Over the past year, I’ve shared thoughts about the City’s focus on better managing limited resources, getting more accomplished with less and increasing transparency in our City Council discussions and decision making.   I believe we have learned valuable lessons while adjusting to the economic downturn. I also believe there are more opportunities for positive changes on the horizon. 

I think 2010 will be noted as the year in which the City Council extended our hand toward intergovernmental collaboration and harmony among local governments.

The Town of Port Royal and The City of Beaufort have had a collaborative fire service for many years, with one Fire Chief and administrative staff instead of two, ensuring more tax dollars for preventing and fighting fires rather than simply managing a fire department.  Furthermore, Beaufort and Port Royal collaborate on recycling which has proven to be more efficient than when we each went our own way.  This is just the beginning.

Mayor Sam Murray  and I recently signed Resolutions, passed by our respective Councils, directing staff to explore additional avenues for partnering. This “could” open the door to further collaboration on collecting garbage and yard debris, providing more predictable and efficient development services, business license administration, codes enforcement and possibly other services which cities and towns provide to their residents and businesses.

Furthermore Beaufort and Port Royal recently established an Urban Storm Water Management Policy Statement that complement’s Beaufort County’s new suburban and rural storm water policy.

Notwithstanding collaboration, Port Royal will always be Port Royal and Beaufort will always be Beaufort with our distinctive personalities and independent governance accountable to our respective citizenry. But, as we work toward meeting common interests, we can create more efficiency, less waste and even better service delivery.

Beaufort and Port Royal have engaged Beaufort County Council to achieve more seamless service delivery and efficiency throughout Northern Beaufort County.  Adoption of the Northern Regional Plan last year set the stage for this to happen.

An early sign of success is that, unlike ten years ago when we passed our plans irrespective of each other’s interests,  our comprehensive plans of 2010 complement each other with common elements, not the least of which is controlling sprawl, promoting infill development and smart growth and, where appropriate, unified development standards and ordinances.

Port Royal and Beaufort have benefitted from joint planning. Because it has worked so well so, want to expand this collaboration to include county planners.  Accordingly, we invited County Council to appoint members to what we propose to call “The Beaufort – Port Royal Metropolitan Planning Commission.” By doing this we believe we can achieve consistency and predictability across jurisdictional boundaries and avoid the annexation wars of past years. While each community will ultimately have the final say as to what happens within its jurisdiction, the three governments working more closely will increase the possibilities of better coordination, less duplication and more efficient delivery of services.

As reported in last week’s news, the three governments are exploring, along with the Lowcountry Council of Governments with significant financial support from the Department of Defense, a process which will provide for the transfer of development rights to preserve air space for MCAS which may be a necessity in the future.   

And finally, in an effort to achieve more predictable development standards, we are collaboratively exploring a unified development code whose implementation will ensure smarter growth, more efficient service delivery while protecting the property rights of landowners.  The result would be a “form based” code. We will be hearing more about that this in the coming weeks.

I would be remiss if I led you to believe that these kinds of changes come easily.  They require extensive discussion and adequate time for give and take among elected officials, staff and the public.  Furthermore they are predicated upon acceptance that change and improvements are for the greater good and not simply mantles upon which politicians can become elected. 

The process of renewed collaboration started before I became Mayor.

Former County Councilman Skeet Von Harten and his north of the Broad County Council Colleagues, along with my predecessor and Mayor Sam Murray, invested several years setting the stage for the Northern Regional Plan which was adopted shortly after I was elected. It is my honor and responsibility to work on the Northern Regional Plan Implementation Committee, side by side with City Councilman Mike Sutton, Mayor Murray, Port Royal Councilman Vernon DeLoach and Beaufort County Council members and chaired by our able leader Jim Hicks,  to implement the plan and achieve the results our citizens deserve.

The lively discussion over proposals to make parking more available to downtown shoppers and diners leads me to larger questions that are far more reaching and even more complicated than parking.  Let me explain.

I sent out an email, and posted on Facebook, proposed changes to parking as recommended to City Council by The Redevelopment Commission and Mainstreet, Beaufort.  I sought community input, and I got an earful! I received a broad array of opinions, many that reflected on how writers would be personally affected by changes and others that spoke to the greater community good.  I heard from shoppers, people who work in retail shops and others who work in restaurants.  Some respondents were City residents while many others live outside the City limits but consider Beaufort their hometown. (This is a good thing!)  I heard from people who have lived in Beaufort since childhood and many who relocated to the area recently.

It’s been a healthy discussion and I believe it will lead to the best possible decision.  However, some of the undercurrents speak to an issue much larger than parking.  

Comments like . . .  “I don’t shop and dine downtown because I can’t find a parking space”. . . along with . . . “if I have to pay more to park downtown, I will go to Hilton Head and Bluffton where I do not have to pay” . . . concern me.

When retail shop owners say . . . . “customers cannot find parking spaces because employees park on Bay Street” . . . and employees say. .  “it is unsafe to walk a block to our cars after work,”  I am troubled. 

Threats like . . . “Changes will chase shoppers to businesses like Wal-Mart and K-Mart where parking is free,” . . . are confusing.

