Todd Glover moved into the offices at 1411 Gervais St. on November 11 to begin his tenure at the Municipal Association of South Carolina's seventh executive director. Here are Glover's answers to several questions about the future of the South Carolina's cities and towns, and the future of the Association.
The Municipal Association's new Executive Director Todd Glover, left, discusses plans for the 2020 Hometown Legislative Action Day and the Municipal Elected Officials Institute of Government with Staff Associate for Distance Learning Urica Floyd and Manager of Member Services Ken Ivey.
What are your goals for the Association over the next year?
My goal for the Municipal Association for the next year and for many years to come is to increase our value to cities and towns. The Association was founded on the idea that when cities come together and work together, they create a more efficient and effective way of doing things. I believe in this idea, and I believe that the Association has fulfilled this promise with many of the current programs we offer. However, change can be good, especially when it creates a greater value in the services and trainings the Association provides. Whether that means we expand existing programs that currently enjoy success, like the Municipal Elected Officials Institute of Government, or creating new programs like a cooperative purchasing program for cities, we need to look at every service we provide and ask how can we make it better.
How do cities and towns bring value to the state?
Cities and towns are the backbone of our state's economic development success. More and more people and businesses are moving to urban cores. Tourism is booming in municipal boundaries and not just along our coast, but in our inland and upstate cities and towns as well. Businesses, both large and small, are choosing to locate in our urban centers where employees can go to school, live, work and enjoy restaurants, sports, arts and other recreation opportunities. Cities and towns in all parts of the state are the economic drivers of our state's economy. While South Carolina still boasts a large agriculture economy, our cities are the cores of progress and innovation leading our state into the future. Local government is my passion. My entire career has been in local government and I truly believe that cities and towns are the key to our state's prosperity.
What are the biggest legislative issues facing cities and towns for the 2020 General Assembly?
Every legislative session, there are bills introduced that can help cities and towns govern at the local level and improve services to residents and businesses. There are also bills introduced that negatively affect the ability of officials in cities and towns to govern at the local level — state preemption on local decisions being the most common. Removing local authority ties the hands of locally elected leaders to make decisions directly affecting their residents and businesses, whether those decisions deal with environmental hazards or revenue to pay for city services. The attack on business licensing is always at the forefront. This locally generated income goes directly into general fund budgets of cities and towns to pay for public safety, fire services, recreation, events and many other services that benefit businesses and residents alike. These services are what initially attracted the businesses and industries to locate in our South Carolina hometowns. Cities and towns are supportive of increased flexibility with local accommodations and hospitality taxes to help repair flooding in tourist areas. Legislation that would give cities and towns this flexibility is a priority for the Association this session.