25 votes separated these Richland Co. Council candidates. Who will prevail in runoff?
Incumbent Richland County Councilwoman Dalhi Myers will face Cheryl English in the June 23 runoff election for County Council District 10.
Just 25 votes separated the two candidates in the June 9 Democratic primary, with English edging out Myers.
There are no Republican candidates for District 10, so the runoff winner will effectively win the seat.
District 10 covers a large swath of the county including parts of northeast Columbia, Fort Jackson, Olympia, the Shop Road corridor and much of Lower Richland including Eastover, Gadsden and Hopkins.
Anyone who voted in the Democratic primary on June 9 is eligible to vote next Tuesday, as are any registered voters who did not cast a ballot. Voters in the June 9 Republican primary can’t vote in next week’s Democratic primary runoffs.
Meet the candidates:
Cheryl English
Age: 56
Education: 1983 graduate of Lower Richland High School; graduated in 2000 from Coker College; Majored in Sociology with a Minor in Business Administration and a Concentration in Criminology. Graduated in 2002 with a Master’s of Social Work from the University of South Carolina.
Political experience: While I have not run for office before, I have worked a long time behind the scenes with other campaigns.
Professional experience: I have worked with the Department of Health and Environmental Control, the Department of Mental Health as a child and adolescent counselor and I currently work for the SC Developmental Disabilities Council. I have over 30 years state experience and I am also a licensed ordained minister.
Where did you grow up? I grew up in the military (born in Texas, moved to Michigan, Puerto Rico, then Ohio). I have lived in South Carolina since June 1976.
What is the biggest issue facing District 10?
The biggest thing facing Richland County in my district is truly the penny tax — amount of unpaved roads down here, and every time it rains ...it gets worse and worse. That’s a huge area. When you talk about all of Richland County, it all needs to look good, and sadly Lower Richland has been pushed to the back for a minute. But it is a great, beautiful land, and we want to see it go forward with positive infrastructure. ... Those roads are huge when I’m talking to the constituents.
What is the biggest difference between you and your opponent?
I feel like I would be more accessible. That is the one thing i keep hearing from constituents, just being accessible. As a social worker (and a minister), that’s like my plight. ... That’s what I’ve done for a living. That’s kind of what I do, is listen. I may not be able to offer anything but sometimes if your concerns are heard and they’re noted and you follow up on them, that’s a great thing.
What do you think Richland County Council does well?
If you look at the county’s overall finances, they have historically been sound. In fact, at one point we had a Triple-A bond rating! We need to strive to maintain ratings such as this.
What do you think County Council should do better?
I believe that District 10 needs someone who is responsive to the needs and concerns of the citizens in that district.
How should Richland County move forward with the $1 billion penny roads program despite ballooning costs endangering some projects?
The existing projects have been voted upon and approved, so we know what needs to be done. This commitment came about as an agreement by the taxpayers and it placed a great deal of trust in our leadership to adequately appropriate those funds. We have to work together to stay on budget and on course. Certainly cost plays a tremendous role in the ability to proceed, but we need to be realistic about the costs and the things that need to be done to address needs county-wide.
How can the county settle an outstanding $40 million dispute over management of the program with the S.C. Department of Revenue?
Perhaps we should consider better accounting practices. And going forward, what checks and balances need to be put in place to prevent anything like this from happening again? There should be a greater degree of accountability.
What are the top three issues in this campaign, and how specifically would you address them?
The top three issues are: the Penny Tax, roads/traffic and homeowners associations (HOAs). With the Penny Tax, we need to ensure those funds are used for their stated purposes. In Lower Richland, the biggest concerns are the high number of existing dirt roads and access to public transportation (a regular bus service). In terms of our roads and traffic, we need a feasibility study to ensure that the appropriate measures are in place to avoid traffic jams and to prevent another Malfunction Junction. Our HOAs have some valid concerns and their issues need to be considered and properly addressed.
Tell us something important about you that you want voters to know?
I am passionate about my community and have served my community for years, working behind the scenes. Currently, I work for the SC Developmental Disabilities Council, so I understand the importance of everyone’s voice being heard. I am also a member of the Lower Richland Sweet Potato Festival Committee, where we have been able to bring the community together and reinforce the significance of the Lower Richland community to the Greater Columbia area. As a part of the Richland County Library Board, I have worked hard to fight for positive educational programming and accessibility for all. We secured a Garners Ferry Library Branch and a LEED certified branch in Eastover.
