High turnover changing makeup of City Council

There will be several new faces on Charleston City Council in January because two incumbents won't be seeking re-election in the Nov. 3 municipal election.

With five-term Councilman Larry Shirley and two-term Councilwoman Deborah Morinelli both declining to seek re-election to represent districts 10 and 2, respectively, at the western end of West Ashley, at least half of the 12 seats on City Council will have changed hands in just two years.

Considering that council members often serve multiple four-year terms, that's high turnover.

The 2007 election put freshmen members Aubry Alexander, Tim Mallard and Gary White Jr. on the council.

Alexander and White won open seats after council members Paul Tinkler and Henry Fishburne declined to seek re-election. Mallard defeated incumbent Anne Frances Bleecker.

In February, William Dudley Gregorie was elected to represent District 6 in a special election, after Councilman Wendell Gilliard left for a seat in the General Assembly.

With two open seats to be filled in November, that means when the new council is seated in January, half the members will have been there for two years or less.

Of course, there's the potential for an even greater change in the balance of power.

Gregorie expects he will face opposition in November when his seat is on the ballot for a full 4-year term.

"I'm planning on it," said Gregorie, who won the special election.

And council veteran Yvonne Evans, who like Shirley is serving her 20th year, has not decided yet whether to seek re-election to her District 8 seat, so there could be a third open seat on the ballot. If she were to run, and win, she would become the longest-serving member on the current council.

"I'm thinking about it, and giving it serious thought," said Evans, who represents a chunk of West Ashley near the Ashley River Bridge, and the western side of the Charleston peninsula between Calhoun and Broad streets.

Council members Robert Mitchell, of District 4, and Kathleen Wilson of District 12 are going to be seeking re-election. Mitchell represents the East Side of the Charleston peninsula and the Cainhoy peninsula, Wilson represents most of James Island, east of Folly Road.

The candidates for open seats and the field of opponents that incumbents may face won't be known until August, when the filing period for the municipal election comes up.

The filing period will run from 9 a.m. on Aug. 3 to 5 p.m. on Aug. 17. Candidates must live in the districts they hope to represent, and pay a $150 filing fee.

In addition to the six City Council seats, one seat on the board of Charleston Water System will be on the ballot. Commissioner David Rivers said he plans to seek re-election to a six-year term.

Shirley had announced when he won his fifth term that it would be his last.

"I'm not going to run unless there's an earthquake, hurricane, pestilence and all that," he said this week. "I plan to do something else in my political life, but at this point I don't know exactly what it's going to be. Twenty years on City Council is quite enough."

Morinelli, who said last week that she plans to take a month off from City Council after being charged with drunken driving on June 26, had previously said she was not planning to seek re-election. She reconfirmed this week that she won't be on the November ballot.

City Council members serve four-year terms, and half the council seats are up for election every two years. Council members are paid $15,000 yearly.

Reach David Slade at 937-5552.