Here’s a look at the four candidates who want to be Columbia’s next mayor
Columbia is set to elect a new city government leader.
Four hopefuls will be on the upcoming municipal election ballot in an effort to become Columbia’s next mayor. The candidates include former District 3 Columbia Councilman Moe Baddourah; at-large Columbia City Councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine; Sam Johnson, former chief of staff to Mayor Steve Benjamin; and District 4 Columbia City Councilman Daniel Rickenmann.
Benjamin, the capital city’s first Black mayor, announced earlier this year that he would not seek re-election after three terms.
The candidates participated in a live virtual forum, hosted by The State, on Oct. 6 You can view that forum here.
The city’s election is Nov. 2, with runoffs on Nov. 16, if necessary. The State sent the four mayoral hopefuls a questionnaire about their candidacies. Their answers are presented in alphabetical order.
.jpg "Councilman Moe Baddourah (District 3).jpg")
Name: Moe Baddourah
Age: 58
Occupation: Small business owner/restaurateur
Education: Associate degree in engineering, Midlands Technical College; BS and Masters in HRTA, University of South Carolina
Political or civic experience: Elected to Columbia City Council April 2012, served for two terms
Campaign website: http://moe4mayor.com/
Why are you running for this office?
Columbia needs experienced leadership in city government. I had recently left politics and my seat on the Columbia City Council, but with this new crisis in the form of a global pandemic, I have decided to offer my experience in business and government to the people of Columbia and enter the race for the mayoral seat soon to be vacated. As a young man I came to Columbia to better my life and to achieve the American dream. I believe my leadership can make Columbia the city for any American to achieve the American dream.
If elected, what would your two or three priorities be during your first year in office?
Fighting corruption: Operation Clean Sweep Columbia will be established on the first week I take office. I will focus on local government corruption and bring accountability and justice to those involved with the help of other government organizations.
Expanding public safety: We are experiencing a mistrust between our police officers and the communities. We must bring that trust back and reinsert community policing and police substations back in our neighborhoods.
Improving infrastructure: I will make sure that our water and sewer infrastructure stay the course and continue to improve our system without increasing water rates. I will stop any water rate increases for the next four years. If I am elected as mayor, the Columbia Canal will be repaired.
What unique skills or life perspective would you bring to city governance?
Columbia has not had a mayor businessman perspective for many years. I believe that my common sense, business thinking in solving problems, with my government knowledge and background, would be a huge advantage to be the next mayor.
What current practice or policy of the city would you preserve or enhance? Why?
I would continue to enhance the improvement of our water and sewer infrastructure policy and eliminate the unlawful transfer of funds from the water and sewer budget as slush fund for other projects.
Name: Tameika Isaac Devine
Age: 48
Occupation: Attorney
Education: JD - University of South Carolina School of Law; BS - Hampton University - Major Business Management
Political or civic experience: At-large Columbia City Council member since 2002
Campaign website: http://www.devineformayor.com
Why are you running for this office?
I am running to be an independent voice championing all communities and promoting inclusive and equitable growth throughout the city. I am a proven leader with the experience to bring people together to solve problems and am ready on day one to move this city forward.
If elected, what would your two or three priorities be during your first year in office?
1. Doing an equity strategic plan to ensure the city is making strategic investments to address equity in the city and the challenges and barriers to inclusive growth to include investment in infrastructure needs.
2. An action plan to address affordable housing needs.
3. Work with public safety departments to ensure we are recruiting and retaining our best and brightest, while also providing them with the tools and technology to do their jobs in new and innovative ways and continuing to build relationships with the community we serve.
What unique skills or life perspective would you bring to city governance?
As a wife, mom and small business owner, I am regularly faced with juggling many priorities and getting things done. I will bring those skills to bring about solutions based approaches to our problems and bring diverse groups of people together to get it done.
What current practice or policy of the city would you preserve or enhance? Why?
Monthly open houses with citizens, because I feel it is vital for citizens to have direct access to their elected representatives and for me as an elected official to hear directly from citizens on a regular basis .
Name: Sam Johnson
Age: 33
Occupation: I’m an advisor and consultant with Nexsen Pruet, where I work primarily on economic development projects.
Education: I graduated from Spring Valley High School, received Bachelors of Arts in English and Political Science from the University of South Carolina and earned my Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law.
Political or civic experience: I served as Mayor Steve Benjamin’s chief of staff from 2010 to 2016 where I helped spearhead a number of important projects and initiatives including Mayor Benjamin’s “Justice for All” plan and body camera initiative, downtown revitalization, the BullStreet project and more. Prior to that, I served as an aide to SC state Rep. Anton Gunn, assisting him in a variety of roles including helping him research issues and coordinate constituent service. In addition I serve on a number or local boards including: SC Afterschool Alliance (chair), Columbia Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau (board of directors), UofSC Alumni Association (board of governors), State Museum Foundation Board (executive committee), Harvest Hope Food Bank (board of directors), Nickelodeon Theatre (board of directors), SC PASOs (board of advisors), Teach for America SC (board of advisors).
Campaign website: http://www.samjohnsonformayor.com/
Why are you running for this office?
I’m running for mayor of Columbia because our families are facing real challenges and that’s not politics to me. It’s personal. I care about small business because I remember cleaning offices and emptying trash cans when my father was starting a janitorial service on his own.
I care about creating good jobs because I remember when the bottom fell out of the economy, the family business failed and we lost our house. I care about protecting our families from the pandemic because COVID-19 took my aunt, my grandmother and my grandfather from me, and I care about ending gun violence because I hear the gunshots from my neighborhood, too.
I’m running for mayor of Columbia because I imagine a city where all of our children can live up to their God-given potential right here in Columbia, because I believe in Columbia, not just who we are but who we can be.
