done for the benefit of visitors at the expense of island residents?
- And is this one of the reasons Town Council wants to build boardwalks and viewing stations in the accreted land from Station 16 to Station 18--and maybe even all the way to Station 26? Keep in mind that no matter how many (or how few) islanders use a recreation department, we would all be taxed to pay for it. Just as we would all be taxed for maintenance and security on a Nature Trail. (Remember that one of the Town's stated reasons for requesting Greenbelt funds was to give the public more access to the protected land.)
- So where did the ideas about lighting up the mound and hiring a recreation director even come from? When was any of that ever publicly discussed? Minutes of the Recreation Committee meetings have been requested from Town Hall, but are either non-exisistent or just not available. Minutes of the Park Foundation meetings have also been requested, and are also either non-existent or not available.
Aside from these questionable budget items, I am sure you are all aware of a group of front beach homeowners who are suing the Town of Sullivan’s Island for the right to cut into the maritime forest. There is an excellent article in the most recent Island Eye which assesses quite fairly the feelings of islanders on both sides of this issue.
The article mentions that Judge Scarborough recently dismissed some of the causes of action in the lawsuit and ordered the parties to solve the remaining issues through mediation. Those are good and wise moves by Judge Scarborough, but here is what I am whining about: This coyote has learned that the Town can be represented by our attorneys and only 2 members of Council at this mediation.
This seems to be causing quite a tussle on Council because Councilman Jerry Kaynard thinks that he should be one of those two council members. Mr. Kaynard lives on the front beach and it is no secret that he is very “pro-cutting”. So wouldn't it just make sense that Jerry Kaynard should NOT be a party involved in the mediation? (Does this man even know the what the term "conflict of interest" means?) For the same reason, Councilman Chauncey Clark, who also lives on front beach, should not be a party involved in the mediation.
The 2 council members who would objectively represent our town are are Pat O’Neil and Mary Jane Watson. (Keep in mind that it was Jerry Kaynard and Chauncey Clark who bulldozed the vote on the first reading of an ordinance to drastically cut into the 100 foot transition zone. Council members O’Neil and Middaugh were blindsided by the motion, and the sizable audience at the Town Council meeting was stunned to witness the behavior of Kaynard and Clark - both with a personal agenda on the accreted land- and both of whom should have recused themselves from the vote.)
Remember when I said that you and I have work to do? Here is where I must ask you to help:
- Please write to every member of Council and ask that your tax dollars not be spent on an unnecessary and unwanted recreational center.
- Please write to every member of Council that no monies should be spent on a study to examine placing lighting on the Mound in Stith Park. We don’t need no stinkin’ lights on the Mound!
- Please write to every Council member that Pat O’Neil and Mary Jane Watson be the 2 council members to represent our town in the court-ordered mediation issued by Judge Scarborough.
Email addresses for all council members are on our Sullivan’s Island Community Impact website. You may only want to express your opinion on one issue or all three. Thanking them for the job they do, listening to the opinions of residents are positive talking points to add to your email.
This Council can no longer ignore the voices of its constituency. And the only way we are going to protect this island and its small town charm and traditional ways is to fight this Council and thwart the changes that are being thrust upon us.
Oh, and did I tell you that there is a critically important Planning Commission meeting this Wednesday, June 11th at 6:30 at Town Hall? It’s about adding more eateries in our commercial district - going all the way past the Post Office. Isn’t that just what we need? More food establishments? More traffic and congestion. More cars parking in our residential neighborhoods. (The contact information for all Planning Commission members is also on sicommunityimpact.com.)
We can’t wait for the next election. Our community must come first, Sullivan’s Island!
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