Jan. 8 marked the beginning of a new era in Charleston leadership, as former S.C. Rep. William Cogswell became the city’s mayor alongside six city council members, including two newcomers.
Cogswell’s inauguration makes him the first Republican mayor of the city of Charleston in nearly 150 years. The mayor’s office in Charleston is nonpartisan, but mayors often identify with a party, and voters often know how they lean. While Cogswell told interviewers his campaign did not focus on partisanship, he received support from several Republican leaders and organizations during his campaign and after his election.
But while the leadership in Charleston changed this week, the challenges facing the Lowcountry have not. Cogswell spoke in his inaugural address on several threats to Charlestonians’ ways of life: rising sea levels, increasing unaffordability of housing, the erosion of history and character through overdevelopment, rising crime and more.
“Success in these endeavors will require an approach as unique as this city,” Cogswell said. “We must think differently. Act fearlessly, and address these obstacles head-on. Occasionally, we will fail, and that’s OK. But we will pick ourselves up, we will learn, we will adapt and most importantly, we will continue to move forward through hell and high water until our problems are solved.
“As your mayor, I promise to work hard, put my heart and soul into it and live and breathe this city during my time in office because you deserve nothing less,” he added. “As for policy — it’s time to find common ground. … potholes are not partisan, and I promise not to cater to any group that undermines our collective efforts.”
Tip of the hat to Tecklenburg, exceptionalism
Cogswell also recognized his predecessor, John Tecklenburg.
“I would like to thank John Tecklenburg for his passionate service to Charleston,” Cogswell said during inaugural remarks outside of City Hall. “There is no question he loves this city, and I sincerely appreciate his graciousness during this transition. I also want to convey my sincere gratitude to the members of City Council. … It is clear we share an appreciation and love for Charleston’s past, its present and its future.”
Tecklenburg also wished Cogswell “good luck” when he opened the event. But the day was for Cogswell, who focused in remarks on how Charleston was more than a run-of-the-mill city.
“It is a community in the truest sense of the word, ironically forged in a tradition of fierce independence and individual expression from the Revolution to the civil rights movement,” he said. “It represents both raw and refined American exceptionalism.
“We must think a century ahead and not succumb to generic trends, commoditized products and populist whims. We must be better than that because we are better than that.”
Charleston has not elected a Republican mayor since 1877, according to a report by The Associated Press, despite the state of South Carolina not having voted for a Democratic president since Jimmy Carter in 1976.
Alongside Cogswell, newly elected city council members also took the oath of office on Jan. 8. Council members who were sworn in included Boyd Gregg of District 1, James McBride of District 3, Karl Brady of District 5, Keith Waring of District 7, William Tinkler of District 9 and Ross Appel of District 11. McBride and Tinkler will be serving their first term as council members.
More than 500 people bundled in scarves and coats attended Cogswell’s inauguration on a chilly Monday afternoon. The crowd might have been larger, but President Joe Biden’s speech at the Emanuel AME Church that was set for about the same time likely cut into the number of inaugural attendees.
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