2011 Election

CYAN-AOOO MAGENTA-OAOO YELLOW-OOAO BLACK 012908

Wednesday , November 2 , 2011 ____________________________www.moultrienews.com ___________________________________ MOULTRIE NEWS. 1 C


IP03-635366

2 C .MOULTRIE NEWS ___________________________________www.moultrienews.com ____________________________ Wednesday , November 2 , 2011


RE-ELECT NOV. 8TH

“Do what’s right because it’s right, not because it’s popular.” - Ken Glasson

www.voteken4council.orgPaid for by Re-elect Ken Glasson for Council.

P.O. Box 1323 Mt. Pleasant SC 29465

MT. PLEASANTTOWN COUNCIL

Endoersed By:

“I have worked with Council member Ken Glasson since 2006. He currently chairs ourBids & Purchases and Fire Committees, and sits on the powerful Finance Committee. I am pleased to fully endorse his bid for re-election to Town Council.”

- The Honorable William D. Swails, Mayor of the Town of Mount Pleasant

“With Ken Glasson’s re-election, Mount Pleasant will continue to have a voice of thepeople… It is comforting to know he will continue to serve with his eye on the bottom line.”

- Linda Page, Mount Pleasant Town Councilwoman

“I have served on Town Council with Ken Glasson for the last two years. His knowledgeand leadership are exactly what we need on Town Council. Please join me on November 8thin voting to re-elect Ken Glasson”

- John BurnMount Pleasant Town Council

“Ken Glasson has been a good Councilman. As chair of the Bids & Purchases Committeeand a member of the Finance and Public Services Committees, he has demonstrated goodfiscal management of the Town's revenues & assets. I have learned much from him in my 2 years on Council.”

- Elton Carrier, Mount Pleasant Town Councilman

‘Mr. Ken Glasson is an internal member of the current team of Council the leads the townforward in the right direction. He receives my full support for re-election November 8th .”

- Dr. Craig RhyneMount Pleasant Town Council

IP03-614098

As Councilman, Ken Glasson has:

! Stood up to special interests.

! As chairman of Bids & Purchases Committee, held the line on spending & kept all expenditures under budget.

! As chairman of the Fire Committee, helped implement an excellent, accredited paramedic program.

! Is hands-on and action-oriented.


Mount Pleasant Town Council candidates were giv-en three questions and asked to provide brief replies. See the questions and their re-sponses below.

1. Have you ridden the CAR-TA bus routes in the Town of Mount Pleasant. What would you do to improve the rider’s experience on our East Coo-per bus routes.

2. What are your thoughts on the town’s current form of government? Should the town hold a referendum seeking a switch to a strong mayor/weak council?

3. Experts are predicting another downturn in the na-tional economy at a moment when our country has not fully recovered from the last recession of 2007. First and specifically, what are the top three impacts, resulting from state and national economic woes, upon our town? Sec-ond, what do you plan to do as a council member to assist the city in weathering those current hardships, while also preparing for potential economic crisis around the bend?

Joe Bustos1 . I

have rid-den a bus in Mount P l e a s -a n t . I have al-so been a town r e p r e -s e n t a -

tive to the CARTA board for the Town of Mount Pleasant for three years. While on that board I advocated that a bus route be established to transport riders from Mount Pleasant to the Isle of Palms, Sullivan’s Island and return More park and ride and bet-ter bus stop locations are needed to make bus rider-ship better and more conve-nient. This would also have a positive effect on traffic.

2. The town has already committed to having a town administrator for the fore-seeable future. This would indicate that the present system of a weak mayor/strong council will continue to exist. However, if a refer-endum was desired, it should be added as a question in the 2013 municipal election. If the result of that referen-dum is to establish a strong mayor form of government that could occur during the 2017 elections. This schedule would prevent the 2012 elec-tions from having too many questions during a presiden-tial election and allow voters to weigh their choices for a strong mayor in a subsequent mayoral election.

3. The top three economic woes facing our town are: the inability to keep seasoned employees needed to deliver efficient and effective ser-vices, second infrastructure deteriorating due to a lack of maintenance funds and lastly the inability to create an en-vironment where businesses can develop and thrive and therefore be able to create jobs and opportunities for town residents. To prepare for these eventualities we must identify core services to be provided in a world class manner while reducing those not deemed essential. Rather than a balance sheet approach the town must establish and live within a budget much like we do our own homes. Infrastructure must be maintained and it will take funds saved each year to attend to those needs in the next 10 to 15 years. We must work with the state legislature to reduce the spe-cial status of some funds and enable municipalities to ex-pend funds to maintain their residents’ vital services.

Nick Collins

1 . I have not had the c h a n c e to r ide the CAR-TA bus to date. W e o n counci l are try-

ing to get shelters for every stop on the routes. I trust this will greatly improve the ex-perience.

2. Yes. The town needs to hold a referendum on this most important issue on strong mayor/weak coun-cil. Before we make a deci-sion we all need to study this issue very carefully. As it changes the entire system that has been in place for over 50 years. We now have the best run municipality in the state and to change this requires attention to every detail. Some will say if it is not broke then why fix it? Also, the grass is not always greener on the other side. I will have to study this very carefully then decide when all of us are better informed and educated .

3. One of the impacts will be on our ability to maintain the level of service Mount Pleas-ant citizens enjoy today, due to the lack of income coming into our town. Another issue will be the ability to attract new businesses while we weather this downturn. One more issue will be balanc-ing the budget and watching costs. I will be on close watch to make sure the town lives within our budget.

George Freeman1 . I

have rid-den the C A R T A b u s e s b e f o r e but have not rid-den the routes in M o u n t

Pleasant. After completing this questionnaire, I plan to ride the Mount Pleasant route. To improve the rider’s experience, I would expand the route to include stops along Venning Road, Six Mile Road and Hamlin Road and prove a discount to students riding the bus. If the funds were available, I would build a covered station for transfer from the East Cooper route to the Express route.

