Voters to decide Florence's next mayor during June primary

Voters in the Florence’s Democratic primary will go to the polls in a week and two days to effectively decide who will serve the city as mayor for the next four years.

Mayor Frank Willis, 66, who is seeking a fourth term, faces opposition on June 10 from Florence attorney Stephen J. Wukela, 32. No Republicans filed to run for the office.

The candidates recently spoke with the Morning News about their goals and accomplishments as well as the challenges facing the city.
Frank Willis

Willis said his top accomplishments in his years as mayor include the Mayor’s Coalition To Prevent Juvenile Crime. He said the organization has helped keep children out of trouble so that they will obey the law as adults.

“I think that is a significant beginning to reducing crime overall in the city,” he said.

Willis also said the city for 13 years has succeeded in balancing its budget with no general fund tax increases.

The mayor said downtown redevelopment has a long way to go, but nearly $70 million in capital investments have been made in the city’s core.

“The success will come; we had to have that foundation first,” Willis said.

One of the city’s challenges, he said, is to improve the city’s energy efficiency while providing services in a time when fuel prices are rising sharply.

Florence will take such measures as capturing the methane byproduct from its improved future wastewater treatment plant and converting the gas into power to help run the facility, Willis said.

“These are little steps,” he said. “Over time, we will be looking at hybrid cars for the city fleet” among other fuel- and energy-saving changes.
The city also must find money to improve and replace its aging water and sewer lines, Willis said. Some downtown infrastructure is around 50 to 60 years old, and possibly older, officials have said.

“The challenge is, we have to start now,” Willis said. “We can’t wait another four or five years.”

Florence officials also must work to build a more equitable community that offers more opportunity in minority neighborhoods, Willis said.

The city needs to pursue innovative ways to provide affordable housing and decrease poverty, he said. City council is seeking HOPE VI grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The funds have allowed cities such as Columbia to create affordable housing as well as jobs by mixing in retail.

Stephen J. Wukela

Wukela said his central goal as mayor would be “to unify this city that I think is divided against itself.”

He said the city faces a racial, financial and geographical division between predominantly black north Florence and predominantly white south Florence.

He said that while the city collects no property taxes for city operations, it raises money from fees, assessments and sales taxes that have risen significantly over the past five years and disproportionately affect lower-income people.

Wukela said more money should be invested in the central downtown and north Florence to help bridge the divide.

Downtown development would be spurred by providing entrepreneurs — particularly minority entrepreneurs — with low-interest loans, he said.

Wukela also said he opposes Santee Cooper’s proposed coal-fired plant in Kingsburg and wants instead to focus on clean industry and small business to improve downtown Florence.

“I don’t think that we should condone essentially becoming the trash dump for everybody in the interest of economic development,” he said.

Wukela said the city should force absentee landlords to demolish or improve abandoned buildings that are havens for crime.

If property owners don’t respond, he said, the city should demolish or improve the property and place a lien on the land. And if the lien isn’t paid, the city should sell the property to recoup its cost, he said.

That’s one step to reducing crime, Wukela said, along with devoting more police officers to fighting the city’s gang problem.

“I’m not criticizing (the police), but they aren’t getting the support they need,” he said.

The city’s proposed budget would add two new police officers, but Wukela said that’s not enough to fight the gang problem.

Wukela said juvenile referral numbers are down, but they don’t include violent crimes for which juveniles are tried as adults.