Editorial: Bishop is the better choice for Columbia District 2 seat

BOTH CANDIDATES in Tuesday’s Columbia City Council District 2 runoff are personable men who seem sincere about wanting to improve safety and create equal opportunities for all residents in the district and throughout the city.

But we have concerns about the ability of Aaron Bishop or Ed McDowell Jr. to put forth a vision for moving the city and the district forward. We’re not sure how effective either would be in converting a vision into a specific plan that he could sell to colleagues and the public.

In meetings with our editorial board, Rev. Bishop and Rev. McDowell both talked about the need to improve public safety. Both told stories about crime in their communities. But neither gave sufficient details for how he would make the city safer.

Rev. McDowell spoke of bringing people together to talk about the problem while Rev. Bishop said the city should find unspecified “creative” ways to give the police department more funding.

Given the candidates’ sincerity but lack of specifics, choosing one to endorse in Tuesday’s runoff was difficult. But Rev. Bishop’s service on the Richland 1 school board and his work with several civic and educational organizations give him the edge.

We believe Rev. Bishop’s experience puts him in position to be a more effective council member from the start. He should be more familiar with the issues facing Columbia and, therefore, should be a better advocate for his district and the city.

District 2 stretches from I-126 near Greystone Boulevard to downtown Columbia and S.C. 277. It includes Benedict College and parts of the University of South Carolina campus.

The candidates advanced to the runoff by finishing first and second in a field of five candidates in the Nov. 4 primary. Rev. McDowell led the voting with 38 percent of the vote while Rev. Bishop received 34 percent. The winner will replace Councilman Brian DeQuincey Newman, who did not seek re-election.

Rev. McDowell, 66, is a retired United Methodist pastor who served as a district superintendent for the United Methodist Church for eight years in South Carolina. He promises to be a full-time councilman who would be accessible to residents.

In our meeting, Rev. McDowell spoke often about the need to involve residents. He would work hard, he said, to ensure people understood issues being discussed by City Council members. He also would bring residents and business leaders together to try to solve problems. We agree with the need to involve people and to collaborate. But we also value leaders who develop ideas, are open to improving them, and then implement them.

We are uneasy about the support Rev. McDowell has received from former long-time Councilman E.W. Cromartie. Mr. Cromartie built a reputation for providing constituent service, bringing the bacon home to his district and meddling in city hiring and other operational decisions before being sent to federal prison for tax-related crimes.

Rev. McDowell said Mr. Cromartie has been a financial backer and has provided advice and that, “If I can do half as well as E.W. Cromartie did during his 28 years of service, I would be an excellent councilman.”

We don’t think Rev. McDowell would repeat Mr. Cromartie’s crimes. But should Rev. McDowell win election, he needs to avoid the Cromartie model of governance.

Rev. Bishop, 40, is an educator with the University of Phoenix and the pastor of Grace Christian Church. He was elected last year to his second four-year term on the Richland 1 school board, where he has served as chairman.

He bills himself as a Columbia success story. He said he grew up in the Belevedere community, which he described as a “rough” neighborhood, and graduated from Keenan High School. Unlike his contemporaries, he chose to stay in Columbia, and he wants to help create a city that’s more attractive to young people. He worries about a talent drain.

He said he has been an advisory member of My Brother’s Keeper Columbia and a member of the City of Columbia Faith Coalition. He has served with the Greater Columbia Community Development Corp., the USC Trio Program Advisory Board and the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.

Rev. Bishop has been endorsed by Mayor Steve Benjamin, but scoffs at suggestions that he would be an automatic vote for the mayor. “I am an independent thinker. I am an independent voice.”

Rev. Bishop had lived for years in one of the “donut holes” that plague Columbia and other S.C. cities — tiny areas surrounded by the city but not inside the city. Before announcing his candidacy, he petitioned to be annexed into the city, he said because he wanted to pay the cheaper water and sewer rates available to Columbia residents.

We think the timing of his annexation request is interesting. Still, he apparently followed the proper procedures to be annexed, and he is a city resident now. Voters in District 2 can decide if his tenure as a Columbian is long enough.

We believe Rev. Bishop is the better candidate in Tuesday’s runoff.

This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Editorial: Bishop is the better choice for Columbia District 2 seat."