Beaufort City Council: Michael Andersen says affordable housing is most-pressing issue

Michael Andersen, a bookkeeper and business management consultant, says affordable housing is the city’s leading issue.

The 29-year-old Fairfax, Virginia, native is one of five candidates running for two positions on the Beaufort City Council. The two candidates with the most votes will win the four-year seats. The election is Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Andersen relocated to Beaufort in 2020 with his fiance to start a family and be closer to relatives.

Born into a military family, he graduated from Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria, and attended the U.S. Air Force Academy for two years before returning to Virginia to earn a bachelor’s degree in economics from American University.

Andersen previously worked in the Beaufort County Auditor’s Office and as the service manager at OC Welch Ford.

He currently advises on business management practices, bookkeeping, and payroll. He is pursuing an MBA with the goal of becoming a certified public accountant.

He once served as a communications director for an energy-focused not-for-profit while an associate fellow at the Stand Together Foundation, a group that helps not-for-profits form to fight community problems, and as a staffer for the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Candidates received questionnaires from The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette and were limited to 150 words per question. Here are his responses:

What’s the most-pressing issue facing the city?

Currently the city is facing an affordable housing crisis for the workforce which is pushing the middle class out of the city at breakneck speed. Since 1997, the city of Beaufort has known that affordable housing options would be a prescient issue moving forward but has thus far been anemic to tangible solutions like promoting missing middle housing options like condos, townhomes, duplexes, etc.

Between 2010 and 2020, Beaufort has seen a significant drop in younger people between the age of 22-44, an increase of the poverty rate from roughly 14% to 21%, and a rising median income that is still below the 2010 median income. Having an educational background in economics, this points to a wiping out of the middle class within the city that is not sustainable and will result in a community that closely resembles Hilton Head Island down the line.

What are your top issues in the campaign?

Improving public safety and community engagement; promoting affordable workforce living options and reducing property tax burdens; diversifying our economic base outside of just the military and tourism with primary manufacturing options and businesses that can provide career paths for younger generations; and overseeing responsible growth measures that make it easier for property owners and businesses to make capital improvements to their real assets instead of heavily promoting outward expansion that increase tax burdens on the citizens of Beaufort.

Development and maintaining Beaufort’s historic areas can collide at times. What is your position on development vs. historic preservation?

Preserving the historic areas of Beaufort is vitally important to tourism and the Lowcountry “feel” that has made Beaufort a worldwide destination. Often there is confusion between contributing and non-contributing structures when city codes and ordinances are applied.

Making it easier for property owners of non-contributing structures to make capital improvements to the properties needs to be a priority as the current state of many of these structures has become a blight on the neighborhoods they are located in with several becoming home to pests. This in turn brings down the values of surrounding homes and make several parts of the city undesirable to live or visit. The city needs to be serious about tangible solutions to restore what can be restored and to move out of the way with structures that cannot be restored but must fit with the overall architectural style of Historic Beaufort.

Affordable housing is an issue throughout Beaufort County. What should the city do in response, if anything?

Currently the city codes and zoning make it very difficult and, in many cases, impossible to construct accessory dwelling units (ADU). As a short-term fix, allowing 4% property tax owners to construct these ADUs with no permitting fees, fast approvals, and long-term rental stipulations will not only provide housing options for teachers or police officers just getting their careers started, but it will also directly put money into the pockets of middle class Beaufortonians so they are able to provide for their family and help stabilize their financial standing.

As a long-term option, the city needs to make it easier for missing middle housing to be built within the city limits. Overall, we have a supply and demand issue: there is too much demand and not enough supply and the only way to reduce the amount of demand is to promote infilling of existing neighborhoods instead of rapid expansion outwards.

What do you think of Safe Harbor Marinas’ plans to expand and improve the Beaufort marina?

I cannot support the current plan proposed for the downtown marina. I do believe that improvements need to be made and perhaps a better scaled version and layout is a great possibility, but I am also cognizant that the marina is ultimately a city asset and in a world where Safe Harbor is not in the picture, I have many concerns about the liability the city will take on. If another company cannot be found to manage or make capital improvements to the property, the city and thus the taxpayers, will be on the hook for repairs, maintenance, and management. So far, I know that Safe Harbor has done a wonderful job with their clients and I hope to continue to see that level of service.

Several incidents in which gunshots have been fired in Beaufort have occurred in the past year, raising neighborhood concerns. Is there anything more that the city can do in response to these incidents or crime in general?

The City of Beaufort Police Department adopted a community policing model in the 1990s but in my opinion has slowly gotten away from its core tenets. Oftentimes, issues can be avoided and crime mitigated when police officers are well known in troubled communities because a relationship has been established and built up over time. Furthermore, I explored the possibility of a product called “Shot Spotter” that uses microphones to register when shots have been fired. Currently the technology is far too expensive for the city’s budget, but an alternative could be cameras set up along public roads of known troubled areas of the city, so investigations are easier for the police to determine who was in the vicinity at the time to interview.

Keeping the police department fully staffed has become a challenge. What more can the city do to keep these positions filled, if anything?

Nationally, police department staffing is a widespread issue, but I do not believe that it is the entire reason as to why Beaufort is losing longtime public servants in droves. Currently the city is down 6 police officers and another 4 are discussing leaving. This would bring our total force down to 80% of our capability. I have spoken to most of those who have left and overall morale in the department is low due to leadership issues within the department. I would want the city to explore new leadership possibilities. Additionally, the police department does not have a youth engagement program akin to what they had in the past. I would especially like to see a police cadet program for 18- to 21-year-olds that familiarize them with police work and prepare them for the State’s Law Enforcement Academy and eventual service in our community.

What can the city do to diversify its economy and bring more jobs to Beaufort?

Currently the city has too many onerous regulations on businesses and the process to open a business in the city takes months. This process of opening a business needs to be made easier, faster, and less burdensome so Beaufort can become much more business friendly. Often, I hear that the city tries to insert itself into the equation to determine if a business will be successful or not when the free market should ultimately make that decision.

Additionally, lowering business taxes to be more favorable than the county’s tax structure will make Beaufort more desirable to move to and set up in. The city overall has done well in attracting some primary manufacturing out at the business park, but I would like to see additional investment into these ventures that can provide tangible jobs and economic diversity.

Web site or social media page

https://www.michaelforbeaufort.com, https://www.facebook.com/MichaelForBeaufort, https://www.instagram.com/michaelforbeaufort/