Four candidates — two Democrats and two Republicans — are running for two at-large city council seats open this fall.
Republicans Glynn Willis and incumbent Bobby Holland will face Democrats Steve Powers and Octavia Williams-Blake.
Holland said he hopes to stay on council to help see such projects as a new wastewater treatment plant and downtown revitalization come to fruition.
Powers said he decided while watching council meetings that “the citizens of Florence deserved more in-depth decision-making time from those members.”
Williams-Blake said Florence city government, which hasn’t had a woman on council since 1953, needs “broader representation,” including a younger demographic, in its government.
Willis said he’s spent 12 years on the city and county planning commissions and knows how to get answers and results while serving on council.
What’s the most important issue facing Florence?
Holland: “I would say downtown revitalization. That’s a heart of mine because I was born here in Florence, and I would like to see downtown turn to a good, revitalized downtown.”
Powers: “The first one that pops in my mind is the problem with ... gang activities. They like that we’re doing exactly what we’re doing. They meet monthly on city council ... You know when the gangs are meeting? Every night. And that’s when they decide what they’re going to do to our community.”
Williams-Blake: “I think the most important issue is leadership. We have an increase in crime and gang-related activity, we have some opportunities to enhance the community appearance and development of our neighborhoods, beautification issues, downtown development issues, but I don’t think we can accomplish any of that and move Florence forward without the right kind of leadership.”
Willis: “When you look at public safety, it’s the foundation for the quality of life. When you look at criminal activity that’s occurring, who would have thought that we’d have nationally known, L.A.-type gangs in Florence? But we do, and they’re influencing our youth. I believe in community policing. ... In community policing, the focus is to not have your officers as much in their car but in the streets and in the neighborhoods interacting with the community. ... What that creates is an informant network that the average citizen feels comfortable — when they see something, they will call an officer. ... I also believe that we must support our police politically.”
What would you do to improve downtown Florence and speed up revitalization?
Holland: “I think ... we have done the governmental side has stepped up to the plate and done almost as much as we can afford to do financially. ... My desire would be to try to target some private-sector funds to come in downtown. ... It would be nice to see a developer come in and develop the lower, the bottom floors, street floors into some kind of retail shops, some niches down there, and then overhead put some loft apartments.”
Powers: “The downtown process is just that — it is a process. ... You had the 2010 committee that probably petered out after about five years because of different funding; now you have Downtown Development that has been making progress weekly (through the acquisition of downtown buildings). ... My first thought for the Kimbrell’s building would be the museum. ... We would like to see an artisan center in the upstairs portion of the Royal Knight building.”
Williams-Blake: “It’s promoting shared responsibility, it’s taking everybody who has an interest in seeing downtown be developed or redeveloped ... and helping everybody understand that we all have a responsibility in making that happen. ... Personally, I would like to see the current Memorial Stadium (for high school football teams) moved downtown. I would like to see any new courthouse that’s built be built downtown.”
Willis: “First I think we have to change ... what people perceive our downtown is. To do that, first I think you need to improve the appearance of downtown, and I’ve got some ideas on how to do that (through grants to improve storefronts). ... I also believe that we need one or two commercial anchor tenants downtown to help turn our commercial activities around. But the key ... is your small business owners, and we’ve talked about a small business incubator program that actually mentors and works with existing small business and other entrepreneurs who would like to move into downtown. ... I also support a multi-use sports stadium at the corner of North Irby and Lucas streets.”
How would you deal with abandoned properties?
Holland: “The city could go in, tear the property down, put a lien on that property and then when it’s sold you could recover those funds. ... And if (absentee owners) haven’t done anything with the property now, you tear it down, our chances of recovering that financially are slim at best. ... Through the guidance of (the city) attorney, it can be done ... again, it’s just a matter of the dollars, where are those dollars going to come from?”
Powers: “The first thing I’d do is go find out who owns those properties and try to contact them and go see them and talk to them about cleaning them up. Now, if there’s somebody who isn’t going to be very cooperative, then I’m going to look at the enforcement process and see how we can strengthen that. I’ve heard other candidates say (to clean the property and attach a lien to it). ... Property owners are going to say: ‘Fine, you’ve cleaned it up 25 times. Appreciate it.’ And there’s a $3,000 mortgage on it. By then the value’s gone up 400 percent, and they don’t care; they’ll sell it anyway.”
Williams-Blake: “I don’t believe in taking people’s property without due process. I think every property owner needs the opportunity to fix up the property to get caught up on taxes, but if we’re seeing abandoned buildings that are serving as havens for gang activity or criminal activity, I think we as a city government need to do everything within our power to make sure that we either demolish those buildings or do whatever we need to do to bring them up to code ...”
Willis: “What has been done, and I think can be done better, is you put a lien on the property (if the owner is difficult or impossible to reach). Now, that’s not immediate payback to you, so how do you get this done? Again, through federal grants and funds for remedial actions in that area.”
How would you handle the city’s infrastructure needs?
Holland: “Since we started that stormwater utility, there is a revenue stream to come in to support drainage projects, and we’ve proven to the bonding companies .. (that we can) complete some big drainage projects, which we are doing. On the utility, water and sewer side, that is going to be a challenge because ... downtown Florence is really old and it has not had a lot of upgrades put into it. ... I think you just have to take a systematic approach (and) set money aside ... and start replacing the old lines.”
