U.S. 278 meeting creates a rift among Beaufort County Council. Will anyone resign?
Despite a call from his colleague to step down, Beaufort County Council Chairman Joe Passiment said Monday, “I am not going to resign. The vice chair is not going to resign.”
The conflict initially escalated when District 11 councilman, Tom Reitz, called on the two council members, Chairman Passiment and Vice Chair Larry McElynn, to step down from their positions in wake of their attending a private meeting held to discuss the U.S. 278 corridor project.
The flash point was the Friday, Dec. 6 meeting held with selected members of the council and the Hilton Head Island Town council to discuss “a possible path forward for the 278 bridge project that failed in the referendum.”
Since the meeting, a member of the public, in front of the county council meeting on Dec. 9, expressed her frustration with what was referred to on social media as the “secret meeting.”
“You need to establish some trust with us, and Mr. Passiment, what happened Friday didn’t do that,” said Felice LaMarca, a real estate agent on Hilton Head, during the council meeting.
“As a citizen of this county, I am dismayed that any member of this council would have a meeting with Hilton Head Town council that is not open to the public, because you don’t want our input, and doesn’t involve my representative from Hilton Head. Again you’ve disrespected him (Reitz). Again,” she said.
Reitz represents District 11 for the County Council, an area that includes mid-island all the way to Sea Pines, he said. He was not asked to join the meeting on Dec. 6, despite the results of any decision or recommendation affecting his constituents.
What’s at the core of the issue
Passiment and the council have cited a $190 million shortfall in funding for the project that was initially going to be covered by November’s bond referendum. When it failed to pass, Beaufort County, Bluffton and Hilton Head are now left to figure out how to pay for the needed improvements to roads and bridges.
State Senator Tom Davis, who represents Beaufort and Jasper Counties and played a key role in securing initial funding, outlined to the council a path forward, expressing confidence that securing $90 million locally could unlock additional funding from the South Carolina Department of Transportation and the State Infrastructure Bank to cover the remaining gap.
To achieve this, Davis said the county is exploring the possibility of reallocating funds from other projects, although Jared Fralix, assistant county administrator of infrastructure, told the Island Packet there are no other local projects to divert funds from.
Who was selected to attend?
When asked how it was decided who would attend the Dec. 6 meeting, Passiment said that they selected representation from both the Hilton Head Town council and the Beaufort County council “who had a complete understanding of the project.”
Reitz confirmed with The Island Packet on Monday that he sent an email to the entire council on Thursday, Dec. 12, asking why he was not included in the meeting. He then called on the Chairman and the Vice Chairman to immediately resign, he said.
According to Passiment, “There was a meeting held on December 6 with members of Beaufort County Council and the Hilton Head Town Council. The purpose of that meeting was to begin to discuss a possible path forward for the 278 bridge project that failed in the referendum. We were given until March 31 by the state to come up with a plan to fund through various sources the shortfall, which is $190 million. We need to get some information from the state regarding the projected cost of the bridge before we can put a plan together. That was the purpose of the meeting.”
Passiment said “we certainty are going to be very transparent with our councils regarding exactly what we need to do so that we can come up with the plan, adopted by both councils, prior to the March 31 deadline.”
He referred to the gathering as “a fact finding group of individuals that needed to get some information.”
Reitz said, “If we truly want to change the feelings of our constituents, I believe that the private meetings must stop.”
“The people spoke on Nov. 5... Are secret meetings a way to alter what the people voted for on Nov. 5?,” he asked.
Reitz gives credit to his constituents, “These people we represent are very knowledgeable.” He does not know why transparency issues continue to persist throughout county government.
This story was originally published December 17, 2024 at 9:09 AM.
