He’s never run for office before. Here’s why Perry says he should be Hilton Head’s mayor

Hilton Head Island mayoral candidate Alan Perry, citing what he believes has been a lack of both direction and leadership in the town, says his longtime ties to the community set him apart from his opponents and makes him the best choice to replace outgoing mayor David Bennett.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Island Packet editorial board Oct. 19, Perry shared his viewpoints on different issues facing Hilton Head, including a workforce shortage, arts funding, government transparency, and the role he thinks the town and new mayor should play in solving those problems.

Perry, who has never run for office, said his experience working with Town Council, Beaufort County Council and the Beaufort County School District while raising money as president of People For Parks advocating for the Island Recreation Center expansion project for the past 13 years has familiarized him with government leadership.

But it’s his 46 years of living on Hilton Head that gives him a leg up on his competition, he says.

When asked what specific problems he sees with Hilton Head’s existing leadership, Perry said he wants to see more transparency and called some of the closed-door actions by the Town Council and current mayor “deplorable” and “despicable.”

“Over the last four years, I’ve seen a lack of direction, a lack of common sense, a lack of respect and a lack of trust that has been created,” he said. “The way council and the mayor has acted in the four years on certain issues — just deplorable.”

Specifically, Perry said it was “despicable” the way Town Council met in secret for a year to discuss Town Manager Steve Riley’s employment status in 2017. Perry said he supports Riley and, if elected mayor, would rely on Riley and Assistant Town Manager Josh Gruber to run the day-to-day operations of the town.

“Steve (Riley) has always looked out for the best interest of the town,” Perry said. “The way that was handled … whether they wanted to replace him or not, I don’t understand it.”

Perry said Bennett has shown a “lack of understanding” of Hilton Head residents, and said the controversial vision plan outlining the town’s potential future was an example of that. He said he wasn’t a “tremendous fan” of the vision.

“I’ve read the vision plan several times. There are good things from that (plan) to focus on,” Perry said. “But, however we move forward with the vision plan, we need to hold on to what we are. It’s vital as we move forward to hold on to that DNA to maintain the quality of life.”

Where he stands

In the one-hour interview, Perry touched on other town issues:

Government funding/ partnerships

• Perry said he believes in a “limited services” government and that he intends to keep his full-time job while in office, as he says Hilton Head’s town government was designed to operate with a part-time mayor who works as the face of the community.
  
  
• He said Town Council has too many committees and wants to see the town build more partnerships with outside organizations, similar to how they work with the Island Recreation Association, and delegate more work to the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce.
• When asked about what the town should do about providing funding for the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, he said he’s against building another arts facility, but thinks the town should “work out an arrangement with the Arts Center to improve it.”
• When asked how he feels about the Hilton Head-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce using $2.5 million in annual tax dollars without having to show invoices or receipts, Perry said he was OK with how the chamber was operating, and didn’t see a need for pushing for further transparency like Mayor David Bennett did. He said he didn’t feel a need to “grind down on every invoice.”

Workforce shortage

• When asked what the town should do about Hilton Head’s workforce shortage, Perry said the town should work with the chamber and play the role of an “enabler” to solve the issues facing employees, including a lack of public transportation and affordable housing. He was against the town building workforce housing, but said the town should be the one facilitating it and allowing it to happen.

Transportation

• He said he worries that if the penny tax referendum doesn’t pass Nov. 6, the state would have to close down a portion of the bridges to Hilton Head, which he said could be “disastrous” for Hilton Head’s economy.
• Perry said he believes in slowing down growth, particularly with timeshares, and that the south end of the island “can’t take much more development” when it comes to resorts.
• He said the slow traffic on the south end is hurting the quality of life for Sea Pines, Forest Beach and other areas.
• When asked what the town should do about traffic congestion on Pope Avenue, Perry suggested more public transportation, such as the Palmetto Breeze Trolley, and possibly adding golf cart lanes.

Election Information

Voting in the Hilton Head mayoral election will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 6. Voters can check their registration and polling places with the South Carolina Election Commission here.

If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two candidates will move into a runoff election, which will take place Tuesday, Nov. 20.

Six people are running for Hilton Head mayor. They are:

• Town Council member John McCann
• Native Islander Rochelle Williams
• Holocaust revisionist Michael Santomauro
• Real Estate broker Barry Ginn
• Sales Manager at SunTrust bank Alan Perry
• Town Council member Kim Likins, who currently represents Ward 4.

The Island Packet interviewed several candidates in its editorial board endorsement process, and the endorsement will be published in the newspaper Saturday, Nov. 3.

This story was originally published October 30, 2018 at 8:30 AM.