After a decade of booming population growth, Johns Island may get its own representative on Charleston City Council.

But making that change could cost a sitting council member their seat.

The island is now in District 5, which also spans much of outer West Ashley. It is represented by Councilman Karl Brady, who lives in West Ashley.

Two newly proposed City Council district maps make Johns Island its own district without any extension into West Ashley. That means the City Council member to represent it would have to live on Johns Island.

“There is no one on council right now that drives our roads every day, sends their kids to school here, works here or lives here,” said John Zlogar, chairman of the Johns Island Task Force.

The group was established in 2013 to bring together residents and local officials to address Johns Island-specific issues.

While Zlogar said he has no issue with Brady, he said he would like to have a council member who can put their sole focus on the island.

“We will feel like we have someone that has our voice,” he said.

The island, which is partially within the city of Charleston and partially within unincorporated Charleston County, has deep roots in agriculture and the city’s Black history. Several Black family farms have run their businesses on the island since Reconstruction, when formerly enslaved laborers took over former plantations.

An “urban growth boundary,” established across the island limits where agricultural land must be protected and where development is allowed. Most of the city’s side of the island is located within the urban growth boundary and as a result has seen a massive influx of residents looking for a lower cost of living than the city’s core. Between 2010 and 2020, District 5, the district with Johns Island and West Ashley, grew a staggering 154 percent.

The redistricting process

Charleston Chief Innovation Officer Tracy McKee has led the city through the redistricting process three times in her career. Factoring in population growth between 2010 and 2020, McKee and city staff have been in the process of redrawing the council district boundaries for months.

“Four council members live on the peninsula, but we’ve had more growth in Berkeley County on Daniel Island and on Johns Island,” McKee said.

Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau releases new population and demographic data that governments use to redraw voting districts. In 2020, it was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

City Council voted last summer to delay redistricting until after the fall 2021 election.

Officials try to balance the population size of each district as well as their geographic spread. In Charleston, for example, it would be impractical to include Daniel Island and outer West Ashley in the same district.

Initially, city staff put out one proposal in July. That plan kept all sitting council members within their current districts. None of them were at risk of losing their seat or having to run against each other to keep their seat. But the proposal split Johns island into three districts that included other areas of the city as well.

The map was met with some criticism for the wide span of geography each district covered. Districts were stretched from the peninsula far into West Ashley and District 11, covered parts of West Ashley, James Island and Johns Island.

The League of Women Voters published a commentary in The Post and Courier calling for more compact districts.

“Drawing districts to protect incumbents means the maps defy logic in many places. James Island remains divided into three different districts, one with very dubious contiguity as it crosses briefly over West Ashley and onto the peninsula. Johns Island, now all in District 5, will be divided into three different districts, diluting the voices of those residents,” the league wrote.

The league now supports the new proposals, mainly because the districts don’t stretch as far across the city.

“They keep communities together. These really prioritize citizen interests,” said Leslie Skardon, the director of advocacy for the League of Women Voters.

Impact to incumbents

On Aug. 28, city staff unveiled two alternative maps that took some of that feedback into consideration. The two new maps, referred to as 1A and 1B, are almost identical except for their effects on two current peninsula districts.

Both maps make Johns Island its own district.

To create the Johns Island district, city staff proposed two options. They can move District 3 or District 6 off of the West Side of the peninsula to only cover West Ashley. If District 3 moves off, District 6 will absorb the portion of the West Side that is currently in District 3.

Because District 3 Councilman Jason Sakran lives on the peninsula, he would be drawn out of his district. He would have to run for District 6 against fellow Councilman William Dudley Gregorie. But that seat is not up for election until 2025. In the meantime, depending on when council decides to make the maps effective, a special election would determine who represents the new West Ashley-only version of District 3.

The other scenario would be that District 6 would move off of its portion of the West Side of the peninsula. In that case, Gregorie, who lives also in the West Side, would be drawn into Councilman Sakran’s District 3. Because District 3 is up for election in 2023, the two would face off sooner.

Sakran said he would be OK with running against Gregorie in 2023, but he is most favorable of the original map that keeps all council members in their respective districts.

“You are overhauling peoples’ elected representatives to the tune of 40 percent of the city’s population,” Sakran said of the new proposals.

According to the city, if the original proposal is accepted, about 30 percent of the city’s population will end up in new council districts. If either of the alternatives are chosen, that number will move up to 39 percent.