And the following . . . ” While I was investigating Beaufort (to locate from elsewhere) I did take into account the inexpensive parking rates in downtown, the available parking not at meters, and the parking meter expiration at 6 pm.  I can not support both an increase in the parking rates and the extension of the fees to 9 PM.  I feel so strongly about this that I can say that I will take my business to other areas of Beaufort without these restrictions” . . . . take me to the edge of anger.

If these comments, and similar ones too lengthy to include, reflect the broader community view, one should ask:  Can we not see beyond our own noses to think about others?  Are we so angry at government that we refuse to hear City Council when we say this is about making parking work, and it is not driven by money grubbing?  (Parking revenues go to a special fund to promote marketing and improvements downtown, and are not comingled into the general fund.)

Is it fair to conclude that downtown Beaufort no longer works as a “hometown downtown?”  Is the Beaufort experience really interchangeable with any other place, USA where parking is free?

Some will remember a time, not that many years ago, when Bay Street stores were vacant with windows boarded up when a thriving downtown   — that once featured three supermarkets, three pharmacies, a half dozen clothing stores, two five and dime stores, two barber shops, two beauty parlors, two hardware stores, four service stations, three automobile dealerships, and Beaufort County’s only public library — was abandoned in favor of big box offerings driven by residential and commercial sprawl changes in lifestyle consumer behavior.

Others will remember the late Bill Cochrane, the developer of  Dataw Island who created Mainstreet, Beaufort under the downtown revitalization model set forth by The National Trust for Historic Preservation.  For those who do not know, Bill threw his weight, and the strength of those he brought to Beaufort, behind the vision of former Mayor Henry Chambers who knew that the Waterfront Park, which is rightly named after him, would revive a dying downtown. Clearly they got it right as we now have one of the most beautiful downtowns in this world.

Because the City Council believes our historic downtown,  accented by the Waterfront Park,  is the golden egg that brings economic value and a richer quality of life to the approximately 60,000 people who call Beaufort home, our budget will allocate nearly $1 million toward maintaining the core business district and Waterfront Park. (This includes debt service on renovations that a small city –comprised of only about 12,000 moderate to low income residents, half of whom rent — could not afford to restore the park without borrowing.)  That’s right. . . . about $1 out of every $12 the city collects will be invested to make downtown every better.  And this does not include additional funds invested in Mainstreet, the Chambers of Commerce and our cultural organizations who “market” Beaufort to those who live here, those who visit and those who might one day move here.

One might assume from writers’ comments that perhaps we are not using the taxpayer’s money as wisely as we should be?  Though I know the answer, I have to ask . . . Is shopping at the big boxes comparable to shopping downtown?  Is dining out on the highway, or in Hilton Head or Bluffton where parking is “free” comparable to dining downtown where you can walk off your lunch or dinner with a stroll through a glorious waterfront park?  Is taking one’s children for a walk around a big box “free parking lot” comparable to taking them to the playground at the Waterfront Park on a beautiful afternoon or weekend morning?     I think and hope NOT.

So what is this all about? 

To remain healthy, Downtown Beaufort must grow. We need more people living in and around downtown. We must encourage, and provide help if necessary, those who live near downtown to fix up their homes. We must encourage others to build houses on vacant lots. We must open our minds to more buildings, while respecting those that serve as the physical signature to our beloved National Historic Landmark.   (A group created a model that shows how 21 residences can fit compatibly on the Post Office block, where about ten houses used to fit, without sacrificing our retail post office and without changing the zoning ordinance.)

Furthermore, we must bring back businesses that fled downtown to create very inefficient, and expensive for the county to maintain, urban business cores in suburban and rural areas.   

More people living and working in downtown is necessary for a healthy downtown.  It will drive up consumer demand for a more diversified retail mix.  It will create an alternative to the “neo-traditional walking communities” springing up in the county that require cars to get to and from. It will provide additional safety through numbers. More people will be walking and riding bicycles and the car will not be as necessary. And it will meet what most real estate prognosticators suggest will be the demand for tomorrow’s buyers . . . small, efficient homes close to goods and services and recreation.

If one reviews the City’s 2010 Comprehensive plan, and the mission directives established for the Joint Planning and Redevelopment Commissions, one will see we are headed toward focusing on infill development of vacant lots, redevelopment of under utilized land and structures, encouraging businesses to locate in the business district and fostering the growth of USCB and the many cultural organizations that make our community special.

Beaufort is a little broken and, with your help, your understanding and your support, we intend to fix it.  Lets think about the greater community and the hometown we all love and want to see thrive into the next century.

We will “fix” parking and will grow to be an even better community.

On Tuesday, City Council will consider recommended changes for managing downtown parking.  I believe some background and explanation is in order since this decision effects the sustainability of downtown and The Historic District which are an important part of the City of Beaufort and the greater Beaufort area. 

 

Please take the time to review and let me and my colleagues on City Council know your thoughts as we will hold first reading Tuesday (2-23-2010 at 6 pm) and second will follow in two to four weeks.

 

Feel free to contact me at billyk@islc.net or join us at the City Council meeting to personally share your thoughts. Our temporary meeting place is in the court room of the new City Police and Court Complex at the corner of Boundary and Palmetto Streets with the entry on the west side across from the city hall which is under construction.