2. Either form of govern-ment will get the job done. The individual elected by the citizens to the office is the important factor. The town should only hold a referen-dum seeking a switch to a strong mayor/weak council if there is an outcry from the citizens for a change. At this time, I have not heard the citizens calling for a change.

3. The first impact was the tax revenue lost. The second was a decrease in available funds for infrastructure projects. The third was a freeze on job hiring. To re-solve these issues we need to change our position from be-ing a bedroom community to a more diverse community. We need to work with other towns and cities to develop a comprehensive economic development plan for the East Cooper area. The plan should include the recruit-ment of businesses that produce a product as well as provide high paying salaries. The diverse tax revenue base will provide us great protec-tion in the future against a budget shortfall. The plan should also include an East Cooper transportation plan endorsed by all municipali-ties east of the Cooper.

Ken Glasson1 . I

am not o v e r l y familiar with the C A R T A b u s r o u t e s f r o m personal e x p e r i -

ence, but from talking to people deeply involved with CARTA I’m learning that the greatest deterrent to riders is not knowing when/where the buses are running. Ac-cording to the experts I’m speaking with, we could greatly increase ridership and loyalty to CARTA by better publicizing the bus routes and frequency and en-couraging ridership, perhaps with a town public relations campaign. Certainly people

who are especially concerned with traffic tie-ups and those without reliable transporta-tion of their own would be ex-cellent target audiences, and I hope with the right message that they would be receptive. CARTA also has a program for students that could help turn them into regular CAR-TA riders as well, not just to and from school but also around town.

2. As a council member, I don’t think decreasing the council’s influence will be helpful to our citizens. To tip the balance so one side or the other becomes more powerful means that some ideas which may be very good ideas will get lost in the power struggle. There have been disagreements among councilmen and between the council and the mayor, but because of the profession-alism of everyone involved and their sincere concern for solving town issues, we have gotten a tremendous amount done, which is what you always hope for. It hasn’t always been the case with previous councils. If we can keep this kind of mutual re-spect – because the council members respect each other and the mayor, and he re-spects us – it’s the best pos-sible combination.

3. The most visible im-pact on our town has been the downturn in real estate, which has resulted in far less building than previously and secondarily, the de-valuing of much existing real estate, which has hurt a lot of people whose primary assets are in their real estate. That issue has been a contributing factor – though not the only factor - to the third huge issue, which is unemployment. Having so many town residents either under-employed or unem-ployed impacts our commu-nity tremendously - people without jobs are not going to spend as much money in the community, which impacts our local businesses, which in turn impacts our tax base.

My top priority as a coun-cilman has been strengthen-ing the economic stability of Mount Pleasant. Since I’ve come on council in 2006, the revenue in our general fund has increased from $9-million to $16.5-million. My goal is to make Mount Pleas-ant a AAA-rated community, something only two other communities in the entire country have achieved, which would mean our economic status is rock-solid. Having that kind of money available to us means that in the event

of a natural or economic di-saster, we still would have money to pay for town ser-vices, so our police, fire and public services departments would remain on the job. The impact of not having these services available is frighten-ing to think about. My great-est focus as a councilman has always been on keeping the bottom line healthy, because if we achieve that – and we are in very good shape right now and on our way to being AAA rated - then we can be assured that whatever hap-pens to the country, we will be able to continue to func-tion. I consider that my most important contribution as a councilman, and it’s some-thing I will continue to fight for.

Thomasena Stokes-Marshall

1. Yes, I h a v e r i d d e n the # 40 C A R T A bus line on sev-eral oc-casions. As a rep-resenta-

tive of Mount Pleasant on the CARTA Board of Direc-tors, it is important for me to have first hand experience with the level of efficiency, dependability, scheduling time, safety of the bus stop locations and the overall ac-cessibility to commuters.

What would you do to improve the rider’s experi-ence on the East Cooper bus routes?

I would improve CARTA’s bus schedule dependability. It is important that people who need to ride the bus know that they can be as-sured that the service arrives and departs on a consistent schedule.

I would improve the vis-ibility of CARTA bus stop sig-nage and ensure that stops are placed in safe locations that are easily accessible to riders.

Ideally, I would provide a bus shelter and a bench at all CARTA bus stops through-out Mount Pleasant. As a CARTA Board Member, I am aware that the revenue to address this need is not available. However, I believe there is a market for busi-nesses to utilize bus shelters and benches for advertising. Controlled marketing would generate the funds needed for bus shelters and benches at many bus stops in Mount

Pleasant. CARTA should ex-plore advertising options as an incentive to encourage local businesses to partici-pate.

2. Over the past 10-15 years, our current form of govern-ment has served our resi-dents and the Town of Mount Pleasant well. However, hav-ing achieved the status of the fourth largest municipality in South Carolina we must explore the pros and cons as-sociated with a strong may-or/weak council form of gov-ernment. In our economy, Mount Pleasant must be able to compete with surrounding towns for our share of limited budget dollars. Several of our neighboring towns have very strong mayors. It might be in our interest to make the changes necessary to remain competitive.

3. Yes. Experts are predict-ing another downturn in the national economy at a mo-ment when our country has not fully recovered from the last recession of 2007.

I believe that the three ma-jor impacts resulting from the state and national eco-nomic woes upon our town in the coming years are:

•The mandate for fiscal re-sponsibility:

Council must maintain a balanced budget that enables the town to continue provid-ing the level and quality of services currently provided to our residents.

•The mandate to imple-ment GASB 45 (Retirement Benefits):

The combined forces of an aging workforce, increases in the ratio of retirees and ac-tive workers and the rise of medical expenses continue to drive up the costs of the town providing health insurance to active and retired employ-ees. Increases in the annual cost of health insurance and the substantial growth in the unfunded liabilities as-sociated with retiree health plans have forced council to reevaluate our current pro-grams and make fundamen-tal changes to reduce the costs and future liabilities.

The provision of health insurance to current and re-tired employees has become a major financial issue that requires council to reorga-nize current retirement ben-efits.

•The ability to sustain the town’s long term Capitol Im-provement Plan:

Much of the quality of life of the residents of Mount Pleas-ant is contingent on comple-tion of our long term capitol improvement plan.

