The Honorable
Harry Williams

The Honorable Harry Williams has been the Mayor of the City of Hardeeville since May 2016.

He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and lived in Mahwah, New Jersey from 1993 to 2015. He is a graduate of Rutgers University with a B.A. in Economics and a 42-year career in the footwear industry. He is currently retired.

Mayor Williams has a long history of public service in New Jersey, including Mahwah City Councilman, Council President, Council Vice-President, Planning Board member, Chair of the Volunteer Recreation Committee, President of the Mahwah Raiders Youth Soccer Club, and Youth Sports Coach.

In his retirement in Jasper County, the Mayor has a distinguished history of public service. Besides his service as Mayor of Hardeeville for 2 consecutive terms, he has served on the City Council, has been Chairman of the Southern Low Country Advisory Board, is a Board member of the Southern Carolina Alliance, and a Board member of Habitat for Humanity. Mayor Williams has served as Board Chairman for the Low Country Area Transportation Study, is a Board member of the Jasper County Chamber of Commerce, and is the Secretary-Treasurer of the Royal Live Oaks Wicks Foundation.

In his tenure as Mayor, Mr. Williams has developed many worthy initiatives that are worth listing, as they have changed the landscape of the City of Hardeeville and Jasper County:

He directed the mowing and litter cleaning of Rt. 278 between quarterly visits by SCDOT.
With his wife Beth, he organized Trunk or Treat Halloween, which is run by the city’s Parks & Recreation Department each year.
Writing a monthly newspaper article titled Mayor’s Memo, to date the Mayor has written a total of 100 consecutive 800-word articles.
He has created the Hardeeville Youth Council for selected high school students from all local public, private, and public charter schools.
With his wife Beth, Mayor Williams spearheaded Santa’s Toy Box (formerly Fill the Bus), which provides school supplies and Christmas toys from the retirement communities for Jasper’s public school children.
With his wife Beth, the Mayor organized a Mayor’s Senior Lunch to bring seniors from the gated communities and members of the Jasper County Senior Center together to share a meal and life’s experiences.
As Mayor, Mr. Williams started the practice of opening Council meetings with a moment of silence to honor service members.
The Mayor began a successful fundraising campaign for the new Hardeeville Library.
Mr. Williams' State of the City address created the unique term Starship Hardeeville to brand the city.
With Mayor Sulka and other leaders, Mayor Williams and their team formed the Southern Low Country Advisory Board (SoLoCo).
At the Mayor’s urging, the city now has AED devices in every PD car and emergency vehicle.
Mr. Williams helped the 2017 Royal Live Oaks 5th grade class raise funds for playground equipment, which sits at their new campus today.
Mayor Wiliams teaches an Ollie class and gave a critically acclaimed Ted Talk presentation on Hilton Head Island.
At his urging, the city joined Bluffton in support of the Lutzie 43 Campaign to discourage distracted driving.
At the Mayor’s request Mr. Steve Talbot formed a Hardeeville chapter of the Wreaths Across American program.
At the Mayor’s suggestion, the city assigned a Land Acquisition Fund. Profits from the sale of city property can now be accessed for strategic purchases. This fund has been used for purchases on Whyte Hardee Blvd., Main St., and Randall St. at no cost to the taxpayers.
When COVID hit, the Mayor suggested education and community cooperation as an alternative to the mask mandate. The city put posters on business doors to encourage mask use and social distancing, a practice that. The Mayor also visited local businesses, took photos, posted on Facebook, and encouraged residents to get take-out meals and support our family businesses.
In the past year, the Mayor initiated the “Shop Local” campaign to highlight our local businesses with a video segment with the owners.
After the citizen volunteers who organized The Catfish Festival disbanded, the Mayor asked the city’s PRT team to replace it. They created "Festival on Main” that has close to 10,000 visitors to this two-day event each year.
Since Mr. Williams became Mayor, the city has reduced local taxes by over 30%, and he has been the leading advocate for that continuing policy.
The Mayor has been a vocal advocate for Parks and Recreation. Since he’s been mayor, the recreation complex has artificial turf on the football that is used daily, a new playground, a new dog park, and covered basketball courts and a recreation center. A gym for kids was the Mayor’s brainchild when he learned about the needs of the city. That seed grew into the Hardeeville Recreation Center, which opened July 31, 2021 and has since received two state awards.
In 2022, Mayor Wiliams connected the city with Habitat and Forino South Carolina. In a totally new concept for Habitat, Forino built 10 townhomes on city land, at cost, for Habitat and on October 19, 2024, these homes were dedicated as “Harvey Place” on Main St.; these 10 families cut the ribbons on their front doors. The Mayor also participated in a successful appeal for a $125K grant from the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry, which helped lower the cost of these homes.
As SoLoCo Chair, the Mayor helped initiate a study of Housing Trusts. As a result, six municipalities and two counties contributed to form the Beaufort/Jasper Housing Trust to help start affordable housing. The Habitat/Forino project successfully obtained a grant for Harvey Place from this BJHT.
Mayor Williams has been an ardent advocate for Memorial Park to honor our veterans and first responders. The Council has approved the design, and it is projected to begin in 2025.
Likewise, he has advocated for “splash pads” for the kids in Hardeeville. That is also likely to start in 2025, thanks to the endorsement of the City Council.
Mayor Williams is Santa Claus every year and initiated the first Fire and Police ride through Hardeeville.
Mayor Williams is married to Beth, and they have a daughter and a son.