Here is an expanded discussion on issues facing Charleston:
Strengthening our neighborhoods
One of the important hallmarks of our City’s past few decades has been the development of neighborhood councils and associations, providing for much needed community and citizen input. Charleston has a proud and informed corps of concerned citizens that are vested in our City’s future.
We must take this citizen input to an even higher level to ensure our community is in sync with the direction we have been heading, particularly in terms of future growth and development including the accommodation of our many visitors. As such, I will launch Charleston 2020, an inclusive community review, conducted at the start of my new City administration. This review will be comprehensive and include the views and opinions of our citizens, provide a blueprint for moving our City forward, and ensure we strategically maintain what we’re doing right and improve or change what we identify as problems.
This planning process will include traditional community meetings, but it will also utilize creative social media to promote full citizen participation. It is imperative that we review and set new long term strategic goals. Of course, we will also focus on short term and measureable objectives to ensure we can quantify and mark our progress.
My goal is for this review effort to lead to an even greater level of citizen and community input, participation, and ownership that will bring our Citizen’s goals into focus and serve our City and future well. I am an action-oriented person, but believe in listening, assimilating the good ideas that abound in our community, and reaching consensus before taking action.
Strengthening our schools
Acknowledging that great progress is a legacy of the Riley era, I know there is still plenty of room to work on many critical elements in our community. Although operated by the Charleston County School District, and acknowledging real improvements made under Superintendent McGinley’s leadership, we should and can always strive to better our local schools, particularly those in the City of Charleston.
I believe we have accepted mediocrity for too long, we must expect excellence and provide the support necessary to enable students to achieve and to empower parents to participate in their children’s education. Our school district has worked hard in this regard but we were so far behind in many of our schools that our support must be elevated. I am a product of public education and have served as a mentor in challenged schools; I know we can do more.
I will strive to mobilize the community and increase parental involvement in our schools. I will promote early childhood education, and support community recreational and cultural programs that promote and improve the quality of public education.
Strengthening our youth
Although I enjoyed playing ball as much as most kids growing up, I really came to realize the importance of sports and youth programs while I was raising five kids here in Charleston.
Strong sports and youth programs are not just about playing ball, but they develop interpersonal and leadership skills, provide wholesome physical activities, and create opportunities for learning about each other.
We must create more recreational and development opportunities for our kids and encourage even more parents to be involved. We can do this not only through the City’s youth programs but by continuing to show support for groups such as the YMCA, YWCA, Boys and Girls Clubs, Scouts, and church programs.
Strengthening our economy
Thankfully, Charleston is enjoying a resurgence in our local economy, prompted by the arrival of Boeing, the focus of bringing high technology jobs to this “Silicon Harbor,” a strategic diversification of our economy since the closing of the Naval Base, and a general economic up-swing after the recent Great Recession.
I served in the later 90’s as Director of Economic Development for the City of Charleston and understand the cooperation necessary among members of our economic development community to promote our region. Charleston must continue its focus on high-tech “Silicon Harbor” jobs and development, but it must also provide the educational underpinning so that local folks are qualified for today’s digital economy.
I envision Charleston as a leader in the knowledge-based and creative culture of now. I understand and will promote the need for vocational training and higher education to provide and re-train our citizens for today’s job opportunities. I will emphasize and place special focus on those who are under-trained and under-employed and to youth, to match them with available job opportunities.
My family has owned and operated a number of small businesses in Charleston for generations. I appreciate the importance of small and local business for our community, including local farming for a sustainable and healthy food supply. I will support and promote local business.
Strengthening housing
One of the significant challenges to economic development in our region is affordable housing. Unfortunately, Charleston lags behind most of the nation in this regard.
I believe we will have to not only continue, but significantly augment the City’s current efforts to ensure affordable housing to our residents with strategic incentives. For instance, an affordable housing component that could be pursued and that would further spark our creative culture is affordable housing for artists to live and work together.
The same concept could apply to young software and technology developers, creating and encouraging a new culture of innovation in Charleston. In addition, it’s important that the City NOT add user and impact fees and taxes that drive up housing costs.
Strengthening our relationships
Improvement in race relations has been substantial since the civil rights era, but it is still a work in progress. Although a native of Charleston, my parents moved to Orangeburg for some of my formative years. I was a seventh grader there when the tragic Orangeburg Massacre occurred in 1968.
I am forever grateful to my parents, Henry and Esther Tecklenburg, for the incredible role models that they have been in my life and in the many ways that they gave back to the community in their civic lives. The leadership that they showed in the aftermath of the Massacre, in helping to bring the white and black communities of Orangeburg back together, was courageous and the right thing to do.
My parents’ simple belief that we all are created equal, not just saying it, but living it, made an indelible impression upon me. Respectful of all, I believe the biggest remaining challenge of the civil rights struggle is one of economic justice.
Rising to this challenge is a long term commitment that must address not only the need for educational progress as noted above, but also the need for more business opportunities for women and minority-owned firms. In addition, I believe we must honor the important heritage of African Americans in our country and the Low Country.
