SECRET LOBBYING GROUP LAUNCHES A PEARL HARBOR ATTACK

We have just learned that The Greater Island Council (GIC - a secretive lobbying organization, allied with the Chamber of Commerce on the Route 278 Corridor project) sent a May 4, 2023 Resolution to Hilton Head Island General Managers asking for their community boards’ support for the Town to provide its Municipal Consent for the Corridor Project BEFORE the Town’s Independent Study is complete. The GIC’s back-door effort is a desperate attempt to paint a false picture to avoid proper analysis of a $328+ million project that cannot be proven to meet our needs. 

The GIC resolution will be presented at the June 6th Hilton Head Town Council meeting, where they are asking for “community” support for their position on the project. Their meaning of “community” is GM’s and boards skillfully manipulated and duped via their one-sided back-door Resolution.

They are following a typical GIC secretive methodology:

·       The GIC Resolution has never been visible to the public or fact checked. It is filled with errors and clever misrepresentations. 

·       The GIC are using a back door to the General Managers, who at best have been poorly briefed, and do not represent voters.

·       The GIC wants to rush us into an incomplete and likely bad plan. Where was their need for speed when for 3 years they refused to answer a formal request for, and their Council members blocked and diverted, the needed Independent Study?

·       Providing Municipal Consent at this point, before the Town’s Independent Study is complete, gives away the only leverage the Town has on this project. Any Town Council member who votes for this must disclose their GIC affiliation.

In summary:

To have the GIC slink into poorly publicized POA meetings in this way, with a one-sided resolution that has not been fact checked, is equivalent to a Pearl Harbor attack on Citizens and transparent government!

An investigation of the GIC, including its infiltration of local governments, lobbying methods, financial backing, and tax status is long overdue.

Citizens should plan to attend the June 6, 2023 Town Council meeting. Details to follow. 

Technical Working Group (TWG)

The TWG are organizers of the petition drive which has garnered more than 10,000 signatures to date asking for a transparent Independent Study of the Route 278 Corridor Project to ensure that it will meet our needs. They have documented the fact that the current plan is highly deficient, especially in the areas of congestion improvement and safety. The TWG strives for accuracy, technical detail, independent verification, and open public discussion, as opposed to the back-room actions of the GIC.