Aaron Smalls, Columbia City Council at-large candidate

Aaron Smalls is one of seven candidates running for an at-large seat on Columbia City Council.

The at-large seat is elected citywide. The seven hopefuls are vying for the seat currently held by Councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine, who is running for mayor this year. Devine has held the seat for 19 years.

The election is on Nov. 2, with runoffs on Nov. 16, if necessary.

Smalls recently responded to a candidate questionnaire from The State.

Name: Aaron Smalls

Age: 34

Occupation: Photographer/studio owner

Education: High school

Political or civic experience: I have no former political experience but I’ve been involved with many grassroots organizations to enrich lives of people locally, in the city, and across the United States.

Why are you running for this office?

I’m running because I want to bring transparency, accountability, and accessibility to our local elected offices. I feel these three things have been missing for some time in our local city government.

If elected, what would your two or three priorities be during your first year in office?

My top priorities would be working to ensure our infrastructure meets the needs of a 21st century capital city. We have so many structures and systems that have not been made a priority but they are essential needs that need to be met to keep things such as water, safe roads and public transportation accessible, environmentally sound and safe for our citizens. Second would be to improve our public safety systems, working with our fire and police department and the community to eventually make Columbia the safest city in South Carolina.

What unique skills or life perspective would you bring to city governance?

My life experiences and work experiences, which collectively have taken me to all the world’s continents except Antarctica and Australia, have made it where I can truly understand and relate to people from many walks of life, especially our citizens who come from many diverse backgrounds. I believe work experience, especially the eight years collectively spent in Iraq and Afghanistan as a civilian contractor working as a logistician and auditor has given me a unique skill set that, when I become your next city council at-large member, I will bring a background and skill set no other candidate or current member of our local government can offer.

What current practice or policy of the city would you preserve or enhance? Why?

One policy I would enhance is the Ban the Box ordinance. On paper it sounds good, but my own field research has shown me that many local businesses within the city limits still have practices that don’t follow the guidelines, many of which hinder citizens who have paid their debt to society to be able to achieve gainful employment at a livable wage. We need a system that monitors and enforces the policy that is in place and also need to have penalties for those who are not following the guidelines.

This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 2:12 PM.

Chris Trainor

The State

Chris Trainor is a retail reporter for The State and has been working for newspapers in South Carolina for more than 21 years, including previous stops at the (Greenwood) Index-Journal and the (Columbia) Free Times. He is the winner of a host of South Carolina Press Association awards, including honors in column writing, government beat reporting, profile writing, food writing, business beat reporting, election coverage, social media and more.