BEAUFORT, S.C. (Dec. 2, 2020) – Stephen Murray will be sworn in as mayor of the City of Beaufort at City Council’s Regular Meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 8. New Councilmembers Neil Lipsitz and Mitch Mitchell will also be sworn in by Municipal Judge Ned Tupper.
The meeting begins at 6 p.m. and will be held in City Council chambers at City Hall, 1911 Boundary Street. There will be limited public seating. The meeting will be streamed live on the City’s Facebook page, facebook.com/CityBeaufortSC.
The meeting will also honor current Mayor Billy Keyserling, who has been mayor for 12 years, and did not seek re-election this year. Outgoing Councilmembers Mike McFee and Nan Sutton will also be honored.
Murray, a native of Beaufort, has served on City Council since 2014. He owns two Beaufort-based businesses, Kazoobie Kazoos and New South Shirts. He is past chair of the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce. Murray was founding chairman and is a board member of the Beaufort County Economic Development Corporation. He helped establish and is on the board of the Beaufort Digital Corridor. He is vice chairman of the South Coast Cyber Center.
Lipsitz is a lifelong Beaufort resident. His family’s department store – the Lipsitz Department Store -- closed in 2009 after more than 100 years of operation. Lipsitz owned a shoe store on Bay Street, and also worked in real estate. Lipsitz has been a docent at the Beaufort History Museum, and was a member of the Beaufort County Tax Equalization Board. He was recently a member of the South Carolina Board of Nursing.
Mitchell grew up in Sheldon Township, and is a retired Air Force major general and retired airline pilot. His military career spanned 39 years, active and in the reserves. He was deputy inspector general of the Air Force, and commanded at the squadron, wing, numbered Air Force, and joint command levels. He was a commercial pilot for two airlines, and retired from Alaska Airlines in 2014. He is a member of the Beaufort County Planning Commission, and has served on the boards of the Beaufort History Museum and Penn Center.
The first meeting of the new City Council will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 15. A special election will take place to fill the City Council vacancy left by Murray, but has not yet been scheduled.
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