How we grade Mayor Bennett
ONE YEAR LATER: It’s been one year since political newcomer David Bennett was sworn in as Town of Hilton Head Island’s new mayor. Promising to “do better,” Bennett capitalized on residents’ discontent with town projects, burying incumbent Drew Laughlin with a 2-to-1 victory.
Increasing transparency/accountability
Bennett’s promise: To create new protocols to scrutinize how the town and its official partners spend public dollars.
What happened: While the town created a contract with the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce this year, it does not go as far as Bennett wanted. For instance, there’s no certainty that the chamber is giving the town a competitive price for its service, and town leaders only have limited permission to inspect chamber finances. Bennett said he may soon push to revisit the contract issue.
Bennett and Town Council have begun to review the town’s other contracts with Shore Beach Services, The Island Recreation Center and the Beaufort County’s Sheriff’s Office. They also established formal performance reviews for the town’s manager and attorney.
Grade: C
Improving traffic on the south end
Bennett’s promise: To design a new master plan for traffic improvements and future development in the Pope Avenue and Palmetto Bay Road corridors at the island’s south end.
What happened: No south end traffic improvements were made during Bennett’s first year. Instead, a Bennett created committee of local officials, business leaders and residents have met dozens of times throughout the year and collected a trove of traffic and development data on the aging corridors. Committee members hope to hire an urban planner next month to formalize a series of recommendations for traffic improvements in the area. Bennett and Town Council are waiting on the committee before they discuss specific plans.
Grade: B
Controlling development
Bennett’s promise: To get the town to buy more land and more strictly control building across the island.
What happened: Bennett personally shepherded revisions to the planned apartments at Shelter Cove Towne Centre through an extra review, squashing his concerns about the plans’ aesthetic fit at the center of the island. The town also paid almost $2.5 million to buy two parcels on Palmetto Bay Road for eventual traffic improvements near the Sea Pines Circle. The council is negotiating to buy more property in that area for the same purpose.
A strategic plan for development will emerge from an island-wide “visioning” process Bennett intends to push starting early next year.
Grade: B
Providing sewer access
Bennett’s promise: That all Hilton Head residents would have access to sewers by 2020.
What happened: Last week the town committed more than $3.5 million over the next five years to expand sanitary sewer service to all residents within the Hilton Head Island Public Service District service area per Bennett’s pledge. It’s the first financial breakthrough the town has made on the decades-old problem. More arduous work lies ahead to fund at least $3 million to help eventually hook medium- and low-income residents into the new systems, and for the still unknown costs of acquiring the proper easements to install them.
Grade: A
Paving dirt roads
Bennett’s promise: To pave the 94 remaining dirt roads across Hilton Head Island, providing safe passage for residents
and emergency vehicles.
What happened: No dirt roads on the island were paved in 2015. Efforts by Bennett and Councilman Marc Grant resulted in the town doubling its funding to acquire about four dirt roads per year to $100,000. But Bennett and Grant agree the town must consider re-prioritizing its budget, applying for federal grants and increasing the stormwater utility fee to ramp up its efforts. Bennett said paving the roads is still on the top of the town’s to-do list.
Grade: C
Building an arts venue
Bennett’s promise: To consider a new, bigger arts venue to accommodate the island’s arts community.
What happened: Despite pushing for a new arts venue on the campaign trail, the issue was not addressed in any substantial way this year. A committee of local arts leaders recently made suggestions on how the town could better support the arts, but the group was not tasked with addressing the venue conundrum. Bennett said Town Council will hop on the issue in the first quarter of 2016.
Grade: F
Showcasing Mitchelville
Bennett’s promise: To throw more town support behind the nation’s first Civil War freedman’s town and possibly build an interactive, historical museum or visitors center there.
What happened: Bennett drew back this specific plan and instead created a countywide Heritage Tourism Task Force, which is mulling how to showcase several historical sites, including Mitchelville, the Heyward House, the Penn Center, Santa Elena and Fort Fremont. The committee was populated with leaders of those groups and local officials this month and will begin meeting next year.
Grade: C
Affordable housing
Bennett’s promise: To design a strategy for addressing the lack of affordable housing on Hilton Head Island.
What happened: Town Council did not even make plans to pursue this goal this year, noting at a retreat last month that limited options exist for the town to intervene. On the mainland, Bennett, who runs an affordable housing development firm, is looking to partner with the town of Bluffton to build affordable housing there.
Grade: F
Previously reported:
April 24, 2015 Despite native islanders' long-standing pleas for their dirt roads to be paved, the Town of Hilton Head Island has made little progress in accomplishing the task. Instead, it has spent generously on other non-basic services and projects. | READ
This story was originally published December 19, 2015 at 6:47 PM with the headline "How we grade Mayor Bennett."