© 2003, Rotary Club of Charleston

P.O. Box 21029
Charleston, SC 29413-1029

Club secretary:
Carroll Schweers
chasrot@comcast.net

Tim Scott provides the "State of the County"
Chair of couty council addresses challenges ahead

NOV. 4, 2003 - The Chair of the Charleston County Council, Tim Scott, summarized for Rotarians some of the issues currently being tackled by County Council, as well as challenges that lie ahead.

Some of the successes highlighted by Scott included the hiring of the new school superintendent, improvements in public education test scores, community efforts to attract AirTran to the area, expansion of MUSC and the use of citizen advisory committees and academies to teach residents more about their county government and to in turn obtain feedback and suggestions from such residents.

Among other challenges for the future, Scott mentioned that although Charleston County is only "90 miles long," it has serious traffic congestion. One way to address such traffic problems would be through the completion of the Mark Clark Expressway, according to Scott. He believes that the Expressway will eventually be completed and predicted that tolls may be needed to help pay for the project.

Other challenges that lie ahead, according to Scott, include: improving rural fire service, eradicating duplicated services like trash collection, solving the "crisis of public transportation," improving EMS response times, minimizing jail overcrowding, addressing continued debates over appropriate land use, making Charleston an international destination for both tourism and industry, and building a new juvenile detention facility.

Scott believes that county government can and should decrease in size by increased use of technology and cross-training of employees on multiple job skills. He also proposes not automatically refilling all positions made vacant through attrition or retirement.

When elected to the County Council in 1995, Scott says he became the first elected African American Republican government official in South Carolina in over one hundred years. He presides over a government that has a $200 million operating budget and has more than 2000 employees. The Council is comprised of nine members.

In other business…

Johnny Stuhr led members in a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance this week. Jason Harkey welcomed our guests and visiting Rotarians. Conrad Zimmerman offered Health and Happiness, and Anita Zucker gave us a "Rotary Moment." David Spell discussed the Fall Social; Johnny Jordan announced details of the upcoming Rotary College of Knowledge. Wendy Gore and Ellen Katzman presented a Rotary plaque obtained while visiting a Rotary club in Israel. Finally, Madeleine McGee introduced the speaker, Tim Scott.

-- Amy Jenkins