More details about five challenges facing Columbia

Here are more details about the five challenges facing Mayor Bob Coble as he leads the city of Columbia in 2009:

LEADERSHIP

For the second year in a row, the city has or will have voids in key leadership posts.

City manager Charles Austin, who has held his post since 2003, announced last month he will retire March 31. Senior assistant city manager Steve Gantt will fill in during the interim, but with three years left until he retires, he said he has no interest in taking the job full time.

City Council members want to launch a nationwide search to replace Austin.

Austin’s announcement came in the midst of a search for a chief financial officer to lead the city out of its financial troubles. An advisory committee has narrowed the search to six candidates.

Normally, the decision would be Austin’s to make. But now it’s unclear who will make it.

GREEN ECONOMY

Coble talks a lot about Columbia taking advantage of the emerging green economy, and he’s serious about it.

In 2007, the mayor traded in his gas-guzzling sport utility vehicle for a hybrid. He has led the charge for the city to purchase fuel-efficient cars.

But Columbia’s largest foray into the green economy is its partnership with EngenuitySC. The city gives the group $100,000 a year and has donated land on Williams Street for construction of a $1.5 million hydrogen fueling station.

In April, the convention center will host the National Hydrogen Association’s annual conference. Coble hopes the conference will attract more hydrogen research companies to locate here. Coble and USC President Harris Pastides have invited President Barack Obama to attend.

ECONOMIC STIMULUS

When talk of a federal stimulus package was just a whisper, Coble made sure the city of Columbia was first in line.

Coble began lobbying for President Obama’s stimulus package before Obama took office. He has flown to Washington at least three times, proffering the city’s list of $249 million worth of “ready-to-go” projects.

Coble has proposed forming an economic recovery task force that would include Richland County Council, Richland School District 1 and USC.

Columbia also is positioning itself for a second pot of federal money: $44.6 million to buy, rehabilitate and re-sell foreclosed homes.

The money would come from the Department of Housing and Urban Development via its Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

City officials have identified 85 foreclosed homes they would like to acquire and plan to submit an application for the money today.

FINANCES

Last year, the city’s accounting was so tangled officials did not know how much money they had in the general fund.

This year, they have untangled the finances only to discover they were $11 million in the red for 2008. Projections for this year show a $3 million deficit.

The deficit can largely be traced to the city’s health insurance payments, which for years were underbudgeted.

City Council members are changing the city’s health insurance plan to cover the shortfall. Beginning July 1, single city employees with no dependents will have to start paying toward their health insurance. Employees with dependents will, too, and they’ll have to pay more.

Council members are wrestling with two choices — one that would be better for employees and one that would be better for taxpayers.

CRIME

After years of decline, crime in Columbia was up 7 percent in 2008.

The increase has put a strain on the police department, adding 15,000 more 911 calls and 500 more arrests. The department is understaffed and undertrained, according to an independent review released last year.

New Police Chief Tandy Carter has a plan to cut Columbia’s crime rate in half in five years — which includes a program to pay police officers a $10,000 bonus if they buy a house in the city’s most dangerous areas.

The first phase of Carter’s plan will cost nearly $2 million.

— Adam Beam