Currently Mount Pleasant has a balanced budget and reserve fund that places our town in viable financial posi-tion. However, we must pre-pare to address a potential economic crisis. Now more so than ever, it is important for the Town of Mount Pleasant to strengthen partnerships with the CBD Council of Gov-ernment and the Charleston Area Chamber of Commerce; to collectively establish and implement policies and procedures designed to ad-dress the potential negative impacts of a declining econ-omy.

Improving economic devel-opment incentives to attract research and development and technology industries will increase the town’s tax base. Creating small busi-ness incentives to attract and expand businesses that specialize in green/environ-mental technology will help to create a new job market.

Incentives to encour-age developers to establish workforce housing enabling residents to live, work and raise their families in Mount Pleasant will add the eco-nomic diversity necessary to keep our economy vital.

We must explore opportu-nities to outsource some of the non-essential services to help decrease the overall costs of providing these ser-vices.

This should only be done if we maintain strict control over the level of quality of services provided.

We must strengthen the town’s tourism marketing ef-forts to increase the number of visitors to Mount Pleasant, thereby increasing the town’s annual tourism revenues.

Tate Mikell1. The

counci l appears t o r u n well as is.

2. We, counci l m e m -b e r s , need to

advocate with our state level politicians to send down the money to allow us to help our disabled and aged citizens and for us to do our jobs. We are all their constituents.

3. I have not yet ridden any CARTA routes, but intend to find ways to make the rides safer and more accessible.

See Candidates, page 6C


IP02-624444

Paid for by committee to Re-ElectThomasena Stokes-Marshall

Mount Pleasant: Meet the candidates 4 C .MOULTRIE NEWS ___________________________________www.moultrienews.com ____________________________ Wednesday , November 2 , 2011


IP02-615393


Chris Nickels

1 . I h a v e r i d d e n r o u t e s 4 0 & 401, and I w a s one of 40 citizens to attend a CARTA

public forum in Mount Pleas-ant last February. In addition, my oldest daughter used the express shuttle (park & ride) from Walmart / Kmart to the College of Charleston for four years. I have not utilized the flex service to the islands.

The new bus route system, approved by the CARTA board last February, extend-ed existing routes to Mount Pleasant Hospital and Wan-do High School while pre-serving the existing Express Bus system. The # 40 and, to a lesser extent, # 401 routes have proven to be successful with stops located at Oakland Plantation, Towne Centre, Waterfront Park, Town Hall and Wando High School.

The CARTA board must continue to evaluate the Mount Pleasant routes for effective performance based on the number of riders and fare box collections. If the Mount Pleasant routes do not reach legitimate targets set by the board, they should be modified or terminated.

2. As the fourth largest mu-nicipality in South Carolina, our neighborhoods, civic leaders and the business community deserve strong political leadership. Today’s complex communities, like Mount Pleasant, cannot succeed without the guid-ance of effective mayors who provide a sense of direction and contribute to the smooth functioning of a local govern-ment. Mount Pleasant also needs thoughtful, dedicated council members to work with the mayor to establish appropriate policy as well as competent and professional administrators and depart-ment managers to carry out those policies.

Our current council-ad-ministrator form of govern-ment encourages neighbor-hood input into the political process, diffuses the power of special interests, and elimi-nates partisan politics from municipal hiring, firing, and contracting decisions. Un-der a “strong mayor,” politi-cal power is concentrated in the mayor, which means that other members of the elected body relinquish some of their policy-making power and

influence. This loss of deci-sion-making power among council members could have a chilling effect on the voices of neighborhoods and town residents. I would support a referendum to gauge the in-terest of the town in changing our form of government.

3. I am a fiscal conservative who will fight against raising taxes and fees, promote open and accountable government and insist on fiscal responsi-bility on council and from the town staff. Mount Pleasant’s challenges include protect-ing the financial health of the town (while continuing to provide excellent core services) in a stagnant and slumping economy, while clearing the way for private businesses to create jobs. We are also faced with decreas-ing home values and foreclo-sures.

We need to encourage growth of existing Mount Pleasant businesses while at the same time persuad-ing new businesses to locate here. My focus will be to low-er the tax burden, streamline regulations, decrease spend-ing and enable a business-friendly environment for job and business creation, in-cluding additional solutions for traffic congestion. We no longer have the revenue growth that we had in the last decade, but the town’s expenses, just like yours at home, are going up. We must prioritize our spending, just like you do at home. We need to let existing business grow, and we need to identify businesses that improve the quality of life for residents and recruit them to locate here. Mount Pleasant’s role in job creation is to provide a climate in which large and small businesses are able to create jobs. Our quality of life, including excellent public and private schools, well-maintained neighbor-hoods, an excellent recre-ation department, and most importantly top notch police and fire protection and pub-lic services, is a significant contributor to economic de-velopment.

Chris O’Neil1 . I

h a v e r i d d e n C A R T A on a few o c c a -s i o n s . I h a v e a l w a y s seen one of CAR-

TA’s biggest issues in Mount Pleasant as lack of awareness on where the routes pick-up, where they drop-off and the frequency in which they run. I think more advertising and marketing needs to be done to help inform Mount Pleas-ant residents of the CARTA option. Residents just need to be made more aware of the options that CARTA pro-vides.

2. I think the current form of government is effective. Decisions are made from a majority of individuals elect-ed by the people, rather than by one singular individual. I believe the town benefits from the collective wisdom of the eight council members and the mayor. Now, I do think that the Town of Mount Pleasant needs a full-time mayor. As the fourth largest municipality in South Caro-lina, Mount Pleasant needs a mayor that is committed to the town in a full-time ca-pacity. Being mayor is a job that requires a lot of time and attention to the citizens of Mount Pleasant. It is not a part-time to job to be mayor of Mount Pleasant.

3. The Town of Mount Pleasant has suffered from decreased in revenue while the expenses of operating town government have in-creased. This is a result of people making less money so they pay less in income taxes, spending less money so there is less sales and ac-commodations tax revenue, and the decrease in home values and ownership have decreased property tax rev-enue.

