With an election that could drastically change the makeup of the Isle of Palms City Council and change the way short-term rentals are licensed just two weeks away, local residents took the opportunity to advocate for their side of the issue.
During the citizens’ comments portion of the Council’s Oct. 24 meeting, three local residents spoke in favor of a referendum that will be on the Nov. 7 ballot which would limit to 1,600 the number of investment STRs on the island. Another speaker criticized Council members who he said have claimed that the city is operating at a deficit and also chided the Council concerning the salaries paid to public safety personnel and the administration for allegedly releasing confidential information to the public.
“The attempts to confuse and divide this community are beyond belief,” former Council Member Randy Bell told city leaders.
“On Feb. 28, the five-member majority opted to stop any and all discussion on a subject of extreme importance to the residents of IOP. What five of you failed to understand was just how determined your constituents were to be heard. We will now be heard, yes or no, on Nov. 7.”
Bell went on to claim that the four Council candidates who are supporting the referendum – Scott Pierce, Elizabeth Campsen, Tim Ahmuty and Brian Duffy – have not received campaign contributions from groups that are in favor of the referendum. His presentation as cut short by Council member Jan Anderson because he mentioned a specific Council member – Jimmy Ward – apparently a violation of the Council Code of Conduct. Bell was permitted to submit his entire speech as part of the record, including a copy of post made by Ward on the Isle of Palms Community Facebook group page. Ward insinuated that the candidates who support the referendum are controlled by something called “the powerful national hotel lobby.”
“What happened to the unanimously passed Council Code of Conduct that stated acceptable use of social media and a level of respect and dignity to all?”
Bell asked the Council. “It would appear that its selective application only applies to Katie Miars.”
Last October, a divided Council voted 5-4 to hold a disciplinary hearing for Council member Miars for allegedly violating the Code of Conduct by writing an op-ed piece that was published in the Sept. 9, 2022, issue of The Island Eye News. According to a statement Mayor Phillip Pounds read at a Council meeting four days later, Miars directly quoted “portions of private attorney-client communications that the city attorney provided to the City Council in a memorandum dated June 9, 2022. The article also disclosed communications between Ms. Miars and the city attorney that occurred in executive session.”
The issue apparently hasn’t been resolved.
Another speaker at the Oct. 24, 2023, meeting, Laura Lovins, said IOP residents “are being given inaccurate and even convoluted information by one side of the argument.” She said claims that city revenues will suffer, property taxes will rise and local businesses will be negatively impacted if the referendum passes are “falsehoods and a scare tactic.”
“The other side has suggested that 1,173 people who signed the STR petition did not know what they were doing. I’m stunned at the level of absurdity of that allegation,” she said. “Everyone who signed the petition believed 100% in what it was intended to do.”
Les Kutcher lamented that “those of us who are full-time residents and registered voters and who support the referendum that imposes a fair and reasonable cap on STRs have been labeled a special interest group by those who oppose any STR cap.”
“Those that so stridently oppose the cap are, for the most part, well-funded, deep-pocketed commercial entities that include but are not limited to the Isle of Palms Chamber of Commerce, CTAR, Isle of Palms United, Isle of Palms Nation and the Wild Dunes Resort,” he added.
When Kutcher encouraged local residents to vote for Pierce, Campsen, Ahmuty and Duffy, Anderson interrupted again with “I don’t believe you’re supposed to be citing names.”
“I thought I’m not supposed to be citing your names,” Kutcher responded to Anderson and the rest of the Council.
He was permitted to continue his presentation.
Gary Nestler, meanwhile, told the Council he wanted to talk about “money, resources and integrity.”
“Our City Council boasts we have a $1.2 million surplus, $200,000 a month in interest and $41 million in the bank, yet some Council members say that we’re operating at a deficit,”
he said. “With so much divisiveness, residents don’t know who to believe or what to believe. City Council members spewing out numbers at an Indy 500 pace to impress constituents is simply disingenuous. This misinformation does have unintended consequences. Sleight-of-hand techniques are downright despicable.”
Nestler also pointed out that public safety personnel on IOP are paid an average of $10,000 to $15,000 a year less than those in surrounding communities.
“One other thing needs to be brought to light that deserves a full investigation,” he added. “The sharing of nonpublic and confidential documents, potentially personnel and financial records, with select citizens and former Council members, which then get displayed on social media. This raises serious concerns about breach of public trust, abuse of power and challenges the very integrity of our city governance."
"If you’re not up for the job, then just simply resign."
