First, put Tom Peeples’ commonsense principles to work on the bridge that could bear his name | Opinion
Steve Riley gave longtime Hilton Head Island mayor Tom Peeples a dose of his own medicine at Peeples’ memorial service Tuesday.
Riley said that during 15 years as mayor, Peeples would spring his biggest surprises at the annual State of the Region breakfasts where local leaders took turns at the microphone telling what was on their hearts and agendas.
Riley, who was town manager during Peeples’ run as mayor from 1995 to 2010, said those gatherings always made the staff anxious.
So at the end of his remarks at the memorial gathering of some 600 people at the Mary Ann Peeples Pavilion at the town’s Honey Horn natural preserve, Riley said he was going to pull a Tom Peeples on his old mentor who died April 13 at age 71.
Riley popped a big idea as a big surprise, saying we should “name the new replacement bridge to link this island to the rest of the world for Tom Peeples.” His notion received polite applause.
Other speakers had given reasons such an honor could be entertained.
Paula Harper Bethea said Peeples was “of and for all people.” He put a “wind of confidence in our sails,” was “rich in wisdom and kindness,” and the community’s “rock, lighthouse and our compass.”
Chamber of Commerce head Bill Miles said Peeples set high standards, always finding a way to get things done, “while keeping our core values intact.” He said Peeples “mastered the art of consensus.”
Roy Prescott, a friend since childhood, said that whether he agreed with Peeples or not, “Tom always did what in his heart he knew was right for Hilton Head Island and the region.”
They noted that Peeples remains the only person to be re-elected mayor on Hilton Head, and that, adding his six years as a Town Council member, his contributions to the town are unprecedented.
But it was Riley, who worked most directly with Peeples, who listed specific influences Peeples had on the island.
He said Peeples instigated a Disaster Recovery Task Force after Hurricane Katrina ripped through Louisiana and Mississippi in 2005, and that is what enabled the island to quickly get back on its feet after Hurricane Matthew struck in 2016.
He also mentioned the island’s buried power lines, improved drainage, improved traffic flow, growth limited through land acquisition, better bike paths, more parks with beach access and ball fields, and public safety upgrades.
It was fitting that little boys and their dads from the youth baseball teams guided people to parking spaces in the vast fields of Honey Horn for Tom Peeples’ memorial service. Peeples got involved in public life in part to push for ball fields for kids.
But it also was fitting that we exited the park onto the entryway to the Cross Island Parkway during the peak of a typical afternoon rush hour. With so many workers leaving the island at the same time, there was gridlock at the intersection of William Hilton Parkway and Gum Tree Road.
And coming from that upbeat service, my first thought was, “Tom Peeples wouldn’t have this.”
Riley mentioned that Peeples favored replacing today’s four-lane links to the mainland with the new six-lane edifice that has been under discussion for nigh unto a decade.
So, if they want to name the new bridge for Peeples, they should first apply some Peeples principles to the process.
Find consensus between the state, county, town, Gullah community and the thousands of citizens who feel they’re being ignored.
Peeples would listen, and could change his mind, they say. Peeples used common sense, they say, to cut through gobbledygook and make sure the task at hand solved the problem it was supposed to solve. High on that list should be the afternoon gridlock at the Cross Island Parkway. Make sure the $400 million investment offers that return.
And, most of all, according to all the accolades, Peeples would see a problem, see a solution, get on with it, and move on to the next thing.
The bridge that could bear his name needs those Peeples principles today.
David Lauderdale may be reached at LauderdaleColumn@gmail.com.
