Richland County Council elects new officers and holds the historic Picking of the Seats
By Mike Cox Cox-star@sc.rr.com
Roll call

Chair Paul Livingston, Vice Chair Damon Jeter, Joyce Dickerson, Val Hutchinson, Norman Jackson, Gwendolyn Kennedy, Bill Malinowski, Jim Manning, Greg Pearce, Kit Smith, and Kelvin Washington were present at the Richland County Council meeting January 6, 2008.

New officers and the picking the seats

During the nomination period for new officers, Greg Pearce nominated Paul Livingston, and Bill Malinowski nominated Joyce Dickerson. The vote was 8- 3 for Livingston so he becomes the chair of the Richland County Council for 2009.

Damon Jeter was nominated for vice chair by new council member Jim Manning and was declared the winner by unanimous proclamation. Livingston thanked his fellow council members for the honor and promised to run the council with the idea everyone has a right to an opinion about any issue.

New council members were welcomed aboard. Jim Manning defeated Mike Montgomery in the last election and will take that seat. Gwen Kennedy was voted into the seat vacated by Joe McEachern, who moved on to the Statehouse. Kelvin Washington is the new council member representing the folks Bernice Scott has supported for 20 years.

The year's most exciting council event, the Picking of the Seats, came next. A ripple of excitement swept through the chambers even before Livingston announced the event and turned the reins over to the able hands of County Clerk Micheille Cannon- Finch.

The order of picking is very detailed; seniority rules; ties are broken alphabetically. Cannon- Finch called out the names, and the Richland County Council members chose their positions. Kit Smith wanted the far left location, and Greg Pearce chose the far right chair. Bill Malinowski and Norman Jackson chose to remain where they were.

The other changes were minor surprises to council experts at the meeting. Newcomer Jim Manning chose to defer to Kelvin Washington because he didn't want his compatriot to be subjected to the stigma of being last alphabetically. Veteran council observers were divided as to whether this was a brilliant move for a newcomer or a rookie mistake.

As soon as all council members' seats were picked ,photos were made of the historic moment.

Administrator's report

Milton Pope informed the council the $4.5 million dollar check for Richland County's portion of the Project Pet funding had been hand delivered to Lexington County. The no kill shelter is soon to be a Midlands reality. Pope also informed the council the city county meetings to resolve the transportation issues are close to having some solutions on the table for discussion.

Public Hearing

Irmo town council member Barry Walker Sr. spoke during the public hearing on the Alternative Dirt Road Paving Program ordinance. Walker thought the discussion was about the order for paving roads rather than using different materials to pave the roads on the program. He asked for some support in paving a particular road in Irmo that had been dirt for along time.

Regular agenda

The alternative road paving ordinance was deferred once again, this time to allow new council members to become familiar with it. A new fire and safety ordinance was passed without opposition. This defines the rules for burning in the county and makes a distinction between non developed property and subdivisions.

After executive session, the council for 2009 was off and running.