Elections are an opportunity for public discussion about consequential issues. The upcoming mayoral elections in the Town of Port Royal and the City of Beaufort are no exception.
I talk frequently with owners and operators of businesses large and small from every sector and every jurisdiction across our community. Based on those conversations, here are five issues business-minded voters should prioritize as they talk with candidates and make decisions at the ballot box.
1) Housing – housing is in short supply in the Beaufort region, particularly workforce and affordable housing. As long as demand for housing exceeds supply, prices will continue to rise, and the dream of home ownership will slip further away for more working families. Acknowledging the problem is not enough. We need elected leaders to prioritize housing. That includes making permits for “missing middle” housing (duplexes and townhouses) as predictable as permits for single family homes. It also means seriously weighing the impact on housing costs of other policies like design standards and tree protection ordinances.
If we want to be a community where working families thrive, we must support the construction of homes they can afford.
2) Jobs – employers in every sector face serious workforce challenges. It may seem counterintuitive, but a lack of job diversity hurts our workforce. More jobs in higher wage sectors like manufacturing, logistics, and technology, will keep more young people and separating service members in the region. Retaining more working age families means a larger overall workforce, which will help every employer find the people they need. We need elected officials to maintain emphasis on economic development and diversification.
If we want a more robust workforce, we must keep our focus on economic development and economic diversification.
3) Downtowns – the vibrancy of our region’s downtowns enhances everyone’s quality of life and shapes our local identity. Nationwide, many downtown districts struggle to sustain themselves. We are fortunate that businesses want to locate and make generational investments in both downtown Beaufort and downtown Port Royal. Local governments have the difficult task of maintaining design standards and running an appropriate public input process for new development without driving away prospective investors. We need to hear from elected leaders how they will strike that balance. We won’t have future vibrancy in our downtowns without continued investment in our downtowns.
If we want to continue being a community of choice for residents and visitors, we need to support continued business investment in our region’s downtowns.
4) Infrastructure – to be a resilient community, we need quality infrastructure scaled for predictable future needs. Transportation (roads and bridges) and water (drinking, waste, and stormwater) are our most pressing infrastructure concerns. We should plan, fund, and build infrastructure with the assumption of continued, steady population growth for the foreseeable future. That seems obvious, but some of the recommendations from the recent Reimagine Ribaut process seem to do the opposite. We need elected officials to set the tone and the expectations for infrastructure planning that will continue to meet community needs in a generation. We also need them to prioritize infrastructure funding. Anyone who says, “if we don’t build, they won’t come” should take a hard look at the realities experienced by our neighbors just up the coast.
If we want to be a resilient and livable community in the future, we must plan, fund, and build quality infrastructure now.
5) Reset and Refocus – there have been a lot of recent turnovers in prominent positions in our community. The turbulence erodes public trust, but it also creates an opportunity for leaders to reset relationships and refocus on shared priorities. All citizens are better served when local governments can set aside past disagreements and collaborate on big picture concerns like those noted above.
If we want to make progress on big priorities, we must collaborate and work together as a region.
Author: Ian Scott is president and CEO of the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce. Established in 1892, the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan, business advocacy organization dedicated to advancing economic prosperity and supporting local businesses in the Beaufort-Port Royal Region.