Voters pick Page, Burn, Carrier and Rhyne

With nineteen candidates vying for just four Mount Pleasant Town Council seats, evaluating their qualifications may seem to be a daunting task. But given the considerable influence the Town Council has on our everyday life, it is important that we cast an informed vote for those candidates whose priorities most closely match our own. To that end, I offer the following:

To the candidates: As an informed voter, I am less interested in what you promise to do when elected to Council than I am in what you have already done to make Mount Pleasant a better place to live. As many hiring managers know, “the best predictor of future performance is past performance.” Show me your public service resume that demonstrates your involvement in Town affairs. I’m not going to cast my vote for you based on a slick handout or catchy slogan.

To my fellow voters: Get out and meet the candidates – there are some excellent ones. Go to neighborhood meet and greets, visit a candidate website or read about their positions on the issues. Ask them about their past involvement in Town affairs and what they have already done to make Mount Pleasant a better place to live. Ask about issues that are important to you – and then evaluate how informed they are on the key issues facing the Town.

As for me, I’ll be looking for candidates that have an impressive public service resume, a demonstrated history of community involvement and the independent judgment to understand the challenges we face in the coming years and support reasonable solutions. I don’t often publicly support candidates for office, but my positive past experience working with Chris Nickels on various Town committees and on neighborhood issues over the years leads me to believe he will perform as effectively in the future as a councilman as he has in the past as a citizen leader. I hope to discover three other candidates who have similarly impressive public service resumes.

Bob Brimmer

Mount Pleasant

849.1934

October 9, 2009

Dear Chris,

Thank you again for taking the time out of your busy campaign schedule to meet with the Charleston Trident Association of REALTORS® Candidate Screening Committee. We write to inform you that the Screening Committee has completed its work and the findings were approved by the association’s Board of Directors.

As you are aware, the purpose of the Candidate Screening Committee is to get to know the candidates, to learn of their views on issues and to promote the election of those individuals who know and understand REALTOR® issues. Ultimately, it is the Committee’s responsibility to recommend candidates who are concerned with REALTOR® issues, who are willing to work to preserve the way of life in the Lowcountry through preservation of private property rights, higher paying jobs, better schools, less road congestion and responsible government. After careful evaluation of the candidates interviewed in your race, the Candidate Screening Committee and the Board of Directors have determined you are Recommended for Mount Plesant Town Council. Candidates who the Association rates as Recommended means the candidate received the highest marks compatible with REALTOR® interests, and we are recommending to our REALTOR® members that they cast their ballot in November for you.

Again, on behalf of the Charleston Trident Association of REALTORS®, we appreciate you meeting with us. We wish you the best of luck in the election, and if in the future we may be of any assistance to you, please do not hesitate to call on us.

Sincerely,

Herb Koger Legislative Chair

By Prentiss Findlay / The Post and Courier

Tuesday, September 29, 2009  MOUNT PLEASANT — In the area’s most high-profile political race, this town’s three mayoral hopefuls are busy pressing the flesh and getting to know the concerns of voters.

Joe Bustos said he has visited 1,000 homes on a door-to-door bicycle campaign.

Gary Santos said he will use the forum to discuss his opposition to narrowing Coleman Boulevard to two lanes.

Billy Swails said the depth of his experience sets him apart from the other candidates.

Council members Billy Swails, Gary Santos and Joe Bustos are beginning to make distinctions between each other as they seek support in the Nov. 3 election. Whether it’s campaigning on a bicycle-built-for-two or just walking through neighborhoods, the three candidates are ramping up their efforts.

Potential voters will get more chances to evaluate the candidates this week:

• On Thursday, the trio gets together to field questions on transportation, livable communities, housing and community growth in a forum that starts at 6:30 p.m. at Moultrie Middle School.

• The candidates also will be at Memorial Waterfront Park from 5:30 p.m. to about 6 p.m. Thursday for “Pork and Politics In The Park,” an event sponsored by the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce to help the business community learn about the candidates.

Town Council candidates — there are 19 seeking four seats — also will attend the event in the park, which will last until 7:30 p.m. in the Cooper River Room. It costs $30 per person and includes food and beverage.

• The mayoral candidates appear in a taped debate on “The Savage Report” on Comcast Channel 2. The show airs daily at 8:30 p.m. and weekdays at 11:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. “All three go head-to-head on issues like traffic, Shem Creek development and allegations of secret meetings,” the show’s Web site states. It is hosted by attorney Andy Savage.

The candidates are vying to replace acting Mayor Kruger Smith, who has held the town’s top spot since Mayor Harry M. Hallman Jr. resigned in May because of Alzheimer’s disease. Smith is not seeking the position.

The mayoral candidates all have talked about their extensive council experience. Now they’re ready to begin telling voters how they’ll do a better job than the other guys.

Swails said the depth of his experience sets him apart and that he knows better than his opponents the issues facing the town. He said he is excited about the forum. “The more issues they throw at us, the better,” he said. “We need some debates like that to show the difference in the candidates.”

Bustos’ campaign has included riding a bicycle built-for-two with his wife, Kathy, to go door to door introducing himself and listening to voter concerns. He said he visited his 1,000th home over the weekend. While knocking on doors, Bustos said he has learned that residents want to connect or reconnect with town government. He sees the forum as an important opportunity for that to happen.

Santos said the forum provides another chance for the public to get a close look at the candidates. “The more access that we have to the public, the better,” he said. Santos said the forum is an opportunity to discuss his opposition to the council decision to narrow Coleman Boulevard from four lanes to two lanes as part of its Coleman Boulevard Revitalization project.

WCSC-TV anchorman Bill Sharpe will moderate the forum. He said the event will be presented live on the station Web site channel at www.live5news.com. Sharpe said the focus of the forum probably will be on how the town will manage development. The town of 65,000 residents has tripled in size in the past 30 years. Questions won’t be taken from the public, but those in attendance can meet the candidates afterward. Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

The event is sponsored by the AARP’s new East Cooper chapter, which decided on the forum as its first project because the mayor’s race is so hotly contested, said Doris Gleason, director of community outreach for the AARP’s state chapter.

The council candidates are Steve Brock, Ben Bryson, John W. Burn, Elton K. Carrier, Howard Chalmers, Paiam Etminan, George A. Freeman, David Kent, Henry A. Middleton, Douglas Miller, Christopher Nickels, Kenny Oubre, Linda Page, Russell Read, Tom Reilly, Craig Rhyne, Roxanne Riccio, Phyllis Sheffer and Ted Summerford.

Friday is the last day to register in person to vote in the Nov. 3 election. For information on how to register, go to scvotes.org.

COMING EVENTS

WHAT: Meet the Mount Pleasant candidates

WHEN: 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday

WHERE: Memorial Waterfront Park, Cooper River Room

COST: $30 at Charleston Chamber web site

WHAT: Hear the views of mayoral candidates

WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Thursday

WHERE: Moultrie Middle School cafeteria, 645 Coleman Blvd.

COST: Free. Seating on first-come, first-serve basis

WHAT: Watch a taped mayor’s race debate

WHERE: “The Savage Report” with Andy Savage, Comcast Channel 2

WHEN: 8:30 p.m. daily through Sunday; 11:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday