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About iopobserver

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Political Activism – 102

. Livability, Uncategorized .

I am hearing a lot of chatter on the island about things people are not happy about.  Coyotes.  Street signs.  The new Parking Plan.  Lots of phone calls, emails and Facebook postings.

Only city council can pass ordinances that will effect change.  Period, end of story.

So, you basically have 2 options:

  1. Run for city council, propose an ordinance, and get 5 of 9 councilmembers to vote for it.
  2. Organize a sizable group of people to show up at council meetings and speak directly to council about their concerns.  Alternately, you can organize a petition drive.

Any, and everything else, while it may make you feel better, is not going to bring about change.

Here is what doesn’t work:

  1. Posting a bunch of stuff on Facebook.
  2. Sending out emails to all your friends.
  3. Posting stuff on the website Nextdoor.
  4. Calling an old IOPNA member to see if the IOPNA will lead the charge.  (For the record, the IOPNA has been dead for years – killed off by apathy.)

What do all the above methods that don’t work have in common?  They don’t require much, if any, effort.  You can use these tools to organize a petition drive or to get a group of people to speak before council, but anything else is wishful thinking.

You see, to change something takes effort.  And what most people are doing is putting their concerns out there and hoping someone else will run with the ball while they get back to watching some television show.

Again I repeat the words of Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert:  Passion is bullshit.  What matters is personal energy.

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No Way Because No Means

. City Council, Ward's World . ,

The Ways and Means committee met on Jan 19 and being the first meeting of the year, a chairman needed to be selected.  As in previous years, Jimmy Ward wanted to be chairman.

He and his supporters feel that because he is a CPA he will have a better understanding of the city’s finances and, just importantly, find ways to slash “out of control spending.”  Remember, the city already has an excellent CPA on payroll, Debbie Suggs, and her work is stellar.

Jimmy was put into nomination by a passionate speech from Sandy “Fiscal” Ferencz.  Alas, only she, Jimmy and JimDaddy Carrol voted for him to be chairman.  Mayor Dick Cronin was once again elected to the chairman’s seat and newbie Ted Kinghorn was elected as vice chairman.

Jimmy Ward and his army of 2 seem to feel that if he is chairman he would have the power to cut out all the profligate spending.  First of all, there is not that much of it (and if you think there is, please go on record and point it out) and second, he is only 1 vote.

Of interest, over the past 4 years our city council has had 5 fiscal conservatives who wanted to cut spending.  Buckhannon, Carroll, Ferencz, Loftus and Ward.  Yep, that’s a majority!  They could have worked together and cut out all the waste.  They could have “cut to the bone, baby!”

So, what actually happened?  The budget went up each year!

One final point.  To get things done in a representative democracy, you have to work with people who may not totally agree with you.  You can disagree, but you can’t be disagreeable.  (A perfect example of this on the national stage right now is Ted Cruz.)  Jimmy PPO Ward is just not pleasant to work with according to other council members.  Even when he had a good idea, others are less likely to listen.

So, a new year, some new council members, and the same result.  But that is fine because Mayor Dick Cronin has done an excellent job of leading the committee, and despite some strange misperceptions out there, he has not sneakingly shoveled boatloads of money into Wild Dunes!

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IOP Parking Garage

. Parking, Uncategorized .

The Post and Courier reported this week that IOP has been approached by an out of state company interested in possibly building a parking garage for beach visitors.

Any mention of a parking garage in the past has been dismissed in a nanosecond by virtually every resident of the IOP.

But think about this for 2 nanoseconds:  Would you be in favor of such a building if it eliminated all other daytripper parking on the island?

I don’t know if that is feasible, lawful, whatever.  But if it could be done, well, what would you think then?

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Sandy “Fiscal” Ferencz

. Fiscal Issues, Uncategorized .

This year the city gave all full time employees a $700 bonus.  Full time is defined as a city employee who works at least 30 hours a week.

The Public Works Department uses men from a staffing agency to augment their full time employees.  These 5 mean are employed by the staffing agency and not the city of IOP.

Ms. Ferencz wanted to give each of them $700 as well.

