Hilton Head Planning Commission member announces bid for south-end Town Council seat
A member of the Hilton Head Island Planning Commission announced his candidacy Monday for the Ward 5 Town Council seat, which will be up for grabs in November.
Steve Alfred, a Sea Pines resident who has owned property on the island since 2002, wants to replace longtime Ward 5 representative Tom Lennox, who is not running for reelection.
Lennox was first elected to the Town Council in 2014. Ward 5 covers Sea Pines and other parts of Hilton Head’s south end.
Alfred, 87, is a member of the Planning Commission, is an officer of the board of trustees for the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina and is a board of trustees member at Bike Walk Hilton Head Island, according to his campaign.
He also was the mayor of Shaker Heights, Ohio — a Cleveland suburb — for eight years between the mid-1980s and early 1990s.
Alfred is an alumnus of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, according to his campaign.
He practiced law in Cleveland for 38 years at Squire Sanders & Dempsey (now Squire Patton Boggs), “specializing in federal income tax, financing transactions and municipal matters,” his campaign website says.
Alfred in a Tuesday phone call said he hopes to bring his prior political experience to the Town Council and “find ways to get things done,” turning ideas into actionable policies.
If elected to the Town Council, Alfred wants to improve traffic flow and safety at Sea Pines Circle and elsewhere on Hilton Head; “promote” workforce housing opportunities to attract and retain service employees; and “seek regulation of inappropriate activities” related to short-term rentals on the island, among other things, according to his campaign announcement.
The election will be Nov. 8. Alfred appears to be the first candidate to announce a bid for Lennox’s seat.
This story was originally published February 22, 2022 at 2:39 PM.
