Barbara Rackes Appointed to Mayoral Transition Team
Group will study issues facing city, report when term begins
Columbia Mayor-elect Steve Benjamin Monday appointed four people known in business and activist circles to study key city issues and provide a report by July 1, the day after he takes office. Benjamin introduced the four co-chairs of his transition team at City Hall. They are:
Luther Battiste
Profession: Founding partner of Johnson, Toal and Battiste Law Firm
Among community involvement: One of the first African-Americans to be elected to Columbia City Council, former Richland County Bar Association president
Robert Dozier
Profession: CoastalStates Bank director
Among community involvement: Midlands Technical College board of trustees, former Richland 2 school board member
Barbara Rackes
Profession: Owner of TheRackesGroup, an internet consulting firm, former retail business owner
Among community involvement: Southeastern Institute for Women in Politics, treasurer; Palmetto Health Foundation board of directors, former member
Bessie Watson
Profession: State government employee
Community involvement: President, Columbia Council of Neighborhoods; president, Edisto Court Neighborhood Association
They bring a range of experience and skills, Benjamin said.
“It’s about having all hands on deck,” he said. “There are, preferably, smarter people than you in the room sometimes.”
Still, as Benjamin prepares to take office, the investigation into his April 21 car accident that critically injured a driver in another car is unresolved.
When asked about it during Monday’s news conference, Benjamin said he did not know whether police would finish the investigation before he takes office June 30.
He declined to talk about the wreck.
“We’ve been going about doing the work the people elected us to do,” he said.
That included outlining the tasks of his new co-chairs.
The four will lead a larger group that will study eight issues in Columbia — economic development, public safety, environment and sustainability, regionalism, government operations, public health, arts and historic preservation, and education and community development.
The transition team’s work will allow him to find things within the city that are working and identify areas that need improvement. He did not offer specifics on how the team’s findings will be used.
“It’s a healthy process for us,” he said.
Benjamin said more people could be brought into the study process, though he did not know how large the final team would be or who would serve on it.
The four co-chairs said Monday they were invited by Benjamin to lead the transition team and welcomed the opportunity.
“The theme that resonated about ‘one Columbia’ is what the four of us believe in,” Dozier said. “Collectively, we have different definitions of that.”
Hefty issues await Benjamin at City Hall.
The police and fire departments have interim chiefs. The city’s sewer system is aging. And money is tight.
Police have not released any new information about their investigation into the April 21 early morning wreck involving Benjamin and Deborah Rubens, a Columbia waitress. Benjamin was not injured; Rubens remains hospitalized.
Interim Columbia Police Chief Carl Burke said Monday he did not know whether the final report on the investigation would be ready by the time Benjamin takes office.
The State
By NOELLE PHILLIPS
nophillips@thestate.com