The IOP Observer is not taking sides on this issue, rather just reporting what it has heard as you can be sure this won’t be in any minutes…if and when they ever get published.

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The Isle of Atheists?

. Uncategorized

What do you notice as you drive or walk around the island every Christmas?  No snow?  Of course.  But also no Christmas lights, or at least not very many of them.

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Why are there so few houses with lights on them?

Is the IOP full of atheists?  Muslims?  Jews?  No wait, Zoroastrians?

Of course not.  The reason there are so few lights is that no one lives here.  The homes on the IOP are 1/3 owner occupied.  An empty house is not going to decorate itself.

Which brings me to my question.  If there are so few of us living here, why can’t we get the kind of city we want to live in?

Why won’t our councilmembers do something about the congestion on Palm Blvd?  (Which, by the way, is only going to get worse?)

Why does council take care of the rich investors on Ocean Blvd but not the rest of us?

Why do we have to pay to launch our boats from a ramp we bought and own?

Why aren’t we guaranteed a parking spot at the marina that we bought and own?

Why can’t we have a nicer business district that appears to this writer to be mainly focused on maximizing parking?

I could go on, but this is Christmas time.  If you have anything you would like to add to the list, hit the reply button.

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Just What is Morgan Creek Grill?

. Fiscal Issues, Uncategorized .

Is it a restaurant?  Is it a bar?  Is it a live music venue?  Is it all three?

What does its lease with the city say it is?

Below are some pics of the new bandstand completed several months ago.

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The bandstand is basically a plywood box with some insulation on the inside.  Now, I am not a contractor, but for the life of me I can’t see how this cost $20k!  But that is none of my business.

It appears to have mitigated the noise which is great.  My question is this:  Does MCG’s lease with the city include provisions for running an outdoor live entertainment venue?  I mean, this is not really part of the business of running a restaurant.

I applaud MCG for being an aggressive business, that is what this country is all about.  They clearly did this to make more money.  I’m all for it.  But if this is not in the original contract with the city, that contract needs to be modified so that the city is getting an appropriate piece of the pie.

People who have never seen these contracts will say, “Well, as the leasee makes more money, the city gets percentage, so the city makes more money, too.”

Technically this is true.  But from the time I was on city council 4 years ago, I can tell you the city gets a pittance of the increased revenue.  If you don’t believe me, go to City Hall and ask to see the contract.  You have a right to see it and they will give you a copy.

You will be shocked.

There is nothing more lucrative than government contracting…at any level of government.

iopobserver's avatar

IOP Parking Expo

. Parking, Uncategorized .

IMG_0761.JPG

IOP held a very informative expo at the Rec Center on Dec 3.  City administration was present to answer questions as was our city attorney.  Most of the city councilmembers were there and available for chatting.  A shout out to Councilmember Bettelli who backed parking on the “sacred” Ocean Blvd.

Look at the map below:

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Streets in red are for beach parking by anyone.  Streets in green require a residential permit to park in the easement.

But, look closely.  There are some streets that are white.  For example, a good long stretch of Waterway leading up to the marina.  Who can park there?

Anyone!

The IOP Marina, bought and paid for by the citizens of IOP needs to make sure they have tons of parking to service all those people who do not live here.

Not only does a property we bought and own charge us to launch our boats, they actively encourage off island residents to come here and generate more traffic.

It just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.  How about you?

iopobserver's avatar

IOP Parking Plan Unveiling

. Parking, Uncategorized .

The city will unveil the new parking plan on Thursday, Dec 3 at 5:30 pm at the Rec Center.

Will questions from the audience be taken and answered?

If yes, will someone ask why and when Ocean Blvd had sacred status bestowed on it?

If there is only parking permitted on the cross streets to Ocean Blvd, why can’t the same thing be done on Palm Blvd?  A simple question that has never been answered.

iopobserver's avatar

Wall Street Journal – Oct 2

. Livability .

The following was a full page article in the WSJ on Oct 2.