Another factor in the process is the establishment of minority-majority districts. Districts 4 and 7 on the all three map proposals are majority-minority districts. They cover the upper peninsula and part of West Ashley, respectively. When the maps were last redrawn in 2010, the city went from having five majority-minority districts to three. Now the city is guaranteed to have two. As demographics shift, it’s difficult to group minority voters together and ensure their voice is in the majority in any part of the city, McKee said.

City Council will review the map proposals at its Sept. 13 meeting. No action will be taken. A public hearing will be held in the fall. Residents can view the maps and leave comments online the city’s redistricting “Open Town Hall” webpage at www.charleston-sc.gov/Redistricting2020. Email comments are accepted at redistricting@charleston-sc.gov.

Reach Emma Whalen at 843-708-5837. Follow her on Twitter @_emma_whalen.

NORTH CHARLESTON — A man provided Charleston County deputies with a different name before he took off running across several lanes of a major road and jumping from an overpass.

Kelvin Cole, 56, died Oct. 28 after being struck by multiple cars on Interstate 26. Investigators later determined he had active arrest warrants from Charleston County’s Family Court and the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services.

Cole, who lived and worked as a welder in Johns Island, was riding in the passenger seat of a car when a deputy stopped it for alleged traffic violations. The car’s 31-year-old driver was ultimately given a warning.

Attempts to reach Cole’s family Nov. 2 were unsuccessful.

The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office released an incident report Nov. 2, several days after Cole’s death. It provides new details on what preceded the moment he ran from the deputy.

Deputy Tanner Buller was patrolling around 10:30 p.m. near Stall and Mazyck roads in North Charleston when he noticed a white SUV swerve several times from its lane, the report states. The driver also failed to use a turn signal when changing lanes.

Buller, who has worked in law enforcement for five years, had a deputy-in-training with him during the stop. He flipped on his blue lights and the SUV pulled over onto the Ashley Phosphate Road overpass, which sits atop I-26.

Buller spoke with the car’s driver through the passenger-side window. The driver denied he had been drinking, but Buller wrote he could smell marijuana and alcohol coming from the vehicle’s passenger side. The car’s passenger, later identified as Cole, told the deputy his name was Raymond Brown.

Buller had both men get out of their car so he could search them. The driver admitted he’d smoked marijuana earlier in the day, the report states.

When Cole exited the car, Buller saw a beer can near the passenger seat. Buller found Cole’s driver’s license and noticed it did not match the name he’d provided the deputy.

Buller tried to detain Cole “but he pulled away and fled on foot” across Ashley Phosphate Road, the report states. The deputy chased Cole while trying to avoid traffic.

He repeatedly asked Cole to stop but the man “eventually jumped over the guardrail,” the report states. Buller saw Cole’s hands “grabbing the rail for a brief period” before he appeared to let go and fall onto I-26, the report states.

Buller never drew his weapon, said Andrew Knapp, a Sheriff’s Office spokesman. The deputy remains on duty. In addition to conducting its own internal review, the Sheriff’s Office also requested State Law Enforcement Division investigate the incident, Knapp said.

Investigators searched Cole’s name in a federal database and found he had an active warrant with the probation department, as well as three bench warrants with Charleston County’s Family Court.

Cole was the defendant in an ongoing child support case filed in 2016, court records show.

He was placed on a year of probation in February 2020 after pleading guilty in Charleston County to a forgery charge. Cole’s probation sentence would not be terminated until he paid all associated fees, said Anita Dantzler, a department spokeswoman.

Cole owed nearly $2,500 to the department, records show.

The impact on the Omni was 'well over a million dollars.'

If you want a glimpse on the inner workings of the media behemoth that is college football and Disney-owned ESPN, a recent meeting on Nassau County tourism cast light on the subject.

In times gone by, it would be a newsworthy event when a man wearing a sport coat, emblazoned with a bowl game logo, would show up to a game to scout the teams. However, between the College Football Playoff, conference tie-ins and the influence of ESPN, bowls tend to get who they’re assigned.

“When I first got here, and I was on the team selection committee, we actually used to have to work and make suggestions to ESPN as to who we want to play in our bowl,” said Gil Langley, President and CEO of the Amelia Island Convention and Visitors Bureau, regarding the Gator Bowl.

“Nowadays, we sit around and tell jokes and laugh about the possibility that Alabama’s going to be in the Gator Bowl.”

So, it was well-received when the call came in with a different tradition-rich program, Notre Dame, which agreed to appear opposite a team with an energetic fan base like South Carolina.

