Mayor's Message - June 2024
Summer of 2024 is here! There are still times coming over the Connector or driving around our island I’m reminded how blessed we are to live on this beautiful island. What a great place to live, work and play.
Community engagement is key to any good, well-functioning municipality. Over the past 2 ½ years the city has been focused on enhancing the number of opportunities for residents to get involved, connect with the city and provide input on various topics. Some examples include the accommodations tax taskforce; the short term rental listening sessions; the community enrichment taskforce; an open forum with new marina operator; public forums to gather feedback on the Wild Dunes zoning ordinances; an open forum with the US Army Corps of Engineers to share details regarding the upcoming beneficial use beach project at Breach Inlet; an open forum to discuss the Wild Dunes shoal management beach project, upcoming community listening sessions to gather feedback about livability and tourism management; surveys to seek feedback on the different potential configurations for the IOP Connector, the implementation of Sunnie - the AI powered web and text chat platform where folks can receive alerts, and submit service requests on their phones, and ongoing improvements to the city website. I have also met a lot of you during the Coffees with the Mayor events held on the last Friday of every month in different locations around the island and during my weekly scheduled mayor’s office hours. Additionally, we have an ad hoc volunteer committee tasked with developing recommendations regarding beach preservation policies and funding. All of these opportunities have been valuable and instrumental for residents, business owners and the community to provide ideas and suggestions for new programs, initiatives, and priorities for Council to consider. Thank you for taking the time to provide your input. We will continue to look for opportunities that allow for increased community engagement.
Reminder about some upcoming events:
June 1st – Sand Sculpting Contest – 9:00 a.m. at Front Beach.
June 5th – Community Listening Session – 5:30 p.m. – 630 p.m. at the Rec Center. The City of Isle of Palms, in collaboration with Explore Charleston, the College of Charleston, and The McNair Group, is pursuing the development of a Community Enrichment Plan (CEP) using residents’ voices as the main driver of the process. Attendees will be able to provide feedback on issues relating to quality of life and tourism.
June 28th – Coffee with the Mayor – 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. at The Outpost at the IOP Marina. Whether you’re a resident, business owner or visitor on Isle of Palms, do you have questions about how things work in our city’s government? Want to get an update on current projects? Would you like to get involved in a volunteer role for our city? Interested in providing some constructive feedback?
Updated and additional information can be found at iop.net.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve! See you around the island.
Phillip Pounds, Mayor IOP
843-252-5359
ppounds@iop.net