Three candidates are vying for two seats on Bluffton Town Council. What you should know
This story has been updated to show that the Bluffton Eagles Community Action Committee is a tax exempt organization.
In the town of Bluffton, two incumbents and a political newcomer are vying for two open spots on town council.
On Tuesday, Bluffton voters will decide whether to re-elect longtime council members Fred Hamilton and Larry Toomer — both Bluffton natives — or to elect one of the two, along with political newcomer Nathan Ferrell.
Tuesday’s election comes as the town of Bluffton is still grappling with explosive population growth. New census data released this year shows that the town grew 121.2% from 2010 to 2020. The town also experienced a building boom during the pandemic. As of this summer, Bluffton was on track to approve over 1,000 new homes this year while environmental groups worry about the health of the May River.
The two candidates who are elected Tuesday will be sworn into office in November and serve on the five-member council, alongside Mayor Lisa Sulka and council members Bridgette Frazier and Dan Wood.
Fred Hamilton
Fred Hamilton, 62, is mayor pro tem of Bluffton Town Council. Except for a two-year stint when he lost re-election, Hamilton has served on the council since 2005.
A Bluffton native, Hamilton said he served in the U.S. Army for 3 1/2 years after graduating from H. E. McCracken High School (which became a middle school in 1983).
Hamilton, who described himself as self-employed, said he does construction and home repairs as well as auto deals. He also said he’s involved with numerous civic groups in town, including Bluffton Self Help, the Southern Lowcountry Regional Board and the Bluffton Eagles Community Action Committee — where Hamilton serves as chair.
Hamilton said the biggest issue facing Bluffton is its rapid growth. He said the town needs to collaborate with other municipalities to protect the area’s natural resources and culture.
He said he wants to continue working with developers to keep track of the number of rooftops being built in Bluffton and keep schools, which are crowded, informed about the growth happening.
He said his “hands are on the pulse” of constituents and wants to make sure the town deals with its growth in a smart way so it knows what growth and transportation projects other municipalities are working on.
Hamilton’s pre-election filing with the S.C. Ethics Commissions shows he had $2,714.31 in leftover campaign funds as of Oct. 14. The website indicates that he has not received any contributions for the upcoming election.
Representatives from the Hilton Head Area Association of Realtors and the Beaufort-Jasper County Association of Realtors said they had endorsed Hamilton and planned to contribute $1,000 to his campaign.
Nathan Ferrell
Nathan Ferrell, 35, is an Indiana native who moved to Bluffton in 2013.
Ferrell builds race cars as the owner of Demon Performance in Ridgeland, an automotive shop that focuses on high-performance vehicles. Prior to starting his business, Ferrell said he served in the U.S. Marine Corps for five years and was stationed in Beaufort.
Ferrell said the biggest issue facing Bluffton is what he described as an “absent” town council. He cited concerns about a high volume of officers leaving the Bluffton Police Department.
He does not see his lack of political experience as a problem, he said, because he will apply skills learned in the Marine Corps and his business to how the government handles tax dollars.
Ferrell said he decided to run for town council after witnessing the fallout between a Bluffton Town Council member and a musician, Whitley Deputy.
Earlier this year, photos circulated on social media that appeared to show Council member Bridgette Frazier encouraging businesses not to book Deputy after he was photographed attending the Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington D.C. A mob stormed the Capitol building, resulting in five deaths, but Deputy said he was not involved in the insurrection.
Ferrell said Frazier’s Facebook posts “thrust” him into the race.
“If I am elected, I will be there to offset the ugly and unfortunate opinions of someone who thinks it’s their job to destroy the livelihood of one of their constituents,” he said.
Ferrell said if he is elected, he would immediately seek oversight of the Bluffton Police Department to find out why officers are leaving the department. He said he would do this by forming a committee. It’s unclear whether the committee Ferrell would be connected to the town’s Law Enforcement Citizens Advisory Committee, formed last year to review police incidents and policies.
Ferrell said he also wants the town to revisit some of the development agreements signed years ago to determine whether growth is becoming “too much for the area to handle.”
He said he would support annexing into Bluffton some of the unincorporated areas of Beaufort County so that residents in places like Rose Hill are represented by Bluffton government.
The political newcomer said he described himself as a “maximum freedom candidate.” He cited mask mandates as an example of government overreach.
Ferrell’s campaign filings with the S.C. Ethics Commission indicate that he has received $744.80 in cash contributions from various donors as of Sept. 29.
Larry Toomer
Larry Toomer, 62, has served on Bluffton Town Council since 2012.
As the owner of the Bluffton Oyster Factory and the Bluffton Oyster Company in Old Town Bluffton, Toomer and his family are well known throughout the town.
A Bluffton native, Toomer graduated from H.E. McCracken High School and has lived in Bluffton for the past 32 years, he said.
Toomer said the main reason he wants to continue on town council is to make sure the town completes its ongoing sewer projects — an effort to move all Bluffton homes away from septic tanks.
“It’s been a fight of mine to protect the quality of the May River,” he said. “I’ve been fighting this for over 20 years.”
Toomer referenced the fact that the May River has seen a rise in fecal coliform bacteria — with human DNA. A 2019 University of South Carolina Beaufort study on the bacteria rise — which cited development as the main contributor — has reignited a decades-old debate about how to curtail damage to the river.
Advocating for open spaces, buying and preserving historical properties and developing parks are also among Toomer’s major initiatives, he said.
With five kids and 12 grandkids — all but two live in Bluffton — Toomer said he’s in touch with what Bluffton’s younger population needs in order to call this area home.
“One of my major goals is we have to keep our tax base low enough so our young people can afford to live here,” he said. “We need to continue to make Bluffton a place where our children and grandchildren want to call home and grow their roots here, like I did.”
Toomer’s pre-election filing with the S.C. Ethics Commission indicates that he has not received any contributions as of Oct. 19.
Representatives from the Hilton Head Area Association of Realtors and the Beaufort-Jasper County Association of Realtors said they had endorsed Toomer and pledged to contribute $1,000 to his campaign.
This story was originally published October 30, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
