Former nuisance is coming up roses

What once was a civic nuisance is now Charleston's newest source of civic pride.

Several years ago, downtown merchants and residents griped about youths selling roses that they wove from palmetto fronds. They complained that the youths behaved too aggressively, littered city streets and parks and scaled trees with knives in hand, endangering themselves and others.

The city ultimately created a week-long, after-school entrepreneurship class. Anyone selling palmetto roses had to graduate to get a permit.

The complaints gradually faded, and the city's Palmetto Artisan Program on Saturday beat out more than 200 other entries, including ones from other big cities such as Little Rock, Ark., Oklahoma City and Philadelphia, to claim first place in the U.S. Conference of Mayors' city livability awards in Providence, R.I.

But the story is about more than how the city turned a negative into a positive. It's also about two political adversaries working together to make a positive change.

Former state Rep. Jimmy Bailey ran for mayor in 2003 but lost to incumbent Mayor Joe Riley. The two didn't talk much for a while, but when the palmetto rose venders began making headlines, Bailey happened to see Riley entering City Hall and stopped him to talk about an idea.

Bailey is director of YEScarolina, a nonprofit that teaches and promotes entrepreneurship.

"I saw him on Broad Street, and I said, 'Joe, those kids are demonstrating all the right values. All they need is a little bit of help,' " Bailey said. "He said 'All right, let's talk about it.' "

In 2007, the city began offering a week-long, after-school camp that taught lessons about customer service, marketing techniques and social skills. Teachers Jenny Whittle and Carly David led the sessions, which were held at a city recreation center. The kids also got snacks, mentoring and free palmetto fronds.

More than 70 youths have graduated from the program and are permitted to sell the roses in places where the city normally forbids peddling, such as Waterfront Park.

"Where the police were scolding them, now they're helping them," Riley said. "It just needed to be organized and turned into something where it was all positive."

Riley asked Bailey to make the trip with him to Providence to accept the award together.

"When Joe called me a couple of weeks ago and told me, I don't know that I've had those kind of emotions in some time," Bailey said. "I really teared up thinking about how this little organization of ours has had this impact."

Bailey and Riley since have collaborated to raise private money to fund a half-dozen summer camps on entrepreneurship for middle school and high school students.

While Bailey didn't become mayor in 2003, he had his moment at the U.S. Conference of Mayors podium, and he said several other mayors stopped him later to ask for his card and advice about making similar entrepreneurial classes work in their city.

"I didn't become mayor, but we got this going because Joe and the city have become a full-time, 100 percent enthusiastic partner," Bailey said, then joked, "and I can go home tomorrow morning and not worry about all that other stuff."

Reach Robert Behre at 937-5771 or rbehre@postandcourier.com.