HICKS COLUMN: Let people decide on town, city

So far, Billy Swails isn't getting very far with his quest for a more powerful Mount Pleasant mayor.

As Prentiss Findlay reports, most Town Council types think things are working just fine as they are. That's true, it's always a great day in Mount Pleasant -- even if they could use a Costco.

Right now, Mount Pleasant has a "weak mayor/strong council" form of government, which means that the town administrator actually runs things. The mayor's chief power over other council members is his unerring ability to cut ribbons in front of new, non-big-box businesses.

The weak mayor thing sort of works like the school district, where they hire a superintendent to run things and the school board mainly sets policy. And argues. And drags out meetings. Luckily, it's not like that in East Cooper. But as good as things are, Swails is right: things could be better.

Just ask someone who knows.

An elected CEO

North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey is about as strong a mayor as you can get. Before ascending to his current position, he worked in county government, which is run by a hired administrator. He definitely has a preference.

"The people say a strong mayor eliminates the council, but that's not the way it works in North Charleston," Summey said. "You are the CEO, but you are elected. As the administrator, I not only have to keep 50 percent of council happy, I have to keep 50 percent of the people happy."

That's accountability.

Summey said with an elected administrator, government tends to be more responsive to its residents. Well, yeah -- because the job of the guy in charge depends on customer service. But there's more to it than that.

"Being the elected administrator is very helpful when you are out recruiting business," Summey said. "Just look at how North Charleston, and Charleston, is doing."

He has a point. North Charleston just landed a little business called Boeing. You've got to think company officials were more comfortable with assurances from a guy elected by a vast majority of the public than they would have been with an administrator who lives and dies at the whim of council.

Let voters decide

Swails said this is about the town, that he would not run for full-time mayor. It's good that he said that. If he didn't add that caveat, it would look like a power grab and might doom the effort.

His biggest hurdle is going to be letting folks know exactly what this means for them. That will be tough because council members are right -- Mt. P is rocking along.

But fact is this is no longer a "town" -- it's the fourth-biggest city in South Carolina, even though it has only one high school. It's bigger than Greenville. A city of that size needs industry to stabilize tax base, and probably needs a full-time, elected recruiter to have the pull to do it.

Swails wants a referendum and is prepared to go out and get one with a petition. That's where this belongs -- with the people. Because ultimately it's up to residents to decide what they want to be: a suburb of Charleston, or a city.