Two seats up for grabs in Port Royal. Here are the four candidates who want the job
Four residents — two incumbents versus two challengers running for office for the first time — are battling for two seats on the Port Royal Town Council.
The Nov. 2 election comes at a critical time for the town. It’s on the verge of a major redevelopment of the Port of Port Royal. It’s also trying to figure out the future of its shrimp docks and associated facilities, which were losing money until the town suspended operations earlier this year.
Darryl Owens, who works for a not-for-profit organization as a project manager, and retired Beaufort Memorial Hospital employee Mary Beth Heyward, hold the two seats up for grabs, and they’re seeking reelection.
But they’ll have to get past John Hazel, a business owner, and Eddie Gugino, a cyber security engineer, the other two candidates.
Redevelopment of two miles of waterfront at the Port of Port Royal is the chief concern, and a pending property sale would launch the project. Grey Ghost Properties bought the land from the S.C. Ports Authority for $9 million in 2017. About 50 acres of the 317 acres will be developed, with the rest marshland.
Among the other top issues in the campaign: providing sewer service for all residents, traffic on major thoroughfares, business growth, attracting young families, mask mandates and the future of the town’s shrimp docks, which make for great photographs but have problems.
Candidates are elected at-large, meaning the two with the most votes will win four-year terms and earn $3,600 annually, plus $35 for each meeting attended. Council members also are eligible to receive medical insurance through the town.
Meet the candidates:
Eddie Gugino
Gugino, 33, is a cyber security engineer and Department of Defense contractor who lives with wife Alexia and two sons in Shadow Moss. The Virginia native, who served as a corpsman in the U.S. Navy for 5 years, moved to South Carolina in 2011 and received his associate’s degree from Midlands Technical College in Columbia and a bachelor’s degree in network systems management online at Utica College. He moved to the Lowcountry in 2015.
Government-imposed mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic, which Gugino opposed, prompted him to run for the council. He questions the effectiveness of masks against the virus. And he says the mandates infringed on individual rights.
“I really don’t think that’s the role of government,” said Gugino, who describes himself as a Christian and “freedom- and family-first type of guy. ... I think that’s an individual decision.”
As for the mandates approved by the Port Royal Town Council, he credits council members for not reinstating restrictive rules when the virus reared up again but still says he would have handled it differently. “I’m throwing my hat in the ring for what it’s worth and just seeing how people feel about it,” Gugino says.
He would support spending COVID-19 relief funds the town has coming to improve air quality and circulation at town facilities. “That’s more of a long-term solution that will not only benefit you for COVID but also for flu season or any other kind of respiratory issues that people could develop,” Gugino said.
Gugino, who serves on the production team at LowCountry Community Church in Bluffton, says he supports limited government intervention and low taxes. He also said he supports business growth, but won’t “cut deals” to bring businesses to town.
Gugino says he doesn’t know all the details of the port redevelopment plan. Generally speaking, he says, he favors bringing jobs to the area and creating a vibrant place for visitors and residents. But he does not support special tax breaks for developers to make it happen. “The role of the government is to make sure we get out of the way,” he said.
He also wants to see more parks developed in the Savannah Highway corridor.
The town has had losses of $300,000 to $400,000 running a shrimp processing facility and maintaining shrimp docks. Earlier this year, it suspended those operations.
The town should not sink any more money into shrimping operations, says Gugino, adding the free market can fill the need if there is one.
Darryl Owens
Darryl Owens, 55, is a project manager for Antioch Educational Center in Ridgeland, a not-for-profit that assists low-income families. He previously worked as transportation manager for Beaufort County Schools and chief of operations for Jasper County Schools.
He first was elected in a special election in May 2017 to fill a vacant seat then ran unopposed in the regular November election that year.
The St. Helena Island native graduated from Battery Creek High School and earned an associate’s degree in criminal justice from the Technical College of the Lowcountry in Beaufort.
He says he brings experience of running major departments with the school districts and serving on the Zoning Board of Appeals, Metropolitan Planning Commission and Design Review Board to the position.
“My passion for the job, first and foremost, is to be a voice for the people,” Owens said. “That’s all people. It’s not a particular population of people. “
He says he wants to be a part of the progress the town is making, including redevelopment of the port property. Although the sale of the property is no longer an issue, going forward he wants to ensure “smart redevelopment.”
While Owens supports the port project in general, in July he voted against an amendment to the planned unit development that keeps 90 residential homes called the Bluff outside of a more protective tree ordinance approved in 2017.
“I didn’t want them to think they had a free pass,” Owens said.
Improved infrastructure is important to Owens. On the outskirts of Port Royal, he says, there are still residents who are not connected to the public sewer system, with residents relying on septic tanks. “Sewer for all” is Owens’ motto.
Owens says he loves the way Port Royal residents get out in the streets, either walking or traveling by golf carts. He wants to keep that sense of small-town connectedness, but he’s also concerned about safety. Traffic on some of the roads in town, like Ribaut, he notes, has become akin to freeway traffic. He supports improvements for major intersections, and to trails and sidewalks so people can walk or bike without fear of being hit by a vehicle.
Owens, noting he has two uncles who are commercial fishermen, said he supports the shrimping industry, but there’s been “a lot of neglect and abuse” of the docks and the boats that use them, including some that have been abandoned. The town of Port Royal, he says, “has bigger fish to fry” and should not be in the shrimping business. He supports a private business running the operations — or the Port of Port Royal developers taking on the responsibility.
Mary Beth Heyward
Mary Beth Heyward, first elected in 1992, has served on the council for 29 years. She retired July 1 as the pre-arrival manager at Beaufort Memorial Hospital, where she also worked in customer service and financial aid.
Heyward, 66, graduated from Beaufort High School, but she notes she attended elementary school in Port Royal. She received an associates degree from a technical college.
“There’s are a lot of projects on there I would like to see completed, the port being one,” Heyward said of why she is running for a seventh time.
She describes herself as a “great advocate” for the people. It’s important that somebody with her experience and knowledge of the town serve on the council, Heyward said.
She wants to ensure that what gets built at the Port of Port Royal is what the people asked for.
“It’s a beautiful area, and it has to be done correctly,” Heyward said. “Something we can be proud of. Something the people can enjoy.”
An important feature of the port redevelopment plans to Heyward is the promenade. That’s a proposed walkway on the waterfront with benches that will run from the Fish Camp on 11th Street restaurant to the tower, where it will connect to the city’s existing boardwalk.
“That’s something citizens have wanted,” Heyward said.
Another priority, she says, is working to ensure that every resident is connected to sewer service.
Heyward says the town is no longer in the shrimping business, although she notes it has received a grant from the state to help repair the docks. “People like to see them,” she says. But she’d like to have somebody else manage them.
The town also continues to repair sidewalks. Those types of projects are “big,” says Heyward, and she wants to continue making sure they get done.
John Hazel
John Hazel, 42, served in the Marine Corps for 23 years and now owns Devil Dog Headquarters on Parris Island Gateway with his wife, Jessie. The business sells Marine Corps lifestyle goods.
The 42-year-old Florida native graduated from Leadership Beaufort last year and is currently chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission.
He says he has a calling to public service.
Attracting more young families with kids and new businesses to town are his priorities, he says — the two go hand-in-hand in his mind.
Hazel has a 12-year-old daughter who attends Holy Trinity Classical Christian School. Port Royal, he says, needs more activities for kids. Ideas he mentioned included a roller skating rink and more after-school activities. “Places where kids can go and figure out who they are,” Hazel said.
Hazel also says he wants to “empower more entrepreneurs.” If somebody wants to start a business, he noted, they have to go through the town to get a business license. Hazel said he would help those entrepreneurs in that process. He also would work with the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce and economic development agencies to spur development, he said.
As a home and business owner, Hazel said, he has a vested interest in Port Royal and would like to be part of the decisions made in redeveloping the port property.
While he is not an expert on the shrimp docks, if the town is losing money, “obviously it’s something we need to get out of.”
Hazel said he supports term limits and would serve no more than two terms if elected. “You either move up, or you move out,” he said.
More information
The League of Women Voters Beaufort SC, Area will be publishing a voter’s guide. When it is published, it will be available at https://www.vote411.org/.
