Mayor's Message - November 8, 2023

Hello! Another election day has come and gone. Now my greatest hope is we can stop the divisive rhetoric and get back to being neighbors and appreciate the paradise we get to call home!

Regardless of which side of the vote you were on or if all your candidates won or not, it’s now time to come together and determine the best solutions for our community. It’s very sad to me that it appears we have lost the art of agreeing to disagree and still be able to maintain relationships. How did this happen? Going forward, I’m sure there will be other issues we won’t see eye to eye on, but we should make every effort to discuss constructively, focus on the issue and avoid verbally attacking each other. We’ve ordered a banner from the Municipal Association of South Carolina for Council Chambers that has in big, bold letters – Civility, Respect, Solutions. In light of that, I will hold another retreat with the new Council in January to get us started on the right foot and set the tone and expectations as we start doing work on behalf of our residents.

It's quite fitting that World Kindness Week is November 13-19 this year. What started as a one-day event in 1997 has expanded into a full week to promote kindness in society. When I ran for mayor I used a tagline – contagiously kind – for which I have taken some grief about. Which is obviously quite telling of the need for more kindness in our community. The Random Act of kindness Foundation offers the following ideas to promote kindness and I would encourage you to consider these and others as you go about your day:

  • Send an uplifting text to a family member or friend, or give them a call to catch up
  • Treat someone – a friend or a stranger to a cup of coffee
  • Be a friendly driver: let that other driver merge into traffic with a wave and a smile

Now that the election is over, let’s turn the page and get focused on solutions and get back to treating each other with respect and enjoying our neighbors and the island we call home!

Thank you for the opportunity to serve! See you around the island.

Phillip Pounds, Mayor IOP
843-252-5359
ppounds@iop.net

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