Beaufort Co. sheriff to mayors: Arrest public speakers and you’ll ‘get your butt sued off’
Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner said he and his deputies won’t remove people from meetings if public officials aren’t happy with how they’re behaving.
At a meeting of 20 of the highest elected officials from Beaufort, Bluffton, Hilton Head Island and Port Royal, Tanner smacked down an ordinance recently introduced by the County Council to control speakers and said his deputies would no longer come to meetings on Hilton Head Island if the mayor tries to tell them what to do.
Wednesday’s meeting comes as tensions escalate between speakers and elected officials.
In December, Hilton Head council member Tom Lennox shared government critic Skip Hoagland’s tax and property ownership information after Hoagland’s comments about corruption. In January, Lennox silently handed Hoagland his own arrest record from 2011 at the end of a finance committee meeting; Hoagland took this as intimidation.
On Monday, Beaufort County Council considered a draft ordinance that would allow chairman Stu Rodman to order a person be removed and arrested during public comment if they are not following specific rules of decorum. The rules include staying within a three-minute limit, commenting on topics relevant to the council, not singling out a specific member and not asking a question of the council without approval.
Rodman was not at Wednesday’s meeting.
Tanner said he wasn’t involved in drafting the county ordinance introduced by Rodman. The sheriff didn’t mince words Wednesday.
“If you escort (a speaker) out of a public meeting in a public building because you didn’t like the way they were behaving themselves … it’s going to be a First Amendment issue,” Tanner said. He said he didn’t want sheriff’s deputies to be on the hook for violating someone’s rights at the direction of a mayor.
Later, he said, “We might as well call this the Skip Hoagland ordinance.”
Hilton Head Mayor McCann and Bluffton Mayor Lisa Sulka responded with a chorus of “oh no no no no” at the mention of Hoagland’s name.
Speakers’ rights
Any regulations on public comment must be compliant with state laws and not appear to threaten speakers’ First Amendment rights, Tanner said. Any ordinance passed to curtail Hoagland’s near-constant attacks would apply to all public speakers.
Tanner said he would refuse to enforce any local ordinances where a mayor is directing a deputy to arrest someone without a clear violation of a criminal statute.
“This is not something that can be enforced by the Sheriff’s Office,” he said. “I cannot allow council members … to give any direction of any kind to a deputy.”
But McCann and others say they’re trying to maintain order and safety. While both Hilton Head and Bluffton have a three-minute time limit per person on public comments, speakers tend to run over and have to be reminded to wrap it up.
When Hoagland goes over his time limit, a shouting match typically ensues.
Hilton Head town manager Steve Riley appeared to be on a different page than McCann. He said there have always been “gadflys” who come to public meetings, and council members should have thick skin.
“Trying to regulate their existence is never going to work,” the town manager of 26 years said. “You have to be tolerant. ... It’s a part of public service. It’s a part of public meetings.”
What do other towns do?
While Hilton Head has a residency requirement for speakers, town officials do not enforce it at public meetings.
When Town of Bluffton attorney Terry Finger asked Tanner whether his deputies would enforce a requirement for a speaker to be a resident, Tanner replied, “Absolutely not. Being a citizen of Hilton Head … what would you come in with your citizen card ... or your electric bill? That’s going to end up being a First Amendment issue. You’re going to get your butt sued off.”
Sulka said she often has to pound her gavel at meetings to control speakers, but other municipalities where Hoagland isn’t a regular said they weren’t as concerned about disruptive behavior.
Beaufort city manager Bill Prokop said his public meetings do not place a time restriction on public comment.
“We’d probably have more problems if somebody cut a tree down than if someone was disrupting a public meeting,” Prokop said. “We have not had a problem with this in the last three to four years.”
In Port Royal, town manager Van Willis said the town fines council members $2 if they don’t maintain civility at public meetings. The rule does not apply to members of the public.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREHow we did this story
This story was possible only because Island Packet reporters showed up to the meeting and advocated for the public’s right to know what our elected officials were talking about.
At first, Hilton Head’s assistant town manager, Josh Gruber, told The Packet the meeting would be closed to the public and media. The reporters challenged the decision.
While the reporters waited in the hallway, the group of 20 elected and appointed leaders conferred and decided to open the meeting to the reporters.
This story was originally published January 15, 2020 at 4:22 PM.
