Hear from the candidates for Mayor of the city of Charleston
SHERI IRWIN
Quick Hits –Part 1
One word your mother would use to describe you: Honest
A book you recommend and why:
“Sustainable: The War on Free Enterprise, Private Property and Individuals” - It is happening here with the abuse of the Redevelopment Act.
A movie you recommend and why:
I haven’t been to a movie in years, so I can’t recommend one.
Best advice you ever received:
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Bible)
What do you identify as the most important issue facing Daniel Island and what specific steps will you take to address it?
Overdevelopment. I would quit using tax dollars for private sector building. Our elected officials call it a Public Private Partnership. Dishonest. It is wrong to use tax dollars for private sector development.
A public boat launch was approved for Daniel Island, to be located on the Wando River with access under the I-526 Bridge, located between the tennis center and city dog park. It has been delayed many times and may now be scrapped altogether. What specific steps will you take to make sure the boat launch is built?
Since the Department of Natural Resources is funding the project, the mayor and city would have to work with them to get the funding. I would want to meet with them and talk about what have been the problems in the past that have kept the project from moving ahead.
Describe your biggest professional success(es) and what have you learned from it/them.
I was a manager for five years with a photography resort company and got numerous accounts up and running for them, and would be up in sales from the previous company.
Quick Hits – Part 2
Current job:
Metrologist
Education:
BS in Graphic Communications Previous experience in public office: None. I am regularly speaking to elected officials though and have been doing so for the past 15 years, including speaking to our State Senate Judiciary Committee on many occasions regarding important issues. I think we need someone who is not currently in office for mayor. Our entire city council has voted to proceed with the urbanization of our suburbs. I want to protect our suburbs and I have no conflicts of interest. I am not involved in real estate/development nor construction. If elected mayor, I would take a 50% pay cut on the mayor’s salary.
Relevant experience to help you as mayor:
Speaking for the past two years to our mayor and councilman and commission and fighting to protect Charleston residents’ private property rights.
RENEE ORTH
Quick Hits – Part 1
One word your mother would use to describe you:
Compassionate
A book you recommend and why:
“Strong Towns: A Bottom Up Revolution to Restore American Prosperity” - It offers sage advice for communities dealing with wicked problems.
A movie you recommend and why:
“The Biggest Little Farm” - An inspiring documentary about our inextricable and transcendent connection to nature.
Best advice you ever received:
The only way to open the minds of those who are attached to their worldview is by giving them powerful experiences of a better way of being.
What do you identify as the most important issue facing Daniel Island and what specific steps will you take to address it?
The most important issue facing Daniel Island is the most important issue facing humanity — climate crisis. Our leaders are unwilling to address this existential threat and are instead focused on its symptom — flooding. As ground zero for climate crisis in the U.S., our city must lead. There is much we can do to shrink our carbon footprint in ways that add to our resilience, enhance prosperity and mitigate flooding. Rain gardens planted with food-producing trees and plants are one example. They can sequester carbon while adding to our city’s food independence (important given likely disruptions to our global food system) and addressing food injustice that is plaguing economically disadvantaged residents.
I am grateful steps are being taken to put an end to irresponsible building in wetlands and flood prone areas. That we’re only doing this now is a testament to the need for visionary proactive leadership that listens to our local experts, many of whom have been sounding the alarm on the dangers of unchecked development in sensitive areas only to be ignored.
Though Daniel Island is safe from flooding in the near term, these issues affect Daniel Island directly: Continued flooding will eventually trigger a decline in property values (especially as flood insurance rates balloon). The tax base will erode. The ability of Charleston to maintain Daniel Island’s infrastructure will be compromised. No one wants to admit such cascading failures are possible, but to ignore this possibility and act to avoid it is the height of irresponsibility.
A public boat launch was approved for Daniel Island, to be located on the Wando River with access under the I-526 Bridge, located between the tennis center and city dog park. It has been delayed many times and may now be scrapped altogether. What specific steps will you take to make sure the boat launch is built?
We are facing an existential threat that dwarfs what our foremothers and fathers faced during WWII. When we are considering any major decision it would be wise to ask ourselves whether, in the days after Pearl Harbor was attacked, our predecessors would have been contemplating such a choice. If not, then it is unlikely that it is something our local government should be concerned with at this time in history.
I would encourage the residents of Daniel Island to work collaboratively among themselves to build a public boat launch. In fact, this is just the sort of project I would like to see citizens take on. As a people we have become far too dependent on government – treating it as a service provider that we demand more services from but balk at paying a higher price. This way of thinking is deeply dysfunctional and is at the core of why American is in decline. We have become consumers, rather than creators. We can and must reverse this by taking charge, in collaboration with our fellow citizens, and proactively creating the changes we wish to see. I see the role of government as supporting old American values of civic engagement and communal effort rather than being a replacement for them.
