The race for Mayor of Folly Beach
By Lauren Dean
If it’s true that Folly Beach residents savor contentious elections, this year’s Mayoral race will not disappoint them. Current Mayor Carl Beckmann faces challenges from incumbent City Council members Eddie Ellis and Tim Goodwin in the Folly Beach elections on April 6.
Carl Beckmann
Beckmann contends that personal issues that have interfered with Council’s functioning this past year have likely spurred interest in both the mayoral race and the elections for City Council.
A full-time resident of Folly Beach since 1992, Beckmann served a term on the Planning Commission and was well-known around town. Prior to the 2006 Folly Beach elections, Beckmann said a group of residents approached him and convinced him to run for mayor. When asked if the people who put him in office would keep him in office this go-round, Beckmann admitted that many of his previous supporters probably would not vote for him this year.
“I was not beholden to any group,” Beckmann said. “I did what I thought was best for the beach, and not everybody was happy with that. They don’t have all the answers because they don’t have all the information. I made my decisions taking into account all the information.”
Beckmann, who previously promoted himself as a one-time Mayor, wants to continue in the position in order to finish the projects he’s been working on for the past four years. “There’s a steep learning curve for a new mayor,” Beckmann said, “and we have important work we need to complete.”
Prominent among these projects are finalization of the Zoning and Land Development ordinance, the replacement of the Folly River Bridge, and the relocation of existing sewerage lines currently attached to the old bridge, but required by current codes to be buried underground, according to Beckmann.
If he is reelected, Beckmann said he will continue to promote policies that maintain the flavor and character of Folly Beach and work to improve public services.
As for his opponents in the Mayoral race, Beckmann said they are running for the job because they think they can do a better job than he has done, but he thinks they might be surprised at how difficult the job really is. He said he brings the experience the job requires.
Eddie Ellis
Eddie Ellis has lived in Folly Beach since 1992. His first run for a Council seat in 2002 was not successful, but Ellis said positive comments from his supporters convinced him to get more involved in local politics and research the big issues in the community.
“I attended every Council meeting for two years,” Ellis said, and in 2003 he was appointed to the Board of Zoning Appeals. When he ran for Council again in 2004, he was elected, and in 2008 he received more votes than any other candidate for Council – 72% of the votes according to Ellis.
Ellis said he is running because very little has been accomplished during the past couple of years in which Council members have been at odds with the Mayor’s office. “Improve these relationships, Ellis said, “and things will start moving again.”
Another goal is to alter the financial course the City is on by limiting government growth and decreasing unnecessary spending. As an example, Ellis cited the zoning and land use re-write performed by Clarion, which he called a “waste of money.” He said the document had changed significantly since Clarion submitted it to the City, due primarily to the work of the Planning Commission, and asked why Planning couldn’t have just written it themselves.
“Our Planning Commission is a great group of people who know Folly Beach much better than consultants do,” he said. “And they’re free.”
The third area of concern to Ellis is how to balance quality of life issues for residents with the interests of the business community. He said he would encourage complimentary businesses that would create a thriving, viable downtown business district, but limit seasonal vendors who compete with year-round business interests.
Ellis said local business owners are opposed to vendors having items such as boogie boards for rent that could be purchased from a store on Center Street, and he quoted a local merchant as having told him, “I don’t want them (rentals)making a dime on something I have available in my store.”
Ellis said he is running because he can achieve his goals more effectively as Mayor. He admits to having his critics, but said people know he is honest and does his homework. “Whatever I say is straight from the hip,” he said.
Tim Goodwin
The day Tim Goodwin moved to the island in 1998, Folly Beach was celebrating its 25th anniversary as a City. When he came across the bridge and saw all the traffic, Goodwin told friends who were helping him move, “Let’s unload the truck and go downtown and enjoy the party. No way I’m dealing with that traffic today.”
Twelve years later, we’ve got traffic problems that could not even be imagined back then and Goodwin is still here enjoying the party. He and his wife became involved in various community events and fundraisers, and people started talking to him about running for public office. “I’m not a politician,” he told them, but nonetheless Goodwin ran for the vacant Council seat created by the death of Councilman Harvey Wittschen in 2002. He was re-elected in 2004 and 2008.
“Ten years ago, I described myself as a ‘concerned citizen’ – not a ‘politician’ – and that’s the way I still feel, but I see our City headed in the wrong direction,” Goodwin said. “Residents feel like they don’t know what’s going on in the City and that people are making their decisions for them.”
One of Goodwin’s top priorities is to utilize information technology so Folly Beach residents are fully informed about meetings and issues and have the opportunity to make information-based decisions. “You’ll always have different opinions,” he said, “but common ground is better reached when everyone has access to the same information.”
Governments, like people, prosper when they live within their means. Because such a large percentage of Folly revenues are derived from the tourist industry, money is set aside to pay for services in the event of another disaster like Hugo that could shut our economy down.
Goodwin decries the “current mentality” of taking money out of the reserve fund when expenditures on projects cost more than expected, and cites the present administration’s failure to do sufficient research on the front end regarding the “real cost” of projects as an example of poor use of taxpayer money.
Goodwin spent 28 years as a safety and occupational health manager at DuPont and said his experience managing departmental budgets has given him the insight to oversee a rapidly increasing City budget and his 32 years as a state-registered EMT and fire instructor helps him understand the increasing demands on the Department of Public Safety.
Thomas Jefferson warned us that “People get the government they deserve.” Past Folly Beach elections have been hotly contested – residents talk about little else for two months – and then very few people actually show up to vote. In order to vote in the Folly Beach election this year, you must register to vote by March 6. Voter registration forms are available at City Hall or the Folly Beach Branch Library.
