Competing power brokers shadow Columbia runoff election Tuesday

Two tested problem-solvers. A young guy with vision. A clergyman who says he’ll listen to his community.

That represents the slate of Columbia City Council runoff candidates on Tuesday seeking two seats that could alter the balance of power on a body that often makes big decisions with a single vote margin.

Voters will be electing someone to an at-large seat as voters citywide cast their ballots. And voters in District 2 will chose who will represent them on council.

In the citywide race, retired Municipal Association of South Carolina director Howard Duvall is hammering home his decades of experience in working with the state’s 270 cities and towns.

“The city of Columbia called me in 2007 to help get their financial house in order,” the 72-year-old Duvall said of the budget crunch that grew from years of sloppy bookkeeping.

Andy Smith, the 36-year-old director of Nickelodeon theater, said Duvall dwells too much in the past.

“We need to be thinking 20 years ahead and not what we didn’t like two years ago,” he said in reference to Duvall’s frequent criticism of City Hall’s $97 million financial commitment to the Bull Street development and stadium. “We need to be taking on big projects over and over again,” the newcomer said.

In District 2, the Revs. Aaron Bishop and Ed McDowell Jr. contrast their campaigns as a choice between Bishop’s work as a Richland 1 school board member and McDowell’s pledge to become the voice of his constituents.

But beyond the platforms, shadow power brokers loom over both races.

In stump speeches, media interviews and in kitchen table conversations, the influence of Mayor Steve Benjamin, convicted former councilman E.W. Cromartie and political activist and former Richland County councilwoman Kit Smith are big parts of the campaign.

All four candidates have found themselves explaining their association with and independence from the three formidable political forces. Smith and Bishop are being championed by Benjamin. Duvall and McDowell, now running as a team, are linked to Kit Smith and Cromartie, respectively and now collectively.

At-large race

Duvall led the balloting Nov. 3 by more than 1,100 votes over Andy Smith when they were among five challengers to the now-defeated citywide incumbent Cameron Runyan.

Duvall’s message is that he is battle tested, equipped with a deep knowledge of municipal government and would be effective on Day 1. He argues that his skills in finance and government operations will be especially useful now that the Capital City is facing tens of millions of dollars in repairs after October’s historic rainfall and floods.

“There are a lot of visionaries like Andy ... but you have to fix the foundation,” Duvall said. “The city of Columbia has maxed out its credit card. We need to retrench a little bit.”

Smith said he’s a proven manager of Main Street’s Nickelodeon theater, which he called “one of the strongest, most innovative organizations in town.”

He compares Duvall’s chorus of criticism about the taxpayer infrastructure investment in the 165-acre Bull Street project to U.S. House Republicans trying more than 50 times to repeal or revamp President Obama’s health care law.

Smith said he doesn’t always agree with Benjamin, who was the face of the campaign to invest public money into the private Bull Street project and to foot most of the bill for the $37 million, year-round baseball stadium. The candidate said using taxpayer money to build a stadium “is bad public policy.”

Smith last week called for an end to council’s habit of moving millions in water and sewer revenues into projects unrelated to operating the utilities. He also said he will be a voice for inclusiveness, including Columbia’s gay and lesbian communities.

District 2 race

McDowell, a 66-year-old retired pastor and a resident of the Waverly neighborhood, tells voters, “I don’t have a vision. People in this area will create a vision.”

He prefers improving city services, including public safety and fixing potholes over “another big building.” That is a reference to the student housing building boom going on, mostly in the city center.

McDowell said his experience with the United Methodist church includes overseeing 209 churches and a budget in excess of $20 million. He said he’s also a leader in his neighborhood.

“Leadership,” he said in countering Bishop’s assertions, “is the ability to look behind you and see who’s following.”

Bishop, who was raised in the Belvedere neighborhood off Two Notch Road and Beltline Boulevard, has characterized himself this way: “I’m definitely considered a homegrown leader ... a leader who has proven himself over and over again. I am the story of Columbia.”

McDowell edged out Bishop by 81 votes in the general election among five candidates.

Bishop labels McDowell as a throwback to an earlier, political force on council. “He has teamed up with E.W. Cromartie to bring back the Cromartie forces on council,” Bishop said. Cromartie represented District 2 for 27 years until 2010 when he pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion charges.

In an apparent double shot at McDowell, the 40-year-old Bishop also describes himself as “a leader who has integrity and a leader who is in the prime of his life.”