The only question that candidates for mayor of Columbia in South Carolina must address

To hear the mainstream media say this, the decade-long reign of the mayor of Columbia, South Carolina Steve Benjamin it was a golden era for the capital – full of politically correct teaching moments and progressive inclusion.

Of course, those same media outlets have excused the scandal that led Benjamin to office …

For those of you who have already forgotten that piece of Palmetto’s political history, Benjamin was involved in a nighttime election car accident that left a hotel employee in Columbia with permanent physical damage (she has already died of cancer).

Well, technically the event took place at 5:45 am EDT in the morning after his election … when the Mercedes SUV that Benjamin drove hit the driver’s side of the female Toyota Tercel.

Several sources told the media that Benjamin drank alcohol until the early hours of the morning before the accident. Despite this, Benjamin did not take a breathalyzer test – nor was blood drawn from him after the incident to determine his blood alcohol content.

The accident lent Benjamin one of his most famous nicknames – “T-Bone”.

Of course, the collision was only the beginning of the scandal. The (poorly) treatment of the accident investigation soon became the real story. Things got so bad that the Columbia chief of police was eventually fired for scolding the city for meddling in the investigation.

And what about Benjamin’s handpicked substitute chief? Oye …

Upon taking office, Benjamin set an anti-competitive and fiscally unsustainable course for the city. In addition to misleading central government functions (here and here), he embarked on several failed economic ventures – most notably the unsuccessful redevelopment of Bull Street.

Meanwhile, he and his “Republican” allies tried to erode individual freedom within city limits – denying law-abiding citizens the right to protect themselves from violent criminals who continue to be driven out onto city streets (including some that were controversial) bail by Benjamin’s wife, a judge at the SC circuit court).

With Benjamin refusing to seek another term, a trio of candidates emerged before the November 2021 election. Sam Johnson – a former Benjamin consultant who works for a local law firm. Another is a veteran councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine, who together with her husband – leader of the local school council Jamie Devine – was at the center of several scandals. Finally, local councilor and small business owner Daniel Rickenmann announced its intention to campaign for the seat.

There are rumors of others potentially joining the fray, but at the time this book was written, these are the three pioneers …

While there are, of course, a number of issues to focus on as this campaign takes shape, none seems greater than the city’s oppressive fiscal climate – which was exposed in a recent report by the Rebecca Gunnlaugsson, director at Acuitas Economy.

(Click to view)

(Via: Twitter)

According to Gunnlaugsson’s analysis (.pdf), the capital of South Carolina has a punitively high commercial property tax rate (among other anti-competitive rates) – twice as high as Charleston and 1.5 times as high than that of Greenville.

In addition, the city is battling the oppressive burden of the multitude of local governments converging on the capital – bringing with them their own anti-competitive tax burdens (and duplicated bureaucracies).

Richland County, for example, has a property tax rate 2.1 times the Charleston County tax rate and 1.9 times the Greenville County tax rate. Meanwhile, the Richland County school district scandal – driven by Devine’s husband – has a millage rate that is 1.8 times that of Charleston and 1.5 times that of Greenville.

Columbia’s only saving grace? The fact that neighboring Lexington, SC, has similar anti-competitive tax rates.

Even so, Columbia’s growth is lagging behind Greenville and Charleston.

In addition to drawing the city’s attention for his continued inability to attract jobs and investments, Gunnlaugsson rebuked the notion that the command’s new economic misfortunes would solve his problem.

“Selective tax incentives for specific developers have not fueled and will not fuel the broad and continuous growth that the city needs,” wrote Gunnlaugsson. “Instead, it will continue to generate a greater imbalance in tax rates between some selected properties and all others, although it does not deliver on the promise of new jobs, rising wages and increasing future development.”

In fact …

Now, more than ever, Columbia desperately needs a vision for the future of its city government that places essential functions first and focuses on reducing the tax burden for all citizens and businesses. Clearly, the city cannot tolerate more corruption, clientelism or crime – but neither can it maintain its current crippling tax climate and hope that things will get better.

Are any of the candidates who have announced themselves as mayors able to offer this vision to the city?

We’ll see …

-FITSNews

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