Charleston Mercury’s endorsements for City Council

As decision day comes ever closer for the Holy City, we offer readers our full slate of endorsements for Charleston City Council. As noted in this month’s print edition mayoral endorsement, only a mutually cooperative council and city hall can adequately advance the interests of Charleston’s citizens.

In District One, we endorse Angela Drake, a resident of Ansonborough. As a realtor, she knows the Daniel Island district as well as the greater Lowcountry. As someone with a deep passion for the things that make our community unlike any other — her past presidency of the Historic Ansonborough Neighborhood Association, service on the Gibbes board and the like — show that’s she’s more than committed to preserving and protecting the Holy City.

For District Three, we endorse Jason Sakran. Sakran is a small business owner and a passionate advocate for childhood education; he has demonstrated admirable firepower in political thinking through his occasional columns for local media. His passion for people and belief in coalition building are desperately needed on council.

In District Five, Karl Brady, Jr., offers a lifetime of leadership, from his days as an Eagle Scout to his current work on the city’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission. His target goals — focusing on congestion, flooding and quality of life — are right where an effective council member’s priorities should rest.

For District Seven, the Rev. Christian King is another successful community-minded small businessperson who has long used her own successes to help others. Her two decades of caring for the less-fortunate in the neighborhood through afterschool and summer education programs show her dedication to what’s best about the Holy City.

For District Nine, we encourage readers to return to the September edition of the Mercury for our full endorsement of candidate Brett Barry.

In District Eleven, Ross Appel offers youthful vigor, a keen understanding of zoning and land use issues and deep local roots. As an attorney, he has fought hard for local citizens. Further, he has demonstrated exceptional devotion to fine local organizations like the Jewish Community Center and the Hebrew Benevolent Society, as he serves on the executive committees of both institutions.

We offer this slate, dear citizens, as an important reminder that City Hall is not the only locus of power in Charleston — indeed, by electing councilpersons of intelligence, with deep personal affection for and attention to their neighborhoods — we can return the fulcrum of action to the citizens themselves. Only then, with citizenry, Mayor John Tecklenburg and City Council working together, can we achieve what’s necessary to protect and preserve this special place we all call home.