 

The proposal:

Principle changes affecting the 476 downtown parking spaces:

1.  Change parking fine for expired meters from $3 to $10
2.  Increase hourly rates from $.50 to $1.00
3.  Eliminate time limits on all meters except at the Visitors’ Center, (The Arsenal on  Craven Street) where parking will be restricted to 30 minutes to ensure turnover by those who check in at the Center
4. Install new parking pay stations that accept credit and debit cards
5. Set aside two parking spaces on Carteret and Craven Streets for tour bus loading and unloading
6. Make spaces available to employees at the rate of $35 per month
7. Maintain 132 coin operated meters in selected places
8. Enforce Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 9 pm
9. Provide relief to Point and Old Commons Neighborhoods in the event daily parking encroaches on their neighborhoods

10.Work with owners of private lots, used primarily by employees, to  

     maximize the opportunity for parkers and property owners.

 

A New Solution to an Old Story

When I came home from Washington, DC to live in Beaufort, just over 20 years ago, my first volunteer activity was to serve on the Board of Mainstreet, where I was on the Parking Committee and, not long thereafter, became the Committee Chair. During my tenure, and the tenure of those before and after me, we faced “the problem” of inadequate parking downtown.  During that period, and many times since, the City and Mainstreet commissioned multiple studies, some by merchants and others by consultants.  Each demonstrated that the principle downtown parking challenge was employee parking, irregular enforcement and the inefficient use of public and private open space.

 

Though I know some are concerned about proposed changes, I am proud that City Council had the courage to explore a new way, since after many, many years, the City failed to fix the problem.

 

Yes, we surrendered and turned to someone who has the ability to correct what is wrong.  Accordingly, we assigned parking management to the City Redevelopment Commission, in concert with Mainstreet, Beaufort, USC,  since we believe downtown merchants have the highest stake in a parking system that works and they have paid the price for its failure over the years. Furthermore, income from downtown parking will no longer go to the City’s General Fund; it will go through the Redevelopment Commission to Mainstreet and be used to fund improvements to the downtown area and for expanded marketing.

 

Because they are there day-to-day, merchants and restaurant owners understand the needs of their customers and employees.  To help them with this assignment, they retained professional help through Lanier Parking Systems, a company with years of experience managing parking throughout the region and elsewhere.

 

The Challenge

The principal purpose of regulated parking is to ensure turnover so that shoppers can come and go with a reasonable expectation that they can find a convenient place to park.  (As an aside, when I was on the Parking Committee, we tried free and meter less parking, but it did not work: the trust was abused and there was little turnover, leaving few spaces for shoppers. Accordingly, we removed the bags from meters except during the month of Christmas, and resumed metered parking.)

 

The principal challenges to making parking work are: creating an alternative for employees who otherwise feed Bay Street meters all day long and into the evenings, thereby not leaving space for shoppers; installing meters that do not require “correct” change; consistent enforcement; and better utilizing public and private parking lots.

 

For those who do not know, the transition from City Management to the partnership between Redevelopment Commission (in partnership with Mainstreet) became a done deal last year.  There was pubic debate, I wrote about it in this newsletter and the news media reported our actions. I am sorry if anyone is caught by surprise.

 

The issue currently on the table is fees, penalties and alternative long term parking options for those who work downtown.

 

Proximity is The Underlying Factor

1. Retail customer to retail seller
2. Restaurant patron to restaurant
3. Client to service provider
4. Employee to place of employment

 

My thoughts: 

 

1. Change the fine from $3 to $10

The current $3 fine does not discourage illegal parking. One is only charged a fine when one violates limits. Through pay stations, the challenge of correct change and time limits are eliminated.

 

1.  Increase hourly rates from $.50 to $1.00

This is not unreasonable as it compares very favorably with other similar cities. 

 

1. Eliminate time limits on all meters except at visitors center

When one pays, one gets to park as long as one wants, but it is likely with the proposed $1 per hour, only those who are seeking short term parking will use those spaces while those who want long term parking will chose a less expensive alternative. Some have asked why we would replace perfectly good meters.  The answer is that the technology currently in place is out dated and needs replacement in most places anyway.

 

1. Install new parking pay stations that accept credit and debit cards as well as coins

This eliminates the challenge of not having correct change. Furthermore, if parkers wish, the technology exists to call their mobile telephones through which they can extend their parking time without leaving the shop or restaurant at which they are doing business. (I am actually not certain if this option will be installed initially, but the equipment has the capacity to do so.)  Furthermore, the kiosk approach creates a simpler opportunity for merchant validation of parking for their customers.

 

1. Set aside two parking spaces on Carteret and Craven Streets for short term parking and tour bus loading and unloading

This is required to get tour busses closer the visitor’s center and will encourage tourists walking to Bay Street to see businesses on the side streets. It also makes in more convenient for visitors to make quick stops at the Visitors’ Center.

 

1. Make spaces available to downtown employees at the rate of $35 per month

This is to ensure employees have affordable parking. While it is counter productive for employees to park at meters on and close to Bay Street, it is important to shop and restaurant owners that their employees have reliably available, affordable and safe parking when they work. 

 

1. Maintain 132 coin operated meters in selected places

Meters appear to be working in certain areas so there is no need to replace

 

1. Enforce Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 9 pm

Enforcing meters into the evenings will further discourage restaurant employees from using spaces that customers could otherwise use when they choose to dine downtown. 

