N. Charleston mayor candidate promises to clean streets, continue fight with school district

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Even before the mayor of North Charleston announced he would not seek reelection, a city council woman had already announced she would run to replace him.

“I prayed about it a lot and this was the direction I was sent,” Rhonda Jerome said.

A native of the city, Jerome has served as a councilperson in North Charleston for more than 20 years. She says she would continue current Mayor Keith Summey’s approach to dealing with the Charleston County School District and supports the city’s efforts to break away from the district.

Recently, Jerome was among those who toured the schools in North Charleston to point out what they call disparities between the schools in her city versus those in places like Mount Pleasant.

“During COVID our children lost two year of good education and they’re behind,” Jerome said. “We have to get these children caught up.”

Tackling crime is her biggest concern as North Charleston as some of worst violent crime rates in the state, despite them coming down in recent months. She says she is not afraid to hit the streets personally to clean them up.

“It’s really not the second most violent city in the nation,” Jerome said. “I already go into the community. . . I don’t care if it’s in the south end of the city, north end of the city. When I got married, we lived in the south end of the city. Some people are afraid to go down there. I’m not scared to go down there. They’re people. They’re just like me, but they need to know that a mayor is going to go into this community. They going to talk to the people and do whatever it takes.”

If Jerome wins, she would be the first female mayor of the city but she says that does not really matter to her.

“Being a female, you know that’s a plus because there’s never been a female candidate or a female mayor but I go on my record of 20 years of being on city council and to me that’s most important,” Jerome said.

You can read more about her platform here: 

So far, Jerome is the only candidate to declare their candidacy, however, Summey has already endorsed Police Chief Reggie Burgess if he decides to run.

You can find the full interview below:

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