Sullivan’s Island: The Sleepy South Carolina Enclave with Big-Ticket Real Estate

The explosive growth of Charleston, S.C., has heated up the real-estate market on nearby Sullivan’s Island, a laid-back beach town where the median sale price is $1.4 million

The locals nicknamed Sullivan’s Island, a quaint 2.5-square-mile enclave off the coast of South Carolina, “Mayberry by the Sea.” But if Sheriff Andy Taylor were around today, he might have trouble paying $1.4 million—the island’s median sale price—for a home here.

This historic beach town—population 1,790—has long been a well-kept secret among South Carolinians. But with the explosive growth of nearby Charleston, where Boeing Co. is expanding its 265-acre campus and Volvo is set to open its first U.S. plant in 2018, word of Sullivan’s Island’s charms is spreading. Now buyers from New York, California and even London are staking their claim on the island, just a 15-minute drive from Charleston.

“We’re going to sell more houses on Sullivan’s Island in 2015 than we ever have in history,” said Everett Presson, a real-estate agent who has practiced on the island for 37 years. At the market’s peak in 2005, 45 of the island’s 900 homes were sold. In 2015, 39 home sales have closed through August. With demand high and only 41 homes on the market, the median sales price has increased by 15% since 2014 to $1.4 million, according to data from Charleston Trident MLS.

Though summer is Sullivan’s Island’s busiest season, 80% of its residents live there full-time, according to Mr. Presson.

After traveling from Knoxville, Tenn., to the island for a wedding in 2003, Cortney and Baker Bishop fell in love with the “easy, breezy, preppy-cool lifestyle” of Sullivan’s, Mrs. Bishop, a 42-year-old interior designer said. They set their sights on a circa-1890 traditional low-country home where she had attended a cocktail party.
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They purchased it a year later for $1.8 million. The house includes five bedrooms, five baths, a pool, and is two blocks from the beach, two blocks from the island’s marsh front and two blocks from a new oceanfront elementary school. “This house is the best decision I’ve made in my entire life, for my whole family,” said Mrs. Bishop, whose two young children attend the new school. “I mean, what place in the United States can you still just take off on your bike without your parents in the third grade?”

Steve Hamontree, a former medical executive, and his wife, Lynne, an artist, both in their late 50s, are happy to have settled in a place that doesn’t feel like a retirement community. “There are families with young kids and there are single people who aren’t yet married,” said Mr. Hamontree. “This variety in the people makes for a real sense of community.”

With their two children grown and out of the house, they’ve listed the 5,000-square-foot home they purchased for $2.5 million in 2006 with the hopes of building something smaller elsewhere on the island. The four-bedroom, 4½-bath home includes a pool, an expansive third-story screened-in porch, and a light-filled third-floor artist’s studio. The rooftop deck has 360-degree views of the island and its surrounding waterways. They’re asking $2.5 million for the property.

The island’s allure is due, in large part, to a handful of ordinances passed over the past 30 years that have blocked the development of high-rise condos and the kind of spring break-style debauchery that has plagued other East Coast beach towns. “We’ve outlawed weekly rentals, so you don’t have a bunch of people partying in the house next to you,” said Mr. Presson, who served on the town council from 2005 to 2009. You can’t construct a building over 38 feet tall, or a home over 5,600 square feet, even if you bought 10 contiguous lots.

For Wes Fuller, 41, the executive managing director of investments for Greystar, a Charleston-based international real-estate firm, his wife Betsy and their three young kids, easy access to the beach and the marsh was a big factor in their decision to buy on Sullivan’s Island in 2012. “Whether you want to go surfing, or paddle boarding, or fishing, or whether you just want to go swimming in the ocean, you have all of those options on Sullivan’s,” said Mr. Fuller.

They’re selling their newly built 3,700-square-foot, five-bedroom, 4½-bathroom house for $2.475 million after a recent relocation to London for Mr. Fuller’s job. They purchased a larger, 0.90-acre marsh-front lot earlier this year for $1.35 million, where they plan to build a bigger home upon their return to the U.S. in 2016.

“People here are laid back,” said Mr. Fuller. “They don’t ask you about your work. They don’t care what you do for a living. You really do feel like you’re always on vacation.”

No need to fear faithful reader.  The WSJ will never publish an article like this for the Isle of Palms and for reasons unknown to this editor this makes many on the IOP quite happy.