Beaufort City Council candidate Q&A: Nan Brown Sutton

Name: Nan Brown Sutton

Age: 58

Office: Beaufort City Council

Challengers (two open seats): Mike McFee, David Taub

Question: Why do you think young families are leaving Beaufort —the city lost 25 percent of residents age 20 to 44 from 2000 to 2014 —and how specifically might you work to attract and retain young people to the city while in office?

Answer: I think families are leaving because of lack of job opportunities. Our first step is already in progress and that’s the incubators/initiates for economic development to attract that age group.

Q: Beaufort has multiple economic development initiatives/incubators now —The Beaufort Digital Corridor, Beaufort Black Chamber of Commerce and a new partnership with the Don Ryan Center for Innovation. In a city as small as Beaufort, are three incubators sustainable? And how would you help ensure they all work?

A: Sustainability cannot be determined without trial. We don’t know if they’re going to be successful without trying. Each of these initiatives are different and will attract a different type of participant. I believe they can work in synergy rather than competition.

Q: What should the city do about the downtown parking garage and improvements to Waterfront Park and Southside Park if the capital projects sales tax does not pass?

A: If the capital penny sales tax doesn’t pass we will continue to work with private development partners to source all opportunities to improve parking in downtown Beaufort. The Waterfront Park and Southside Park will have to have some other funding stream created. Perhaps a funding stream developed with partnerships with the county that create a revenue source to handle countywide parks and open space maintenance.

This story was originally published November 3, 2016 at 11:49 AM with the headline "Beaufort City Council candidate Q&A: Nan Brown Sutton."