 

1. Provide relief to Point and Old Commons Neighborhoods in the event daily parking encroaches on their neighborhoods

In the event employees migrate into these neighborhoods for free long term parking, thereby making it difficult to residents and their guests to park near their homes, the neighborhood associations are encourage to ask the city to manage parking in their neighborhoods through a sticker system or other means acceptable to residents. 
. 

 

10.Work with owners of private lots, used primarily by employees, to  

     maximize the opportunity for parkers and property owners.

Through Lanier Parking Systems, the Redevelopment Commission and Mainstreet have worked with private property owners to better manage their lots to ensure even more opportunities for those who work downtown.

 

Furthermore, while not an issue for discussion at tomorrow’s Council Meeting,  since the Redevelopment Commission has already contracting parking management to Lanier, police officers will be more available to patrol the downtown, when downtown needs to be patrolled, and the City Police Department has been relieved from writing tickets, emptying the meters and accounting for the money.  Lanier will be on the streets continuously during all parking hours and they have opened a small office on Scotts Street across from Blackstone’s in what was once the terminal grill.

 

Please take the time to think about the recommendations and let me and my colleagues on council know your thoughts.  As I said, we will be considering the changes on first reading on Tuesday and second reading will follow in two to four weeks. 

 

Thanks for the benefit of your counsel as your city tries to do the best we can to maintain a sustainable downtown and celebrated Historic Landmark District.

 

Billy Keyserling

Dear Editor

As the Mayor Beaufort, I want to thank Ron Tucker and the Beaufort Film Society, with its long list of dedicated and hard working volunteers who worked long and hard to give us the Beaufort International Film Festival. It was a class act which shone a bright and beautiful light on our community.  The sea http://www.beaufortfilmsociety.org/mlessly well organized event brought filmmakers from far and near to share their works with the people of Beaufort, created a sense of give and take among all and fueled the level of appreciation and thirst for independent film making in the Lowcountry. 

Saturday night’s event, the awards ceremony, created a very special moment in time for Beaufort. It began with SCETV presenting the ‘Southern Lens Award’ to the lowcountry’s own, Greg Smith of Bluffton, for his brilliant documentary “Keeping the May River Wild.”

The crescendo came when actor,  Michael O’Keefe (who played the role of Pat Conroy in the “The Great Santini”),  presented  the Ribaut Acting Award to Blythe Danner (who played Conroy’s mother in Santini) who then presented the Ribaut Writing Award to Pat Conroy. 

I would encourage all to support and become members of the Beaufort Film Society so that we can have an even bigger and better Festival in 2011 which is our Tricentennial year. To learn more and join go online online to http://www.beaufortfilmsociety.org/.

Thank you Beaufort Film Society.

Sincerely

Billy Keyserling

Movie buffs of all stripes will find something of interest in this year’s Beaufort International Film Festival, which runs Feb. 18-21 and features 20 films selected by local judges from the 200 entries submitted from 24 countries (including “The Deadbeat,” pictured at right).

The festival, now in its fourth year, is a production of the Beaufort Film Society, which was founded by Ron Tucker and other local film aficionados.

Tucker said he started the society after his retirement from the Marine Corps in 1992, when he fell into film location management and scouting. That interest led him to launch Sandbar Productions.

“Beaufort had the backdrops they were looking for,” Tucker said, “(Occasionally), a movie scout or the (South Carolina) film office would call me. I’d drive that person around – sometimes for days – to try to find what they were looking for.”

 Unfortunately, Beaufort wasn’t selected for any of the films Tucker scouted for, usually, he said, because of financing issues or because the production headed to other locations, such as Savannah.

But 1995 saw the release of Sandbar’s “The Making of A Marine,” the first commercially available video about the Marine Corps. That film, produced jointly with a company in Charleston, led to the launch of Good To Go Video, which since 1999 has produced more than 400 films of Marine Corps graduation ceremonies.

Still, Tucker remained determined to bring Hollywood back to Beaufort, so he joined with the Beaufort Chamber of Commerce to create the Beaufort Regional Film Commission, whose goal was to “make it easier for filmmakers to shoot in Beaufort,” he said. “We tried to get all kinds of things started: Making office space available, parking and easier permitting.”

The group’s goal wasn’t necessarily a film festival, but Tucker said “several smaller commissions with no budget, like us,” had been jump-started by a festival. “We formed a committee in 2004,” he said, “but we didn’t get serious about it until 2006.”  Though Tucker remained the film commission’s chairman, he admitted most of his time was spent working on the festival, and last year, when the Chamber asked him to take it on.

The first festival in 2007 was “reasonably successful,” said Tucker, noting that it drew about 500 people. But the group learned enough to more than double their numbers in their second year, and nearly double it again in 2009.

 Tucker sees “every single movie that’s submitted” before they go to the judging panel. “Some are great, some are not so great and some are really, really bad,” he said, laughing. “Most of the time you can tell. If they have passion, it comes through in their work.”

Many of the festival volunteers are members of the recently formed Beaufort Film Society, a group interested in the “educational aspect” of the art of filmmaking, such as directing, producing and animation. Currently comprising 86 members, the club offers plenty of perks, including invitations to film-related special events, screenings and workshops produced and promoted year-round, as well as discounts at local theaters.

