Nick Collins Loves Public Service

Mount Pleasant heads to the polls Tuesday, November 8, to fill four seats on the town council. Three incumbents and six challengers are running for the at-large posts. This week, Mount Pleasant Patch will profile all the candidates.

Nick Collins started his family and launched two successful businesses in Mount Pleasant, and now his fifth year on the town council is drawing to a close.

The first-term councilmen wants to be re-elected because he has a genuine affection for the town that’s been so good to him, and he wants to see it through what many believe will be a turbulent future.

“Mount Pleasant is such a pretty place, and it has so much potential,” Collins said. “It has done so well, and I want to be a part of the good stuff: the bringing of the new projects, like roads and bridges and new schools.”

Read profiles of all the candidates.

But to do that, the town has some unpleasant tasks to handle along the way, Collins said.

“If we don’t get this economy turned around, and we’re doing a great job here with our budget, but the challenge is continuing with our current level of services … but managing that in a sustainable way,” Collins said.

As a full-time Realtor, and the owner of a Houston Northcutt Boulevard hair salon, Collins said he’s seen some improvement in housing sales, so he’s hopeful about the future. But the next time property values are assessed, many home values will have fallen, and that will mean a significant hit to the town’s tax revenues.

“That’s going to be a budget item,” Collins said. “Maintaining all our services … that’s going to be a challenge. But right now, growth pays for growth through our impact fees. So as long as we can maintain growth, we should be OK.”

Fortunately the town has held firm on a hiring freeze, he said, which controlled growth and saved some money, but town employees have not seen a raise in two years, Collins said. On top of that, the town needs to find roughly $1 million additionally each year to fully fund its retiree healthcare plan.

“I think the jury is still out on that,” Collins said. “I think we should wait for the study committee to come back with some options. We need to explore everything.”

He thinks the current council make-up is just right for handling those tough decisions. Councilmen disagree at times, but do so in a civil way, he said.

“The last two years have been the best council that anybody has worked with,” Collins said. “This council really thinks about what’s the best thing to do for the citizens of Mount Pleasant.”

For his part, in addition to ushering the town through tough financial decisions, he’d like Mount Pleasant to address pressing issues such as affordable housing and the development of Coleman Boulevard.

“We’ve got a lot of questions to sort out,” Collins said. “How do we allow people to work and live here in affordable housing. Current plans call for Coleman Boulevard to be just a two-lane street during business hours. How do we make that work?”

Mount Pleasant is in a fortunate position, because it’s handled growth proactively, he said.

“Many municipalities in South Carolina are having to react, but we aren’t,” Collins said. “We look at things six months, 12 months, five years in the future and get them under control now.”

He hopes voters will allow him the chance to make those decisions.

“People say that you should find a job that you are passionate about,” Collins said. “Well, I’ve found that. I’m passionate about serving the people of Mount Pleasant. It’s a really neat thing.”

ABOUT COLLINS
facebook.com/NickCollinsforTownCouncil
Age: 55
Personal: Married, two adult children
Professional: Owner, Nick's Hair Salon; Realtor.
Education: Technical college degree.
Previous elected office: In first term on town council.
Why he's running: “I’ve been very fortunate and very blessed to be able to live in this beautiful city and serve the wonderful citizens of Mount Pleasant. We’ve got a great place to live; I love Mount Pleasant. I love my job as a town councilman, and now I would like to continue on.”