Tag Archives: Sam Davis

Last night’s public meetings on the sheriff/police contract

There were two of them. One in District 4, the other in District 1. The District 4 meeting started at 6 p.m. at Woodland Park. About 85 people showed up to tell Councilwoman Leona Plaugh what they thought about the proposed contract. I listened to 10 people talk. Eight were opposed to it, and two [...]
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Filing opens today

Filing for Columbia’s City Council elections officially opens today. It ends Feb. 5. Here’s who says they are running: Mayor Joseph Azar, Five Points businessman Steve Benjamin, attorney, former state Attorney General candidate Sparkle Clark, USPS employee, nature photographer Kirkman Finlay, City Councilman, farmer, restaurant owner Steve Morrison, attorney, partner with Nelson Mullins Gary Myers, [...]
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Council decides to save money by not spending it

After council members had to massively cut the budget this year — including laying off employees and reducing staffing at two fire stations — they decided it would be a good idea to spend up to $225,000 to study how the city could save money. Wednesday, council members were supposed to select a consulting firm [...]
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Police horses still have a job — for now

The Columbia Police Department has four police horses. But they only have two officers who can ride them. The department spends $42,000 a year on the horses — or about how much it cost to pay for one police officer. With a manpower shortage at the police department, some council members feel the $42,000 for [...]
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Council members pitch their TIF

Last night, City Council members Tameika Isaac Devine and Sam Davis made a pitch to the Richland County Council about a new special tax district (a tax increment finance district, or TIF) for North Columbia. You can read some background on this here and here. Here’s what they had to say: After their speeches, Devine [...]
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