 ”Any organization is strong if it’s full of passionate people who want to help get things done,” Tucker said. Film society members hope to grow the festival to a weeklong event.

Tucker said his favorite aspect of the film festival is the “creativity of seeing other filmmakers’ work.” He admits to having films brewing in his head, but prefers to help pave the way for young filmmakers “who are growing in the industry,” he said.

Gail Westerfield, Special to the Guide

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

 Feb. 19
· 8 a.m.: “The Brothers Warner” (90 min., documentary)
· 9:45 a.m.: “Shut Up and Kiss Me” (17 min., student)
· 10:10 a.m.: “Tira Bikal” (25 min., documentary)
· 10:45 a.m.: “The Deadbeat” (21 min., short)
· 11:15 a.m.: “Milites Christi” (25 min., student)
· 11:40 a.m.: “Displaced” (85 min., documentary)
· 1:20 p.m.: “Clones Gone Wild” (17 min., student)
· 2 p.m.: “Letters From Home” (10 min., short)
· 2:30 p.m.: “Mississippi Queen” (64 min., documentary)
· 4 p.m.: “Florida Road” (102 min., feature)
· 6 p.m.: “Bean” (19 min., student)
· 6:30 p.m.: “Reflection” (15 min., student)
· 7 p.m.: “The Hide” (84 min., feature)
· 8:50 p.m.: “Deadland” (107 min., feature)

 Feb. 20
· 8:30 a.m.: “Skylight” (5 min., animation)
· 8:40 a.m.: “Gym Lessons” (9 min., animation)
· 8:50 a.m.: “Pete’s Odyssey” (6 min., animation)
· 9:15 a.m.: “Keep The May River Wild” (26 min., documentary)
· 10 a.m.: “Slice of Pie” (35 min., short)
· 10:50 a.m.: “Moonlight Sonata” (102 min., feature)
· 1 p.m.: “Perfect Valor” (91 min., documentary)
· 2:45 p.m.: “You Are Beautiful” (6 min., short)
· 3:15 p.m.: “MacAwesome” (12 min., student)
· 3:45 p.m.: “Severing the Soul” (17 min., documentary)
· 4:05 p.m.: “Blue Bus” (95 min., feature)

 All films will be screened at Seaside Vineyard Fellowship Church (formerly Lady’s Island Cinema), 100 Sea Island Parkway, Beaufort.

 Film trailers and synopses are available at www.beaufortfilmfestival.com. Tickets for individual films are $5. A pass for all 20 films is $30. A pass for all films, plus reserved seating at the awards gala on Feb. 20, is $50.

Tickets can be purchased online, at the theater, at Spirit of Old Beaufort, 1001 Bay Street, or at the Beaufort Chamber of Commerce Visitors’ Center on Boundary Street.

 Saturday night’s awards gala at the University of South Carolina Beaufort Performing Arts Center, 801 Carteret St., has limited free, non-reserved seating.

During the gala, Blythe Danner will receive an Excellence in Acting Award presented by actor Michael O’Keefe, who was nominated for an Oscar for his role in “The Great Santini,” and Pat Conroy will receive an Excellence in Writing Award.

From The Beaufort Gazette, February 18, 2010

On 17 Jan 2010, at 17:35, Mayor Billy wrote:

Incredible Inspiration!   Yesterday, on a rainy Saturday afternoon, I watched a movie called “The Soloist”. This morning as the sun came out, I received the following link from a friend. Given all I have on my plate, it is rare that I follow links sent to me by others.  I am so happy I opened this one as it puts our day to day challenges into perspecI hope you will take a few minutes to experience what my friend just shared with me. You will not be sorry to have met Patrick Hughes and begin this next week with his inspiration.    Inspired by Patrick Hughes

 

Mayor Billy | PO Box 2145 | Beaufort | SC | 29901-2145

Hundreds come out for Beaufort’s 299th birthday

By CASSIE FOSS
cfoss@islandpacket.com
Published Sunday, January 17, 2010

 

In celebration of Beaufort’s upcoming tricentennial, the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry is giving residents an opportunity to have a say in its future.

The organization is developing a Beaufort Fourth-Century Endowment Fund as a way to provide a permanent and ongoing source of funding for the community to carry out its “vision for its preferred future,” said Denise Spencer, the organization’s president and CEO.

Over 500 Beaufort residents were on hand Sunday at the University of South Carolina Beaufort Performing Arts Center for the announcement, which was part of an event to mark the city’s 299th year of incorporation and kick off preparations for its tricentennial on Jan. 17, 2011.

The event, sponsored by the Beaufort Three-Century Project, which has been hosting programs since 2008 leading up to the city’s 300th birthday, featured presentations on four projects completed under the Three-Century Beaufort banner, including a series of etchings by students from USCB’s studio-art department depicting the city’s history.

“The Community Foundation is honored to be a part of the 300th anniversary of Beaufort’s charter and we have been impressed and proud of the many events and activities — such as this one today — that have been the hallmark of this project,” Spencer said. “As we continue to build toward January 2011, it is important that planning for the next century of progress for the area be considered while the momentum is building.”

The Beaufort Fourth Century advisory group will begin planning for the 400th celebration and establish funding sources for future events.

