Peeples to seek fifth term as mayor of Hilton Head Island

A home builder who has been mayor since 1995, Peeples said he hoped to quash speculation he would not run again when his current four-year term expires in 2010.

"I just wanted to put that to bed," he told the Hilton Head area chapter of the Military Officers Association of America during a lunch meeting at the Country Club of Hilton Head.

Peeples said he previously had been less emphatic when asked whether he intended to run again, telling people, "All things being equal, I think so."

Peeples was reared in Ridgeland and is president of Tom Peeples Builder Inc. on Hilton Head.

He said he wants to continue to serve as mayor in part because he hopes to help the town answer the question of whether to lengthen the runway at its airport, a complex issue that he said cannot be evaluated until the town studies it in depth.

That issue could become as divisive as past feuds over widening U.S. 278 and building the Cross Island Parkway, he said.

But Peeples said he hopes to prevent such division. "I want to do everything I can to not let that happen."