The Town of Mount Pleas-ant government relied heav-ily on funding from growth for many years. Due to the current economic environ-ment less people are moving to Mount Pleasant, and even fewer are building. Business-es are making less money and hiring fewer people. This has put the town in a position where it has to change and adapt how it spends tax-payer dollars.

The cost of purchasing ev-eryday items has increased while wages have decreased. Gas is more expensive. Gro-ceries are more expensive. Healthcare costs have risen. People in Mount Pleasant are being forced to do more with less. Our town council will be forced to do the same.

If I am fortunate enough to serve Mount Pleasant as a council member I have unique skills as a Certified Public Accountant to address these issues. I have been help-

ing and advising my business and personal clients on these problems since the financial crisis hit in 2007, and we are preparing in case there is an-other crisis. On town coun-cil I will help us diversify and grow our tax base. We cannot increase taxes on individu-als in a financial crisis, and we cannot increase fees on struggling businesses. We need to promote the business opportunities that are here and help our existing small business grow. As a council member I will work to help our town do more with less. We have to get more efficient. We need to make sure we spend our tax dollars wisely and efficiently with an eye to the future. Town coun-cil does not currently have an accountant or CPA care-fully watching spending and making sure that the town is ready for any future finan-cial crisis. I am running for a seat on town council because I believe in these difficult fi-nancial times that I bring a skill set that Mount Pleasant needs. As a CPA I work every day to make sure my clients pay as little tax as the law re-quires so they can keep more of the money they work hard to earn. That is what I will do on town council.

Mark Smith1 . I

h a v e enjoyed riding on the CAR-TA bus system. On one o f m y r e c e n t rides, I

met Mrs. Jean Johnson who was driving the #401 route bus. Mr. Johnson, who grew up on Young’s Island, has seen many changes (some good and some bad) during her 20 year career driving for CARTA. I enjoyed vis-iting with her and several commuter riders who were

traveling between downtown Charleston and Mount Pleas-ant for work. My recent ex-perience on the CARTA sys-tem was both enjoyable and efficient.

The CARTA Bus system is a hidden gem here in the Town of Mount Pleasant. System wide improvements and several new routes have led to increased ridership each year. For example, the #40 route saw a 16% rider-ship increase over the past year (May 2010 – May 2011). One of examples of CARTA success is helping to relieve some of the congestion on our main thoroughfares dur-ing the rush hour time frame. We need to be mindful of the Town of Mount Pleasant’s limited resource but at the same time we should con-tinue to encourage CARTA to excel and thus raise its ridership.

2. I would support a pub-lic referendum to allow the voters to decide whether the Town of Mount Pleas-ant should move to a Strong Mayor-Council form of city government.

The time is right for this referendum. In fact, in South Carolina, the Strong Mayor-Council is the most popular form of local government with over 60% of our locali-ties adopting this form of government. A strong mayor system would provide for a full-time mayor who over-sees city operations, em-ployment and budgets. As the 4th largest municipality in South Carolina (1. Colum-bia, 2. Charleston, 3. North Charleston and 4. Mount Pleasant) the time is right to pursue a public vote so that the voters can decide on the future structure of our town’s government.

3. As the next Council Member for the Town of Mount Pleasant, I will be a strong leader in planting the sign “Mount Pleasant is open for Business.” To attract new business to our community,

the first thing we must do is establish a business-friendly environment for all busi-nesses (big and small). This means low taxes, less regu-lation, a balanced budget, a pro-business labor environ-ment, a stable real estate market, health care and a highly educated workforce. I will support and push eco-nomic policies that let the free market flourish.

The next Mount Pleasant Town Council must create a strong and sustainable eco-nomic plan for our town’s future.

For example, the current employee retirement health care entitlement is roughly 11 percent (and growing) of the Town of Mount Pleasant’s overall health care spend-ing.

Without systematic re-forms to the entitlement plan for the future employees, the Town of Mount Pleasant could be crippled and unable to fund key critical services.

The next Town Council must also stay focused on helping the key critical core services succeed (police, fire protection and sanitation). But most importantly, the next Town Council must re-main focused on creating a pro-small business environ-ment and a pro-family envi-ronment.

As a member of the Mount Pleasant Town Council I will bring small business leader-ship to the debates.

I am a small business own-er and every day I face the same issue: constantly look-ing at the company’s bottom line and finding areas to cut expenses so I can meet payroll and pay the bills. If elected to Mount Pleasant Town Council I will bring this small business experience to the debates on Council. As I mentioned previously, the Town of Mount Pleasant faces some serious issues. I commit to be a leader in working to solve these key issues.


IP02-635887

10 IMPORTANTREASONS WE

SHOULD VOTE FOR

Nick Collins1. Nick Collins keeps his promises2. Nick Collins has increased education opportunities for

Mt. Pleasant residents.3. Nick Collins has expanded recreation facilities for

Mt. Pleasant residents.4. Nick Collins practices full and open transparency in government.5. Nick Collins has worked to improve Mt. Pleasant roads

and infrastructure.6. Nick Collins has fought for Mt. Pleasant’s “fair share” of tax

revenue from the state and federal government.7. Nick Collins led the effort for waterfront access at Shem Creek

and Waterfront Park.8. Nick Collins is dedicated to protecting our existing quality of

life and improving our future.9. Nick Collins is completely committed to Mt. Pleasant Town

Council and will not seek a different position during his term in office.

