What About Bob? (Columbia, West Columbia, Cayce: low income, city hall, crime)

[Woodlands]

Wow its been a rough couple of years for our beloved Mayor Bob.. financial mismanagement issues at City Hall..numerous complaints concerning the handling of development projects from the Convention Center Hotel, to streetscapes, riverfront/trails, minor league baseball pull out, third city manager in less than 10 years and the loss of a police chief, and one failed airline.. Air South. Mayor Bob has however done alot of good for the City and we are better off for it..though people may argue that crime is up.. many of Columbia's intown neighborhoods are more liveable than ever.. place like Eau Claire that languished in the 80s began to sprout new life in the 90s that continues on through to today. Innovista is slowly moving along, there are ambitious plans for the State Hospital site, the Vista is successful beyond anyone's wildest dreams.. and Im sure there is much more to come.

If my memory and history serves.. Mayor Bob was ushered in as a change agent...downtown Columbia was in shambles.. the Vista was a skid row style warehouse district criss crossed with railroads, Finlay Park was a dirt hole in the ground, and the city's tax base was faltering and the city's population was declining. Most of the planning for Columbia's "rebirth" is credited to former Mayor Kirkman Finlay.. who laid the groundwork and planning for what some at the time may have considered a long shot. He was followed by Patton T. Adams who made the famous or infamous annexation grab of the Columbiana Center in Irmo that may still sting some of the civic leaders up there...civic/neighborhood pride seemed to be at an all time low...particuliarly in several low income neighborhoods who felt that the City's new "downtown redevelopment" push would be at their expense. I can recall atleast one high profile police shooting of an african american youth at a night club that also sparked some outrage in addition to calling into question the relationship between the police and several african american neighborhoods in the City. So in comes Mayor Bob and he appoints Chief Austin then later becomes City Manager Austin who both has presided over some of the most progress that Columbia has seen in its modern history including the organization and enfrachisement of city neighborhoods. Just about every inch of the city is part of a neighborhood association and there is more proactive community involvement now in City Government there there has ever been via organizations like the Columbia Council of Neighborhoods.

A recent State Newspaper Articles alluded to the fact that some of the public may think that Mayor Bob has run his course and may need to look to new horizons which would open the door wide to a variety of possible upstarts who could continue to build on what he has helped usher in. I would be curious to get others thoughts on Mayor Bob and possibly who could be a viable candidate should he not run or become opposed in the next election. He's fended off a variety of characters over the years so it will be interesting to see who steps forward.

[waccamatt]

Mayor Bob is very popular with Columbia residents so it would be very difficult for an opponent to defeat him. Most of the people that don't care for him don't even live in the city. In my opinion the problem is the council/manager form of government, which has a weak mayor. The mayor's job in Columbia is not even full time. My only complaint with Bob is that he is "too much" of a consensus builder, which requires too much time to get things done. It is too time consuming, IMO, to make nearly everyone "somewhat" happy (which is my view of obtaining a consensus).

[Woodlands]

Hmmmm thats interesting.. wonder why so many of his critics live outside of the City? I guess it is a case of juridictional jealousy and politics? I think many jursidictions feel threatened by Columbia in terms of its growth and power ? I can see there not being much love for Mayor Bob in Lexington County given the occasional skirmishes that occur between them and their minions (West Columbia, Cayce.. Springdale). Occationally there are issues with Richland County.. which is unfortunate that the County and the County Seat cannot work together.. since their fates are so intertwined..and that goes for Lexington County as well....

[waccamatt]

^ I think it's more with Lexington County. You have to remember that Lexington County is overwhelmingly Republican and both Richland County and the City of Columbia are overwhelmingly Democrat so thought processes are not very similar.

[innovator82]

I think Steve Benjamin will give Mayor Bob a run for his money. A well-funded African American professional who is also a fresh face with all the political connections you could want. Bob may be popular with black voters and the Democratic whites in Shandon but Steve will split both of those votes...