‘Keep things moving’: Port Royal mayor steps aside after decades in public service
Charlotte Yates-Murray sat on a wooden bench and waited outside the door to Port Royal Town Council chambers as her husband presided over his final meeting.
It was her birthday, and Mayor Samuel Murray was to take his wife to dinner when the meeting ended. As the closed-door discussion with the Port of Port Royal developers crept into the night, Charlotte wondered aloud about her late-night dining options and considered alternatives for the following morning.
It’s undoubtedly not the first time the Murrays’ plans had to be shuffled for town business. The mayor stepped aside Wednesday after 41 years of public service on Town Council, first as a councilman and as mayor since 1995.
The town’s new mayor, Joe DeVito, was sworn in the same night Murray received a plaque commemorating his service.
“All I advise and ask is Joe, when you come up here, keep things moving,” Murray said Wednesday. “Moving forward, not standing still. I’ll be right around. Keep things moving forward.”
Council members and town staff took turns speaking about Murray, and then his friend and Beaufort’s mayor, Billy Keyserling, came forward.
Councilman Jerry Ashmore read a prepared statement but had his daughter finish when he became too emotional.
The comments followed a similar theme: Murray had served as a gentleman whose words and decisions were carefully considered.
“This town has been blessed for decades because of your leadership,” attorney David Tedder said.
As she waited, Charlotte Murray recounted some of her husband’s tenure and a secret to his longevity. She said she never saw him lose his composure.
She remembered a resident approach Murray angry about an issue related to the town shrimp dock The man demanded the mayor’s resignation. The mayor said he’d have his wish in a couple of years, a response that disarmed the resident.
She recalled one of her husband’s sayings: Everyone has a good and bad side but he chooses to see the good.
Samuel Murray is retired educator of more than 30 years. In recent years, he helped usher in the long-awaited sale of the Port of Port Royal to private developers and welcomed Port Royal’s role in a national park dedicated to the Reconstruction era.
He represented the town during sometimes-contentious deliberations to establish agreed-upon growth boundaries in northern Beaufort County, Keyserling recalled Friday.
“Sam is a man of few words, but the words that come out are wise words,” Keyserling said. “He sits, he listens, he thinks through things and then he will comment.”
As mayor, Murray helped oversee Port Royal’s population boom as the town grew outside of its downtown village, and as new housing subdivisions went up in the community that is home to two military bases.
When he sought a final term in 2015, he said he wanted to see through the sale of the port property, which happened in 2017. He said Wednesday that he expects to see progress with the development, yachts docking at a planned marina in Battery Creek and houses going up in a planned waterfront neighborhood.
“Thank all of you for what you’ve done to move Port Royal forward,” Murray said.