“The committee has been established not only to raise dollars for this effort, but also to develop a process for involving the community in determining their preferred future and priorities for moving the Beaufort area forward in a thoughtful and proactive way,” Spencer said.

Mayor Billy Keyserling said he was pleased with the tricentennial project and hoped the new endowment would focus on the people that defined the city’s first 300 years, and create a vision for the future.

“This has been totally volunteer driven,” Keyserling said of the tricentennial efforts. “I believe we can extract from the past to create a better future. What I’d like to see emerge from this is a vision from people of what they would like to see in another 100 years.”

It’s 2010:  A Big Year Ahead of Us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2010 Presents Unique Opportunity For Our Small City

As we move into a 2010, I want to wish you a Healthy, Happy, Safe and Prosperous New Year.

I also want to invite you to engage even more to help make our small city an even better place for us to live.

2009 was a year of many challenges that your City Council and staff squarely embraced.  We succeeded on many fronts and learned how to do more with less while, at the same time, enhancing Beaufort’s hometown spirit and special sense of community that I believe we lacked in the recent past. 

2010 presents many opportunities. We will continue to implement our new Comprehensive Plan which is different from past plans, principally because it includes benchmarks by which we will measure and report progress annually. (It is not like previous plans that are so overwhelming they sit of the shelves and collect dust until it is time to write a new plan.)

Furthermore, within a matter of weeks, City Council Members will replace ourselves on the City Redevelopment Commission with citizens who have business, entrepreneurial, finance and redevelopment experience to help grow Beaufort from the center outward avoiding “sprawl” without increasing the costs of services.  (We had an overwhelming interest from people who have come forward to help us by volunteering their time and energies.)

2010 also provides an opportunity for continued collaboration with the Town of Port Royal and Beaufort County focusing on Metropolitan Planning which will bring more comprehensive and better planning, more seamless growth, more efficiency in service delivery and more harmony among the respective communities north of the Broad River.

 2010 is also a critical time for learning and visioning collectively in the final year preceding our 300^th birthday on January 17, 2011. We must    understand our past as we move forward, to ensure our unique character while avoiding the temptation to become like anywhere else.

While the City’s recently enacted comprehensive plan focuses primarily on the “built environment” and the management of services to our residents, the Tricentennial Vision is about how people in Beaufort will live through the next Century and what we hope to leave to the next generation.

Two years ago, before I had plans to run for Mayor, I helped assemble a movement called the Beaufort Three-Century Project whose mission is to “tap our the community’s cultural memory through a three year process of exploration, studies and special events that honor the past to better chart the future, culminating with the tricentennial celebration on January 17, 2011.”

The end product will be a vision of what we want to leave for future generations through moving forward in the “Beaufort Way” while not trying to copy what others have done.

Under the able leadership of Deborah Johnson, our tireless coordinator, and with financial and in-kind contributions from too many to name and a significant financial boost from the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry, we have been at work for two years. The initiative will culminate with a tricentennial celebration on Jan. 17, 2011. 

Beaufort Three-Century Project’s final year, 2010, is our opportunity to collectively think about the future.  Please join the conversation!

There will be many opportunities for you to participate and I urge you, your family and your friends to do so, since extensive citizen participation will be required to ensure a collective vision for the future. 

As we progress through the year, planned opportunities will be publicized, but I would be remiss if I did not list a few

The Beaufort Three-Century – USCB Partnership will offer a repeat of the four part History of Beaufort, led buy renowned historians, Dr. Larry Rowland, Dr. Stephen Wise and Dr. John McCardell.  The series will launch on Friday evening January 15^th. There will be four consecutive lectures during the following weeks. The event last year was sold out, so I would suggest marking your calendars and ordering tickets even though tickets for remaining seats will be sold at the door.

The Beaufort Three-Century 2010 Annual Event, the celebration one year in advance of The Celebration, will also be at the Performing Arts Center on Sunday January 17^th.  This session, will display some of the accomplishments of our 2009 query and showcase some of our results including the USCB Art Department’s Three Century Art Project. 

January 20th, there will be the celebration of a new book about Beaufort presented by author Gloria Singleton.

Throughout the 2010 there will be a series of  “Look Back/Look Forward”  community visioning sessions,  covering topics like Business and Industry, Education,  the Natural and Built Environment, Communications,  Arts and Culture, Neighbors and Neighborhoods, Religion and Spiritual Life, Recreation and Government to name a few.

In September there will be an original play by Louise Trask, at the Arts Council’s celebrated venue called ArtWorks.  

In December, there will be a Wrap up Session, from which we plan the final vision to emerge. 

Please mark your calendars and reserve the time to share your thoughts, time and passion for our home town by visioning a Beaufort for the Future.    The tentative calendar of events is listed below and is posted on my website, www.mayorbilly.com,  along with blogs I entered over the past year.

A final word.

Beaufort Three-Century Project is completely independent from the City, County or any other Government and is funded exclusively by private dollars while our work is done through volunteers.  

If you would like to make a tax-deductible charitable contribution to underwrite some of the yet to be covered costs, please send what you are able to The Community Foundation of the Lowcountry either online or through the mail.  Please note that your gift should be “directed” to The Beaufort Three-Century Project.