10. Nick Collins places Mt. Pleasant residents and their needs FIRST - not special interests!

“It has been one of the great honors of my life to represent you onTown Council and I respectfully ask for your vote in Tuesday’s

election so I can continue our tremendous progress.”- Nick Collins

!Vote

Paid for by Collins for Town Council. 327 Wild Horse Lane, Mt. Pleasant 29464

Mount Pleasant: Meet the candidates

Contact the candidatesMount Pleasant

candidates•Nick A Collins JrTown Council327 Wild Horse [email protected]•Susan I MellichampWater & Sewer Commission1456 Allen [email protected]•George A FreemanTown CouncilPO Box [email protected]•William T MikellTown Council1119 Talisman [email protected]•Kenneth GlassonTown Council3471 Claremont [email protected]•Thomasena Stokes-MarshallTown Council481 Lillie & Rebecca

[email protected]•Joseph M. Bustos Jr.Town Council649 King [email protected]•Christopher W. NickelsTown Council136 Cooper River [email protected]•Christopher O’NealTown Council3383 Linder [email protected]•Mark SmithTown Council2716 Canebrake [email protected]

IOP candidates•Nick StroudWater [email protected] •Anne BauerCity Council860-1653

[email protected]•Ryan Buckhannon (incumbent)[email protected]•Jimmy [email protected] •Brian Duffy (incumbent)[email protected] •Michael Loftus (incumbent)[email protected] •Ralph Piening (incumbent)[email protected] •Jimmy [email protected]

•Joseph L. DebneyElection Commission - Executive [email protected] (o)261-3883 (c)974-6419 (f)


Each candidate for Isle of Palms City Council was pro-vided with three questions. Each provided a brief but descriptive answer. See the questions and their respons-es below.

1. The purchase of 3206 Palm Blvd. are you for it or against it? Why?

2. Quality of life has been a big issue in the past, is the community’s quality of life in balance with the other activi-ties in the community? And what needs to change if any-thing?

3. How do you propose the Isle of Palms should balance its budget?

Anne Bauer1. The

proposal t o u s e greens-pace dol-lars for the pur-c h a s e of 3206 P a l m w a s

unanimously approved by Isle Of Palms City Council and the plan is in motion. I am in favor of using greens-pace dollars - no city tax dol-lars - for the purchase of land on the Isle of Palms. Since there is little available land that meets the “greenspace criteria,” I support this ef-fort. I also support acquisi-tion of the remaining funds required to purchase this land through grants, dona-tions, etc.

2. I believe Isle Of Palms residents’ quality of life is generally in balance given recently passed ordinances limiting ‘mini hotel’ occu-pancy and formalization of the livability court. Howev-er, given the large numbers of visitor on the island for several months of each year, I believe it is critical to con-tinually monitor ‘quality of life’ issues for the residents, anticipate issues and work positively to deal with them.

3. I have reviewed Isle Of Palms budgets for the last few years, have attended the last few council meetings - to include the external auditor review of the budget - and am confident that the Isle Of Palms budget is balanced. In fact, there is a surplus. Naturally I would work to continue keeping a balanced budget.

Ryan Buck-hannon

1. This w a s ‘sold’ to c o u n -cil that Greens-p a c e

funds were only available to purchase property. This is not true. A better use of these funds would be to offset those allowable expenses that are in the city’s current budget. An example would be the budgeted dune walkovers. We don’t know if we will ever have enough money to pur-chase this property, so let’s offset our budget expenses now and pass the savings on to the taxpayers.

2. The quality of life for our residents is first and fore-most. That is why the city took the initiative five years ago to develop the Livability Court. This has helped al-leviate problems associated with rentals, to improve the quality of life for year round residents and maintain that balance. Continued enforce-ment of our current ordinanc-es allows us to keep things in check. We need to be diligent about enforcing these laws to maintain the balance be-tween our residents and visi-tors. Those on council may think that supporting and voting for an ordinance that allows tearing down dunes in a residential neighborhood to put in commercial parking lots for day trippers is a type of balance. I was the only one on council to disagree. What needs to change is the way that these knee jerk ideas get fast tracked into ordinances without public input. I will continue to work with the residents’ best interest in mind to improve this island’s

quality of life.3. The same way I do at my

house and in my business.’ Expenditures should be equal or less than revenues. The city is in good financial shape, mainly because we have a revenue source that many communities through-out the state do not have the opportunity to receive. Our Accommodations Tax funds helps the city to balance its budget. But recently the city has had dip into the Accomo-dations Tax reserves in order to balance the budget. That is one reason that I did not support this budget. If those on council who supported this type of “balanced bud-get” make it a habit of dip-ping into savings to meet the city’s expenditures, eventu-ally the savings are gone and another revenue source will have to be applied, usually through a tax hike. Unnec-essary spending will go far in achieving a true balanced budget. Recently, Patriots Point requested $10,000 for a study to improve their facilities, this city council awarded them $15,000. I did not support this expendi-ture because I felt the Isle of Palms residents’ tax dollars could be better utilized in their own city. Some of those seeking re-election thought it was a great use of tax dol-lars. This type of spending needs to stop.

Jimmy Carroll

1. The p u r -c h a s e of 3206 P a l m B o u l e -vard to be used

as a passive park is the most ludicrous idea I’ve ever heard. Palm Boulevard is already over run with parking prob-lems which is growing worse every year. The residents who live along Palm Blvd. are up in arms. They used to take care of the right of ways, but now they have been turned into sand pits. Traffic along Palm Boulevard has turned into a ever slow procession of cars looking for a space to park. People dart in and out between traffic. The city has attempted several solutions, cross walks and a painted white line along Palm Bou-levard, four feet off the side to move cars away from traf-fic, but those are not enough. Palm Boulevard has become a parking lot and those who live on the northeastern side of the island have a long slow drive to get home. Not to mention, what hap-pens in emergencies. In fact, someone is going to get hurt crossing the road and not being seen. I would hate to think we promoted that. Plus the economics of this pur-chase. I’m told it is not Isle of Palms tax payers money, but it is. Every time we go to the pumps, we are pay-ing. It is a tax. Plus, we will be taking this lot off the tax books, right now, it generates $19,884 in tax revenue as a lot. Not to mention its annual upkeep as a passive park, li-ability insurance, it would become an attractive nui-sance for people to hang out on. I am all for “green space” but this is not the right loca-tion. It is my understanding that we can use these monies to improve other beach ac-cesses, we could buy another lot elsewhere that would not cause traffic jams. This deci-sion was a knee jerk reaction to one person’s suggestion. Put this out for a public ref-erendum. I’d go along with what the residents want.

