Letter: Hilton Head leadership perplexing

I am a second-generation retiree to Hilton Head Island — my parents retired here in 1971 and my wife and I moved here in 2000. I have semi-observed many mayors over these past 45 years (Tom Peeples being the best, by far), and am bemused by our current mayor and council.

Specifically: I was a deckhand on the Daufuskie Island Resort ferry service from roughly 2000 to 2006. We carried a huge number of workers to and from Daufuskie every day from the Salty Fare location outside the back gate of Hilton Head Plantation, which is no longer available. So where are the workers — and guests — going to embark in order to get to work at the resort? Beaufort or Port Royal? If so, why aren’t they interested in annexing Bay Point?

Also, since “north of the Broad” has a specific mechanism for reviewing annexations — and Bay Point is north of the Broad River — why is this body being bypassed? I noticed that Mayor David Bennett did not attend the last meeting of the Northern Regional Plan Implementation Committee.

Semi-related because of the current Town Council’s unwillingness to be open (see Skip Hoagland), who is driving the $30 million arts center? Has anybody noticed that this amount would keep the current center in business for 60 years?

This story was originally published September 28, 2016 at 9:25 AM with the headline "Letter: Hilton Head leadership perplexing."