Live mic captures Beaufort County council members’ frustrations over housing, development
In between hours-long back-to-back public meetings on Monday, Aug. 18, two Beaufort County council members exchanged their genuine grievances about some of the county’s operations. The conversation — never meant for public ears — offered a rare, candid insight into council members’ thoughts on the county’s struggles with housing, development and efficiency.
While council members gathered in the Arthur Horne Building in Beaufort got up to stretch their legs or take a phone call, former Council Chair Joe Passiment and former Vice Chair Larry McElynn, who joined the meeting virtually, chatted casually about their frustrations.
The council members were not aware that their conversation could be heard by people watching the meetings online.
The Island Packet received a video recording of the conversation between Passiment and McElynn. The portion of the recording was over three minutes long, but it did not capture their entire conversation. The newspaper then requested a copy of the entire break between the two meetings from Beaufort County. The county provided it.
However, the video remains deleted from Beaufort County TV’s video archive. According to spokesperson Hannah Nichols, if anything else between sessions was recorded, it would be deleted from an archived version.
What was discussed?
The council members’ first concern was regarding efficiency.
On Aug. 18, the full council and smaller committees had three scheduled back-to-back meetings between noon and 3 p.m. The second meeting, focused on finance, went well over the committee’s hour of allotted time, partly because of a presentation about new tax software that would cost more than $3 million over four years.
The software, which would be used by the county assessor, the auditor and the treasurer, had an 18-month procurement period. It was clear that the three officials were not in agreement about how the purchase decision was made nor the product selected.
“I keep saying that a lot of these things need to be discussed privately,” McElynn said between meetings. “To keep a meeting going like this on and on when it’s just an internal matter that’s being handled, I don’t get it.”
“Why did it take 18 months to get to this point?” Passiment asked.
The county is facing two high profile proposals
McElynn went on to say that there was concern that the county would start “losing some properties” if agreements were not more efficient. It was unclear specifically what properties he was referring to.
In recent days, Beaufort County has entered into negotiations with developers on two separate development agreements: one for the proposed Pine Island development project and one for a proposed mixed housing Ramsey Farms development by Pulte Homes in northern Beaufort County.
The Ramsey Farms development, which per the draft development agreement would include 244 single family homes and townhouses, would be built on 86 acres across from Battery Creek High School in the Burton area. The developer requested a zoning map amendment, which would increase the number of permitted units per acre from less than half of one up to three.
Ten of the 244 units are set aside for workforce housing, priced for households earning between 80% and 120% of the area’s median income, according to the draft agreement. Also proposed is a $2,500 down payment assistance program for first-time homebuyers and an allocation of $750 per unit to help rehabilitate nearby structures.
For McElynn, these conditions were unreasonable. “The upzoning is incredible,” McElynn said. “The density increase is remarkable. Ten units out of 244 is stupid. The AMI is stupid. It’s almost like who’s negotiating this stuff?”
Passiment described what the county was “going to do with Ramsey Farm” as a “travesty.”
It is unclear at this point what it is the county is doing with that development agreement, since negotiations are ongoing. Any decisions about entering into an agreement would have to go before the entire county council for a final vote. But several times, Passiment asked about why the county “wouldn’t want this,” especially with a need for more affordable housing options.
“How are we going to get the 10,000 affordable — whatever that term means — houses for people who want to live in Beaufort County?” he asked. It is unclear where this figure comes from, but the county’s comprehensive plan is clear that the county should be playing an “active role” in encouraging affordable housing development.
“Every time something comes in to us with this, it somehow manages to go up in smoke,” McElynn replied.
Before the conversation ended abruptly, Passiment said, “Our own planning department is a problem,” although his entire thought was cut short.
The conversation, just three minutes and thirty seconds long, captured just a moment in the council members’ collective 14 years on the council. The newspaper wanted to understand more about the context of their frustrations and where they fell on their list of priorities as elected officials.
The Island Packet attempted to reach Passiment and McElynn over the course of several days to ask additional questions. Despite emails, phone calls and voice mails, the pair did not respond.
This story was originally published August 26, 2025 at 11:29 AM.