By recognizing and honoring our diversity, we gain strength. I know it is one of Mayor Riley’s important remaining goals to break ground on an African American Museum in Charleston, and it is critical to bring that goal to fruition.
Strengthening our historic preservation community
We are blessed that Charleston recognizes the importance of preserving our historic architecture; we were first to set the standard for historic preservation in our country.
The preserved historic charm of Charleston and our intrinsic hospitality has led to the creation of a vibrant tourism industry here, one that needs careful control and moderation given its growth.
We have a unique challenge in preserving our heritage and historic buildings while at the same time strategically and thoughtfully accommodating new growth. Again, receiving input and listening to the priorities from our citizens is vital to these issues.
Strengthening our infrastructure
In addition to preserving our historic fabric, we have to build, maintain and re-build our infrastructure including our sidewalks, bikeways, streets, bridges, and drainage. We need to provide and promote hot-lines and on-line links for citizens to report needs for general and immediate maintenance of sidewalks, drainage ditches, and other street repairs.
The needs are always greater than the funds available, and reliance is necessarily heavy on state and federal funding. Presently, there are major drainage projects underway to solve the drainage challenges of the Market St and Crosstown areas downtown.
I will complete these projects and work to secure funding for prioritized future projects, while working even harder to maintain and improve existing systems in order to maximize their utility. Given the blessing of our great harbor and coastal location, drainage is an issue that will need the attention of every Mayor and Council of Charleston until kingdom come.
As difficult a problem as drainage has been, the reality of a rise in sea level over the next 50 to 100 years makes it even more critical for the next administration to plan, devise, and install the most effective solutions possible. In addition, we need to invest in our digital infrastructure, both wired and wireless, to support our “Silicon Harbor” and knowledge-based business development.
Strengthening our public transportation
As the Charleston region continues at an ever faster pace of growth, it is critical to our region to demand a public transportation system that accommodates our growth. This is a huge challenge as the capital costs to initiate new systems such as light rail are so high.
But as our regional population nears the 1,000,000 plus mark over the next few decades, we simply must implement new modes and utilize a variety of strategies to address this problem or our growth will lead to congestion well beyond what we’re already experiencing.
A light rail link between Summerville, North Charleston, and Charleston must be pursued, it makes long term sense, and I will support and work on that initiative.
Promoting and improving our existing bus service, park and ride, carpooling, waterways, bicycling, and walking are all important strategies as well. Given our beautiful waterways and reliance on bridges, we must explore more commercial use of water-taxis and ferries. Beyond the recreational and fitness aspects, we need to secure and safely improve bike lanes and walkways as real transportation alternatives. It’s time to think outside of the box when it comes to our transportation challenges.
Strengthening city services
As a lifelong businessperson, the model I have operated is that you stay in business by providing excellent customer service. If you don’t, your customer can shop elsewhere. Government is a different model, you pay your taxes and government provides services, but if you are not satisfied, well you still have to pay your taxes. But I believe government should strive to provide excellent service despite having a captive customer base.
I propose a centralized citizen service department that will improve the efficiency of City services. There are over 200 phone numbers for the City of Charleston and as you may know, requesting a City service sometimes means you get bounced around from multiple departments and have to spend a majority of your time just finding the right person.
With centralized citizen service, there will be a small, dedicated staff to take citizen’s requests, contact the appropriate department, and follow through until the request is completed. Over time, this will allow us to track how long certain city services take to complete, what kind of requests are most common, and how the City can best allocate its resources to better serve our citizens.
Strengthening the arts
There’s no question that Mayor Riley and the City of Charleston hit a home run when the Spoleto Festival USA was lured here and the accompanying Piccolo Spoleto Festival was founded. In addition, the MOJA festival is a terrific event that enhances our cultural and musical heritage.
The cultural arts in Charleston have flourished ever since. This has been meaningful for me personally as I am an amateur musician and have a family heritage of music and art.
I believe our community life is elevated and inspired by the arts, and special emphasis should again be given to artistic and musical programs for our families and children, throughout the City, and throughout the year.
Strengthening our most vulnerable citizens
It is often said that a community can be judged by how the least of its members are treated and cared for. Mayor Riley and the City’s faith community showed great compassion in forming Crisis Ministries to serve the immediate need of our homeless brothers and sisters and try to help them break the cycle of homelessness. I have served as President of Crisis Ministries and know it is just one example of the many wonderful non-profits and church efforts that assist those in need in the Charleston area.
I have been active all my life with a number of other non-profit and community activities:
- I helped re-establish our community action agency, the Charleston County Human Services Commission.
- I served on the Palmetto Project, helping to create numerous innovative programs to help our community and state.
- I have served on the Board of the Coastal Conservation League and am mindful of how critical it is to advocate for and protect our natural resources.
- I helped found and currently serve as President of a wonderful organization named SC Strong, which provides an environment for men, mostly coming out of prison, who are committed to changing their lives for the better.
- I currently serve as President of the Historic Rotary Club of Charleston, whose motto I take to heart, “Service above Self.”
I believe in giving back to our community, I will continue to work to recognize the compassionate efforts of our good citizens and organizations, and help motivate the involvement and volunteerism of all citizens in our community.