Isle of Palms Magazine Winter-Spring 2017-18

5 www.IsleOfPalmsMagazine.com | www.ILoveIOP.com | www.IOPmag.com T here is no other place on Earth like Isle of Palms. The residents – and visitors, for that matter – are passionate about their island, especially during election campaigns. You can feel it in the air. In full disclosure, I’ve known Jimmy Carroll for 35 years or so. I loved his mom, Kathy Carroll, and Jimmy and I have become good friends. When I would visit Jimmy’s office during the six months leading up to the election, we would often talk about local politics. I knew Jimmy really wanted to lead Isle of Palms in another direction. He was extremely passionate, and I was concerned. Here was my friend talking up a storm about being elected before the election happened. It wasn’t that he assumed he was a shoo-in; he just loves the island he’s known since childhood and where he raised his children and grew a business. In talking to Jimmy, one of the things I admired is that every time Jimmy would mention Dick Cronin, he would say how much he liked him. In our private conversations, he never said a negative thing about his opponent. Quite honestly, I didn’t want my friend to be disappointed or get hurt. Occasionally I would say, “You don’t know for sure what’s going to happen.” Or something like that. Jimmy would try to act like if it wasn’t meant to happen, it wouldn’t happen. But I knew what he really was hoping for. That was yesterday, and this is now. Jimmy received 59 percent of the vote and the Isle of Palms marina revitalization referendum, which Jimmy vehemently opposed, was soundly defeated by a 69 percent to 31 percent margin. It appears that island residents did not want a new marina even more than they wanted Jimmy Carroll as their new mayor. They also elected four new Council members, and I hope you will enjoy reading Brian Sherman’s articles about Randy Bell, Susan Hill Smith, Ryan Buckhannon and John Moye. Moving on to other things besides politics: I don’t know about you, but I always enjoy reading about our past. It’s certain that Bill Farley enjoyed writing about IOP’s rich history. So have fun reading “An Amusing Story – The Coney Island of the South.” I know Bill had fun writing it. Since Isle of Palms Magazine is direct-mailed to all property owners on the island, we thought y’all would like to see what’s new in the field of property management – see our Property Management Directory on page 26 and Theresa Stratford’s article on page 28. Each issue of Isle Of Palms is full of local island info. We hope you enjoy our magazine as much as we enjoy publishing it. Enjoy, Bill Macchio Publisher@IsleOfPalmsMagazine.com [ From the Publisher ] Kathy Carroll in the early ‘90s. Quality work and excellent service. EXtErior ShuttErS • intErior trEatmEntS • hurricanE ProtEction coaStal ShuttEr comPany 1190 Clements Ferry Road, Suite E Charleston, SC 29492 843-619-0079 www.coastalshuttercompany.com