 

http://www.cf-lowcountry.org/give/donate-online

Community Foundation of the Lowcountry
4 Northridge Drive, Suite A
Post Office Box 23019
Hilton Head Island
South Carolina 29925
843.681.9100 | 843.681.9101 Fax

 

Thanks again for your support, for volunteering and/or for helping us move forward through a charitable contribution in this Three Year Celebration of our past as we move into an even brighter future.

Again, Wishing You and Yours a Wonderful 2010.

Billy Keyserling

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beaufort Three-Century Project  Planned Activities &  Events   2010    Subject to change; please confirm dates/times/locations  by calling 489-1711     January 15, 2010 (Friday)                             7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Tricentennial Lecture Series:  Take 2 USCB/PAC   January 17, 2010 (Sunday)                                     4:00 – 6:00 p.m. B3C Anniversary Event:  Reception & Program USCB/PAC   January 22, 2010 (Friday)                             7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Tricentennial Lecture Series:  Take 2 USCB/PAC   January 29, 2010 (Friday)                             7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Tricentennial Lecture Series:  Take 2 USCB/PAC   January 30, 2010 (Saturday)              2:00 – 4:00 p.m.         Book Signing:  Beaufort Through the AGES by Gloria Singleton        Beaufort Three-Century Project Office   February 5, 2010 (Friday)                              7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Tricentennial Lecture Series:  Take 2 USCB   February 18, 2010 (Thursday)                      6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Ancestors to Future Generations: Look Back/Look Forward-Topic Forum:        Business & Industry Location TBD   March 18, 2010 (Thursday)                                    6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Ancestors to Future Generations: Look Back/Look Forward-Topic Forum:  Religion & Spiritual Life Location TBD   April 15, 2010 (Thursday)                              6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Ancestors to Future Generations: Look Back/Look Forward-Topic Forum:   Environment Location TBD   April 29, 2010 (Thursday) Beaufort’s Live Oak Tree Legacy and Community Forestry:          8:30/9:00 a.m. – 2:45 p.m.           Past, Present & Future Symposium                       Tours:  3:00 until… Technical College of the Lowcountry   May 20, 2010 (Thursday)                               6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Ancestors to Future Generations: Look Back/Look Forward-Topic Forum:  Arts Location TBD   June 17, 2010 (Thursday)                             6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Ancestors to Future Generations: Look Back/Look Forward-Topic Forum:  Health & Safety Location TBD   July 22, 2010 (Thursday)                               6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Ancestors to Future Generations: Look Back/Look Forward-Topic Forum: Recreation Location TBD   August/ 2nd week dateTBD Back-to-School showing of school films Beaufort High School Auditorium (tentative)   August 19, 2010 (Thursday)                                   6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Ancestors to Future Generations: Look Back/Look Forward-Topic Forum:  Education Location TBD   September 9, 2010 (Thursday)                     7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.   September 10, 2010 (Friday)                                  7:00 p.m -8:30 p.m. September 11, 2010 (Saturday)                            7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m. September 12, 2010 (Sunday)                      3:00 p.m -4:30 p.m. “Home” -An original play by Louise Trask Arts Council of Beaufort County-ArtWorks   September 16, 2010 (Thursday)                     6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Ancestors to Future Generations: Look Back/Look Forward-Topic Forum:  Communications Location TBD   October 21, 2010 (Thursday)                         6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Ancestors to Future Generations: Look Back/Look Forward-Topic Forum:   Neighbors & Neighborhoods Location TBD   November 18, 2010 (Thursday)                      6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Ancestors to Future Generations: Look Back/Look Forward-Topic Forum:        Government Location TBD   December 16, 2010 (Thursday)                      6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Ancestors to Future Generations: Look Back/Look Forward-Visioning Wrap Up Location TBD

Neighborhood Clean Up! Creating even more Partnerships that make  Beaufort a even better place for us to live.   As a result of cost savings — through outsourcing and better managing resources allocated for the City’s Public Works initiatives — the City established a Neighborhood Improvement Task Force which includes the Police and Fire Chiefs, the Public Works and Planning Departments and our outside vendors WastePro and The Greenery.  The initiative is coordinated by Mack Cook, the City’s Comptroller.    Since this program was initiated, the Task Force has removed more than 85 tons of yard debris, old furniture, bicycles and other “junk” that posed a public hazard and created visual blight and safety menaces to some neighborhoods. This is how it works:     A neighborhood association sets a date and coordinates with the City. The neighborhood circulates a notice to their residents through fliers and the Internet. On clean-up day, neighbors meet members on the Team who go street by street and help them load their waste onto the trucks so that it can be taken away. Neighbors, city employees and our partners all work together. Furthermore, City firefighters will be  on hand to help anyone in need of help carrying combustible and heavy debris to the curve, especially the elderly and those with disabilities. And they are also prepared to install, check and offer free smoke detectors and fire extinguishers when interact with the residents they serve.   Sometimes residents from adjoining neighborhood associations and groups like Historic Beaufort Foundation show up to help their neighboring associations with getting the day organized and supplying volunteers.   Nothing could be more gratifying to a Mayor, City Council and city staff than seeing this kind of collaboration to keep our hometown a wonderful and beautiful place to live.   There is no additional cost since this project is funded through your existing monthly garbage fee.    Within the next week, we will have covered all neighborhoods whose associations have organized the Saturday “events” and all would agree that — they have been very successful,  have reduced chances of fires, made neighborhoods safer . . .  and the city looks even better.   In the event your neighborhood does not have an organized association, the City will still work with you as long as you agree to enlist neighbors to work with you so that we can cover the neighborhood by engaging residents to work with you and The Neighborhood Improvement Team.   Please note below a flyer announcing the next Neighborhood Clean-up Day which the West End Neighborhood Association scheduled for Saturday January 16th.      When I was elected, I pledged transparency.  Accordingly, I email periodic newsletters to those who have requested, or have been suggested by others.  If you would like to be on the list, let me know at billyk@islc.net.