2. The quality of life on the Isle of Palms is fantastic. I’m the only person running for council or sitting on council who actually grew up here. The Isle of Palms has always been a tourist destination. As a kid, the population swelled during the summer months and it died during the win-ter months. We used to have parties about getting our is-land back after the summer months. The Isle of Palms took steps several years ago to stop the commercial use of homes for weddings, recep-tions, parties and such. I was all for that. Any new rental

home built is limited to 12 guests, any existing rental home is grand-fathered in. (I’m not sure that was all that great an idea, but I have no desire to change any law that the city enacted based on what the residents want). We have noise ordinances and a livability officer who patrols for such infractions. The rental companies have done a great job in promoting fam-ily oriented vacations. If one looks at the police reports, our problems are not rental homes. Our biggest quality of life problems are with those who come to our beach for the day, cause parking problems, cause traffic problems, leave their trash, disrobe in public, are disrespectful to property owners and more, plus, they don’t spend a dime out here. Yes, these problems swell during the summer months, but otherwise, it’s over. I un-derstand people wanting to come to our beaches, they are the best around, seven miles of wide sandy gently sloping beaches, plus, they are the easiest to get to. I also feel the beaches are for everyone, but not at the expense of those who live here and pay taxes. We need to find a way to pro-vide and control parking, and to steer the bulk of the day trippers to the front beach area where we have park-ing, restrooms, restaurants, lifeguards and emergency response units. We bought over five acres in 1987 to be used for parking, of which we used a portion for our fire/police department. Maybe we can look into Charleston County helping out with the Charleston County residents who use our island. They could run a shuttle from the public parking around the island. They offered to buy some of our land for a park-ing garage, but we turned them down. Maybe we could see if that is still a possibility. We could look into annual beach parking passes for the residential areas. There are lots of great ideas out there, but our current majority on city council wanted to build parking nodes along Ocean Boulevard between homes. They didn’t even talk to the surrounding residents. De-stroying sand dunes to build parking lots was as stupid as buying the Palm Boulevard lot to be used as a “passive park.” Our quality of life is great, I choose to raise my three sons here so they could do the same things I did grow-ing up. There are no longer woods to play in, but if there were, we’d still have just 300 residents and nothing else.

Change happens, the Isle of Palms has done a great job in keeping us from becoming a Myrtle Beach. Our services are unsurpassed, our recre-ation center is for all ages. We have 56 beach accesses from Breach Inlet to 57th Avenue We have two boat ramps to our interior waterways. Like my parents, this is where I plan to live out my life.

3. The Isle of Palms budget is balanced due to one rea-son - the make-up of owner occupied homes verses non owner homes. It is roughly 1/3 owner occupied paying four percent in property tax-es, 1/3 non owner occupied, who don’t rent, yet pay six percent in taxes, and the last 1/3 non owner occupied who rent, pay six percent in taxes. Plus bring in additional room accommodations tax reve-nue. The bulk of the island’s revenue is due to non owner occupied homes. They subsi-dize our lifestyle. If we have a higher percentage of owner occupied homes, our taxes will go up. If we have another Hugo, and we lose rental in-come for a few years, we will be in trouble. Our room ac-commodations income will stop until we recover, yet our expenses will continue. We need to prepare for such events, we need to keep our cost down, and have bud-gets for extended emergency events like a hurricane.

Brian Duffy1. The

r e s i -dents are for it. Ac-cording t o t h e G r e e n -belt Ad-v i s o r y Commit-tee this

is a good project. The Isle of Palms residents overwhelm-ingly voted for the funding of greenbelt projects and I listen to the residents.

2. Quality of life is and will always be an issue. The Isle of Palms is made up of many, many neighborhoods. Each has its own needs and issues some of which translate to the island as a whole and others that remain specific to a neighborhood. The im-portant thing is to stay alert and keep listening to the resi-dents.

3. The budget is balanced. I will continue to scrutinize every line item and moni-tor all expenditures closely and ensure that all revenue streams are used appropri-ately and will not send any

monies back to Columbia

Michael Loftus1 . I

v o t e d to move forward w i t h the plan t o u s e g r e e n s p a c e f u n d s to pur-

chase the lot on Palm Bou-levard to become a natural park. This was the first op-portunity where a land-owner was open to selling property that would meet the very strict guidelines set by the county on how we can use green space funds. There has been a lot of misinforma-tion being deliberately circu-lated about this scenario. Let me set the record straight - this property will be left in a natural state for all to enjoy. There will be no parking on this property and no island tax dollars will be used to fund the purchase. These funds are our island’s share of the green space dollar cre-ated by the half-cent sales tax and I believe these funds should benefit the island as opposed to going elsewhere in Charleston County. There is no other property on the Isle of Palms that has the ocean view setting and truly remains in its natural state. I’m sure other candidates would like to see another mini-hotel on this space, but I think most residents would prefer a natural park.

2. As we drive over the Isle of Palms Connector and see the ocean, how can island residents not be pleased? We live on a beautiful bar-rier island, but we need to be proactive too - among other things, protect that view. I have worked diligently on council to help maintain that fragile balance that exists between residents and visi-tors. The island has always welcomed tourists but we need to be careful not to get our priorities out of balance. We need a city council that remains tuned into island residents as opposed to the financial interests of real es-tate developers and outside investors. Voters need to be sure that the right people are on the Isle of Palms City Council, so the residential quality of life continues. I don’t think we need to focus on increasing tourism and I do think we have an opportu-nity to focus on parking and other elements that tax the island’s infrastructure.

3. We have received the highest audit rating possible for a municipality by an ac-credited CPA firm using standard GASB municipal accounting procedures. I think residents want confir-mation that their tax dollars are being spent wisely and that they continue to receive excellent city services. I took office in 2008 and since then we have only raised our gen-eral fund expenditures by 5.9 percent. Between 2001 and 2008, those same general fund expenditures increased by 74.8 percent. During the last four years, we closely ex-amined each department’s budget and expenses and found ways to cut back and apply best practices in fis-cal management. I’m proud of the fact that the Isle of Palms was able to be finan-cially stable and responsive to our residents during the worst financial crisis in our lifetimes.