“Within 48 hours of the announcement, ticket sales went off the charts,” Langley said. “We had over 70,000 people there for the game. The great thing about our contract is it mandates the (Atlantic Coast Conference) representative stay at the Omni on Amelia Island.”

The impact on the Omni was “well over a million dollars,” Langley said.

Notre Dame football, while not officially in the ACC, nonetheless has contractual obligations with the conference. Most other Irish teams play in the ACC. Amelia Island played host to 120 players and 60 staff members from the university.

The Gator Bowl also made a $10,000 donation to Fernandina Beach High School, where the Irish practiced before the game, and 50 Nassau County children received backpacks through the Blessings in a Backpack program.

Nassau County Commissioner John Martin, a Notre Dame fan and Chairman of the Amelia Island Tourist Development Council, said he attended the game and sat just in front of U.S. Rep. Aaron Bean’s family.

The Bean clan, Martin said, was cheering for South Carolina because of Southeastern Conference allegiance. Martin said he was disappointed they didn’t stick around for the Irish’s second-half performance.

“I expected them to come back, and Notre Dame started winning,” Martin said. “So, as a lifelong Fighting Irish fan, I was very happy about that, but I was disappointed that I couldn’t heckle them back.”

Johns Island is much more than a traffic jam: It is a collection of people with deep connections to place and community. Many have been here for generations and have roots in the island’s agricultural history. More are new neighbors who moved to this beautiful Sea Island seeking a purposeful way of life.

The island’s roads are in dire need of improvement, which is one reason Charleston County residents voted for the 2016 half-cent sales tax to fund necessary upgrades, such as improvements along the Main Road Corridor. Work on Segment A, or the flyover at U.S. Highway 17 and Main Road, is moving forward, and now the county is considering Segment C: improvements to Bohicket Road, from Maybank Highway to Betsy Kerrison Parkway.

All five alternative proposed designs create four- and five-lane highways through the southern portion of Johns Island, drastically changing its character.

Hence the formation of Rational Roads, a nonprofit advocacy group whose goal is to develop a more effective, less destructive solution to the five unacceptable options provided in 2020 for the Main Road Segment C project.

Change is hard. New ideas are often deemed “radical” or even “irrational.” But change is necessary. Too many highways in Charleston have cut through and destroyed communities due to a lack of creative visioning. Better, more local solutions for road improvements exist, and to get there, the community must be engaged. Because who understands the safety concerns and chokepoints better than the local community? Transportation planners, engineers and elected officials should rely on community members’ insight from the beginning.

Our grassroots methodology is steeped in community feedback and data. Rational Roads has hosted more than a dozen meetings in the past year via Zoom and at churches, breweries, community gatherings and farmers markets. We’ve engaged developers, conservationists, pastors, students, farmers and more. We have found that Johns Islanders are deeply connected to the soul and preservation of this island. And we know that 21st century problems can’t be solved with 20th century solutions, especially when it comes to road building.

At Rational Roads, we are asking County Council to update the “purpose and need” for the Main Road Segment C project; that’s what will guide the direction of the Segment C project. We feel strongly that the purpose and need should include safety. Johns Island needs a customized approach for our community that goes beyond a five-lane road from point A to point B, stripping our community of its character and missing a critical opportunity to address safety concerns and create a connected sense of place.

We raised funds to work with traffic engineers to develop a sixth alternative, one that addresses our island’s traffic needs by adding left-turn lanes, roundabouts and intersection improvements at key locations where accidents are happening and congestion is occurring. Our local traffic data revealed that the worst safety and congestion issues exist between Mary Ann Point and Edenvale roads.

Through our conversations with residents across the island, we heard loud and clear that the road should be aligned with the island’s rural character, so Alternative 6 includes safe and connected streets with infrastructure for all road users, including people on foot and on a bike.

These types of improvements, combined with upgrades to Johns Island’s community center, would improve our sense of place, reflect our community values and enhance our quality of life.

Choosing inclusivity over divisiveness, we have engaged County Council members, elected leaders at the city of Charleston, state lawmakers and county staff, and we are finding renewed hope that collaboration can lead to bold improvements. Our plan can be adapted to avoid wetlands, home relocations and trees. Working with County Council and staff, we will keep improving Alternative 6 to ensure that it is the least-destructive and most cost-effective approach.

As we update our design based on recent feedback, we ask County Council to include safety and context-based designs in the project’s stated purpose and need. We can either have a road that looks like Highway 17 cutting through our island’s rural heart or a series of street and traffic upgrades that work together to enhance safety and incorporate localized designs based on a cohesive community vision.

