Charleston city council candidate forum held on Daniel Island

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - On Jan. 11, a special election will be held to fill a Charleston city council seat.

“This is a most important election coming up on January 11,” said Maurice Washington, chairman of the Charleston County Republican Party. “Even though this is a nonpartisan election, it is still the government closest to the people.”

On Sunday, the Charleston County Republican Party hosted a candidate forum at the Daniel Island Country Club to introduce the five candidates to District One citizens. It’s a district that is based in both Charleston County and Berkeley County.

The five candidates say issues like public safety and infrastructure are most important to the district.

“We need to make sure that we’re responsibly developing this part of Charleston city,” candidate Jen Gibson said.

“We’re in dire need of at least one more fire station right away. We have to increase our police department,” said candidate Tony Fogle.

“Let’s get back to what city council and city government is supposed to do and that is focusing on the quality of life to include the basic necessities of public safety and infrastructure,” said candidate Shawn Pinkston.

“We’re clearly under the strains of growth and what that has done with us from an infrastructure standpoint,” said candidate David Winkler.

“We’ve had rapid growth in this district for the last 20 years and we need some serious improvements to our infrastructure to maintain our quality of life out here,” said candidate Boyd Gregg.

Former councilwoman Marie Delcioppo resigned from this position in October, citing health challenges. The term of office for this position will expire Dec. 31, 2023.

The polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. You can find a full list of the polling locations here.

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