Brewington elected mayor of Society Hill

By: Candace Jarrett/Morning News | SCNow
Published: March 18, 2008

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SOCIETY HILL — Valencia Brewington has been elected Society Hill’s new mayor after a special election Tuesday to fill the town’s mayoral and three council seats.

A new day was the theme as voters came out to get their town council back in order.

Brewington received 127 votes to challenger Kevin Long’s 69 votes.

She is not only the first woman to be elected mayor of Society Hill, but also the first black, and said she is honored to have been chosen as mayor.

“It’s not about race or gender,” she said. “It’s about bringing the community together and building bridges. Town matters are inclusive of the people in it and residents are satisfied if they feel like their voices are heard and thoughts are being considered.”

Candidates Denise Douglas and Richard Gainey were elected to fill two of the council’s three vacant seats.

A runoff election between Charlotte Chapman Edwards and Donald L. Watford will be held April 1 to fill the third seat.

Of the town’s 700 residents, 203 voted in Tuesday’s election.

Douglas, who was outside greeting voters, said she’s excited to win election to town council, adding that she’s found the first item she plans to focus on in office: voter turnout.

“I went down the streets encouraging people to come out to vote and I didn’t realize so many people were not registered to vote,” she said. “Good people have been here and planted seeds and I want to make sure those seeds grow. The people need to realize how important their opinions are.”

The election was held because former mayor Henry Moree and three of the town’s six council members — Lynn Gaskins, Kelly Wallace and Ann Breckenridge — resigned at the Dec. 10 council meeting. Their resignations took effect Dec. 31.

Former council members Zenobia Newton and Thomas Gaskins were not re-elected in the Nov. 6 general election.

That left council with Les Baker, who was chosen Jan. 2 as mayor pro tem, and the two people who were elected in Newton and Gaskins’ places: Brewington and Deborah Harrell.

Baker served as acting mayor until Tuesday’s election, but will soon be moving on as well.

Baker hasn’t officially announced it yet, but he will be resigning in a few months to move to Charleston.

“I’m going to commute for a while and still finish up a couple projects I’ve been working on,” he said. “It will be a couple months before I move.”

Baker said he was hired as a firefighter with Charleston’s fire department. He is a volunteer firefighter for the Darlington County Fire Board.

Another election will be conducted in three months to fill Brewington’s council seat.

Brewington elected mayor of Society Hill

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