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James Island
2.0
New town heads to the
polls
By Bill Davis
Next
Tuesday, voters on the newly-incorporated Town of James Island will go to
polling sites to decide who they want as their new mayor, Mary Clark or
Kay Kernodle, and which of the 12 candidates they want to fill the four
seats on Town Council.
This will be the third election in the
town’s brief and interrupted history. The first election came in 1992 with
the town’s initial formation; the second four years later.
The
town was re-formed two weeks ago when residents voted 2,769-1,260 in a
referendum to break away from the City of Charleston.
When asked if
Charleston would once again go to court to keep James Island in the
unincorporated part of the county and, subsequently, available for
annexation, city attorney Bill Regan was uncharacteristically reticent,
offering only a “no comment.”
When pressed for the City’s plans, Regan
said only that it was looking at the issue “very closely,” and that should
it decide to challenge the incorporation, it had a 60-day window from next
Thursday, the day when Tuesday’s election will likely be certified by the
county’s election commission.
This brings up the first bone of
contention: Trent Kernodle, who has been working for the past several
years as the Town attorney, says the 60 days started the day Secretary of
State Jim Miles approved the town’s charter.
Regan holds that the
charter Miles issued is non-binding and only becomes effective once the
election is certified. He said the City would use the Miles’ date as its
window just to make sure.
Regardless, with the City keeping mum as
to its plans, it will be interesting to see how any potential litigation
plays out.
Kernodle, speaking from his law offices which had served
as the former Town Hall, said that he hoped that the incorporation was
done so well that the City won’t have anything to challenge.
While
he’s not sure exactly how the City will challenge the incorporation,
Kernodle remembers a statement Regan made a long time ago about attacking
the constitutionality of the state law that cleared the way for the Town
to be formed in the first place, calling it “special
legislation.”
Kernodle expects the City may “nibble around the
edges” of the issue, looking for perhaps a single property that was
improperly annexed in an attempt to have the incorporation thrown out. (In
related news, he sent a letter to City Hall last week asking it to stop
attempting to annex properties located within the Town’s
boundaries.)
While “nibbling” doesn’t sound terribly imposing at
first, it could become a deadly proposal. Kernodle fears that the City
will use its considerably deeper pockets to outwait the newly-formed, cash
poor municipality. Especially considering how much the town owes him for
past services.
Kernodle has represented the nascent town for years
without submitting a bill. He knows exactly how many hours he’s put in,
but won’t release the amount. “The bill will be tremendous,” he admitted.
He estimates that between 10-20 percent of his professional time has been
spent working on the incorporation bid overall, spiking as high as 50
percent at times.
Once the Town is fully incorporated, though, he
plans to submit the bill. “And either they will pay it or they won’t, and
we’ll see what happens if they don’t.”
Kernodle, who recently
represented City Councilman Kwadjo Campbell in his successful bid to throw
out bogus runoff results, is interested in continuing on as the Town
attorney. But even that decision is tinged with politics and the
possibilities of litigation.
Mary Clark, who is running for mayor
against Kay Kernodle, his wife, wonders if it’s ethical to have a husband
and wife team within Town Hall. (Attorney Kernodle insists it is, based on
an ethics board finding, as long as she doesn’t vote on his appointment or
wage.)
Overtly political
Mary Clark is already a seasoned
warrior for James Island. Ever since the town was forced to fold, Clark
and her trademark red T-shirt has been beating the bushes as the
co-founder of the James Island Alliance for Self Government.
For
Clark, incorporation was enough of a victory. But she’d still like to be
mayor in order to serve the constituents she’s fought on behalf of the
past five-plus years. Under her aegis, government would remain lean by
contracting for county services like trash and sewer, and residents would
be given property tax relief.
“I’m running on my record; if the
past five years isn’t enough to get me there, then I don’t deserve to be
there.”
Clark also thinks that candidates who didn’t fight for
self rule as part of the alliance don’t belong on the ballot, referring to
them as “Johnnie-come-latelys who just plunk down a $100 and throw their
hats into the ring.”
Kay Kernodle, understandably, has a difference
of opinion. Being supportive of a self-incorporated James Island is a
family affair for both Kernodles.
If elected, Kay Kernodle would
strive to make James Island a “strong, effective, and efficient town.”
She’d work to protect what James Islanders already have, while working to
solve problems like traffic, taxes, and development.
As for the
Town Council race, here’s a thumbnail sketch on the 12 candidates
running:
• Karen Bennett, the only woman on the ticket and Clark’s
daughter, was a longtime member of the alliance. The advertising
professional’s family dates back three generations on the island.
•
Paul Hadley is a supervisor at the Department of Natural Resources
facility on Ft. Johnson Road. He ran unsuccessfully for mayor and for
council the first time James Island incorporated. He is a co-chair of the
alliance with William “Cubby” Wilder and has lived on James Island for 22
years.
• Ray Patterson has lived on James Island for the past 25
years, and off and on for 42 years total. Patterson owns a West Ashley
music shop. He stayed away from the alliance because it could appear as a
conflict of interest because of his 16-year tenure as a member of the
James Island Public Service District.
• A. Thomas Price moved to
James Island two years ago from Summerville. He just joined the alliance
and has no previous political experience. He works as a computer “tech
geek” for DHEC’s Office of Coastal Resources Management.
• Real
estate and construction attorney Joseph Qualey has lived on James Island
for three years. He believes that to do something effective for the Town,
one doesn’t have to be a member of the alliance.
• Don Ritchie is a
consulting engineer in the manufacturing and industrial fields. He’s lived
on the island for at least 11 years. A member of the alliance, he’s never
been to a meeting.
• Robert Bolus was raised on James Island and
has lived there for 45 years. He teaches construction techniques at
Trident Tech and is not a member of the alliance.
• William “Cubby”
Wilder is a retired Air Force worker who has lived his entire life on the
island. A co-founder and chair of the alliance, he has also chaired the
grassroots organization The Concerned Citizens of Sol Legare for the past
16 years. He served on the town’s original election commission.
•
The Rev. Parris Williams works as a medical supply tech at the V.A.
hospital in North Charleston. A member of the alliance for the past five
years, Williams has had several unsuccessful runs for county and state
offices.
• Jerome Sloane Sr. owns a realty company, but makes his
living primarily as contractor specializing in repair work. He’s lived all
of his 58 years on the island. He served as an appointed member of the
past town’s planning commission.
• Bill Woolsey ran unsuccessfully
as a Libertarian candidate last year for the U.S. Senate seat presently
held by Henry Brown. An economics professor at The Citadel, he has lived
on James Island for the past seven years. He was appointed to was formerly
the Charleston County Planning Board from 1997-’99. He is not a member of
the alliance.
• Clarence Spell has lived on James Island for at
least 15 years. He retired after a 38-year, military and civilian career
with the Air Force. He was appointed to the past town’s election
commission. He is not actively involved with the alliance but has put out
its information.
James Island residents wanting to vote in next
Tuesday’s election need to return to the same polling place where they
went to vote on incorporation. The polling places are all located in the
four James Island fire stations and will be open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
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