Beaufort County board diversity: Close on ethnicity, not enough women

Beaufort County is led predominantly by older, white men, and that could spell trouble for the county under an ongoing federal review.

Of the almost 180 volunteers who serve on the county's 28 boards and commissions, 72 percent are men, 79 percent are Caucasian and more than half have served longer than 20 years, according to county statistics.

Those overall numbers are jarring, say minority and womens' advocates, but the disparities grow even more stark within each board:

- Five include no women

- Six include no minorities

- 13 include only one female or only one minority

- Three boards have no ethnic nor gender diversity whatsoever.

Breakdown by specific diversity issues

Small-screen users: Tap and drag graph to the left to view hidden portion.

Source: Beaufort County Communications and Accountability Department

Breakdown by gender

Small-screen users: Tap and drag graph to the left to view hidden portion.

Source: Beaufort County Communications and Accountability Department

The stats caught the attention of county officials earlier this fall after they were submitted to the S.C. Department of Transportation, which is handling a statewide Title VI review of all 46 counties' compliance with the 1964 federal Civil Rights Act.

The review will study whether residents of all race, ethnicity, gender and means have ready access to county services, information and public input opportunities. If counties are found to be deficient in any area, that county could be penalized or stripped of some of its federal funding, according to the law. Last year, the county spent more than $10.4 million in dozens of federal grant programs.

County officials have already submitted the required statistics for the review and are waiting to hear if there will be penalties.

In the mean time, they are pushing for a new campaign to try to attract more diversity to the boards and commissions that lead the county's airports, fire districts, public planning, tax boards, alcohol and drug abuse programs, and disabilities and special needs services.

The push is likely to include new public service announcements on the county website and TV channel, advertisements in local publications, and renewed efforts to reach community centers and churches, according to county administrators and council members.

"The Title VI concept is making sure you have a government that looks like its population," said assistant county administrator Monica Spells, who compiled the statistics for the review. "If you look at the census data, ideally you would see that same representation because you're wanting to make sure you're considering all of the perspectives for all of the people.

"It would enhance the dialogue -- how could it not?"

The numbers of blacks and white on the county's boards roughly match that of the county's almost 176,000 total population, according to the data.

But there are no appointed Hispanic members to any county board, despite the Hispanic community now comprising more than 11 percent of the total population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2014 estimates.

Breakdown by ethnicity

Small-screen users: Tap and drag graph to the left to view hidden portion.

*Hispanics may be of any race, so also are included in applicable race categories. Source: Beaufort County Communications and Accountability Department

"It's definitely a two-way street -- Hispanics need to be willing to come forward and volunteer and be apart of the community, and they are," said Eric Esquivel, co-chairman of the Lowcountry Immigration Coalition and publisher of La Isla Magazine. "The populace here has to know they're invited and welcome, and maybe that hasn't been as direct as it needs to be. The bottom line is they've got to put their feet to the pavement and put action behind their words."

The numbers are even more skewed against women, which now make up 51 percent of the county's population but only 28 percent of the county's appointed leaders.

"It is unfortunate that more women are not elected and appointed to office," said Fran Holt, president of the League of Women Voters of Hilton Head Island/Bluffton Area. "A few years ago we honored several women at a luncheon for holding elected or appointed positions, and we've had occasional articles about serving in our newsletter. It's time for us to do that again" to encourage service.

The disparity exists on County Council, too.

Cynthia Bensch and Alice Howard are the 11-member group's only women, and Gerald Dawson and Bill McBride are its only black members.

But council members, who are traditionally responsible for drumming up applications from within their districts, often struggle to get a diverse group of eligible volunteers, most agreed.

"People are just not beating on your door to serve on these boards and commissions," McBride has said. "People just have not been coming forward. I don't know what we can do."

The practical realities of volunteering are likely holding many good candidates back, councilman Steve Fobes said earlier this fall. Shifting some boards and commissions to evening meetings or offering mileage compensation could help reach those who work during the day or worry about long drives to meetings, he said.

Regardless of those considerations, the county already has a leg up on other communities with the trove of data and video recordings of meetings that it publishes online, said administrator Gary Kubic.

Council meetings also will begin an hour later beginning Jan. 1 to give working residents and families more opportunity to attend the bi-monthly meetings, members agreed last month.

Aside from its volunteer corps, the county has a diverse roster department and staff leaders.

Spells, who is African American, and chief financial officer Alicia Holland lead two of the county's six main departments. African American women Quandara Grant, Marie Smalls and Edra Stephens lead the county's detention center, elections office and business license office, respectively.

Coupled with next year's campaign for new volunteers, the county is ahead of the curve for the federal review, Spells said.

"We're going in the right direction just to make sure that everybody knows, everybody is encouraged to get involved with the county," Spells said. "This is their chance to have their voice heard. We're doing good things, and we can do more."

Follow reporter Zach Murdock at twitter.com/IPBG_Zach and at facebook.com/IPBGZach.

Related content:

• County Council to meet later starting next year, Nov. 13, 2015
• Ordained at 18, Pinckney lent his 'booming' voice to the voiceless for decades, June 18, 2015
• NAACP to revive push for Beaufort City Council districts, June 2, 2015

This story was originally published December 8, 2015 at 6:19 PM with the headline "Beaufort County board diversity: Close on ethnicity, not enough women."