Mayor Billy
story by cindy reid photography by paul nurnberg
Not every small town has a Mayor as accomplished as Beaufort’s Billy
Keyserling, and not every mayor can be seen joyfully zipping around
town on a Vespa motor scooter. Mayor Billy (no one calls him Mayor
Keyserling) is the face of local government and the champion of all
things Beaufort. From leading the Beaufort City Council meetings, to
recruiting and welcoming new businesses, Mayor Billy is fully engaged
in every aspect of his city’s life. Not a man to be confined to an
office, he says his office is “my computer and my cell phone.” Serving
the 13,000 residents within the city’s 33 square miles, Billy has been
Mayor since 2008.
What was your governing experience prior to being elected mayor?
I served two terms in the South Carolina House of Representatives
where I was Vice Chair of the Joint Legislative Committee on Energy
and Chairman of the Beaufort County Legislative Delegation. After
deciding to not seek a third term because I hated the non-productive
partisan wrangling, I was elected to Beaufort City Council in 2000 and
served one term.
I ran for mayor (lost by 97 votes) the first time, yet again ran
and won. Three years ago, I ran and won again. I became mayor because
I had a vision of what I wanted for my city and how I would like to
see Beaufort grow. When people ask me for advice on running for
office, I say ‘Prepare to lose, prepare to win and prepare to govern.’
Preparing to govern is where the vision is critical. Why run if you do
not have a plan?
You and Beaufort are such a good fit – can you be Mayor for life?
Who would want to be Mayor for life? There are no statutory term
limits, but I think two to three terms are appropriate. There is
always room for a fresh approach and new leadership. I have my way of
leading, and others have theirs which is a good thing.
You are a very visible and very accessible mayor.
I am very visible because I love people and believe government is
about people and not traditional politics. I spend a good bit of time
preparing a weekly newsletter, appearing on television and radio
programs and going to every event to which I am invited and even some
I am not. On pretty days, I ride my scooter all over town and stop to
talk to people I know and people I want to know. It will never be said
that Billy is not available.
Common misconceptions as to the role of mayor?
Under the Council-Manager- Mayor form of government, my powers
are very limited. This is not to say, I guess because I am so
visible, I get calls from everywhere from Sun City to Fripp Island to
Dale and Seabrook. While I often do not have answers, I try to direct
these non city residents in the right direction. If I don’t I am not
sure who will. People who don’t live within the municipal boundaries
are very important. They are our customers. They dine here, they shop
here and they bring guests here. They consider Beaufort their
hometown.
In these economic times, has it been difficult to provide the services
people want?
The great recession hurt many people financially, including me,
but it was a sobering exercise because it prepared us for the future.
We are now accomplishing more with less, examining every expenditure
and making adjustments to falling revenues due to the recession and
more recently caused by the state government which has cut funding to
local governments, capped out taxes and is currently discussing
limiting business license fees that would cut up to 20% out of the
city budget.
During the downturn, we outsourced garbage pickup; we outsourced
some road and park maintenance, and we made adjustments to the fire
and police departments. Public Safety is our most important
responsibility. A common misconception is that the city benefits from
traffic tickets, which produces no revenue to the city because the
majority of the fines raised goes to the state and not to the cost of
law enforcement and courts.
By and large most people are willing to pay as long as costs are
being spent wisely and we are transparent. This is one reason we have
our budget and expenses by category on our website so that 24/7 people
can see what we are doing.
What has been your major accomplishment as mayor?
What gives me the most pride in being mayor is insisting on
fairness, transparency and civil conversation on council and with the
public. Three informal open work sessions are open to the public and
we invite those with concerns or expertise to the table to discuss
issues. We do not vote at these sessions as when we are ready to
decide we must provide public notice. Furthermore, I try to vetted
issues before council in the newsletters and when I talk in public.
I am extremely proud of our City Council. We all share a love of
our hometown, do not take disagreements personally and more often than
not find consensus. If I did nothing else, the civility and the
teamwork with the City Council is my most proud accomplishment.
What is ahead for 2016?
City Council has locked in on long plans and is in the ‘ready set
go’ mode for the next two years. There is the Boundary Street
Revitalization project which will recast the gateway to Beaufort and
no longer have it look like anyplace, USA. We have a very exciting
partnership between the Open Land Trust, Beaufort County and the City
to do our best to open up vistas, make the road safer and prevent
environmental damage to the headwaters of Battery Creek. We are
working with property owners on thoughtful redevelopment. It has been
a long time coming. Fortunately we have a good staff team led by a
smart, responsive City Manager, Bill Prokop leading his team.
We have been working for 23 years to make the Waterfront Park
more accessible to boaters; we have a plan in place, the money in the
bank and should start construction in 2016. We will attend to long
overdue stormwater challenges along Allison Road and Southside
Boulevard. The Allison Road project will include a path tying the
hospital to the Spanish Moss trail. Southside will be started very
soon and the Southside Park dog park and trail are currently in
progress.
