NEWS: County Convenience Center decal applications now available. PAGE A5
OCTOBER 22–28, 2020 WWW.YOURISLANDNEWS.COM
COVERING BEAUFORT COUNTY
County administrator Jacobs resigns under pressure Council intended to fire her, revisits mask ordinance MIKE MCCOMBS
County Council’s tantrum sends wrong message
By Lolita Huckaby BEAUFORT – Ashley Jacobs, Beaufort County’s first female Administrator handed in her resignation letter Monday night, effective immediately.
County Councilman Mike Covert of Hilton Head, who is not seeking re-election, told reporters last week after a closed-door session Ashley that the majority of Jacobs council members were prepared to vote at Monday’s
special meeting to terminate Jacobs. She beat them to the punch and quit. Jacobs, who began work with the county in April, 2019, was not present for the online meeting. Contacted by phone, Jacobs declined to comment. She did, however, release a letter later in the evening thanking her employees and supporters. “I’m grateful to have had the oppor-
tunity to serve as the Beaufort County Administrator. It was an honor and a privilege to serve and to lead,” Jacobs wrote. “I would like to thank my staff for their incredible dedication to serving others and making this a legendary place to live, work, and do business. They are second to none,
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ELECTION 2020
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n case you weren’t paying attention the past few days, the Beaufort County Council made a statement this week. And the statement it made shouldn’t be misunderstood. Last week, it became known that Council had the majority votes necessary to fire Beaufort County Administrator Ashley Jacobs and it intended to do so at a special meeting Monday night. Don’t let any dilemma about whether or not Council SHOULD have fired Jacobs give you any pause. It certainly didn’t give them any. Citizens’ efforts be damned, Council slithered ahead. By now, you know the result. Jacobs agreed to resign rather than be fired. Taking a step back in time roughly 18 months, in reality, it’s a miracle Council hired Jacobs anyway. She openly stands for fiscal responsibility, public accountability, following the rules and transparency. Clearly, she was just what this Council needed. All the more reason to be shocked it hired her. The fact it DID hire her all but guaranteed it would eventually have to try and get rid of her. This Council is downright allergic to fiscal responsibility, public accountability, rule following and transparency. Councilman Mike Covert made Council’s intentions known last week, mainly to voice the fact he was not in agreement with their plan. (Covert, Chris Hervochon and York Glover were the only Council members not to vote to accept Jacobs’ resignation on Monday.) When the public found out Council’s intent, members of the community mobilized, flooding Council with emails and getting hundreds of signatures on a petition urging the body not to fire Jacobs. But giving a toddler attention doesn’t necessarily stop a tantrum. And the efforts didn’t sway the six council members who would have voted to dismiss Jacobs – Stu Rodman, Paul Sommerville, chair Joe Passiment, Mark Lawson, Alice Howard and Lawrence McElynn. This is how County Council sent its message. Not to Jacobs. No. She’s simply being punished for being the strong, intelligent, principled woman who had the gall to stand up to the good ole boys club.
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Be forewarned Stealing or defacing your neighbor’s yard sign is illegal and according to South Carolina state law it’s a misdemeanor. See page A6.
Campaign signs seem to sprout up in the common area at Ribaut and Depot roads, all with the same message …“vote for me.” With the general election scheduled for Nov. 3, early voting in Beaufort County began Monday, Oct. 19. Photo by Bob Sofaly.
More than 1 million expected to vote before Election Day
Plus – reader concerns about absentee, curbside voting addressed
By Mindy Lucas A record number of South Carolinians are voting absentee, both in person and by mail, according to S.C. Election Commission officials. In fact, if current trends continue, more than one million voters will have voted before Election Day, the commission recently reported. With such an unprecedented early turnout, there have been some concerns with the process. Below are just a few brought to our attention by readers:
COUNTDOWN TO ELECTION DAY
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LOWCOUNTRY LOWDOWN
The deadline to apply for a mail-in absentee ballot is Saturday, Oct. 24. Once you have your ballot in hand, you should mail those in as soon as possible, election officials advise. The deadline to return those, whether by mail or in person, is 7 p.m. on Election Day, or Nov. 3. For more information or to apply for a mail-in ballot, visit www.scvotes.gov.
Days to Nov. 3
Returning mail-in ballots Those wanting to drop off their mailed absentee ballot at one of the county’s election offices, as opposed to mailing those in, may not realize
Six candidates make their case for two City Council seats By Lolita Huckaby BEAUFORT – Six candidates, two seats. Somebody’s gotta go. The Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce and the USC Beaufort Center for the Arts provided a forum Thursday night for the six candidates running for the two open seats on the Beaufort City Council and the $4,800 salary that goes with it. Of the six, only one is an incumbent, local realtor Mike McFee, who is seeking his fourth term on the council. The other five offer a background of experiences, but all, based on the replies to questions posed at the forum, share a love for the community and concern about its future. In addition to McFee, who lives in the Pigeon Point area, candidates include retired interior design-
DEADLINE TO APPLY FOR MAIL-IN BALLOT
WANT TO WATCH? Watch the mayoral and city council forums in full at https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=GVLMl6g99TY& feature=youtu.be
er Mary Harvey, who lives in the Northwest Quadrant, as does Scott Gibbs, a retired employee from the S.C. Department of Social Services. Retired downtown business owner Neil Lipsitz, who lives in Mossy Oaks, as does public school educator Brantley Wilson. Mitch Mitchell, U.S. Air Force Major General, ret., lives in The Islands of Beaufort. Each candidate is running atlarge, the city council does not have districts. All seats represent the city at-large, a factor that the
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VICTORY
they may still have to stand in line with those wanting to vote in person. And don’t forget, there are no drop boxes outside of election offices or anywhere else in the county.
That idea was first proposed by S.C. Democrats when taking up absentee voting expansion in Septem-
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Candidates for mayor discuss range of issues at forum
By Mindy Lucas Two candidates vying for the mayor’s job fielded a range of questions at a candidates’ forum held at USC Beaufort’s Center for the Arts on Wednesday, Oct. 14. From mental health and the pandemic to the funding of city parks, the questions offered a glimpse into what the leadership styles of Stephen Murray and Mike Sut- Stephen ton might be like if Murray elected. While the two were mostly in agreement in their answers to the majority of questions posed, only a few seemed to elicit real differences in their approach. On the question of whether the candidates believe multiple em-
ployment sectors create a more resilient economy, Murray – a City Councilman and founding chairman of the Beaufort County Economic Development Corporation – likened Beaufort’s economy to a twolegged stool. “Building that third leg of Beaufort’s economy with high wage jobs that Mike help us weather Sutton these economic and governmental storms over time is critically important not just for people diversity, … but also for taxbased diversity long term,” he said. Murray said that in the last few years the council had taken strides to diversify the economy such as
INSIDE
Save the Woods Memorial Bridge.
Battery Creek celebrates Senior Night with 5-set win.
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