During the period when growth was taking place, and the result was a little more revenue each year, it was a common practice for many governments, businesses and even households, to simply add a little each year to “The Budget.”  

The City of Beaufort has turned the challenge of the recent national economic crisis into an opportunity to explore new ways of doing business rather than simply waiting for things to get better.

Doing more with less, increasing transparency and creating an even higher level of accountability have been three of the main goals among during my first year as we address your City’s principal challenges. The integration of all of these missions is the key to our recent achievements. 

In previous articles, I have spoken to the issues of “doing more with less” and initiatives to achieve public input and operational transparency.  Today I want to address changes the City has implemented to improve accountability and protect your financial assets.

Ethical approaches to governance should be a given! Citizens should be able to assume their elected and appointed public servants are honest, do their jobs well and do not make mistakes or purposely abuse the public trust.  Unfortunately this is not always the case.

I am saddened every day when I read news stories about abuse of public trust, squandering and/or inappropriately spending public dollars.  I believe such failures of leadership lead to today’s increasing mistrust of government and the growing negativity toward those who work for the public.   Accordingly, I believe it is important to share with you some of the important safeguards we have implemented to better organize city finances, protect your assets, and minimize risk.

I start with the assumption that every dollar the City collects belongs to the citizens and is put in our trust to be invested in providing needed and valuable services to our citizens. It is our responsibility to manage it and spend it wisely, to keep track of it in an accurate and timely fashion, and to protect it from human error or bad judgment.

Improved and Better Organized Financial Reporting

All governments provide some sort of annual financial reporting to its citizens.  Typically, annual financial data and accounting processes used by the entity are reviewed by an outside third party (auditor), generating a document (“The Audit”) that includes financial data in the form of reports, graphs, balance sheets, and budget comparisons.

To assure better accountability, the City of Beaufort has adopted an audit process that exceeds these minimum “requirements.”  We moved to a higher accounting standard by adopting The Certified Annual Financial Report (CAFR), which is reviewed not only by outside auditors, but also by a panel of peers in government finance (Government Finance Officers Association) across the country who “grade” or certify the report.  CAFR is the nationally accepted “gold standard” of government accounting.

By organizing our financial data to a CAFR-required higher level of accounting standards, which includes management explanations, statistics about expenses and income over time and analysis and projections into the future, our staff can better manage and oversee accounts and know our financial position on a daily basis.  How much cash is in the bank, are we doing the best we can with available resources, how investments are performing and what funds will be necessary to make ends meet when bills and payroll come due?

This is the kind of knowledge that has kept the City of Beaufort ahead of the curve during the recent national financial crisis and led us to decisions throughout last fiscal year ensuring we stayed on target, did not spend more than we would collect and reorganized services to maintain them at an even higher level for less cost. Put more simply, the additional data derived from CAFR allowed us to see where we were headed and pointed out ways to make cuts in time to avoid short falls.

I am proud to say that the City has been through the CAFR process two years and received top honors each year; our third CAFR is currently under final review by the Government Finance Officers Association.

The Financial Dashboard: Open to the Public

Another immediate benefit of achieving CAFR, is that the City’s financial data are organized so simply and forthrightly that staff are now able to post an easy to understand monthly “Financial Dashboard” on the City’s website. This allows any citizen to see, from month to month, the status of our financials, where we are at that point in time compared to budget projections and where your money is being spent.  One can find the Financial Dashboard under the Finance Department link at www.cityofbeaufort.org.

Management Assurance Program: A Measure toward Prevention

Recently, we decided to implement an innovative program to overlay our CAFR-based financial management practices with even stronger analysis and greater transparency so that we maintain self-scrutiny and further assure the public that we are managing your assets effectively and efficiently.

Through our Management Assurance Program a third party looks very deeply into the city’s financial records on an ongoing basis somewhat akin to a continuous internal audit.  Analysts search for irregularities, uncover possible posting errors, detect potential misuse of public dollars and address issues before they become unmanageable.  While we have not found any irregularities in accounting or money management, this is a proactive measure to ensure we do not fall victim to the challenges some other governments and businesses have faced in recent years.

I am very proud to see our financial staff reaching into the future for new and better management tools and proven methods to stay on top of your assets in a preventive stature.

Finally, I must acknowledge that there is no doubt that these advanced financial controls, and tighter management of assets, adopted by this administration are largely responsible for the City not being caught unprepared for the financial crisis that has led other governments into bankruptcy and public scandal.

Please feel free to contact me with questions about this or any other City matter by emailing me at billyk@islc.net.

Wishing you the best of a safe and happy holiday season!

Billy Keyserling