Hilton Head wants to tighten security after anti-mask protest: ‘We were sitting ducks’
Mayor John McCann is “deeply concerned” about the security of Hilton Head Island’s Town Council chambers.
He said he doubts that the raucous Aug. 17 council meeting, which was inundated with anti-mask activists, will be the last of its kind.
Or the worst.
“There will be violence somewhere along the way” if similar meetings occur in the future, McCann said.
“We need a plan,” the mayor said earlier this month. “If we can’t secure our house, how the hell are we going to secure the island?”
McCann’s comments were the first public indication that Hilton Head elected officials want to quickly implement new policies or procedures in response to the chaotic Aug. 17 meeting.
Anti-mask activists had blasted the council with a wave of vitriol and COVID-19 misinformation at the meeting, forcing McCann to end it early.
Council members also left the chambers flanked by deputies from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
“We were sitting ducks,” the mayor said.
Marc Orlando, Hilton Head’s town manager, at a recent council meeting pledged to McCann that he would develop a new security and decorum plan for the Town Council “as soon as I possibly can.”
The plan, as of Monday, had not been presented at a public meeting.
Orlando also proposed on Aug. 19 that the town spend $1 million in federal American Rescue Plan funding to bolster security and technology systems in the building. The Town Council approved Orlando’s proposal in a 7-0 vote. (The council’s finance committee had reviewed his ideas prior to the protest.)
Some of the $1 million in funds will be used for new electronic locks, magnetometers, security cameras “and other safety/security related infrastructure” at the Town Council chambers, records show. (The town will receive roughly $5.2 million in American Rescue Plan dollars, which will be used to support a home repair program, sewer connection grants and the Town Hall security upgrades, among other things.)
Aside from the changes to the building, though, Ward 6 representative Glenn Stanford stressed that he believes the council needs a policy to lay out “steps one, two, three, four” on how to address a disruptive meeting.
The Aug. 17 protest was a “most disturbing experience,” Stanford said.
Ward 1 representative Alex Brown added that future meetings could be more contentious if two groups of people show up to fiercely debate one another.
“What’s the next controversial topic?” Brown asked.
