BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C.โIn less than 20 days, Berkeley Co. voters will head to the polls, casting their ballots in a primary involving several county seats up for grabs.ย The position of Berkeley Co. supervisor is one of them.
On Thursday, Goose Creek 9-12 hosted a forum at Harbour Lake Baptist Church on Redbank Road in Goose Creek where the three candidates vying for the county supervisor job explained why voters should elect them. Former Dorchester Co. Sheriff Ray Nash moderated the event.
In one corner, thereโs Bill Peagler.ย For nearly the last decade, heโs served as the mayor of Moncks Corner.ย Prior to that, he spent about another ten years on town council.ย Combined, he has approximately 20 years of experience in the political realm.
In the other corner, thereโs political newcomer Jerry Beckley who is presently an assistant vice president at Heritage Trust.ย While heโs never served in public office, if elected, Beckley says he refuses to be labeled a โcareer politician,โ vowing to serve only two terms.
Both men are challenging current county supervisor, Dan Davis.ย For the last eight years, heโs served in that role and hopes to continue.
While Thursdayโs forum remained civil, the two challengers were critical of Davisโ current time in office.
โBerkeley Co. has the highest unemployment rate in the tricounty.ย We have an underfunded sheriffโs department, underfunded EMS and a jail thatโs been two-thirds empty for years,โ stated Beckley, who was first to address the crowd.ย โI know that I donโt have the big name.ย I donโt have all the money, but I do have one thing that they donโtโyou.โ
According to Peagler, his time as Moncks Cornerโs mayor speaks for itself, and his record in that role makes him a strong contender for county supervisor.
โWe have made life better in Moncks Corner.ย We have nice facilities downtown.ย Weโre business oriented. These are the same proactive environments that we can bring to the county,โ stressed Peagler.ย โI want to work for you.ย My door will always be open.โ
Davis defended his record stating that the county is in much better shape than it was eight years ago.
โWeโve reduced the debt ratio to about 45%.ย We have increased our funding balance to about $12 million,โ stated Davis. ย โBack in December, we broke ground down on Daniel Island at Benefitfocus.ย They are building about a $50 million facility, and theyโre employing 1,200 people.ย In February, we broke ground on the Palmetto Primary Care Physicians up by Exit 199.ย This will be creating 1,125 new jobs.โ
A big hot topic up for discussion included the status of the county jail.ย Several years ago, the county spent millions to expand the jail, however, a lack of funding has made it difficult to staff and hire the appropriate amount of detention officers. ย As a result, the added levels remain vacant.
โNot having those other two floors puts all of us at risk,โ warned Beckley.ย โOne of these days one of these offenders is going to get seriously hurt, and thereโs going to be a lawsuit, and weโre going to pay for it.ย We have to fund these things.โ
Peagler stated that the majority of county council wasn’t even aware of how inadequately staffed the detention center was until he brought it to their attention.
โI said that as an attorney, by not funding the last two floors of the jail, youโre taken out of the protection of the Tort Claims Act.โwhich limits liability,โ explained Peagler. ย โItโs gross negligence not to fund the jail.ย If I was
an attorney and represented somebody that got hurt there, I could get enough money to open that jail for my client.โ
Davis stated that hiring additional jail staff is on the countyโs radar, but past financial hardships for the county had made it difficult.
โWe wanted to hire the officers, the problem simply was we entered the recession,โ said Davis. โWe were trying to manage things with what we had.ย We just had to hold off on hiring those detention officers until the recession was over and our revenues returned.ย That hasnโt quite gotten here yetโbut we are getting closer.โ
Both Peagler and Beckley were also critical of the lack of money provided to emergency services.
โWe donโt have enough patrolmen on the roads.ย We donโt have enough ambulances.ย It does worry me because when I dial 9-1-1 I want somebody to come.ย I think we can do things better.ย I think we can prioritize,โ Beckley responded.
Peagler also offered insight on the issue.
โThe current budget that was just offered to council does not have a pay increase to any of the employees, does not include any police cars, only has one ambulance,โ Peagler informed the audience. โI donโt understand that
if they (the county) understand this to be a problem, why arenโt they addressing it?โ
Again, Davis reiterated that it all comes down to money that the county just doesnโt have.
โIf the citizens are willing to vote for a tax increase to satisfy this need, then Iโm perfectly fine with that,โ expressed Davis.ย โYou just have to understand that the county government, youโve got a limited amount of money, and you have to make it go as far as you can.โ
In 2005, a county impact fee was approved by council. ย County leaders say the original purpose of that fee was to provide funding to the Sheep Island Interchange near Jedburg.
โIt had very good intentions.ย The impact fee turned out to be a bad thing.ย It is a business killer, one of the worst things Berkeley Co. has ever done,โ stressed Davis.ย โOne of the reasons Iโm so eager to get the penny sales tax renewed and on the November ballot is to take some of the money from that and replace the impact fee.โ
Both Peagler and Beckley also agreed that the countyโs impact fee needs to go but not necessarily replaced with the penny sales tax referendum, a tax that recently paid for the completion of Highway 17A from Summerville to Moncks Corner.
One big issue that did not get really get discussed in detail was Daniel Islandโs attempt to break away from Berkeley County and join Charleston County.ย Most residents stated that they had felt neglected by the county.ย It was only within the last few weeks that Daniel Island actually ended its efforts to secede from the county.ย Dave Williams, the president for the Daniel Island Neighborhood Association, had previously stated that residentsโ feelings toward annexation didnโt necessarily change, only that the political battle and costs to continue with it became too much.
Voters will head to the polls on June 10th.
