The Palmetto State
By Jim Hunt for the News and Journal
One thing that I try to focus on each day is to learn something or pick up information that I
didn’t know. It is surprising how much of the world is still a mystery, even at my stage in life. I
was recently asked to do a leadership workshop for the South Carolina Association of Counties
in Columbia, South Carolina. I was excited to do the workshop since I had never visited
Columbia, the state capital and it was close by my grandchildren, who live in Lancaster, South
Carolina. I generally speak to cities, so I had to brush up on my knowledge of county
governments. Fortunately, Ms. Anna Berger, thea Senior Director of Operations for the
Association of Counties provided me with some background information and l learned some
interesting things that I did not know.
The system of county governments in South Carolina is a good bit different than West Virginia
and the County Councils, as they are called in South Carolina, resemble a city council in their
operation. The County Councils are also composed of more members than West Virginia, with
five-member, seven-member, eight-member and eleven-member councils. This is a good bit
different than West Virginia, who have three-member County Commissions in all but two
counties. South Carolina also has nine fewer counties than West Virginia, even though the
population of South Carolina is about three times larger than West Virginia.
One similar feature in both South Carolina and West Virginia is that both states have numerous
rural counties with smaller populations and larger counties that are heavily populated. This
makes for challenges in local government since the needs in many counties are vastly different
than their growing counterparts in the more populated areas. Housing is also a large issue in
South Carolina, with several of the participants in the workshop mentioned it as the top
concern in their county. South Carolina has attracted a lot of new factories and other economic
activity, and this has caused a demand for “workforce” housing along with a growing
population of retirees, who have relocated to the state for its warmer climate and beaches.
I joked with the group of county leaders in the workshop that there are probably more West
Virginians in South Carolina during the summer than any other time due to the popularity of
Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head as vacation destinations for Mountain State residents. I had
several people come up to me during the break to relate their stories about running into West
Virginians on the golf course or at a beach restaurant.
My final observation about my trip to South Carolina is that the people in local government in
South Carolina are a dedicated group of public servants. They listened intently during the
session, and I was pleased that they liked sharing their stories and anecdotes, that made for a
fun day. The President of the South Carolina Association of Counties is Roy Costner III, the
Council Vice-Chairman of Pickens County and I was pleased that he took time from his hectic
schedule to sit in on the workshop. In just a few hours, I felt like I had known these county
leaders for several years and their hospitality and friendliness were contagious.
The job of a local government leader is not for the faint hearted and these dedicated public
servants are on the front lines of public service. They see their constituents in the supermarket
and at church and rarely get a pat on the back. I hope that I was able to leave them with some
leadership strategies that can make their jobs a little bit easier. All in all, an Amazing week in
the Palmetto State!