Ralph Peining1. I am

a b s o -l u t e l y f o r i t . This is a beautiful parcel of land that c a n b e kept in its natu-

ral state for perpetuity. It will not be a park and it will not be a parking lot. Where else on the island can you sit with a picnic lunch under a shade tree and watch the ocean without being on private property? Other monies are available for repairing and developing walkovers. Fi-nally, no city money will be spent on this project. Let’s preserve a small piece of the island that reminds us what the Isle Of Palms was like 100 years ago.

2. The city is finally in bal-ance and this was long over-due. Council is no longer controlled by the developers and investors, rather, resi-dents’ interests are put first. I believe we should be a resi-dential island that welcomes visitors and not vice versa. If anything were to change, I would like to see even more full time residents. I would love to have the Isle Of Palms full of kids year round. Now that would be paradise.

3. This question suggests the budget is not balanced. Nothing could be further from the truth.

See Candidates, page 8C


IP04-636345

Isle of Palms City Council: Meet the candidates Wednesday , November 2 , 2011 ____________________________www.moultrienews.com ___________________________________ MOULTRIE NEWS. 7 C


Elect Jimmy CarrollIsle of Palms City Council

Paid for by Jimmy Carroll, 11 Tabby, Isle of Palms, SC 29451 IP04-602796

Who is Jimmy?• Deep roots, the only candidate or incumbentwho is a lifelong resident of the Isle of Palmsand whose sons represent a 3rd generation.• A dedicated family man.• A small business owner who became anindustry and civic leader.• A truly independent candidate who fundedhis campaign

• Preserving our dunes instead of using them as parking nodes• Preserving our neighborhoods ahead of creating parking lotsfor non-residents around the island. Maximize our currentcommercial parking lot.• Green space; but not through the purchase of an oceanfrontresidential lot on Palm Blvd to be used as a “Passive Park”.There are other options for the use of these monies.• OPEN GOVERNMENT: No back door decision making.

Listening to our residents to assist Council in open discus-sions for decision making.• Being conservative with our City budget to plan for thefuture and not spend every dollar we get. Understandingwhere our money comes from.“I want to be what government is really all about, avoice for the people… I promise to listen and I willrespond.” – Jimmy Carroll

I believe in and support:

Isle of Palms: Meet the candidatesContinued from page 7C

Ralph PeiningOur city finances are in

excellent shape and I have proof of this. We are audited every year by an outside ac-counting firm that special-izes in municipal audits, Greene Finney & Horton, and they have given us the highest marks my four years on council.

Our city administrator, our CPA and our department

heads do a fantastic job of keeping our expenses down and our budget balanced. In fact, we are projected to close out fiscal year 2011 with a $571,000 surplus.

Jimmy Ward1. Supporters of this lot

purchase are touting that the lot will be turned into a pas-sive park. We already have a huge passive park on the island.

It is called the beach. I am

aga inst u s i n g any Isle of Palms tax dol-l a r s (Munici-pal Ac-commo-dations,

Hospitality or State Accom-modations tax included) to purchase this lot.

If private citizens would like to form a group to pur-chase, maintain, pay taxes

and insurance on this resi-dential lot, that’s fine with me.

The city already owns two residential lots behind the public works department (purchased in 2006 with 1,000,000 taxpayer dollars) that need to be utilized.

2. Protecting our current zoning laws is critical to maintaining our quality of life. We simply can not en-tertain any suggestions to changing residential neigh-borhoods into commercial

use. The current city council

proposed construction of commercial parking lots in the residential neighbor-hoods on Ocean Boulevard this past summer.

That proposal was a huge mistake.

3. The city council must stop authorizing spending more money than it has cur-rent revenues.

I am very alarmed at the major reductions in some fund balances since June

30, 2010 . The city’s disaster preparedness fund balance is woefully inadequate. I would like to see the city continue to work on improving its “AA” credit rating by Standard & Poor’s by paying down its over $16,000,000 long term debt and reducing expenses.

The city of Charleston, Charleston County, Green-ville and even the state of South Carolina all have “AAA” credit ratings.

We should strive to attain this goal.

East Cooper polling locations•Mt Pleasant 01 - 301 - Alhambra

Hall - 131 Middle St - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 856-2166

•Mt Pleasant 02 - 302 - Mt P Municipal Complex - 100 Ann Ed-wards Ln - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 856-2174

•Mt Pleasant 03 - 303 - Mt P Na-tional Guard Armory - 245 Mathis Ferry Rd - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 884-2831



•Mt Pleasant 06 - 306 - Hibben United Methodist Church - 690 Coleman Blvd - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 884-9761

•Mt Pleasant 07 - 307 - Hibben United Methodist Church - 690 Coleman Blvd - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 884-9761

•Mt Pleasant 08 - 308 - Moult-rie Middle School - 645 Coleman Blvd - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 849-2819

•Mt Pleasant 09 - 309 - Moult-rie Middle School - 645 Coleman

Blvd - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 849-2819

•Mt Pleasant 10 - 310 - Wh-itesides Elementary - 1565 Rifle Range Rd - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 884-9626

•Mt Pleasant 11 - 311 - Whitesides Elementary - 1565 Rifle Range Rd Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 849-2838

•Mt Pleasant 12 - 312 - Whitesides Elementary - 1565 Rifle Range Rd - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 849-2838

•Mt Pleasant 13 - 313 - The Palms Of Mt Pleasant - 937 Bowman Rd Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 884-6949

•Mt Pleasant 14 - 314 - Sweetgrass Village - 601 Mathis Ferry Rd - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 881-9809



•Mt Pleasant 17 - 317 - Seacoast Church 750 Long Point Rd - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 881-2100

•Mt Pleasant 18 - 318 - Trident

Academy - 1455 Wakendaw Rd - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 884-7046

