Tybee Island mayor pushes for change in election system, sparking controversy

This story was updated on Monday, March 17, 2025, to add comment from Tybee’s mayor.

Without informing Tybee Island’s city council, Mayor Brian West has taken steps to change the island’s election system, claiming the current scheme is antiquated and out of step with the rest of the state.

In an email to the council’s six members on Friday, a copy of which was obtained by The Current, West, who also serves as chair of the council, disclosed that lawyers in the state legislature’s Office of Legislative Counsel (OLC) in Atlanta were drafting legislation to change the way election winners in Tybee are determined. That followed a meeting between West and OLC staff earlier last week in the state capitol.

Under the island’s current election procedures, a candidate receiving a plurality of votes is the winner. In his email, West told council members he wants the winner decided by a majority vote.

One council member contacted by The Current, Kathryn Williams, said she was “surprised” the mayor chose to make such an important announcement on the Friday afternoon of a holiday weekend when “everybody is off or drinking or both.”

Such an important matter, she said, should be “brought before the council for discussion and full transparency before moving forward.”

West denies any intent to circumvent the city council. In an interview with The Current, he said he was in Atlanta on other legislative business and the issue of election regulations came up.

West said he didn’t push for the OLC to begin drafting legislation for the electoral changes he is seeking for Tybee, but they were insistent about their views, which conformed to his.

“’Y’all are doing it wrong, and this is the way you should be doing it,’ he recalled staff in the office saying. “So, I just, kind of, you know, went along with that.”

‘Without formal action’

In his email to council members, West said council members in the email that he had discussed his proposal to amend Tybee’s election system with Sen. Ben Watson (R-District 1) and Rep. Jesse Petrea (R-District 166) during last week’s visit to Atlanta.

According to his account, the two lawmakers, in turn, referred him to the Georgia secretary of state’s office which indicated to him that Tybee’s yardstick for deciding election winners was out of step with similar communities elsewhere in the state.

That view, West said in his interview with The Current, was echoed by the OLC.

West, who also serves as chair of the council, was not required under council rules to inform its members of his plans to discuss his proposal Watson, Petrea, and the secretary of state’s office, or the OLC.

But the mayor, who was elected to office in 2023 with nearly 64% of the vote, appears in his email to acknowledge the sensitivity of his dealings in the capitol last week. He wrote that his consultations with local lawmakers and state officials were made “without formal action” from the council because he and others elected under the current system “could be biased in favor of a system that worked for us.”

He goes on to say that the council would be “wise” to adopt what he describes as a “transparent and modern system that encourages voter participation” and “recognizes the will of the majority of our citizens.”

In his interview with The Current, West said this statement wasn’t meant to infer that Tybee’s present voting system fails on those counts.

For her part, Williams believes West’s proposal for elections will create total chaos by turning the candidate qualifying period into a divisive, “last-minute scramble.” At bottom, she also believes the mayor wants more allies in office who will support him.

In his email, the mayor announced that public hearings will be held on his proposal on Thursday at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. He didn’t specify a location.

However, the meetings “to offer details and listen to the public on proposed modifications to Tybee’s municipal election system” are listed on the City of Tybee Facebook page. The sessions are planned for the Tybee Guardhouse, 31 Van Horne Ave.

West said Watson and Petrea were firm in saying that such hearings be held before they sponsored any legislation to enact his proposals into law. Passage of any such measure is unlikely before the legislature adjourns early next month, he added.

The mayor denied that his opposition to the way Tybee currently determines its election winners stemmed from a wish to get more allies elected to the city council, especially those who support his desire to loosen the ban on summer vacation rentals in residential neighborhoods.

“I’m doing this because I think the majority of voters should select who’s on council, not the system we have now. I don’t know if that’s going to lead to [electing my] allies or not.”