Describe your biggest professional success(es) and what have you learned from it/them.
I am most proud of having started a nonprofit, The Stone Soup Collective. We’ve been making soup as a group of community volunteers for two-and-a-half years, the bulk of which we donate to elders in need through collaboration with Charleston Area Senior Citizens (CASC). CASC runs Charleston’s Meals on Wheels program and currently has a waiting list of over 75 seniors – this is deeply troubling. I would love to see the produce we grow in our rain gardens nourish these neighbors in need. The most profound lesson I have learned from this experience is that there is a deep wellspring of truly generous and giving people in our community — we need to engage and support more of them in ways that enrich their lives and address the injustices that we have come to accept in our midst: homelessness, hunger, an education system that is failing our most disadvantaged children.
Quick Hits – Part 2
Current job:
Community organizer and attorney
Education:
JD, Berkeley Law School, 1999; BA, summa cum laude, Political Science, UCLA, 1996
Previous experience in public office:
None
Relevant experience to help you as mayor:
Community organizing is what government should be - activating citizens to create a better city in collaboration with the city and fellow residents who share their interests and passions. As an attorney I know coercive power is the weakest form of power — we need leadership that inspires people to do the right thing because they feel connected to the city of which they are a part and know their contribution is valued.
MIKE SEEKINGS
Quick Hits – Part 1
One word your mother would use to describe you:
Adventurous
A book you recommend and why:
“The Once and Future King” by T.H White - An incredible story well told.
A movie you recommend and why:
“Almost Famous” - True coming of age movie with an unrivaled soundtrack.
Best advice you ever received:
From my father: “Always do the right thing and remember, life, at best, is a zero-sum game. Give all you have got and take very little.”
What do you identify as the most important issue facing Daniel Island and what specific steps will you take to address it?
For Daniel Island, connectivity and accessibility are issues that we need to focus on going forward. Support for the 526/26 interchange Lowcountry corridor project is vital. Also, as Daniel Island matures as a community, addressing much needed infrastructure maintenance is a top priority. All of which will improve the quality of life for Daniel Island residents.
A public boat launch was approved for Daniel Island, to be located on the Wando River with access under the I-526 Bridge, located between the tennis center and city dog park. It has been delayed many times and may now be scrapped altogether. What specific steps will you take to make sure the boat launch is built?
This is a project that must be tended to immediately, and as mayor I will lead the way to making sure that the launch is built in short order. There is no excuse for why it has not been completed yet. With the recent launch of the Daniel Island commuter ferry (and the previous success of that service during the closure of the bridge over the Wando), there is now a spotlight on the viability and importance of water access and we, as a city, need to take full advantage of all access points available including, but not limited to, the Wando River boat launch.
Describe your biggest professional success(es) and what have you learned from it/them.
I have had the privilege of running my own small business for almost 30 years now. It has been incredibly rewarding to see those who worked for me build careers and lives in our community while we worked to help residents throughout our community, many of whom live right here on Daniel Island. Making a payroll, while ever challenging, is extremely satisfying.
Quick Hits – Part 2
Current job:
Although I am still a practicing attorney, the bulk of my time for the past few years has been dedicated to my job on City Council, my chairmanship of CARTA and to the Cooper River Bridge Run, where I serve as Interim Executive Director.
Education:
Amherst College 1978, B.A. Magna Cum Laude
Previous experience in public office:
Charleston City Council, 2010-present. Chairman, CARTA
Relevant experience to help you as mayor:
Ten years on City Council, Five years as Chairman of CARTA, Chairman of City of Charleston Traffic and Transportation Committee.
MAYOR JOHN TECKLENBURG
Quick Hits –Part 1
One word your mother would use to describe you:
Grateful
A book you recommend and why:
“The Autobiography of Gandhi”- It accentuates the power of nonviolence.
A movie you recommend and why:
“On the Waterfront” - An incredible story of determination and overcoming challenges.
Best advice you ever received:
When running in 2015, Mayor Riley told me to “listen to the hearts of your citizens.”
What do you identify as the most important issue facing Daniel Island and what specific steps will you take to address it?
The need for additional traffic and transportation infrastructure is the most important issue facing Daniel Island today. Too many Daniel Island residents are forced to wait in traffic to travel to their jobs and destinations downtown and throughout the city because of the island’s limited connectivity, which we’ve worked to improve in my first term. To keep up our progress, we need to continue to support the completion of I-526. We must support the port’s proposed plan to move containers by barge to the intermodal rail yard in North Charleston. We need to support, as we are doing, the new Ferry Service to provide alternative modes of transportation from and to the island. And, we need to expand public transportation and CARTA’s availability and reliability on Daniel Island.
A public boat launch was approved for Daniel Island, to be located on the Wando River with access under the I-526 Bridge, located between the tennis center and city dog park. It has been delayed many times and may now be scrapped altogether. What specific steps will you take to make sure the boat launch is built?
Unfortunately, the S.C. Department of Transportation has put that project on hold. They control about 80% of our roads and that includes a road’s right of way. That’s the roadblock we are facing with this project, and we’re sadly limited in our options, but hope isn’t lost. We need the cooperation of the DOT. Until they resolve the repairs of the James Edwards or Wando Bridge, the public boat launch’s future is uncertain in that location.
If this “Plan A” doesn’t work out, we need to find another location, or remote parking, as we can’t use the DOT right of way as a long-term parking option. The State of SC controls this property and has the legal authority to do with it what they want. That is why continued cooperation is our best opportunity to keep the project alive — which is our first priority. Our second priority is to find a reasonable, realistic solution, should “plan A” fail to come to fruition.
Describe your biggest professional success(es) and what have you learned from it/them.
Meaningfully addressing Charleston’s flooding and sea level rise in my first term has been my biggest professional success thus far. When I came into office, the city didn’t have a full understanding of how sea level rise impacts Charleston and strains our infrastructure. We also didn’t have the staff, scientific, financial resources or expertise needed to address the problem. So I got to work on it, and now Charleston has the most comprehensive plan to address flooding and sea level rise in our city’s history. The Flooding and Sea Level Rise Strategy, in tandem with the final Dutch Dialogues report, give the city the science, understanding and plan forward that we need for Charleston to flourish for another 350 years.
Quick Hits – Part 2
Current job:
Mayor of Charleston
Education:
B.S. in Chemistry, Georgetown University
Previous experience in public office:
Four years as Mayor of Charleston
Relevant experience to help you as mayor:
Experience as Mayor, Director of Economic Development for the City of Charleston, small business owner, and longtime Rotarian and leadership in many community organizations or nonprofits.
MAURICE WASHINGTON
Quick Hits –Part 1
One word your mother would use to describe you:
Determined
A book you recommend and why:
“The Holy Bible’ - It’s had the most powerful influence on the world and mankind.
A movie you recommend and why:
“The Book Of Eli” - I was personally inspired by the fact that although blind, the main character (Denzel Washington) traveled cross country, driven by faith and not by sight.
Best advice you ever received:
The best advice I ever received was from my mom. Growing up, she would always say to my siblings and me, “Protect your mind.” In other words, never allow negative thoughts or self-doubt to take up space in your mind.
What do you identify as the most important issue facing Daniel Island and what specific steps will you take to address it?
I think the most important issue facing Daniel Island is ensuring that the city of Charleston fully honors the development of parks and community buildings as set forth in the development agreement that was signed as an inducement to get the Guggenheim Foundation to allow the city to annex the island. My administration will take a fresh look at the agreement to ensure that promises made are promises kept. Additionally, roughly 13,860 city residents live on Daniel Island and Cainhoy peninsula. Providing quality municipal services (police, fire, sanitation, streets, and sidewalks) to this region will be important to me.
A public boat launch was approved for Daniel Island, to be located on the Wando River with access under the I-526 Bridge, located between the tennis center and city dog park. It has been delayed many times and may now be scrapped altogether. What specific steps will you take to make sure the boat launch is built?
I am in full support of this project and will honor the $1.4M that has been allocated toward getting it built. Also, it is incumbent on the city to provide high-quality city services, parks and recreation opportunities, public safety facilities, and traffic safety improvements for citizens of Daniel Island and Cainhoy peninsula. As mayor, the priority of projects will be driven by a cost to benefit analysis. This cost-benefit analysis would help to determine, to a rough degree of accuracy, the ratio of dollar value costs to public need and benefit for a proposed project. Projects with higher benefits to cost ratios likely justify a higher priority ranking than those with a lower ratio. With finite resources, tough decisions must be made.
Describe your biggest professional success(es) and what have you learned from it/them.
Building my Insurance and Financial Services Business from scratch with very little start-up capital is one of my biggest professional successes. It enabled my wonderful wife, Violet, to be a stay-home mom, put the kids through college, provided a comfortable lifestyle for my family, and enabled me to help my clients attain their personal financial goals and objectives. While building the practice, I learned the importance and value of thinking out-of-the-box and moving out of comfort zones to achieve success both for me personally and my clients.
