Beaufort City Council: Wilma Holman wants to bridge gap between city and residents

Improving communications between the city and residents is a high priority for Wilma Holman, one of five candidates running for two seats on the Beaufort City Council in the Nov. 8 election.

Holman, 75, who was born in Durham, North Carolina, moved to Beaufort with her family in 1996. She attended North Carolina Central University from 1965-1970 and earned an associate’s degree in business from the Technical College of the Lowcountry.

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

She previously worked in the Winston-Salem, N.C., school system and the Beaufort County School District as an administrative secretary and retired from IBM Corp. as a customer support representative.

Candidates received questionnaires from The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette and were limited to 150 words per answer.

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

More effective communications between the city and the constituents is very important and I would like to bridge that gap. Another pressing issue facing the city of Beaufort is workforce/affordable housing and/or sustainable economic wage increases. Smart growth is an issue that the city needs to address along with increased traffic.

What are your top issues in the campaign?

My campaign goals focus on constant and effective communication between the city government and the citizens to foster a better working environment between the two. I want to represent all the people of the city and be their voice. I want to help implement workforce/affordable housing initiatives by working closely with the Regional Housing Trust Board but also looking at other options not yet pursued.

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

I would encourage development to help provide good-paying jobs to our citizens to keep them working in Beaufort and able to make living here affordable. The Historic District of the city has strict codes to maintain the historical or architectural significance of the area. Working with the Historic Review Board, it is possible for development to occur. Development is not excluded from the Historic District. It would have to be smartly done to fit the area and not detract from it.

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

Workforce/affordable housing is a major problem that is being addressed with the formation of the Housing Trust Board. That should be the beginning of addressing the issue, not the answer to the problem. The city should be looking at ways to help keep housing affordable for all citizens. This ties in to property taxes increasing as well as property costs. Every citizen that wants home ownership should be able to afford it. Also, those who would prefer to rent should be able to do that reasonably as well. A broad coalition of stakeholders should be convened to come up with viable solutions to help solve the housing issue.

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

Safe Harbor Marinas’ plan to expand and improve the Beaufort marina could eventually price out the people who have lived in the area all their lives. This would increase taxes to maintain the on-going upkeep of the marina. The marina should be affordable for the majority to use the facilities. The waterways need to remain clutter free so that there is water safety for everybody.

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?

In the 26 years that I have lived in the city, there has not been excessive violence in the area. I have felt very safe here but that is not to minimize the violence that has sporadically occurred in the city. It is my understanding that the police are sharing as much information as possible with people in the neighborhoods where violence has occurred.

I do think that the policing model could look somewhat different by utilizing mental health workers, sociologists or other human resource workers to help fight crime with reasoning and not brute force. The Police Department should have negotiators and strategic personnel to help fight crime in a fair and respectable manner where human dignity is maintained. Also providing recreational facilities for our youth and good economic advantages for everyone would go a long way with curbing violence.

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

Change hiring practices from looking for military and concentrate on criminal Justice students graduating from a technical School or college. Offer a competitive wage for the career in law enforcement. Provide diversity training and treat the new hires with respect. Also look to hire from within the community. Provide affordable housing.

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

The city is off to a good start diversifying its economy with the Digital Corridor and the Commerce Park prospects. If we continue to grow in these endeavors, we should be able to offer good-paying jobs to people and they in turn will be able to afford housing to live comfortably in Beaufort.