NORTH CHARLESTON – STRONG HERITAGE

August 10, 2010: Police Chaplain, Rob Dewey, introduced Mayor Summey, stating many of his accomplishments over the period of time that he has served as mayor of North Charleston. Mayor Summey has lived and worked in North Charleston since the early sixties.

Mayor Summey opened his remarks by saying: “I’ll always be known as the Jr. Mayor” although he has been the Mayor of North Charleston for 16 years. He spoke briefly about how Park Circle is the stalwart of North Charleston; that it was the founders of that circle who have given North Charleston the strong heritage that it continues to have to this day. He stated that it is that heritage which unites the city.

He asked the Rotarians to “stop and think about the economy we’re in and the economic forecast for the entire country.” Speaking of North Charleston he said: “We’re the last to take a nose dive and the first to recover.” He said that North Charleston is a wonderful place to live, work and play. “People from all over like to come here.”

Mayor Summey said that he is particularly excited about Boeing coming to North Charleston for two reasons: 1. They are building a top notch, environmentally advanced building. 2. They are interested in supporting many of the 501c3 organizations in the greater Charleston community. He said that he was also very excited about the Clemson wind turbine project. He stated that it will create between 10,000 and 20,000 jobs in SC over the next 10-20 years. He said that the city of North Charleston gave Clemson 85 acres of land on which to build this project.

Regarding the Noisette Corp, he said that they bought the Ship Watch Square from them to create anchors and allow private developers to come into that development.

Regarding the Montague Ave. redevelopment, he said that he wants to redo Reynolds Ave. in the same way. He wants to build a new Chicora Elementary School. He said that he’s trying to recreate areas that will be conducive to inviting young couples to move into the area. “We have to play catch-up with the rebuilding of our schools. We have to create new communities out of old, run down communities. They have to become the nucleus by investing in the area.”

Regarding casino boats and gambling, Summey said that it’s an opportunity to draw revenue and create entertainment, that “you don’t have to drink or gamble to have fun on the boats.” However, he did say that it is a controversial topic.

With regards to his participation in the Gay Pride Parade, he said that “as a believer (in Christ) we are all children of God. Why should we get caught up in the small things that make us different instead of the larger things that make us alike? A lot of the things in our lives are hereditary. We have to learn to live together and work toward making an environment that is warm, caring, friendly and open-minded.”

Regarding the Port he simply said that “we have to work together to make it work.”

Submitted by Bill Christian, Keyway Committee