Keith Summey deserves re-election

More than a dozen years ago Keith Summey set out to change the image of North Charleston, which was still relatively new to municipal government compared to its historic neighbor, the city of Charleston. While some of his major efforts still are a work in progress, the city he now leads is one of the most economically vibrant in the state.

North Charleston, in fact, continues to dominate all others in retail sales and is attracting new industries that are creating new jobs. One of the latest is a Tanger retail outlet in the Centre Pointe commercial complex that opened last year. A nearby $6 million fire museum is a popular new amenity and a joint project of the city and America La France. The addition of some 2,000 hotel rooms in the city also is testament to its growing attractiveness.

The early years of the Summey administration, which dates from a special election in 1994, were particularly challenging in view of the federal decision a year earlier to close the city's major employer, the Charleston Navy Base and Shipyard. The city's population took a dramatic dip after the actual closure a few years later, as did the fortunes of base-related businesses. The mayor was at the forefront of the effort to bring more diversity to the area's economy as well as to accelerate the city's annexation efforts. A population that hit a low of some 40,000 residents during his early years in office is now estimated by the mayor to have more than doubled.

Keith Summey has proven to be more than a nuts and bolts administrator. From the outset, he has had a vision for his city that includes reclaiming much of the valuable Navy Base waterfront that was for so long off-limits to most citizens. A compromise he helped broker has given the State Ports Authority room for badly needed expansion with the other half of the base set aside for mixed-use development and open space. A riverfront park is still in the development stages and an impressive Navy Base Memorial is scheduled to open later this summer. The base also is slated to be the site of what will be an international tourist attraction, a museum housing the Confederate submarine Hunley, which still is being restored in a building on the base.

The base redevelopment has had its frustrations and doubtless will continue to be a major challenge. The city initially formed a partnership with the Noisette Co. in the massive planning project but has since parted company. While acknowledging the setbacks, the mayor insists the project "has not been a failure."

"We have not moved at the rate we would have liked or Noisette would have liked," he told us. At the same time, he points out that the project already has paid dividends by enhancing the rebirth of the older areas of the city.

As for the Hunley, while North Charleston won out over its neighboring municipalities, some insist the museum site still isn't set in concrete. That's not how the mayor sees it. He expects the museum to put the city solidly on the tourism map, noting that the master planning, design and construction will take three to four years.

Crime in the city has been much on the minds of both council and mayoral candidates during this election campaign, with the mayor noting that "crime is a challenge for every city." He says his city is joining with the city of Charleston in a community policing study being conducted by the University of South Carolina in hopes of finding some new approaches to the problem. He also points to the youth education problem as one of the biggest hurdles he has in rekindling growth. He says he is working with school officials on a variety of ways to address the problem, including putting city resources into after-school programs.

Growth continues to be one of the hallmarks of this administration with the mayor pushing more inner city residential density to fill vacant lots as well as keeping his eye toward the further expansion of the city boundaries, which now include portions of Dorchester and Berkeley counties. We haven't agreed with the mayor on all those decisions. In our view, the most notable negative is the city's move west of the Ashley to accommodate a controversial development that would add immeasurably to the congestion of the Ashley River Road's fragile historic corridor. Overall, however, we are impressed by Keith Summey's dedication to moving North Charleston forward.

The mayor tells us he considers "the fact that people aren't ashamed to say they live in North Charleston any more" as the major accomplishment of his administration. "We are a vital part of the economic fiber of the Charleston area," he said. "When you are talking about planning, economic growth and quality of life, we deserve a seat at the table because we've earned it."

There is no question that the city is now a major player not only in the area but the state, and much of the credit goes to Keith Summey.

Voters in Thursday's election should give the mayor four more years to deal with the challenges ahead.