West Columbia Voters Head to Polls

(WOLO) WEST COLUMBIA,S.C., — ” what did you call me on the phone? i called you an idiotic (bleep)-hole! The tumultuous topic of changing West Columbia’s form of government began swirling back in March of this year. West Columbia Mayor Joe Owens held a meeting to discuss his proposal to change from strong – council to a strong – mayor form of government. But the focus on the change was short lived after Councilman Tem Miles raised concerns about the meeting he claimed was held without any other council members present. “it’s become apparent to me you are abusive in the process.” By April the Mayoral melee had taken another turn. This time allowing the residents to speak out after witnessing several months of public political bickering. In July Council members approved an ordinance requiring the Mayor to have at least other council members present before changes are made to any city laws. That was just one month before an 8 page, 15 thousand dollar independent audit was released at the urging of residents. The release of the report stirring up more mudslinging. including accusations mayor owens had in several instances abused his power.claims, the Mayor emphatically denied. Now the voters have to dig through it all and decide if they want the mayor to have more executive power or if that switch will be too much power for one person to possess.