If elected, what would your two or three priorities be during your first year in office?
From gun crime to COVID-19, our city is in a crisis. There are more than 90 sworn officer vacancies and 128 total vacancies in the Columbia Police Department, leaving them unable to stem the rising tide of gun violence. Attrition has cost us 67% of our fire department personnel over the past five years, and last month understaffing caused nine trucks to run short and three fire engine companies to temporarily close altogether. COVID-19 has killed more than 10,000 men, women and children across South Carolina and my opponents still refuse to hire a chief health officer to protect our families.
What unique skills or life perspective would you bring to city governance?
As the only candidate with actual experience inside the mayor’s office, I know firsthand what it takes to be mayor of Columbia. I know what it takes to lead on issues like public safety and job creation and how to get the job done. That’s why it’s frustrating to hear my opponents talk about cutting taxes or building affordable housing but, in a combined 40 years on city council, they still haven’t done it.
Serving in the mayor’s office, I learned that leadership isn’t the same thing as holding a meeting or casting a vote. It’s about being willing to step forward and be the tip of the spear even when it’s hard. It’s about facing the tough issues head on and not flinching. It’s about recognizing that a good idea is still a good idea no matter where it came from and that your own political future doesn’t matter compared to the lives of the men and women you serve.
What current practice or policy of the city would you preserve or enhance? Why?
From downtown revitalization to justice reform, our city has done a lot of things well. But we can do better.
As mayor, I will expand our city’s wi-fi initiatives, bringing broadband infrastructure to our most neglected neighborhoods. I’ll expand our small and minority business incentives and open new markets for their goods and services, and I’ll support Chief Holbrook’s leadership by making his simple possession of marijuana decriminalization efforts policy instead of just practice.
Furthermore, as mayor I will strengthen the ethics reform and transparency initiatives started by Mayor Benjamin with a city ethics commission, a strict conflict of interest prohibition banning any city council member — as well as his or her family — from receiving city contracts, grants or any funds either directly or indirectly administered by the city.
Name: Daniel Rickenmann
Age: 52
Occupation: Developer in renewable energy and an investor in small business
Education: University of South Carolina Bachelor of Arts in Political Science
Political or civic experience: 2004-2012, at-large Columbia City Council member; 2017-2021, District 4 Columbia City Council member
Campaign website: http://rickenmannformayor.com/
Why are you running for this office?
After talking with my family and my friends, I decided to run because our city is at an important crossroads and our city can simply not ignore it. Columbia needs to have a clean, clear path with a plan to address the biggest issues holding our city’s progress back, including a deeply flawed tax structure that competing cities do not have. Our city needs to be a clean and safe city that is laser-focused on recruiting new investments and jobs with opportunities.
I know firsthand the many hurdles a small business has to navigate in this city to grow and succeed. Our tax structure has discouraged the new kind of innovation investment we need to bring new high paying jobs to our community.
This city should be the beacon of success our founders envisioned when they carved it out of the wilderness to be one of the first planned cities in the United States of America, here in the heart of our state.
If elected, what would your two or three priorities be during your first year in office?
Public safety is our top priority. Every part of our city deserves safe and clean streets. This starts by allocating existing funds to provide our first responders the training and equipment they need. Prioritizing public safety will show that Columbia is a clean, safe place with the right conditions to live and raise a family.
From Devine Street to North Main, local businesses have invested in this city generation after generation. The most recent tax study has outlined the obstacles businesses must overcome to succeed. By making it easier to start a new business and grow existing ones, we can help our small business community thrive.
City governments carry out services through taxpayer funding. Our citizens are owed the best return on their investment by ensuring accountability and transparency down to the cent. By innovatively streamlining our city government, we can provide citizens the best return on their investment in our city.
What unique skills or life perspective would you bring to city governance?
As a business owner, I know first hand the hardships and obstacles our small business owners face everyday. From a tax structure that stifles innovation to a myriad of archaic regulations and fees, it is past time that our city unleash the pent-up energy of entrepreneurship and allow for the creative forces of competition and good old American ingenuity to run through our streets again.
As a city councilman, I have first-hand knowledge of how our city government operates, what issues and policies gum up the works, and the Rolodex of innovators to get projects off the ground and finished in a timely and efficient manner. I understand at times that the most powerful tool in the mayor’s belt is the bully pulpit and I intend on using that tool when I feel that the citizens of Columbia are being cheated.
What current practice or policy of the city would you preserve or enhance? Why?
I believe Chief Holbrook has done an incredible job of bringing the Columbia Police Department into the 21st century. That being said, I do believe that there is more we can be doing as a city to support our police, firefighters, and first responders.
With breakthrough technologies like ShotSpotter (devices that help pinpoint the exact location where gunshots take place), citywide camera systems through our city’s business corridors and entertainment districts, rapid DNA testing, and body cameras, we can do more to prevent crimes from happening, and when they do, better solve them, and ensure criminals will be apprehended.
In the last few years, our police department has begun the process of better training our officers to handle citizens more effectively with mental health issues, working with social workers, and dealing with the homeless community. I would like to see these programs receive more resources and ensure that all of Columbia’s officers have the proper credentials and equipment to make them the most effective crime fighting force in our state. One of the best reforms to take place in policing has been the advent of the body-worn camera. Body cameras keep both the officer and the public at large safer in high stress confrontations. Our frontline police officers should all receive body-worn cameras as quickly as possible.
Reforms such as duty to intervene where one officer is engaging in misconduct, other officers will step in, stop it, and report it to a supervisor immediately or mandatory attendance at misconduct hearings can help keep good police safe and remove bad apples quickly.
This story was originally published October 7, 2021 at 7:22 AM.