Equally as gratifying was my professional engagement on the Charleston International Airport Terminal Redevelopment and Improvement Project. My professional responsibility on that project was to create a design program that would ensure individuals presumed to be socially and economically disadvantaged had full participation access to that $200+ million dollar project. The project enabled us to involve Asian-Pacific Americans, Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans and women who were designated as socially and economically disadvantaged by the Small Business Administration. At project completion, nearly half of those dollars were spent with the reference group.
Quick Hits – Part 2
Current job:
President of Trust Management, LLC - Insurance and Financial Services
Education:
BS, South Carolina State University
Previous experience in public office:
Charleston City Council (1991-1999); South Carolina State University Board of Trustees (2001-2012)
Relevant experience to help you as mayor:
My 36 years of private sector business experience, serving as Chairman of the Ways and Means and Vice Chairman of the Public Works and Utility Committee, working in community development and on human resources committees, and serving on former Gov. Mark Sanford’s transition team. I have also served on the following boards: Bank of America (Charleston area), Trident Urban League, Spoleto Festival USA, Communities In Schools, South Carolina ETV (Charleston area), Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, South Carolina Coastal Conservation, and South Carolina State University Board of Trustees (6 years as its chair). My diverse professional, personal, and public background has well prepared me to serve effectively as mayor of Charleston.
GARY WHITE
Quick Hits –Part 1
One word your mother would use to describe you:
Dedicated
A book you recommend and why:
“Bringing Out the Best in People” by Aubrey Daniels - Understanding human behavior makes us better leaders.
A movie you recommend and why:
“The Green Book” - Never let our differences define our success.
Best advice you ever received:
Always do what is right, irregardless of the consequences.
What do you identify as the most important issue facing Daniel Island and what specific steps will you take to address it?
I have been a resident of Daniel Island for the past 16 years and in that time I have seen our island grow and change in many ways. One of the most important challenges that Daniel Island will face in the coming years is how to maintain the island’s parks, playgrounds, trail systems, and infrastructure. When Daniel Island Company finishes their work on Daniel Island, the residents will need to take a much more active role in managing and maintaining the island’s amenities. Additionally, the city is going to need to develop a plan to maintain the infrastructure on the island including our roadways, sidewalks, storm drains and outfalls. As mayor, I will work with city staff and Berkeley County to build maintenance plans for our infrastructure on Daniel Island. Most importantly, I will build a funding plan that provides the financial resources needed to maintain our infrastructure without having to rely on raising property taxes. To tackle the issues we face, the mayor needs to be able to garner support from City Council, surrounding jurisdictions and the state and federal government. I am the only candidate for mayor that is endorsed and supported by the majority of City Council. As mayor of the City of Charleston, I will ensure that our city has a clear vision for our future and that our 1,750 city employees work collectively and confidently every day to turn our vision into a reality.
A public boat launch was approved for Daniel Island, to be located on the Wando River with access under the I-526 Bridge, located between the tennis center and city dog park. It has been delayed many times and may now be scrapped altogether. What specific steps will you take to make sure the boat launch is built?
The city has worked for several years with the State Department of Natural Resources and Berkeley County to build a boat landing under I-526. Unfortunately, the project has hit several roadblocks over the years which has caused significant delays in the project. Most recently the structural failures that have occurred on the Wando Bridge have caused yet more issues. After the bridge failure, SCDOT built a structure under the bridge in the same area where the boat landing was to be built. As mayor, I will work proactively with SCDOT to relocate the structure they have built and update the site plans to allow for the project to move forward. Additionally, I will work with SCDNR to update our memorandum of understanding to ensure their financial support for completing the project. As an avid boater and resident on Daniel Island, I will continue to work hard to push for the completion of this project.
Describe your biggest professional success(es) and what have you learned from it/them.
My biggest professional success was being selected out of several thousand applicants to lead the European expansion of a Fortune 500 company. I learned the value of human resources and how to embrace cultural differences. This experience taught me some of the most valuable lessons in leadership and management and helped shaped the path for my professional career.
Quick Hits – Part 2
Current job:
City Council Member District 1 (representing Daniel Island, Cainhoy and Downtown Charleston for the past 12 years); President and Chief Investment Officer, Urban Core Advisors LLC Education: Bachelor’s Business Administration, College of Charleston; and Master’s Business Administration, The Citadel
Previous experience in public office:
Twelve years serving as the representative for District 1 for the City of Charleston covering Daniel Island, Cainhoy and Downtown Charleston
Relevant experience to help you as mayor:
Professional background in banking, finance, and management for 25 years. Political background serving on City Council for 12 years. Currently, I serve on the following committees for City of Charleston: Ways and Means Committee, Chairman; Arts Committee; Community Development Committee; Human Resources Committee, Vice Chair; Real Estate Committee; Special Facilities Committee, Vice Chair; Tourism Commission; and Audit Committee, Past Chairman.