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 5, 2010.

Picking of the Seats

The first item for each calendar year for the Richland County Council is the election of chair and vice chair and the picking of the seats. Both Paul Livingston and Damon Jeter were unanimously re–elected to their respective positions for 2010. However, the process where each council member is allowed to determine a preferred seat was left off the agenda. This was resolved after much discussion when each council member agreed to stay where they were in 2009.

Administrator’s report

Mi lton Pope recognized the Richland County budget process department for winning the prestigious GFO Award for the 14th consecutive year. The Government Financial Officers’ Award is presented each year to any government body that meets the stringent government standards in four categories and fourteen different points

Executive session

For the first time in nearly three years, there were no executive session items on the night’s agenda.

Three King’s Parade

Tonya Rodriguez Hodges invited the council and all area citizens to the Three King’s Day celebration and parade, a festival celebrated in many Latin American countries. The event remembers the three kings of Christianity who visited the baby Jesus 12 days after his birth and brought gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The celebration January 7 will be at the old Target location on Decker Blvd. It is designed to celebrate Three King’s Day and bridge the gap between English and Spanish speaking people in the area.

Regular agenda

Mike Sloan thanked council for the ordinance concerning the discharge of firearms in Richland County. Sloan said the proposed amended ordinance will assure the citizens are a little safer than they were before.

As has happened before, the attempted adjustment for voter registration and election board employees ran into much discussion and little advancement. The idea is to bring all election workers and the treasurer into some type of alignment with what other counties in the state do. There are several problems.

The county council doesn’t have the authority to do everything they would like to do. There are state ordinances that determine payment and job description for appointed and elected officials. The county has been working with the local legislative body to get some assistance. This process has been been going on for three years.

An ad hoc committee studied the problem and three things needed to happen. As soon as some questions are answered by the consultants, the county will move forward to adopt a pay system that matches the employees involved with corresponding county employees.

The committee will also work with the local legislative body to adjust any state rules that can help the situation. The committee will also study existing council rules and determine where adjustments can be made.

Citizen’s input

Oveta Glover invited the council to attend the upcoming Black History Parade, which will take place on February 6. The event will begin at the corner of Hampton and Harden and move to Five Points. This is a statewide parade, and this is the fifth time it has been held in Columbia.