City Council Candidate Gary White Touts Experience, Relationships
Eight years ago, Gary White became the first Daniel Island resident elected to Charleston City Council as a representative of District 1. He’s served the communities on Daniel Island, the Cainhoy Peninsula, and portions of downtown Charleston for two terms - and now he’s hoping for a third.
“We have a lot of great momentum in our city now and we’ve got a very bright future,” said White, a father of three. “But we really need to have some consistency in leadership so we keep moving ahead and moving forward.”
White is running against fellow Daniel Island resident Shawn Pinkston to keep his seat on Council. He began contemplating a re-election run at the end of last year. After consulting with his wife, Holly, they made the decision to give it another go, despite the significant time commitment it would require. White estimates that in the last month alone, his Council duties have kept him out almost every evening of the week. But to White, it is all time well spent, especially now that the City is preparing to have a new top leader in place once Mayor Joe Riley steps down later this year after 40 years in office.
“With a new administration there are going to be many changes,” said White, who served as Mayor Pro-Tem in 2011 and who was awarded the 2015 National League of Cities Silver Certificate of Achievement for Leadership Excellence. “There are going to be philosophical changes, there are going to be departmental changes, all of that’s coming and it’s a guarantee…So I felt that being able to bring my expertise, and learning, and understanding, and tenure, and history, all of those things to council and to the new administration is important, to make sure that as we do have those bumps in the road, that we’ll keep the wheels on.”
White is currently employed by First Citizens Bank on Daniel Island, where he serves as manager of business banking for the tri-county region. He earned an undergraduate degree from the College of Charleston in 1995 and later his MBA from The Citadel. His last eight years on Charleston City Council have been a mix of education (he admits he was a novice in terms of the workings of city government when he first came on Council), prioritizing and tackling tough issues, and building relationships with his fellow council members and others in the City. He has navigated many ups and downs while serving on Council, among them a two-year bout with cancer at the start of his second term. Despite that setback, he earned a Quality of Life Award from the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors in 2010 and was honored in 2013 for outstanding leadership in the Charleston Community’s “40 under 40” program.
When it comes to directly serving his constituents, White lists many accomplishments — including adding restrooms and other enhancements to Etiwan Park, securing $4.6 million in funding for the construction of Governors Park, securing the allocation of $4.5 million for a new fire station and police substation to be built on Clements Ferry Road (they are still in the process of securing a site for the facility), working with police to add closed circuit cameras on Daniel Island to enhance public safety, improving the sign ordinance on Daniel island to help the business community, adding tennis courts to Freedom Park, and adding traffic signal enhancements to the Daniel Island Drive and Seven Farms Drive intersection.
White has also worked to secure funding for the construction of new restrooms for Freedom Park. He said that project is currently out for bid (ground-breaking was originally slated to begin this month but has been delayed) and will be up for a vote to City Council on November 24.
“I am confident I will be able to get the seven votes required to get the project approved and it will start immediately thereafter,” White added.
When asked why it has taken so long to get the restrooms constructed, White said the amenity is actually not something typically provided for public parks in the city.
“Go look at Gadsenborough Park that we just built downtown. That was a $6.5 million project. No public restrooms. Look at Theodore Park, we just finished that…. no public restrooms. White Point Garden. There are no restrooms. Marion Square. No restrooms…It’s not part of what the city has built over time…It’s something that we probably should consider for all of our parks. But it’s not easy to do when it comes to safety, maintenance, upkeep, all of those things that you have to consider.”
There is still much more to be done on Daniel Island, said White, who pointed to the community’s expressed need for a new indoor recreation facility as a top priority. Both the City and White have taken some criticism for not advancing the project sooner, in light of a Daniel Island Development Agreement with the City that lays out a plan to add such a facility as well as others parks improvements. White said the City currently has about $5.2 million set aside for parks projects on Daniel Island, but that funding is tied to what is known as the “Southern District Park,” a proposed regional facility outlined in the agreement for the island’s southern end.
“I think what’s really important about the development agreement is that it is just a guiding document,” he said. “It’s a legal document, but it can’t be the only document we use to justify having an indoor recreation facility on Daniel Island, because the reality is you can’t build a gym for $5 million.”
White estimates a new community center could cost between $8 million and $10 million “if done right.”
“It’s going to be expensive and it’s going to require a lot of resources. It’s going to require a tremendous amount of effort I assure you from me. And it’s going to require me to leverage the relationships I have with City Council members now to get the seven votes I need to get it done.”
When it comes to “promises” made in the development agreement to the community, White said there are a few things listed in the document that are no longer needed or feasible. One example is a natatorium, which he stated is a $30 million facility that doesn’t make sense for Daniel Island.
“There are several groups in the region working on regional aquatics facilities. Given that, it may not be prudent at this time to try and build a natatorium on Daniel Island.”
White also believes the proposed Southern District Park, or regional sports complex, may also not be needed.
“That might not be the right thing either because from an ingress/egress standpoint do we really have the ability or the desire to push that much traffic through Daniel Island Drive? The answer is ‘no.’ So my point is, if you just use that document as your only guiding light you could end up heading in the wrong direction.”
Still, White said he plans to use the agreement as leverage when he goes to City Council to pitch his plan for a new facility, but he recognizes that he will have to bring in additional funding to make it happen.
“I’m gonna have to go and find another $5 million, and when you consider the City’s entire budget, 75 percent goes to police and fire, that doesn’t leave much to squeeze $5 million out of.”
When asked if he felt like Daniel Islanders had been shorted a bit when it comes to parks and recreation, White said no, especially when compared to other areas in the city.
“I think it would be better for people to ask that question of the other City Council members. I live here and of course I represent the district and I want everything we can get. But so do the other 11 council members. Ask the people in Cainhoy, ask the people in West Ashley, ask the people on Johns Island and on James Island…. I would say unequivocally they don’t have the same level of, at least from a parks standpoint, the resources that we have in place on Daniel Island.”
White said if he is elected to another term on City Council he will also continue to push for better connectivity between neighborhoods and communities to alleviate traffic problems, for a comprehensive regional traffic and transportation plan for the Clements Ferry Road corridor, for adequate police and fire representation as well as parks and recreational enhancements for Cainhoy residents living in the City, and for responsible growth.
“Daniel Island and really District 1 as a whole, this is a special community and we have a lot of great resources and a lot of great quality of life…. But it requires that we always be mindful that we have to do things to enhance that. And what’s important about being able to enhance quality of life and do the things we’ve talked about is understanding how city government works. And that’s really the biggest thing that I can bring to this community…The key word is ‘experience’ and that’s what I have found makes all the difference in the world.”
For additional information on Gary White’s campaign, visit https://www.facebook.com/garywhitecitycouncil.