Beaufort City Council: McFee, Scallate moving ahead after winning in 5-person race

Long-time incumbent Mike McFee and newcomer Josh Scallate, a Lady’s Island-St. Helena firefighter, have won the five-person battle for two seats on the Beaufort City Council, based on unofficial results in Tuesday’s election.

Just 23 votes separated Scallate and third-place finisher Josh Gibson.

The two candidates with the most votes win the two seats, which are currently held by McFee and Phil Cromer, who was not in the race.

With 100% of the city’s precincts reporting late Tuesday, here’s the results, according to scvotes.org:

▪ McFee — 2,122 votes, 32.92%

▪ Scallate — 1,366 votes, 21.19%

▪ Gibson — 1,343 votes, 20.84%

▪ Wilma Holman — 832 votes, 12.91%

▪ Michael Andersen — 760 votes, 11.79%

Marie Smalls, director of the Board of Voter Registration and Elections of Beaufort County, said the Board of Canvassers would confirm the final results of all the races Friday. As of Wednesday morning, some provisional ballots still needed to be counted. When the margin of victory is less than 1 percent, an automatic recount is triggered.

However, by city of Beaufort ordinance, the top vote-getters win, Mayor Stephen Murray said, adding there is no margin of victory that triggers a run-off in city races. Scallate, Murray said, was invited to sit in with City Council members when they interviewed city manager candidates on Wednesday.

Dealing with the impacts of population growth, the lack of affordable housing and vacancies within the Police Department were top issues during the five-person battle for two seats.

Besides those issues, the winners will join a City Council facing major decisions including the hiring of a new city manager to replace a retiring Bill Prokop and a new director of the city’s Economic and Community Development office.

McFee, 63, a real estate broker first elected to the City Council in November 2008 and reelected in 2012 and 2016, lost a reelection bid in 2020 but voters returned him to the council in a 2021 special election called to fill the remaining two years of Stephen Murray’s term after he was elected mayor 2020.

During the campaign, McFee touted his experience and said the city’s top concerns were retaining police officers, diversifying the economic base, dealing growth while protecting natural resources, “an efficient, transparent and accessible staff” and affordable and workforce housing.

The results, McFee told the Beaufort Gazette and Island Packet late Tuesday evening, tell him that residents value his vision for the city, experience and institutional knowledge.

“I think people were looking to have stability and longevity and experience,” McFee said.

Scallate, 31, a lieutenant with the Lady’s Island-St. Helena Fire District, also said during the campaign that the most-pressing issue was the city’s lack of economic diversification along with responsible growth, workforce housing and public safety.

Working in public safety, said Scallate, he regularly sees people struggling to find affordable housing including teachers and police officers, and he campaigned against urban sprawl and giving property owners more rights to use their property as they see fit. Scallate lost a twin brother to a heroin overdose, which prompted him to dedicate his life to public service at the fire department.

“I believe my work ethic, and dedication to our community for the last decade played a good part in displaying to others that I was a worthy candidate,” Scallate said.

Gibson held the second-place position until the last round of results came in around 10 p.m.

“It’s disappointing to lose, always,” Gibson said, “and it’s disappointing particularly when it’s that close.”

The 52-year-old Gibson served as chairman of the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals from 2015 to 2022 and he was president of the Old Commons Neighborhood Association in 2017-18. Growth management was a top issue for him, which he said included affordable housing, historic preservation, stormwater management, sea level rise, municipal planning, gentrification, traffic … and on and on.”

Beaufort, he said, was “no longer a sleepy southern town.”

Improving communications between the city and residents was high priority for Holman, 75, saying she wanted to “bridge the gap.”

Holman owned H&H Comprotax Beaufort, a tax preparation company that started in 2006 and closed in 2021. She also worked with the Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce for 19 years, focusing on housing issues and financial literacy.

Holman also called for more workforce/affordable housing, and said something needs to be done about traffic on city roads, noting, “It is almost impossible to travel down the streets at certain times of the day.”

The 29-year-old Andersen, a bookkeeping and business management consultant, said the city had an affordable housing crisis, which is pushing the middle class out of the city. He also said the city was relying too heavily on the military and tourism sectors.

As the youngest candidate, Andersen said he was most in tune with the challenges of younger people and the two biggest hurdles they face: finding jobs and affordable housing.