Dalhi Myers
Age: 51
Education: B.A.-Spelman College, Atlanta, GA, J.D., with honors-Howard University School of Law, Washington, DC
Political experience: Currently serving as the Vice Chair of the Richland County Council
Professional experience: Practicing Corporate Attorney. I’ve enjoyed the practice of law for more than 20 years. It’s intellectually stimulating, and has prepared me for reading literally 600-700 pages in preparation for Richland County Council meetings.
Where did you grow up?
Hopkins, SC. I have been privileged, from my small town upbringing to live in many countries, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, mainland China, Australia and the United Kingdom. My work to deliver the benefits of fiber optic cable capacity around the globe reminds me how important Internet connectivity is for school children, seniors using telemedicine, and workers who may be forced to stay at home for long periods of time. I know my background has prepared me to assist Richland County in its COVID-19 preparedness efforts. I am privileged to serve in these historic times. I am focused on using my training to expand our broadband access in smart ways and look forward to a day when no child in Hopkins, Lake Murray, Blythewood, Eastover, or anywhere in Richland County cannot get a ride on the high speed Internet.
What is the biggest issue facing District 10?
I think the biggest issue facing my district is the size and scope of it. So, we will move into redistricting in the next couple of years, and I am very focused and concerned about the population growth in different parts of (the county) and what that means insofar as representation of the district. It’s why I have been very aggressive about reminding my constituents to fill out the census, because the question of funding and actual investment in all of the communities of District 10 rides on the census, and we have to get that right.
What is the biggest difference between you and your opponent?
I’m not going to speak to that. I can tell you what the qualities are that I bring to the job. ... I am extremely focused and have the ability to digest large volumes of information on various subjects. And with Richland County, as with any local government, on a daily basis you have to be able to understand many different topics at once and to not only understand them, but to understand how your particular area is impacted by them. District 10 is unique because it is literally larger than every other district combined. It’s rural; it’s urban; it’s suburban. And because of that, you have to have a focus on all issues that impact the district, not the Lower Richland community, not northeast, not Camden or Bluff Road, but the district. And I think I have excelled at balancing the needs of the district and delivering tangible benefits to each part. For example, in the northeast, I focused on blight removal and neighborhood improvement. ... In the center of my district, I worked with the Olympia team on the new Olympia musuem. ... On the Shop Road corridor, I worked to find funding from a private source for a new park that I hope we’ll finish this next term. Those are big things that will be life-improving for the neighborhoods. ... In the southeast portion of the district, I focused on getting human waste off of the school grounds but also delivering tangible benefits and maximizing the opportunity ... and welcoming TruVista to Richland County as an internet service provider ... for rural Lower Richland. ... Those benefits flow directly from my work on County Council.
What do you think Richland County Council does well?
Richland County consistently receives awards for its budgets. I’m excited about the new Southeast Richland County Utilities project, which will deliver water and sewer service to parts of SE Richland County, will fully decommission two open sewers and a partially enclosed third from the grounds of three Richland County schools and one housing development. I’m also excited that this project will maximize economies of scale by placing the conduit for high speed Internet cables in the ground while it is open. This is a $30 million investment in an area of Richland County that has seen very little Richland County investment. Finally, I’m proud of the work that I’ve been able to do toward blight removal. Under my leadership, we have demolished a nearly 30-year-old abandoned trailer park on Old Percival Road. Those dilapidated trailers were infested with rats, roaches, coyotes, snakes and other vermin that regularly migrated into the surrounding neighborhoods. My constituents asked that I try to find money to demolish them. We secured nearly $500,000 in federal funding to totally demolish and remove all of those awful structures. Today the site is clean. I’m also proud to have secured (from private sources) $300,000 to erect a new park in the Taylors/Little Camden/Washington Park area and $295,000 (from federal money) to erect a long promised part for the Atlas Road/Eastway Park/Bluff Estates/Starlite areas. Finally, I’m very proud to have worked with the Olympia residents to create and open the Olympia Museum, which captures the wonderful history of one of Richland County’s most significant areas. Positive things like this are happening all over Richland County. However, they never attract media attention because they do not feed the ongoing media narrative.
