Maurice Washington – Best Choice For West Ashley

We’re less than two months away from the historic 2015 Charleston Mayor’s race. It’s likely that someone from one of the six campaigns has visited your home by now. The intensity of campaign activity will accelerate as we move closer to the November election.
Maurice Washington is the only conservative and the only Republican who is running for Mayor. He served on Gov. Mark Sanford’s 2002 transition team and vetted members of state boards and commissions as well as cabinet agency heads. The other candidates are John Tecklenberg, City Councilman Dudley Gregorie, Ginny Deerin, State Rep. Leon Stavrinakis and Toby Smith.
What I like most about Maurice is that he only wants to spend city tax funds on the core services of government. He is opposed to spending taxpayer money on things the private sector can do best. He wants to privatize the South Carolina Aquarium, the minor league baseball stadium and the municipal golf course.
During his eight years on City Council, Maurice became a budget expert, serving as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, which sets the budget and the tax structure. He is very concerned with the city’s debt load, which stands at around $100 Million.
In addition to being a fiscal conservative, Maurice is also a social conservative. He believes in tradition marriage, strong families and the right to life. He understands that poverty is rooted in cultural issues. He reflects the social views of most Charleston voters.
He makes it clear at all candidate forums that he opposes top-down politics. He wants people in the various neighborhoods to have input into policies which impact them and wants to hold public forums throughout Charleston to hear from the citizens, particularly concerning growth and traffic.
The massive flooding we experienced early this month highlighted the need for a solution to this persistent problem. The Bridge Pointe condominiums were flooded solid for the second time since 2008. Many people living along the Bees Ferry Rd. corridor were unable to leave their neighborhood due to the massive flooding.
Maurice wants to hear from the leading experts in drainage systems and come up with a master plan for the Peninsula and West Ashley. My City Councilman Aubry Alexander has been working with West Ashley colleagues Bill Moody and Keith Waring to research the problem. He told me that we need more outlets for drain piping going into Church Creek and the Ashley River.
Another drainage solution is digging the existing ditches and drainage canals deeper. Some of the ditches are on state-controlled or county-controlled roads and are filled with debris. Maurice wants to see more cooperation among city, county and state government officials in solving this problem. He also wants to see more preventive maintenance on storm drains, many of which are filled with silt.
Traffic congestion is another long-standing problem in West Ashley and the source of great frustration for tens of thousands each day. Maurice wants to employ some advanced traffic management principles, including better timing for traffic lights, to avoid gridlock. Anyone driving on the Glenn McConnell Parkway toward West Ashley High School knows that the light timing makes no sense. He opposes the proposed bike lane over the Legare Bridge which will shut down a lane of traffic going from West Ashley to downtown.
Large amounts of vacant retail space is another concern in West Ashley, giving our area a blighted appearance in certain parts. The clearest example is the recently demolished Church Creek Plaza, which stood nearly vacant for a decade with graffiti and broken windows. Maurice wants to work with property owners on curb appeal and marketing assistance to fill the vacant retail space and increase the property tax base.
The 2011 election for Mayor of Charleston had voter turnout of less than 20%. West Ashley has a lot at stake in this year’s election for Mayor, as well as 6 City Council races. I look forward to voting to re-elect my Councilman Aubry Alexander, who has been a strong voice for the Old Towne neighborhoods near Charles Towne Landing.
Whether your main issue is traffic congestion, drainage, over-development, beautification or something else, do your research on the candidates and make an informed decision. Take the time to discuss the election with your neighbors. Let’s see if we can double voter turnout in 2015 and make West Ashley a better place to live!
John Steinberger is the former chairman of the Charleston County Republican Party, a leading Fair Tax advocate, and a West Ashley resident. He can be reached at John.steinberger@scfairtax.org.