Citing need for more transparency, Covert announces run for Beaufort County Council
Mike Covert, the former Beaufort County Council member who led the charge to remove the council’s chairman in 2020, on Wednesday said he plans to run again in November.
An outspoken and, at times, brash Republican from Bluffton, Covert had served on the council from 2017-20 before announcing a run for South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District. He later dropped out of that race and ran for the S.C. Statehouse, losing to incumbent Bill Herbkersman in 2020.
Covert, 54, reached by phone Wednesday, said he will file to run for District 6 on the County Council, a position that will be without a council member due to a new redistricting map that places current Chairman Joe Passiment in a new district.
District 6 will be among eight of the council’s 11 districts up for election this year.
“There’s so much left to do for the citizens of Beaufort County,” he said. “More transparency, more accountability, lower property taxes, the list goes on.”
Covert’s decision, which won’t become final until candidate filings open in March, marks a change of course for the former council member, who had his eyes set on a higher office and frequently voiced his support for the 2nd Amendment, anti-abortion laws and former President Donald Trump.
He said he matured during his runs for state and national positions and realized the importance of local politics.
“I was known as one of the most fiscally conservative people on County Council,” he said. “But, here locally, roads know no political party, special needs, parks and recreation, potholes, flooding, when it comes down to it, what people need knows no political party.”
During his term on the council, Covert frequently fought against what he saw as the county’s status quo and too much power consolidated by a few county leaders. He voted against county and school board budgets, questioned money that was spent without proper oversight, and chaired a committee that sought to improve how the government communicated with constituents.
In perhaps his most noteworthy move, Covert twice called for the removal of former Chairman Stu Rodman after The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette reported on Rodman’s circumventing of rules, unilateral decisions and private conversations with government employees.
Rodman, who represents District 11, resigned as chair a day after the newspapers reported that he used his private email and cell phone to discuss government projects and refused to allow the public access to them.
Covert was also one of five council members who voted against a decision in executive session to fire the county’s administrator, Ashley Jacobs, who later resigned under pressure in 2020. Covert at the time called the private meeting “crooked and corrupt.”
Asked about his previous tenure on council, Covert said he would make the same decisions again.
‘There’s a lot of work to be done’
Covert said he decided to run again after talking with residents, particularly in Sun City, who said they were disappointed in the county’s leadership. Council members need to stay out of the daily operations of the county and there needs to be more fiscal responsibility, he said.
“They are looking for a change,” he said. “The people look to County Council members. You’ve got all these questions and nobody is talking to them. We need to get back to fireside chats, community meetings and we need to get back to open and honest transparency.
“There’s a lot of angst in the area with politicians right now, and a lot of that is because people don’t know what they’re doing. There’s a lot of work to be done.”
Covert, originally from Virginia, has lived in South Carolina since 1996. He previously was the president and managing member of Covert Aire, LLC, a heating and air-conditioning business, before selling the company in 2019.
Retirement was short, however, and Covert now works at home as a service consultant for Yandle-Witherspoon Supply, Inc., an air-conditioning system supplier based in North and South Carolina.
He and wife, Theresa, married in 2009. He has four daughters and nine grandchildren.
This story was originally published February 3, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