•Mt Pleasant 19 - 319 - Trident Academy - 1455 Wakendaw Rd - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 884-7046

•Mt Pleasant 20 - 320 - Mt P Waterworks - 1619 Rifle Range Rd - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 884-9626

•Mt Pleasant 21 - 321 - Mt P Wa-terworks - 1619 Rifle Range Rd - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 884-9626

•Mt Pleasant 22 - 322 - Christ Episcopal Church - 2304 N High-way 17 - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29466 - 884-9090



•Mt Pleasant 25 - 325 - Seacoast Church 750 Long Point Rd - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 881-2100

•Mt Pleasant 26 - 326 - Jones Recreation Center - 391 Egypt Rd - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 849-

2528•Mt Pleasant 27 - 327 - Belle Hall

Elementary - 385 Egypt Rd - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 849-2841

•Mt Pleasant 28 - 328 - Jones Recreation Center - 391 Egypt Rd - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 849-2528

•Mt Pleasant 29 - 329 - Jones Recreation Center - 391 Egypt Rd - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 849-2528

•Mt Pleasant 30 - 330 - Brick-yard Community Center - 1100 Brickyard Pkwy - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29466 - 452-3882

•Mt Pleasant 31 - 331 - Greater Goodwill AME Church - 2818 N Highway 17 - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 884-0903

•Mt Pleasant 32 - 332 - Great-er Goodwill AME Church - 2818 N Highway 17 - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 884-0903

•Mt Pleasant 33 - 333 - Thomas C. Cario - 3500 Thomas Cario Blvd - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29466 - 856-4595

•Mt Pleasant 34 - 334 - Greater Goodwill AME Church - 2818 N Highway 17 - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 - 884-0903

•Mt Pleasant 35 - 335 - Park West

Rec Complex - 1251 Park West Blvd - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29466

•Mt Pleasant 36 - 336 - Jennie Moore Elementary - 1256 Hamlin Rd - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29466 - 849-2815

•Mt Pleasant 37 - 337 - Ham-lin Plantation Comm Bldg - 100 Amenity Park Dr - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29466 - 216-6891

•Mt Pleasant 38 - 338 - Wando High - 1000 Warrior Way - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29466 - 849-2830

•Mt Pleasant 39 - 339 - Wando High - 1000 Warrior Way - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29466 - 849-2830

•Isle Of Palms 1A - 10 - Isle Of Palms City Hall - 1207 Palm Blvd Isle Of Palms, SC 29451 - 886-6428

•Isle Of Palms 1B - 11 - Isle Of Palms Recreation - 24 28th Ave - Isle Of Palms, SC 29451 - 886-8294

•Isle Of Palms 1C - 12 - Isle Of Palms Recreation - 24 28th Ave - Isle Of Palms, SC 29451 - 886-8294

•Sullivans Island - 32 - Sunrise Presbyterian Church - 3222 Mid-dle St - Sullivans Island, SC - 883-3888

Voting on election

day•Hours - 7 a.m. to

7 p.m.

•ID required (1 of the following)

•Current and valid S.C. drivers

license

•Current and valid photo ID issued by S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles

•Voter Registration

certi cate that has been signed

•Additional ID may be required

if you did not present ID when you registered to

vote:

•Current and valid photo ID or 1 of

the following

•Current utility bill, bank

statement, government

check, paycheck or other government

document – excluding your voter registration

card

Electronic voting - fast facts for the iVotronic Voting System Charleston County has

long relied on electronic vot-ing to provide free and fair elections.

The new iVotronic is even more user friendly, secure, and efficient than previous systems.

Precinct specific ballots are burned on the Master PEB (Personal Electronic Ballot) for each precinct prior to each election using a dedi-cated computer at the Board of Elections and Voter Regis-tration Office.

The iVotronic unit and the dedicated computer are nev-er connected to the internet or outside/Charleston Coun-ty computer network.

Each iVotronic Voting Ter-minal is a completely stand-alone unit.

In accordance with HAVA, the iVotronic unit requires each voter to review his/her ballot before casting their vote.

Every voter will be able to make sure that his or her ballot is correct before they press the “Vote” button to cast their vote.

The iVotronic unit is inter-active.

If a voter neglects to vote in every race, the iVotronic alerts the voter.

However, South Carolina does not require that you vote on every race on the ballot.

In addition, voters cannot select too many candidates in any race (overvote), allowing voters to make sure their bal-lot is counted.

Your vote is anonymous

and secure.The audio-ballot will allow

visually impaired voters to cast their vote without as-sistance, providing a level of secrecy and anonymity pre-viously unavailable.

When you press the “Vote” button, your ballot is stored in triple redunant memory within the voting unit and also on a flashcard that can be removed following the election. On Election Night, the votes are collected on the Master PEB and carried to Election Central for accumu-lation of election results from all precincts within Charles-ton County.

A report is printed and posted on the door of each polling location.

Every unit is equipped with

battery backup. Therefore, no votes will

be lost even in the event of a power outage. A compre-hensive internal activity log in the iVotronic unit records every transaction made on each iVotronic unit.

This log can be used to detect any unauthorized at-tempts to tamper with the iVotronic system.

A detailed report can also be printed that shows each individual ballot cast in ran-dom order that could be used in case of a manual recount.

The iVotronic Voting Sys-tem (see demo at www.scvotes.org or http://vote.charlestoncounty.org)

Charleston County has long relied on electronic vot-ing to provide free and fair

elections. The new iVotronic is even

more user friendly, secure, and efficient than previous systems.

More information:(See a demo at www.

scvotes.org or http://vote.charlestoncounty.org)

The Board of Elections and Voter Registration of Charleston County

4367 Headquarters RoadNorth Charleston, S.C.

29405PO Box 71419North Charleston, S.C.

29415Phone: 843-744-VOTE

(8683)Fax: 843-974-6419

Visit www.moultrienews.com for a comprehensive online guide to the Mount Pleasant and Isle of Palms election Nov. 8.


2011 Election

Documents

Transcript of 2011 Election