Members of Charleston City Council need to start standing up to freshman Mayor William Cogswell, who shows brusque, authoritarian leanings in how he runs things. Otherwise, council members risk being dubbed milquetoast puppets who roll over for anything the mayor wants — and that’s not their job.
Currently on Cogswell’s radar is an $82 million bicycle-pedestrian bridge over the Ashley River to connect West Ashley and the Medical District. The city already has a contract, funding and plans for the new access, which lots of residents are counting on as a new way to get to work — and avoid the pain in the neck of finding a parking place near the crowded hospitals.
According to the city’s own project narrative about the Ashley River Crossing, “the purpose of the project is to enhance the connectivity between downtown Charleston (the largest employer area) and West Ashley (the densest residential area).” The bridge is expected to increase access to jobs and schools, address currently inadequate alternative transportation modes and help to revitalize West Ashley.
But Cogswell surprised many recently by saying publicly that he doesn’t want the new bridge to connect directly to the hospital area along Bee Street. Instead, he apparently has concocted some new plan that would send pedestrians and bicyclists way down the street before crossing.
Cogswell’s half-baked power play flies in the face of common sense and underestimates how West Ashley residents have made financial decisions based on using the new bridge.
Fortunately, there seems to be an awakening of sorts among council members that may be occurring after the City Paper reported on how the mayor’s office rammed through changes in the city’s branding without involving council. Now they need to pay extra attention to what’s happening with the bridge.
At a Tuesday city council meeting, Councilman William Dudley Gregorie tore into Cogswell about a dull new simplified logo based on the city’s seal. He outlined how the protocol and process of doing things are important. He stressed how decisions should be more inclusive and team-oriented.
“Many of us have the same concern because we talk amongst ourselves about how we’re being left out and about the appearance of [the mayor] usurping the authority of this body,” Gregorie said. “That’s how it’s coming off to me, and I’m very uncomfortable with it.”
Brain cells of the council’s 12 elected members also may be starting to churn over a huge staffing reorganization that some say leaves Charleston as less of a strong-mayor form of government than a city managed by an unelected chief of staff who earns $30,000 more a year than the mayor. Before Cogswell’s tenure, the city’s 26 departments reported to the mayor. Now the mayor has three people who directly report to him — a scheduler, a special assistant and a chief of staff.
We already have a good, strong design on a pedestrian-bicycle bridge over the Ashley River. Now we need to move forward with it instead of doing things to mess up or delay the project.
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