We have the tools to build better roads. Rational Roads is showing that working together every step of the way will help us do just that.

Kate Nevin is a co-founder of Rational Roads for Johns Island and a Johns Island resident.

Charleston County has received a reduced cost estimate for the long-planned and controversial Mark Clark Extension project, but it’s a price tag that would still leave the county responsible for paying $1.78 billion.

That’s about five times the county’s yearly general fund budget.

Several council members who support finishing the Interstate 526 loop said the most likely path toward paying for it would be another half-percent sale tax increase that would require local voter approval.

“We just have to be willing to move forward and do it,” Councilwoman Jenny Honeycutt said. “Every day I get more and more calls.”

The project would create a 9½-mile, four-lane road from the current end of I-526 in West Ashley, to Johns Island and then onto James Island with a connection to the end of the James Island connector at Folly Road.

Most of the road would be elevated, with a proposed speed limit between 35 and 45 mph.

The marginally better cost estimate was delivered by S.C. Department of Transportation Secretary Christy Hall in a letter to the county. The previous price tag was estimated at $2.35 billion, while the new estimate that followed a consultant’s study came in at $2.2 billion.

“I think initially there was some thought that maybe we have overinflated the numbers,” Hall said.

When the higher cost estimate came out in May, Bradly Taggart, co-founder of Charlestonians for I-526, told County Council members that a temporary spike in commodity prices was likely to blame. He predicted that “we could be looking at a project that costs half as much in six months’ time as the market rebalances.”

Instead, the estimate dropped by less than 7 percent.

Hall said the estimated $150 million reduction came mainly from reducing the cost of potential “risk elements” — surprises during construction, such as unplanned conflicts with utilities or unexpected poor soil conditions — and partly from reducing expected cost inflation.

“This estimate has built into it every possible contingency for things that could go wrong,” said Honeycutt, who said she thinks the actual cost will be lower.

Hall asked the county to develop “a financial plan that is rational and realistic” for the entire road project, which would be required in order to get final approval for an environmental review from the federal government. She also asked the county to approve $150 million in preliminary work, with the county paying half that cost, to keep the plan moving forward.

Honeycutt and Council Chairman Teddie Pryor both said they favor a new half-percent sales tax referendum as the best way to pay the cost. County voters previously approved two such sales tax increases, mostly to fund road projects.

Pryor said if there were another referendum, it could be entirely dedicated to funding the Mark Clark Extension. The most recent sales tax increase, following a 2016 referendum, was expected to raise $1.89 billion for specified road projects in the county, over 25 years.

The county received the new cost estimate for the Mark Clark Extension on Dec. 2, a spokesperson said, and has not had time to discuss it. The earlier higher estimate was delivered to the county in May.

“I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry,” Councilman Henry Darby said at the time. “I would never, ever go with this.”

The Mark Clark Extension has lots of support, including the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, the city of Charleston and the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors, but also lots of opposition. The Coastal Conservation League said in May that the multibillion-dollar price tag “is a perfect opportunity for Charleston County Council to walk away from this project.”

A community organization called Nix 526 has also been fighting the extension, and Charleston Waterkeeper and the S.C. Wildlife Federation have raised objections.

Supporters say it’s necessary for traffic relief and possible hurricane evacuations, while opponents say it will increase development on Johns Island and harm the environment while providing little traffic relief at great cost.

New roads tend to provide traffic relief for a time but also spur development. The existing portion of I-526 from North Charleston to Mount Pleasant initially provided traffic relief and a new hurricane evacuation option, but it also accelerated development in northern Mount Pleasant and on Daniel Island. The state is currently planning to spend about $4 billion to widen that part of the interstate.

Here are some numbers to put $1.78 billion in context:

The S.C. Department of Transportation assumes that if the Mark Clark Extension project goes forward, litigation could delay it by two or three years.

Pryor blamed opponents for the rising costs of the project, and said it could have been built for far less years or decades ago. In 2015, the cost estimate was $725 million.

Unlike the even-more-expensive plans to widen and improve the existing sections of I-526 — for about $7 billion — the state in 2019 limited its contribution to the Mark Clark Extension project to $420 million and the county agreed to finance the rest.

“Our interstate program is focused on upgrading our existing interstates,” said Hall, and those plans are focused on moving freight and aiding commerce. The state is pursuing plans to widen all or portions of interstates 526, 26 and 95, and to redesign multiple interchanges.

County Council is expected to discuss options for the Mark Clark Extension at a future meeting. Hall did not put a deadline on her request for action.