A new term for Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg

In a place known for its rich and diverse history, the city of Charleston’s spirited inauguration ceremony on Monday, Jan. 13 did not disappoint.

“Isn’t this so exciting!” exclaimed a woman as she took her seat in a row of white chairs set up for the occasion on Broad Street in front of City Hall.

As the day’s honorees filed out before the crowd gathered, the Magnolia Singers and Bright Family Singers set the tone for the program with moving songs of faith and thanksgiving.

Shortly after the clock struck 12 at nearby St. Michael’s Church, Mayor John Tecklenburg was officially sworn into office for his second term.

“It is truly the honor of my life,” stated the mayor. “And I am every bit as excited at the prospect of heading through these doors with our council members and getting to work for our citizens as I was four years ago.”

Six City Council members, among them Daniel Island’s own Marie Delcioppo, also took their oaths of office, in a year that marks the Holy City’s 350th anniversary. Mayor Tecklenburg promised 12 months of an unprecedented “flowering of history and ideas and arts and culture” to commemorate the milestone.

“Through festivals and seminars and reenactments and more, we will tell the story of our people – the whole story of all of our people – from the early promise of liberty and opportunity, to the moral abomination of slavery and Jim Crow, to the hopeful yet still imperfect moment we now inhabit,” said Tecklenburg.

The mayor then turned to the four key issues he views as the city’s top priorities — flooding and drainage, traffic and transportation, affordable housing, and public safety. But Tecklenburg called flooding “job one.”

“The challenge we face is nothing less than existential,” he told the audience. “Over the last four years, we Charlestonians have seen the stark reality of climate change with our own eyes.”

In citing the city’s progress, the mayor noted the creation of the city’s first stormwater department, its first comprehensive flooding plan, and the investment of more than $100 million in critical infrastructure to combat the problem. To help fund additional measures, Tecklenburg plans to ask the city’s 8 million visitors to pitch in.

“We must respectfully ask the state of South Carolina to expand Home Rule by granting us the legal authority to collect additional fees from visitors and to use those dollars for flooding and drainage.”

When it comes to traffic and transportation, the mayor made note of several endeavors including a regional push to secure more than $2 billion for major road improvements and the Lowcountry Rapid Transit, the resurrection of the I-526 extension plan, partnering with CARTA on park and ride programs, and the passing of Charleston’s first citywide transportation plan.

“We must push hard to ensure that all these projects and more come out of the ground on time and on budget, and begin providing real traffic relief for our residents,” he said.

Mayor Tecklenburg called the need for affordable housing a “moral imperative.” According to the mayor, the city has expanded affordable housing requirements for major residential and hotel developments, created a $40 million affordable housing construction fund to increase supply, and worked with the Historic Charleston Foundation to create a new affordable housing land trust.

“Taken together, these initiatives are expected to create more than a thousand units of attractive, attainable housing in the city of Charleston over the next four years,” the mayor stated.

On the topic of public safety, Tecklenburg lauded the work of the city’s police department for its work to undertake a racial bias audit and participate in the city’s Illumination Project — building strong relationships of mutual understanding and respect “one neighborhood, one block, one citizen at a time.”

In closing he called on all Charlestonians to do their part to tackle the city’s greatest needs including examples such as planting a rain garden in the backyard, biking to work instead of taking a car, contributing to causes that support affordable housing, or working with law enforcement officers to ensure the safety of all community members.

“Will these small, individual steps somehow suddenly solve these challenges?” he asked. “No. But they can and will make a difference. And I have no doubt that if we all come together to help solve these problems today, our work will be remembered fondly when a future mayor, say, 50 years from now, welcomes our citizens to Charleston’s 400th birthday celebration … I believe that history will say we did our part to help Charleston remain the Holy City.”