7 IslandVibesIOP.com NEWS FAST AND SIMPLE ON OUR APP For more information or to make a reservation: Email: rentals@RadRydz.com or call 843-718-9408 radrydz.com GOLF CART RENTALS RENT YOUR CART WITH CONFIDENCE Whether you are on vacation, planning a wedding, or have a commercial event, we can meet your every need! We offer 4 and 6-seat options, each includes a premium sound system, storage, cooler and on-board charging for an easy and pleasant rental experience. only as departmental improvements. As for daily tasks, Asero and his regular crew of 11 routinely manage all city facilities; maintain all city beaches, green spaces and rights of way; and, in April 2026 alone, picked up 246 tons of household garbage and 249 tons of yard debris for approximately 4,400 residents. Asero named new director of IOP Public Works By L. C. Leach III They were already congratulating him before the vote happened, but on April 28, all nine members of the IOP City Council unanimously approved Robert Asero as the new director of Public Works. His ascension came May 4, one day before the retirement of longtime director Donnie Pitts, who practically campaigned for Asero to assume the role. The main reason, as he explained to the council, was Asero’s approach to building the city’s stormwater division in a different way from how it was done in Charleston County. “I didn’t want someone to come in and do it the way they did it, I wanted him to do it the right way,” Pitts said. “And I think he’s done a great job in the four or five years that he’s been with the Public Works Department. And he will continue to build that department and carry it forward.” While Asero inherits a range of duties, he has already experienced or led most of them, including: • Initiating the Public Services Drainage Division, which improved drainage response and longterm maintenance capacity. • Planning and coordinating major sidewalk improvements and stormwater upgrades. • Restructuring all interior city ditches to meet post-Hugo standards, a move that improved stormwater flow and flood resilience. • Designing and engineering a custom Wapro tide valve with engineers from Sweden to enhance tidal flood protection. • Directing IT and camera system management, including repairs and coordination with NetCertPro and VC3. • Authoring RFB/RFPs for compactor enclosures, cleaning contracts and beach sanitation services. • Redesigning garbage routes ahead of automated sideloader deployment; managing construction and delivery of 2,500 ASL garbage cans. These aforementioned items count During weather-related emergencies, which can happen in any season, crews manage hurricane preparation, emergency generators and storm response operations. And that’s still not all. If you have ever been one of the department’s five-to-10 seasonal temporary staff, you would have helped maintain a fleet of vehicles; shape the city’s landscaping, with palm tree planting, replacement and pruning; and participated in marina and restaurant renovation and public dock improvements. Through it all, Asero still has to produce monthly reports, conduct interviews and onboarding for new employees and perform annual evaluations with documentation for council and committee review. So, if you’re wondering why Asero hasn’t said this all himself, part of the reason is that he prefers action over talk. “Our biggest challenge in the next year or two will be keeping up with the demands of being a vacation destination,” he said. “I am putting together a new operating procedure, retaining essentially the same crew. And the most rewarding part of my job is seeing families on vacation happy, and residents proud to call Isle of Palms home.” Robert Asero manages about 20 separate duties as director of IOP Public Works.
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