Opinion | Seize this opportunity to replace Stu Rodman on Beaufort County Council

Voters of Hilton Head Island, we beg you to not miss this chance.

Replace Stu Rodman on the Beaufort County Council.

He has long been a cancer on open government and, finally, voters in District 11 can replace him at the polls.

Rodman is opposed by Tom Reitz in the June 14 Republican primary, and the winner will face Democrat Cathy McClellan in November.

We have reported for years on Rodman’s failures to uphold the public trust.

He has held secret meetings and kept public business hidden by using his personal email and phone.

He has bullied and undercut the county administrator and interfered in the management chain of command. In one incident we were able to uncover through his curtain of secrecy, he set out a complete personal agenda for a U.S. 278 project in an email to the county engineer, and told the engineer to keep it between them. Few issues are of more interest to the public, and Rodman has continually commandeered it to his own liking, while literally and figuratively offending the public.

He tried to strong-arm hiring former interim administrator Josh Gruber as county administrator even as six of the 11 County Council members opposed it.

Then there was his involvement in a proposal that would have raised property taxes for 214 property owners in his Sea Pines neighborhood, ranging from $300 to $5,000 per year for 10 years, to dredge a creek directly behind his home and a handful of others.

Neighbors put a stop to that, and now voters throughout a district that covers Sea Pines, Palmetto Dunes, Port Royal and all that is in between should put a stop to Rodman’s so-called public service.

Remember that Rodman — unlike any other public official we can recall — was voted out as council chairman by a majority of the council two years ago.

And now, five former County Council members who served with Rodman have taken another unheard-of step by making a unified public plea to vote him out of office.

“Our firsthand observations and personal sense of duty compel us to share our belief: Mr. Rodman does not deserve election to ANY public office,” they say.

This is not five people in the know saying they merely disagree with Rodman. This is five people with an aggregate of 51 years in public office here saying Rodman is a danger to democratic government.

Rick Caporale, Steven Baer, Steve Fobes and Mike Covert were later joined by Cynthia Bensch in saying:

“Despite his obvious intelligence, Mr. Rodman has too often used his energy and skill to derail open, honest dialogue and to subvert the participation of the public and the role of the duly elected members of Beaufort County government — all in favor of his personal agenda.

“In the process, he has shown complete contempt for democracy and for the law. As a result, we do not believe he can be trusted with the public’s best interests.”

Voters, please recognize that this is not politics-as-usual. This is the truth, and an urgent plea.

Thankfully, there is a solid remedy to this problem. The remedy is the vote. It’s time for voters to remove Stu Rodman from County Council.

Hilton Head can do much better.

This story was originally published June 10, 2022 at 11:05 AM.