Folly Beach, South Carolina — Folly Beach will welcome in a new era of leadership on Friday, when mayor-elect Chris Bizzell is inaugurated into office.
Bizzell will take his oath of office at 2 p.m. inside City Hall, situated at 21 Centre Street.
He received about 55% of the vote in the Nov. 18 runoff, defeating real estate agent Elton Culpepper, who received slightly more than 45%. The campaign went to a runoff because none of the three initial candidates received the requisite 50 percent plus one vote to win outright in the Nov. 4 municipal election.
He will now be responsible for governing the island community of around 2,000 people.
“I am truly grateful for the conversations, trust, and energy you’ve brought to this effort,” Bizzell wrote to supporters on his campaign’s Facebook site on November 19. “I look forward to the opportunity to serve the Folly Beach community as your Mayor and to continue working every day to protect what makes this community so special.”
Bizzell, who presently serves on the city council, ran on a platform of seeking balanced answers to the city’s concerns. That included a cap on short-term rentals, which was a major issue in the race.
He stated that the cap is functioning to maintain a balance between residents and renters, but it is not flawless and may allow for acceptable revisions.
“One of the things we’ve done, is the cap is kind of a yes or no vote with the referendum,” Bizzell told reporters from News 2. “On council, we were able to put together amendments that address the inheritance issues, the medical hardship, just to make it a little more balanced solution to accommodate some of the lingering issues around that issue.”
Bizzell takes over for veteran Mayor Tim Goodwin, who retired after four terms in office.
