(L-R) Hooser, Smith, Streetman (Credit: Joshua Uys)
In a forum hosted at the Isle of Palms Exchange Club, three city council candidates—Josh Hooser, Susan Hill Smith, and Rusty Streetman—addressed key issues facing the community ahead of a special election following the resignation of former City Councilwoman Elizabeth Campsen. The event, hosted by Island Eye News, was moderated by the paper’s publisher, Lynn Pierotti.
Josh Hooser is running on a “Putting Isle of Palms First” platform.
“We need to explore ways to raise funds first from those who profit off of the island but are not residents,” he said, expressing strong support for residents’ rights to protect their property with sea walls, better manage short-term rentals, and control growth.
“We’ve got to have comprehensive short-term rental reform,” he said. “There are a lot of people who are making money off the dirt on this island. I want my kids to grow up with other kids next door.”
Susan Hill Smith, who served on the council from 2018 to 2021, focused her campaign on environmental issues. She leads the Isle of Palms cleanup crew, which has partnered with the South Carolina Aquarium to collect more than 215,000 litter items since 2018. She also proposed creating a full-time city position dedicated to natural resources and resiliency efforts - including oversight for proactive beach preservation initiatives, accelerating drainage projects and pursuing related grant funding so the position would more than pay for itself.
Despite voting against the short-term-rental cap referendum question because of the details, Smith is not entirely against revisiting the issue later.
“Apart from the nuisance of a short-term rental, it’s not just the noise; it’s the potential loss of neighbors and community as short-term rentals creep down the street where they didn’t exist before.”
She felt that last year’s referendum was too strict, preferring a higher cap that would exempt condos and hopefully never be reached.
Rusty Streetman, a longtime Isle of Palms resident and former city council member from 2020 to 2023, positioned himself as a pragmatic candidate focused on balancing residents’ quality of life with the economic interests of investors, businesses, and the tourism industry.
Streetman took a hard stance against a short-term rental reform, saying, “Attempts to instill any type of cap, when not needed, would violate individual property rights and adversely affect property values.”
He attributed the decline in real estate values on Folly Beach to their recent cap on short-term rentals, warning of similar effects on the Isle of Palms.
“Short-term rentals are part of the economic lifeblood of this community,” he said. “Restrict them, and you risk higher property taxes.”
Instead, Streetman advocated stricter enforcement of existing nuisance ordinances to address livability issues.
Beach erosion emerged as a significant concern for all three candidates, who each presented distinct strategies for addressing this critical issue affecting the island’s future.
Smith opposed the use of sea walls and hardened structures, cautioning that these solutions often lead to unintended erosion elsewhere, disrupting the island’s coastal ecosystem. She advocated for long-term strategies, focusing on rising sea levels and the need for proactive beach renourishment projects. She cited projections estimating a one-foot rise in sea levels by 2050, which could exacerbate erosion. To combat this, Smith emphasized the importance of securing state and federal funding for renourishment initiatives. She also proposed creating a full-time city position dedicated to obtaining natural resources and resilience grants, suggesting that the role would pay for itself by securing funds to protect the shoreline.
Smith further highlighted the success of the Wild Dunes community, which has established a beach renourishment fund through a transaction fee on real estate. This model has allowed Wild Dunes to accumulate millions of dollars for future beach projects. She proposed that Isle of Palms explore a similar funding mechanism, though she acknowledged that the town would need state approval, as Wild Dunes, a private entity, has more flexibility in implementing such measures.
In contrast, Hooser strongly advocated for homeowners’ rights to build sea walls and take direct action to protect their properties. He described the situation as urgent, claiming that some island homes are “literally falling into the water.” Hooser underscored the importance of the beaches not just for local tourism but also for the overall quality of life on the island. He pushed for local funding solutions rather than relying on federal grants, which he argued come with time-consuming studies and bureaucratic hurdles. Hooser supported a public-private partnership similar to Wild Dunes’, where beachfront homeowners could contribute to a local fund to maintain and protect the shoreline. He warned that failing to act could increase home insurance premiums and damage the island’s reputation, particularly affecting short-term rentals and tourism.
Streetman acknowledged the seriousness of beach erosion but maintained that any solutions must comply with state laws and coastal management guidelines, particularly the 1988 Beachfront Management Act. He cautioned against illegal sea walls or other structures that could harm the natural shoreline. Streetman supported beach renourishment but emphasized the importance of adhering to existing regulations and securing state and federal funds where appropriate. He proposed allowing homeowners to bury sea walls landward of the critical line and cover them with vegetation, as long as they didn’t negatively impact neighboring properties. “I’m fine with someone protecting their foundation,” he said, “but I’m not in favor of putting up a wall that affects your neighbor’s property, causing erosion up and down.”