Powers: “We’ve got pipes in downtown Florence that are 80 and 90 years old that are on the verge of collapse, and we must take the time (to develop a five-year plan immediately). We have to or they’re going to bust right under us. And with any new development going in — you bring in a big center for the arts and all that (and) you’re tying that into these old pipes, good luck.”
Williams-Blake: “We have a hard rain (that causes flooding) in my neighborhood maybe four times a year. Is four times a year of inconvenience worth spending millions and millions of taxpayer dollars to dig up the streets to put in bigger water pipes? ... If it is a risk (to residents) ... maybe we have to do some reallocation of funds to determine ... which (projects) are a greater need at that time.”
Willis: “The city of Florence alone cannot solve these problems. We must be more inclusive and reach out to Florence County Council and our legislative delegation in Columbia and (the S.C. Department of Transportation). ... To be successful, No. 1, you’ve got to plan ahead. And to do that, we need a long-term evaluation of where we’re going and how we’re going to get there through planning and looking at our infrastructure needs before the citizen is impacted down the road five or 10 years.”
Would you raise the city’s taxes and fees, or should such increases be a last resort?
Holland: “Years ago, ... the agreement was at that time that all of (Florence’s) local option sales tax was going to roll back on (real property) taxes. My thought would be that if we had to have additional funds, that we would freeze that local option sales tax at a point and take that additional revenue and roll it into the general fund if needed. I’m not a huge advocate of raising taxes. ... I know everybody would say that’s a backdoor way of doing it, but that’s not raising taxes; it just froze everything at that point.”
Powers: “They should be a last resort because I think the first thing we should do as elected city officials is answer to the public as to where we’re spending the money they’re giving us now. When there’s waste there, if there is, then you don’t go ask for more when you’re wasting what they’re giving you.”
Williams-Blake: “The first resort should be to look at what our current resources are and how we can reallocate needs and services. I think raising taxes should absolutely be a last resort. I am against raising taxes. However, again I think we have to ask ourselves, what are we willing to sacrifice? And if we want things like reduced crime, reduced gang activity (and) better schools, somebody has to pay for that.”
Willis: “I believe that you can never say ‘never’ or ‘no’ when you’re working with issues that relate to public service. ... If the situation arises, I would ask our accounting department to look at fiscal responsibility as it relates to our line-item budget. Are there areas that we can trim our spending and relocate those monies? ... If we’ve done that and we’re dealing with a quality-of-life issue such as law enforcement, at last resort I would support that.”
How would you tackle Florence’s crime problems?
Holland: “Some (funds from increased city franchise fees) were targeted to give the chief some additional police officers, and I think it was a very wise move on the city’s part to do that. ... We approved two police officers and additional equipment in this year’s budget, and (the chief) probably needs more.”
Powers: “The first thing I would want to work on is ... seeing exactly what it’s going to take to set up a full-blown gang task force ... I would involve people in the community like Antwan Wells (of the Mayor’s Coalition To Prevent Juvenile Crime) ... He was in (gangs) in Atlanta and he did time in the federal penitentiary. ... What better way to understand them than to have somebody there that used to be one of them?”
Williams-Blake: “I would want to meet with (and support) Chief Anson Shells to see where the problems are. ... As a result of saturation patrols in the (North Charleston) neighborhoods, between January and the end of August, violent crime dropped 20 percent in that city. So I think that says that we need to look to see what other cities are doing.”
Willis: “Community policing and a professional seasoned response team of officers that, as crime spikes in neighborhoods or areas of Florence, we address it immediately. ... We cannot allow thugs and thieves to negatively impact our quality of life.”
Name: Bobby Holland (I)
Age: 65
Hometown: Florence
Family: Wife, Anne Holland; a son
Party: Republican
Education: Master’s degree in business management from Webster University in Myrtle Beach; bachelor’s degree in general studies from Francis Marion University; associate degree in civil engineering from Florence-Darlington Technical College
Experience: 13 years on city council
Name: Steve Powers
Age: 53
Hometown: Jacksonville, N.C.
Family: Wife, Susan Powers; a son
Party: Democratic
Education: Studied psychology at the University of South Carolina in Beaufort
Experience: Serves on the City of Florence Design Review Board (appointed; currently vice chairman)
Name: Octavia Williams-Blake
Age: 36
Hometown: Florence
Family: Husband, Charlie Blake; a daughter
Party: Democratic
Education: Law degree from the University of South Carolina, bachelor’s in public affairs and history from Columbia College
Experience: Appointed by Gov. Mark Sanford to the S.C. Commission for the Blind
Name: Glynn Willis
Age: 59
Hometown: Chesterfield
Family: Wife, Sandra B. Willis; two children
Party: Republican
Education: Bachelor's degree in sociology from Coker College, associate’s degree from Wingate College, graduate of the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy’s Highway Patrol Training Class
Experience: 11 years on Florence County/Municipal Planning Commission (chairman from 2004-08); now chairman of Florence City Planning Commission
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