All of Cayce’s community associations sign letter telling council to represent diversity
Cayce neighborhood association leaders are urging the city council to be unified in representing “all” of the city’s diversity and to “right any wrongs” following racist comments made by a city appointee and gridlock on seemingly simple decisions.
The urging came in a letter signed by the leaders of all nine neighborhoods in Cayce that have associations. The letter was presented to the council Tuesday.
“We feel Cayce thrives economically when we are all connected,” the letter read. It asked the council “to look at the larger picture, work together without the doubt of inaction, to right any wrongs and to represent all our citizens for the good of all in our community in all of its diversity.”
The neighborhood associations that signed the letter are Hunters Mill, Riverland Park, Cayce Avenues, Broad Acres, Julius Felder Community, Edenwood, Glenwood Estates, Moss Creek and Concord Park.
The letter puts a cordial voice on what’s been some ugly arguing in Cayce.
Typically undramatic, the Cayce council has been fractured since allegations surfaced in November that a city museum commissioner made racist statements about Columbia’s mayoral race and the number of Black people working for the city of Cayce. Museum commissioners are volunteers appointed by the city council.
In November, council decided, in a 3 to 2 vote, to not remove the commissioner, Marion Hutson, the commissioner accused of making the the racist comments. But a day later, Hutson resigned after The State reported the racist statements.
The fracture turned to gridlock over what’s usually a simple matter for the council — the appointment of commissioners.
Later in November, by the same 3-2 split, council delayed the appointment of two candidates to city commissions.
A member of the Pee Dee Indian Tribe had applied to replace Hutson, while another person sought appointment to Cayce’s beautification commission, which mostly does art projects in the city.
The delay came after freshman councilman Hunter Sox won a vote to review the council’s appointment process. Hutson had campaigned for Sox, and the beautification commission applicant was Sox’s rival in the November election.
Mayor Elise Partin defended the appointment process at the time, saying it was a simple matter of council assigning or removing people.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Chris Kueny, leader of the Riverland Park Neighborhood Association, commented on the 3-2 split that failed to remove Hutson and delayed his replacement.
“I ask everyone on Council to listen to each other, especially if the other person is coming from a different background than you,” Kueny said. “And make decisions that embrace diversity ... It is your sworn duty to represent all the citizens of Cayce. We are no longer living in the white-washed world of the 1950s.”
The letter signed by every Cayce neighborhood association sent a clear message to council, Partin said. The neighborhoods expect council to communicate and work together to stop the 3-2 voting.
In the past, the council “has been intentional with what we’re doing,” Partin said, “making sure we’re a connected community.”
“One of my greatest concerns is that a couple of my fellow councilmen don’t know the impact that their votes have had on their communities,” Partin said, referring to the votes on Hutson, his replacement and the beautification commission appointment.
Sox struck a conciliatory tone Thursday when asked about the letter.
“Cayce is a very diverse community and as a newly elected council member I look forward to the opportunity to go outside my district to meet leaders from all parts of Cayce to build better bridges and foster unity,” he said.
This story was originally published December 23, 2021 at 1:49 PM.