It won’t be long before Charleston and North Charleston, two of the three largest cities in South Carolina, have new leaders. So now as 2023 winds down, we should send a big, hearty thanks to two elected officials who have led these communities — John Tecklenburg for eight years in Charleston and Keith Summey for 29 years in North Charleston.
Without their leadership, both cities would not be what they’ve become.
Tecklenburg deserves a lot of credit for how he kick-started his tenure in 2016. He quickly brought people, organizations and money to provide emergency help to people facing homelessness.
As he outlined last week in his first interview after he lost a runoff election, “What we’ve developed are the resources to help people either when they’re homeless or at risk of becoming homeless to keep that time period as short as possible and to help people get to a better place.” Thousands have received aid — and a place to live.
Tecklenburg also deserves credit for pushing the city to deal with challenges from rising waters by finding funding and pushing infrastructure drainage projects all over. Under his tenure, the city also built parks and passed a $70 million referendum to pay for more of them. To top it off, the city is finally under contract to realize a dream — a safe walk-bike bridge over the Ashley River.
In North Charleston, Summey has been helping people for almost four times as long, guiding a city that has grown to more than 118,000 people and now leads the state in retail sales.
During his tenure, the police and fire departments have become more professional and, like in Charleston, there have been big investments in parks and recreation. North Charleston also landed Boeing, opened Tanger Outlets, built Riverfront Park and finally has a plan for a downtown waterfront.
“One of the greatest blessings that I have is when I ride around Park Circle, and I see a couple of hundred kids on the playground — see them out there playing,” he said recently. “That has not happened in Park Circle in a long time. And so I think it’s a culmination of everything.”
So thank you, John Tecklenburg and Keith Summey. And to our two incoming mayors — William Cogswell in Charleston and Reggie Burgess in North Charleston: Let their examples guide your service — and give them a call every now and then for some advice.
Help keep the City Paper free.
No paywalls.
No subscription cost.
Free delivery at 800 locations.
Help support independent journalism by donating today.
