(Lindsey) Graham into the governor’s office.” “Their strong ties to South Carolina’s legislative delegation was a key component to our selection,” Bogosian said. “And ultimately, to get anything at the federal level, it really has to be sponsored by your state contingent.” Another factor was TRP’s background and record. Ranked as the No. 7 lobbying firm out of 2,100plus federal lobbying firms reviewed by Bloomberg and Politico in 2024, TRP currently represents more than 270 clients in 11 states including Florida, Montana, California, Texas and Oregon. In South Carolina, TRP already acts for the interests of nine entities, which include the City of Greenville in the Upstate, Richland County a premium for a missed opportunity to acquire the talent needed to provide the best long-term administrative leadership for our residents, visitors and businesses." But the hiring and the process weren’t the only objections. After Kerr was approved as the new city administrator, Hahn made a motion to “authorize staff to negotiate a salary package with Mr. Kerr, within the parameters discussed in executive session.” The vote carried 5-4 in favor of the motion, and then again at the regular council meeting on March 25. Following an executive session to discuss the city’ administrator’s employment contract, council then voted 5-4 to renegotiate Kerr’s salary per his new role. A number of residents and all four dissenting council members spoke against the outcome, the process, and the renegotiation. Councilwoman Jan Anderson Jan a couple more key retirements coming in the next 18 months,” Pounds said. “Institutional knowledge becomes more critical and important in addition to the basic skills to do the city administrator job. Douglas has been an exemplary employee of IOP for over 28 years and in my opinion was the right hire for us.” Despite the internal hiring controversy, Kerr said he is ready to help resolve the island’s current challenges, as well as any new ones that arise. “I happen to have worked a full career in a location that is prosperous and beautiful, so for me, these building blocks have contributed to my work being enormously rewarding,” Kerr added. “In the field of city planning, each day is a series of decisions or approvals or reviews that at the time seem mundane and ordinary, but as time passes those decisions begin to stack up and become visible in a community.” More government money for economic development, stormwater flooding control, wastewater improvements and many other items has led Isle of Palms city leaders to hire Thorn Run Partners (TRP) as its federal lobbying firm. TRP, founded in 2010 and located in Washington, D.C., was selected by a a unanimous council vote on March 25, following a process that reduced the search to two candidate firms. “We use lobbyists to find grants and to lobby for government programs that will benefit the island,” said IOP Councilman Blair Hahn. “The current needs include grants and programs to provide federal assistance with beach renourishment and flood mitigation.” The choice for TRP came out of discussion and ultimate recommendation by members of the council’s Administration Committee and the Isle of Palms Water and Sewer Commission. In a report given on March 11 during a council workshop, committee chair John Bogosian said TRP “offered a lot of South Carolina links, especially to Sen. in the Midlands, the College of Charleston and Roper Hospital in downtown Charleston. TRP partner Jim Davenport, who authored the proposal for Isle of Palms, indicated that many of the firm’s current clients — such as Gulfport, Florida, and Bloomington, Illinois — are similar in the types of challenges as those faced by Isle of Palms. “With our support, the City of Isle of Palms and the Isle of Palms Water and Sewer Commission will benefit from proactive federal engagement,” Davenport said, “keeping lawmakers informed of critical local issues such as water, sewer, recreation, road improvements, economic development, stormwater drainage needs and shoreline protection/beach renourishment, among many others.” Expectations are that it will take two years for the city to see what Bogosian called “any appreciable payback.” “But this is the right thing to do for the broader good,” said Mayor Phillip Pounds. 8 Kerr named next city administrator IslandVibesIOP.com City hires lobbying firm to fight for island issues at federal level By L. C. Leach III NEWS own responsibility as an elected councilman was to select who he thought was the best person to fill "a critical leadership role for the city and thought one of the other candidates had more experience and was better qualified.” Pierce went one step further, saying, “The hiring process was irreparably corrupted and unfair to all 79 applicants that followed the process from the start.” “The three finalists possessed advanced qualifications in experience, supervision, education, plus brought long-established state and federal connections. All were clearly motivated by community service and career opportunity, versus only money,” Pierce said. “In my opinion, Isle of Palms will pay From page 3 Anderson said that while she thinks “Douglas Kerr will serve us well,” she did not favor the new compensation because “it is 25% or 30% more than our former administrator.” Councilwoman Katie Miars Miars added, “I will never forgive myself for being a part of the city council that failed to give Miss Fragoso the pay increase that she deserved…that then turned around and gave a $38,000 pay increase to a man with less qualifications.” According to the city’s public salary ranges for 2024, the city administrator’s annual pay rate is $142,473 with a maximum of $202,796. Kerr’s new salary was not disclosed at the meeting. Mayor Phillip Pounds defended the process and decision partly due to Kerr’s longevity with the city. “In the last 5-plus years, we have had a new police chief, fire chief, recreation director and finance director and we have
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