DIRECTORS ELECTION

Questions? Email Elizabeth Simpson at esimpson@pdpoa.org.

Board Candidates

Nominating Committee selected candidates:​

Alice Bettencourt, 714 Queens Grant

I moved permanently to Palmetto Dunes in 2022 after retiring from a Federal career serving at the U. S. Department of Health and Services and have owned since 2011. I had a varied career in budget, technology, policy and programs, and was responsible for budgets ranging from thousands to billions of dollars. I have extensive experience developing, executing, and monitoring budgets, including developing and testing internal controls, implementing programs, developing policy, managing IT, and overseeing grants and contracts.

I have volunteered for over 30 years serving those experiencing food insecurity. I volunteer at Deep Well’s food pantry and on the Food Committee, advising the pantry director.

In Virginia, I was very active in my condominium community for over 20 years. As the second owner to move in, I worked to establish a strong sense of community with clear and sensible rules and policies. I was elected to the Board of Directors, including one year as Vice President and as Board Liaison to the Architecture and Covenants Committee, and served on multiple committees.

Why do you want to serve on the PDPOA Board of Directors? Is there anything in particular you would like to accomplish? 
Serving on the PD Strategic Planning team provided me insight into issues facing PD and led me to join the Finance and “Partnership” committees. Through this work and talking to fellow owners, I believe we can continue to improve trust and transparency within PD. I have analyzed PDPOA documents, including transition documents from Greenwood, and see many areas where the PDPOA was not well-positioned to operate effectively. I have already begun through my committee work to improve this and hope to have a greater impact as a Board member to make PD an even better place to live and invest.

What do you see as the most important challenges facing Palmetto Dunes in the next 5 years? 
We are financially sound, yet inflation and specific rising costs pose threats. We need to find creative solutions to position us to successfully face these challenges. These include improving our budget analysis and formulation to ensure we are wisely spending funds in accordance with PDPOA priorities; reviewing management practices to ensure standard operating procedures are efficient, effective, and well-documented; and improve our ability to operate while overcoming disadvantages posed by the transition documents. We need to this while pursuing activities, events, and amenities that continue to develop a sense of community within PD and between PD and the HHI community.

Ed Garino, 28 Offshore

My wife and I raised our three kids for 20 years in Atlanta, Georgia. After 5 years of vacationing in Palmetto Dunes, we sought to purchase a property to rent part time to pursue a dream of moving here. During that search, we realized we didn’t want to wait. We moved to Hilton Head in 2015 and finished raising 2 of our 3 children here. Palmetto Dunes is our home. In our short time here, we have made friends and grown roots. My wife works locally and our youngest will be a senior in high school. We have experienced PD as vacationers, residents, neighbors, and parents.

I have been working for the federal government for over 25 years. My career is built around solving problems by engaging diverse viewpoints and implementing solutions successfully. The solutions required consideration of national policy, economic costs, the limitations on government, and the impact on regulated entities. My hope is that I can use these skills to help the owners.

Why do you want to serve on the PDPOA Board of Directors?
I want to serve because we are a part of the community. However, the community is unlike any community, with a mixture of full-time residents, part-time residents, renters and purely property owners. Unfortunately, our experience over more than a decade is that PD, although great, does not seem as wonderful as it used to be. I believe I have the skillset to help address the issues of PD while respecting the diversity of the owners. I also want to be a part of the board because I wish to serve the community, not to explore a personal agenda.

What do you see as the most important challenges facing Palmetto Dunes in the next 5 years?
I believe we need to evaluate the impact of population growth on the sense of community, security, infrastructure, and property values. We also need to clarify the relationship with Greenwood, as well as increase the effectiveness and responsiveness of the POA. Although these are broad objectives, if we can implement small changes in these areas, combined they will result in measurable improvements. Finally, because of the diversity of ownership, it is difficult to get collective support and implement positive change. Consequently, we need to improve the sense of community within PD to accomplish any goals.

Doug Luba, 33 Offshore

Thea and I raised our two sons and lived on the western north shore of Long Island for almost 30 years after meeting at Queens College where I have a BS in physics and MS in science education. My “first life” I taught high school physics for seven years. After my teaching career I ran our family heating and air conditioning business for the next 27 years as my “second life.” Three years after selling the business in we relocated to our current Mariners Palmetto Dunes home to be near our son’s family and grandkids.

You can usually find me on the tennis court, biking with my two golden doodles, or working on some project at our house (very hands-on). I am currently on the Lake and Lagoon committee and took the Certified Pond Manager course from Clemson to learn about pond, lake and lagoon management. I previously served on the board of directors here from 2017-2019 and know my subsequent experience on many other boards will be invaluable and help me serve our community, help making it the best residential beach resort community possible.

Why do you want to serve on the PDPOA Board of Directors? Is there anything in particular you would like to accomplish?
I feel that my prior service on the board was not enough time to accomplish my goal of solving some of the many chronic problems such as horrendous traffic around the gates and circle, numerous bicyclists and the safety issues they present, short term rental abuses, amenities for property owners (and the lack thereof), and misinformation abundant throughout the community. I hope that I can continue to promote the board transparency endorsed by the current board and continue on-going communications with the property owners that will allow us to meet our mission statement of being the best. The PDPOA has developed an extremely sound fiscal management system and my current experience as the treasurer of a large non-profit can insure this continues and gets even better.

What do you see as the most important challenges facing Palmetto Dunes in the next 5 years?
We are a residential resort community. The POA is responsible for meeting the needs of the full time residents, part time residents who occasionally rent their homes as well as the investment owners who only rent their properties and don’t live here. There is a delicate balance needed to insure that the needs of the people who actually live here the majority of the time are met, and not secondary to the needs of Greenwood and those who rent. If the number of full time residents decreases below a critical number, primarily because they can no longer deal with ever-increasing traffic, next door homes that advertise “sleeps 30”, etc. Myrtle Beach here we become. I will work as hard as I can to insure that people really do want to live here and maintain a balance between the needs of all people who live, invest, work, and play in Palmetto Dunes.