Consultant to promote access across Johns Island
KIAWAH ISLAND -- Eight months after Charleston County Council rejected
building a cross-island road on Johns Island, interests on Kiawah and
Seabrook islands have hired a consultant to push for a change in that vote.
Maurice Washington, a former Charleston City Council member and a South
Carolina State University board member, was hired for $100,000 for five
months. His task is to promote what supporters call the Sea Islands
Greenway, or an alternative improved road access across the largely rural
island to and from the affluent resort beach islands.
The proposed road has been stymied by opposition from Johns Island
residents.
Washington described his job as community outreach and compared it to
consultants who worked with East Side residents on locating the footprint
for the Ravenel Bridge in Charleston.
"I don't know that I've been hired to 'talk up' the greenway. There are
several proposals including the greenway, but all of them would have some
impacts on the quality of life for residents and for attracting growth,"
Washington said.
He said his job is "to bring the community together to ensure the various,
diverse voices are heard. Because there's a disagreement doesn't mean people
shouldn't be talking."
Kiawah Town Councilman Greg Vanderwerker said his understanding is that
Washington was hired partly to work with the community and partly to "get
the (County) Council to revisit the issue." The goal is to move the project
to a higher funding eligibility position on the Charleston Area
Transportation Study list, he said.
Asked whether the islands' push is to resume the project or other road
improvement alternatives, Vanderwerker said, "It depends on who you talk to,
what answer you get on that."
Vanderwerker voted against the town contributing $25,000 to pay Washington;
council voted 3-2 to approve the funds. He said he was concerned with not
having seen
Washington's contract and whether the town could pay for a consultant hired
primarily by the Kiawah Island Community Association, a property owners
group.
The town of Seabrook Island and its property owners group also are
contributing to the hiring. Seabrook Island Councilman Sam Reed said he
didn't like the idea of paying a consultant to do work he thought elected
officials should do, but voted in favor of the town's $10,000 contribution
because he considers Washington a "last gasp" in a years-long effort Reed
has made to see a better road built.
"I think whatever is done has to be done in the best interests of the people
of Johns Island," he said.
Kiawah Councilman Al Burnaford, who proposed the town pay $40,000 to hire
Washington, did not return calls seeking comment. Mayor Steve Orban and
Kelly Bragg, Kiawah community association board chairwoman, also did not
return calls from the newspaper.
Joe Bunting, association chief operating officer, said Washington is
advising the association on community outreach "to facilitate open and fair
discussion of the greenway." But he said the move isn't only about the road.
"I would hate for this whole discussion of traffic safety to be lost,"
Bunting said. "Traffic safety is a much bigger issue than what I personally
want or what Kiawah wants. Kiawah certainly wants to be a good neighbor, not
only to Johns, Island but also throughout the county."
Johns Islanders will be hard to persuade.
"This is the third black lobbyist they have hired. None of them have any
relationship to the island," said Bill Saunders, a lifelong resident and
member of the Johns Island Improvement Committee. "To me, (the Kiawah and
Seabrook interests) have no respect for the people of Johns Island."
"It's about (lobbying) County Council. How many times can the same issue be
voted on by County Council?" he said. "We're totally against that road in
any form. We want the roads on Johns Island fixed."
Chris Cannon, chairman of the Johns Island Council, said, "Maurice
Washington is not going to sway too many people, as far as I'm concerned."
Kate Parks of the Coastal Conservation League, an environmental group that
has promoted local road improvements rather than new roads for Johns Island,
said those improvements should be the first priority, and it would be better
for the resort islands' interests to work with the community.
The cross-island road "is a road that goes across Johns Island that's being
promoted by Kiawah and Seabrook interests rather than Johns Islanders," she
said. "It's distorting the conversation and detracting from the real needs."
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