When she ran for Charleston City Council last year, Caroline Parker promised to “fight for flooding mitigation, traffic reduction, environmental protection, small business support, the preservation of our city’s history and responsible management of our city’s finances.” But since that time, a considerable portion of the City Council meetings she has attended have featured her spending anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour of council time rehashing questions, answers and opinions about Mayor Tecklenberg’s mask and vaccine mandates.
During meetings, Parker has consistently spent time with “Council Communications,” a section of the meeting dedicated to nonbinding conversation between council members that can be requested by a member of council. Parker’s requested communications questioned the legality of a mask and vaccine mandate levied on city employees, and the process by which the decision was made without a vote from council members.
Parker’s challenge followed her refusal to don a face mask at a late January meeting, resulting in her attending the remainder of the meeting virtually, and future meetings behind a plexiglass barrier.
“I’m really trying to move forward, and I’m the one that kind of went backwards by continuing to bring it to council, but I was really just trying to keep it on everyone’s mind because it wasn’t over,” Parker said. “We need to be able to navigate the future better. I know some council members agree, and I know others don’t.”
Parker’s assertion is that the mayor has too much power and his authority to enact the mandate was legally questionable—this despite a ruling from a federal judge in October 2021 in the mayor’s favor, and responses from the city’s legal team.
“You requested, verbally and in writing, legal opinion from our staff,” Tecklenburg told Parker at a Feb. 8 meeting. “They provided that. I’ve seen a copy of it. I assume you’ve seen a copy of it. It seems very clear to me.”
But Parker doesn’t see it that way.
“We continue to bring up one judge’s opinion, but that’s not the end-all be-all,” Parker told the City Paper.
Parker points to a bill awaiting signature from S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster that would effectively ban cities from levying mask and vaccine mandates on city employees as one example of the not-so-clear aspects of the discussion.
“As I understand it, she’s been making two separate but related points,” said councilman Ross Appel. “The first is that the current city vaccine mandate is somehow illegal or improper … The second point is a more interesting debate that has some support from council. How much power do we want to give the mayor of the City of Charleston? The vaccine mandate wasn’t something we ever voted on … and Parker’s argument is next time, when COVID-27 hits — God forbid — council should discuss and vote on a measure like this.”
But, Appel contended, this is nothing new for Charleston. The city has always been a strong-mayor government, a legal term under state law, he explained. Under the “strong mayor” form, political power is concentrated in the mayor, which means that other members of the elected body relinquish at least some of their policy-making power and influence.
“The mayor is the city’s chief executive, meaning that he’s responsible for executing city laws and managing the city’s properties and workforce,” said city attorney Julia Copeland. “Mayor Tecklenburg required masks in city buildings and, eventually, vaccines for city employees … to protect the health and safety of both employees and residents and, when challenged, were found to have been legal and proper in the court of law.”
But regardless of the legality of the decision, Parker said she thinks there’s a better way to handle times like these.
“We’re two years in, and at some point we have to accept that things have to change and evolve,” Parker said. “That’s where the process of it all keeps popping up in my head — we can’t just decide on a whim.’ ”
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