What do you think County Council should do better?
There is always room for improvement. I hope to get to a place where voters have trust in their elected leaders. Richland County has an abundance of good things happening. I wish we communicated those things more effectively to our constituents.
How should Richland County move forward with the $1 billion penny roads program despite ballooning costs endangering some projects?
Richland County has taken serious steps forward in rationalizing the Penny. Since my first day on Council, I focused on the Penny and its associated spending. I have consistently voted to bring the Penny in house, to reject any proposal that was beyond the Referendum amounts, and to force accountability even where it was resisted. I am delighted that Richland County no longer has a program development team. I do not believe they added significant value. I also am delighted that the whole of Council now seems prepared to vote down any proposals that exceed Referendum amounts. I hope in coming years we will spend more time explaining the Penny’s structure to the public.
The public should know that Richland County’s 2012 Referendum set aside too little money for many of its ambitious projects. For example, there are over 700 dirt roads on the dirt road paving list. However, the drafters of the Referendum only set aside $45 million for dirt road paving. Paving each dirt road costs approximately $500,000. Simple math dictates that we only have enough money to pave 20-30 roads from that massive list. Citizens need to know that many of our Penny problems are basic math problems just like the one with the dirt road paving program. Council now is dealing with that 2012 faulty math problem in 2020. It’s hard. But there never was enough money set aside for all those roads. Explaining the Penny and its limitations takes time and patience. Demonizing everything about the Program can be done in 10 second sound bites. I hope we spend the next four years getting beyond the sound bites and into the more nuanced truth. The public deserved nuanced truth about this critically important program.
How can the county settle an outstanding $40 million dispute over management of the program with the S.C. Department of Revenue?
Richland County is working to resolve its DOR dispute. The dispute and its allegations predated me on Council, but I have dedicated a lot of time and effort to positive, forward, movement. I believe we will resolve the issue in the taxpayers’ best interests.
What are the top three issues in this campaign, and how specifically would you address them?
A. Improved infrastructure and access to high speed Internet County-wide. The onslaught of COVID-19 has shown us how fragile our access to basic services can be. In 2016, I ran on a platform of working to provide equal access to necessary infrastructure county-wide. In that connection, I believe I have been very successful. The new SE Richland water and sewer infrastructure, which will also include buried conduit to provide access to high speed Internet is the first down payment on my promise to voters who elected me. While it might appear that this infrastructure benefits only SE Richland County, that is not true. Having end-to-end access to basic services, County-wide, makes Richland County more attractive to families and businesses looking to make Richland County home. We are a lot closer to providing access to basic services, which is a fundamental role of local government, than we were before I was elected. I’m proud of that fact.
B. Improved Fire Safety. I’m proud to say that the introduction of water services in an overlooked segment of the County will be accompanied by the additional of 116 new fire hydrants. That is my work. Better fire infrastructure across the County also benefits all of us. Those new hydrants will connect to the new water service in Richland County. We all will benefit from a lower ISO rating and lower insurance rates. Better fire service also makes our homes more valuable. I will continue working on the rollout of new fire stations and improvements to existing ones (I commissioned a Fire Study in 2018, which is finally ready) to make Richland County even safer.
C. Lower Millage Rates. I’ve consistently been a voice on Richland County for lower millage. I believe the current economic times will force more realistic dialogue about what we can and cannot do with tax revenue and how we work to service our citizens more creatively. We know COVID-19 is here to stay. We also know that our lives will necessarily change to accommodate this novel virus and to succeed against it. In that connection, elected leaders must be clear eyed about the limitations of the citizens we serve in these changed economic times. I have been and will remain a voice for doing more with less. To me, that means lower millage rates.
Tell us something important about you that you want voters to know?
I have been humbled to serve Richland County. The past four years have been tough, but I’m grateful to God for the opportunity to be in the arena of service. I am grateful for the opportunity and responsibility of leadership. I remain convinced that Richland County’s best days lie ahead. I look forward to continued service to the people who trusted me four years ago. Importantly, with new members of Council and some seasoned ones, I look forward to a more cohesive, more focused and more capable council than ever.
This story was originally published June 22, 2020 at 11:17 AM.
