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Congressional candidate overlooked
In the June issue of the Hilton Head Monthly, you wrote an article titled “Anticipating an Interesting Election Year.” In this article, you stated that the Congressional race for the 2nd District would be between whoever won the Republication nomination and the Democrat, Rob Miller. However, there is a candidate in addition to these two that you failed to mention. That candidate is myself, Marc Beaman. I am registered with the FEC, and in May 2010, I won the nomination of the Constitution Party. I have been campaigning diligently, and I have been very active in this community for decades. I founded and managed a food bank and soup kitchen for over five years along with other community services. I can be reached at (843)681-6508, or you can visit my website at beaman4congress.com for more information.
Marc Beaman
Hilton Head Island
With the ushering in of a new mayor, pet-friendly position should be maintained
I recently moved here to open a new petoriented business [Red Rover]. One of the key reasons I selected Hilton Head is the thousands of dog owners, the dog-friendly beaches, land dedicated to dog parks and the plethora of hotels, restaurants and rental properties where dogs are welcome. No doubt there is economic benefit to this strategy—I’ve talked to family after family who choose Hilton Head every year because they can include their dog (s) in their vacation. And clearly, there are a number of pet-related businesses on the island. Our little pooch paradise is surely due to the vision and determination of local leadership. With the office of mayor up for grabs, I wonder how the candidates stand on maintaining this unique and productive aspect of Hilton Head? There are a host of reasons that make Hilton Head the incredible vacation destination and unique, wonderful community it is. Our inclusiveness is a differentiating and endearing quality that should be preserved and nourished.
Hilton Head
So many of our local restaurants have worked hard to create outdoor areas for our dining pleasure. The payoff for them is that outdoor dining allures both locals and vacationers. The option to eat outdoors is often the deciding factor in where we choose to spend our dining dollars. It seems to me that restaurants should consider these outdoor areas equal with their indoor areas when it comes to smoking. However, they don’t, and it might surprise you to know that they don’t have to. A careful read of the town’s ordinance which bans smoking in restaurants reveals the loophole. The ordinance bans smoking in indoor (enclosed) areas, so it is up to each restaurant to permit or ban smoking in its outdoor table areas. A recent dining experience on the back deck area of one of my favorite restaurants revealed that this is a real problem. The deck area seated maybe 25 diners. The main focus was dining, not drinking. One couple on the deck was smoking and proceeded to poison the fresh air for all of the other outdoor patrons. I’m sure I’m speaking (writing) for most non-smokers when I say that secondhand smoke is ruinous to the taste of food and the entire outdoor dining experience. I was flat-out amazed that the wait staff took no action to ask the smokers to take a ciggy time out. I’d just like to raise awareness with this letter. For smokers, when dining or drinking in an outdoor area of a restaurant, please refrain from lighting up if your fellow patrons are trying to eat. For restaurants who have yet to ban smoking in your outdoor areas, please consider changing your policy. If you’re not ready to change, then post a sign that clearly lets your patrons know your outdoor area is a designated smoking area. Then we non-smokers will know to patronize another restaurant.
In your July issue, you reported in your Month in Review column that an expanded runway at HHI airport may be on the horizon. I attended the joint public meeting of the HHI Town Council and Beaufort County Council on July 12. The consultants of Talbert & Bright, who had spent two years working on the plan before recommending that our airport runway be extended to meet shortand long-term aviation needs and safety of our airport, were in attendance. I was shocked and disappointed that the council members did not ask ONE question of the consultants who were present and available to discuss any of their concerns. There were many residents who voiced their opinions, and the council members listened but chose not to accept the consultant’s recommendations or ask questions of any of the professionals who studied and wrote the recommendations.
I spoke to the Councils as a business person and 31-year resident who recognizes that the industry on our island is tourism and that tourism provides the gas for the island engine to move forward. Several residents stated that our airport served the “fat cats” who own private aircraft, not residents. Actually, our airport served 133,670 passengers last year, and these were not “fat cats,” although they, along with the 646,950 who landed at Savannah Airport destined for Hilton Head did spend millions of dollars before leaving our island.
Many of these so-called “fat cats” would have preferred flying directly into Hilton Head Island and renting a car on the island instead of spending $15,000,000 renting cars in Savannah and driving for at least an hour to Hilton Head Island. The economic impact of our Hilton Head Airport is over $81, 000,000 to our community, which does not take into account the millions of dollars in landing fees, fuel taxes, terminal rent, car rental taxes, parking fees, etc. that we are missing out on that Savannah is benefiting from. The tourists who visit the island provide the millions of dollars for beach renourishment, the money for our town to buy land for parks, support our local restaurants, hotels and shops, big businesses and small, among many other things that we residents benefit from.
Some of the residents who spoke claimed that noise at the airport was causing their property values to decrease. I believe that if our council members and residents do not realize the importance of continued commercial and private aircraft to our island economy and do not do everything that we possibly can as a community to make sure that we expand our airport to meet current and future needs, our economy will surely suffer and property values will decrease. We need to support tourism, and we need to support the expansion of our airport. Let’s stop wasting taxpayer dollars on studies and professional opinions that our “leaders” do not follow. We are at a crossroad. In the best interest of ALL our residents, let’s move forward.
