Crime and The Strong Mayor Debate

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — “As Sheriff, I can do things he can’t do,” says Richland County Sheriff, Leon Lott. 

This week, Sheriff Lott made no mistake in saying he can fight crime without permission. 

Something, he says, the Columbia Police Department can’t do. 

“I heard the Sheriff’s comments and I agree with him,” says Mayor Steve Benjamin, City of Columbia

Thursday afternoon, we sat down with Mayor Benjamin to talk about the proposed Strong Mayor Referendum. 

“When a Chief of Police makes a decision, it ought to be the final decision for the department,” says Benjamin.

It’s been over 50 years since Columbia had a Strong Mayor form of government. 

In 2010, before Benjamin was elected for his first term, he — as a Mayoral candidate — supported the proposal then for Strong Mayor. However, the proposal later failed. 

Also failing that same year, a proposal, at times heated, to combine both the Columbia Police Department and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department. 

Back to the Strong Mayor argument, some say if passed it’s a mistake for the city. 

“We’ll go into greater debt, we will have too much manipulation of city employees,” says Joseph Azar, opposes the Strong Mayor Referendum. 

But, when it comes to fighting crime, Mayor Benjamin says it would allow things to get done, faster. 

“If in fact, the people decide that they want to go to a modern form of government and that’s a Strong Mayor form of government, would be to have the chief of police, report directly to the Mayor,” says Benjamin. 

Again, some disagree. 

“The Mayor is the ultimate employer, so to speak, and then he hires city administrators, so the system doesn’t really change,” says Azar. 

As for Sheriff Lott, a department spokesperson says he wasn’t endorsing the Strong Mayor Referendum, he was simply stating the differences in how the departments operate. 

Voters will decide the Strong Mayor Referendum, December 3rd.