TIM MALLARD VS. THE WORLD

City Councilman takes on Riley Administration

By Warren Cobb
Community Editor

Troublemaker or folk hero? Tim Mallard is nobody's yes man

Even before being sworn into Charleston City Council in January of 2008, West Ashley representative Tim Mallard indicated his displeasure with the way the City of Charleston was being run. He said making the City "more user-friendly to the locals" was one of his top priorities. Since then, he has battled the Riley Administration month after month, often loudly decrying the methods by which the administration runs its business. In July, Mallard got into a heated argument with Clerk of Council Vanessa Turner-Maybank following a Council meeting. In August, Councilman Aubry Alexander introduced a "decorum ordinance" to try to keep Mallard in check.

Some members of Council say he "doesn't play well with others." Mallard says he will not sit idly by when he sees more debate is needed.
"Because Charleston is considered a city with so many manners, if you disagree with the administration, they'll do anything to try to quell debate," says Mallard. "I'm pugnacious. I'm downright bothersome because my people ask me not to be a potted plant. We ask tough questions and this administration has a history of not wanting to answer tough questions. Now its part of their culture and its been institutionalized."

"These people have been working with the administration for over 30 years and they're drunk on power," Mallard says. "The Clerk of Council doesn't like it when you question the minutes. She called me out and tried to embarrass me in front of my colleagues. They said I was rude, but the staff is rude when you disagree with the administration. I think the Mayor does a good job. We are together on probably 80 percent of his initiatives. But if you disagree with him you get put over in the corner and asked to be out in the dunce cap. I'm fighting a 32-year culture, and that culture is one of closed doors."

"It was something I've never seen at a Council meeting," said Mayor Riley of the July 20 confrontation between Mallard and the Clerk of Council. "It's not something that should go on. They (Clerk and Assistant Clerk) were truly frightened after that happened. The thing is City Council is a deliberative process where issues for the citizens are discussed and decided. Reasonable order and decorum are important for the successful conduct of business."

Councilman Alexander agreed. "Most council members drop their personal agendas at the door," he said. "If you go in there and start slapping people around verbally, you're not going to make any friends and you're not going to get anything done. Mallard brings his personal agenda in and it's a disservice to his constituents."

Mallard alleged the City's staff has not been forthcoming with information he has requested, a charge the Mayor denied. "We have to beg for accurate information," Mallard said. "Instead of getting information, I get stall tactics or no info at all. If he (Mayor Riley) says we need $2 million for this, I want to know what the money's being spent on. We might get it deferred, but we still don't get the information for the next time it's on the agenda. It's just like Groundhog Day sometimes."

District 10 City Councilman Dean Riegel said there's no need for a "decorum ordinance" and members of Council should keep themselves in check. "As elected officials, we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard," he said. "The Mayor's done a good job keeping the Council in good order and has the ability to control disruptions."

"Tim's been an ally," Riegel continued. "He's certainly a different person than me, though. My approach is to deal with everyone professionally. Tim may think his personality lends itself to a different approach. When you're talking about an elected body, possibly you need a statesman, you need people who are accommodating. And maybe you also need some council members that are scrappy."

Riegel said he's never been denied information he has requested, but said his inquiries are always very specific. "Mayor Riley has some very loyal, hardworking people. Does that get in the way of them doing their jobs? I haven't been on Council long enough to know, so I can't comment. But it sure gets Tim excited."

Riegel suggested Mallard and the Clerk of Council should apologize to each other, shake hands, and move on. Mallard didn't say if he would apologize to the Clerk, but was unapologetic about his actions on Council so far.

"All of these new building projects and new expenditures the administration wants to chase after, thank God we're slowing those down," Mallard says. "There's always a smokescreen to keep the focus off the lawsuits and problems when the City is unwilling to compromise. Charlestonians aren't interested in this silly, childish decorum ordinance, they're interested in real issues."

So don't expect much of a change in Councilman Mallard's resolve. "I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing," he said. "I'm going to keep working on getting the Greenway paved, cleaning ditches, make sure garbage is picked up, and crime is taken care of. This is a little blip. I'm not going to get down in the ditches with this stuff. They say when you wrestle with pigs, all you do is get dirty and make the pigs happy."