Q&A with Marc Grant, Hilton Head Town Council candidate

Name: Marc Grant

Age: 46

Education: Bachelor’s degree from S.C. State University.

Family: Married to wife Wanda for 16 years with three children, Ashton, Moses and Anna.

Office: The Town of Hilton Head Island Council Ward 1 incumbent

Challenger: Ibrahim Abdul-Malik

Why are you the right candidate for Town Council?

During my tenure, I accomplished many goals to improve the quality of life for Ward 1 and the entire island community.

This includes providing a budget to pay for a five year plan to provide sewer access for the entire island, with the great deal of focus in Ward 1.

I also provided a plan to pay for dirt road improvements which resulted in funding for the pavement of dirt roads in the Ward 1 community ranging from the Mathews circle, Blazing Star Lane and funded to complete in the next four years Aiken Place, Cobia court, and Murray Ave.

Another issue I supported included funding for a new Recreation Center which will include an indoor track, weight room ,climbing wall, and many other amenities to attract our teens to be engaged in the facility.

I brought transparency to Town Council issues by televising all Town Council meetings.

I also provided funding for the First Tee Program, Rowing and Sailing Center on Squire Pope Road and for an executive director for the Mitchelville Project.

In the future, I will work on heirs property issues and role of the town, how the town can work better with small business and address storm water issues in Ward 1.

The town is facing an unprecedented shortage of tourism workers. Should the town help? If so, how?

As your town councilman, I voted to provided funding for the Economic Development Corporation which did a job fair at Hilton Head High School for local teens looking for work. This was a great opportunity for young adults to be introduced to the workforce and gain some real life experience during the summer.

The next four years we will create a new economic task force to address employment issues. I will also meet with the Hilton Head- Bluffton Chamber of Commerce to address outreach programs with our regional counties to bridge the gaps to discuss career opportunities and communicate on issues that we both could address in our communities. I will also work with school boards in those regions to promote education and careers that would provide good paying opportunities for future graduates.

The town is mulling whether to build an arts campus. Should it? Please explain your answer?

Due to the hurricane and the possibility of long or short term effect I have not made a decision on this issue at this time. I supported creating a task force and interviewed and selected our local citizens who wanted to participated on the Venue Committee.

At this time they have selected a research firm that will assist in studying our community and surroundings areas similar to our resort destination. They will determine whether we can economically sustain a venue or venues in our community. They may decide we need to restore several venues already in existence. They could also decide that because the arts are such a great investment for the entire community that we need to build several sites because of the great demand and revenue it will provide for jobs and it will become a major impact on our hospitality and tourism industry.

The town is considering the annexation of Bay Point Island. Do you support this proposal? If so why?

At this time I have not made a decision to annex Bay Point Island. Due to the hurricane, this is not a top priority because of the possible lingering effects from the storm. However there are many benefits that were proposed by the owner of the island and the CEO of Six Senses Resort.

▪  This would be a 5-star resort that would do very little to disturb the natural environment on Bay Point Island.

▪  This resort would implement the highest quality of green technologies to make it an unique experience to its guest. This includes organic foods produced on the island and cooked in its restaurants. It also will have a water filtration program that uses glass bottles and no plastic used o the island.

▪  The Six senses organization would be the first resort introduced in the United States located near Hilton Head Island this would promote Hilton Head Island as a world destination and a more affluent clientele that would visit and spend money in our community.

▪  The additional jobs would improve our local, regional, and state economy. The Technical College of the Lowcountry and University of South Carolina Beaufort County would directly have an impact in providing highly qualified employees that would directly benefit from the opportunity

▪  Finally based on conversations with the owner of the island, they would not be seeking any future funding or assistance for public services from the Town of Hilton Head Island. In fact they would provide the town a possible accommodation tax monies generated from the revenues from the hospitality tax.

This story was originally published November 2, 2016 at 9:19 PM with the headline "Q&A with Marc Grant, Hilton Head Town Council candidate."