We have some very serious short- and long-term drainage issues
which have been made more challenging by nuisance rains. I started the
Sea Level Rising volunteer task force, to help the city and
neighborhoods address future needs. Government cannot do everything
and fortunately we have some very educated professionals who have
volunteered.
Many would like to see the waterfront park expanded, and that
brings us to the issue of parking. We are studying a parking deck but
little if anything can be done without funding as our small city
cannot afford such a large project without outside help. And once it
is built, like other city assets it must be maintained. Maintenance
dollars will be needed for the Spanish Moss Trail which is a treat to
those who live here and an attraction to visitors.
And the new firehouse on Ribaut Road will soon replace the Mossy
Oaks station which is in disrepair and too close to schools. I could
go on and on, but we have a good plan and we’ve been able to leverage
small amounts of restricted city dollars to get significant state and
federal grants. A lot to look for in 2016 and beyond.
BACK TO BEAUFORT
You are a native Beaufortoian who left for college and career.
After graduating from Brandeis University (BS, Magna Cum Laude)
and Boston University (MS) I could not find a job that fit my training
in Beaufort so I was fortunate to be able to spend sixteen years
working on and around Capitol Hill in Washington, DC: with
administrative and legislative duties for members of Congress,
coordinating an international Human Rights initiative and as a public
affairs consultant. I was so engaged, working seven days a week,
travelling and advocating, I never took the time to get married. But
not having a family gave me more freedom to do what I wanted, and now
the freedom to not have to work a day job.
You came back in 1989. What drew you back?
During the 26 years I was away at school and working, I can’t
remember not waking up without thinking about my Beautiful hometown
with its natural beauty and my many childhood memories.
What stands out from the Beaufort of your childhood?
Everyone went downtown to shop on Saturday and I would like to
see that come back, at least parts of it. The greater downtown and our
special historic character and buildings are the goose that laid the
golden egg. We must preserve and enhance and grow it back to what it
once was, the center of the community. I think we can do it.
FAMILY LEGACY
Due to your family’s history, do you feel sense of duty to continue
public service?
Some believe my engagement stems directly from my mother Harriet
Keyserling’s incredible public service. Few know, as she writes in her
book, that I was the one who talked her into it and helped. At age
54, mother became the first woman elected to Beaufort County Council
and two years later the first woman elected to represent Beaufort in
the South Carolina House of Representatives. My father, Herbert
Keyserling, was a country doctor, who cared for patients regardless of
their ability to pay. He was renowned as a tireless advocate for those
who could not afford health care. My uncle Leon, dad’s brother, was a
whiz kid in Washington during the New Deal, becoming Chairman of
President Truman’s Council of Economic Advisors.
My sense of civic duty goes back to all of my family starting
with my grandfather, William Keyserling, after whom I was named. He
was an 18 year old political refugee from Tsarist Russia who arrived
in Beaufort in 1888. He worked for and eventually became President of
MacDonald Wilkins Corporation, was a successful farmer and business
and community leader. Due to his losses, like so many others during
the Great Depression, my grandfather died a man of modest means but he
was very civic minded. He died in New York city while giving a speech
to the International United Jewish Appeal at New York’s grand Waldorf
Astoria Hotel. Supposedly his last words as he fell to the floor were,
“it is time for the young people to take over.” I believe my
grandfather instilled the magnet in our family’s moral compass and for
that I am grateful.
What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
Though I made the choice, I have missed not having a family, I
miss having children. People may be surprised to know that “things,”
possessions, are not important to me. I spend much of my disposable
income on art created in and around Beaufort.
What do you do for fun?
I love the work of being mayor. I get together with friends, and
I like getting out on the water. My girlfriend lives on Long Island,
so we spend weekends either there or here and on the water when
possible. She is a teacher so she has good vacations and travelling is
always on the top of our list. In recent years, we have been to Italy
(her native country) Greece, Turkey, South Africa, Mexico, Canada and
Spain.
I love to travel, to see old and new, and capture a sense of
“place” of wherever I go. I am fascinated to see how people all over
the world create and use public space. I have seen wonderful town
squares, surrounded by shops and residences that are the heart of a
community. People walk to shop and work, use the public parks and the
public buildings set a tone for the civitas of a city.
What is your favorite place in Beaufort?
I love being in downtown Beaufort in the early morning, as the
sun comes up and the people walk through the park and down the streets
to open their shops as Beaufort slowly wakes up. When I make the time,
I sit on a park bench with a cup of coffee watching others greet the
new day. The same is true when the sun sets across the river. I have
always been fortunate to live on the water. It is spiritually calming
and inspires serenity. Even in the pouring rain, there is beauty in
watching the huge Spanish moss laced oak tree limbs sway as the rain
massages the ground and keeps the grass green. I so love this place
and I am so honored to be its Mayor.
For more information or to contact Beaufort’s mayor, visit
mayorbilly.com or www.cityofbeaufort.org.
