RILEY ADDRESSES VIOLENCE, GETS GOOD NEWS FROM FEDS

The city of Charleston faces a crime-fighting challenge but also has bright
new economic opportunities, Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. said during his
annual State of the City address Tuesday night at City Hall.

Riley, along with Alphonso Jackson, deputy assistant secretary of the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development, announced that Charleston has
been named a "Renewal Community."

That designation brings with it shared access, along with 40 other
communities across the country, to an estimated $17 billion in tax
incentives designed to spur economic growth. The incentives apply to the
area that has been designated as the Enterprise Community, which begins at
Calhoun Street and stretches north through the neck of the peninsula into
the southern tip of North Charleston.

Riley and other city officials touted the announcement as welcome news for
an area that has struggled with high unemployment and substandard housing.
Despite the upbeat news, the speech started on a somber note. Riley, who
began the address by paying tribute to the city police officer and nurse
who were shot to death last Saturday, said that a recent string of violence
that included several killings must be stopped. He repeated the plea that
he and other city officials have made recently for residents to work more
closely with police by organizing neighborhood crime watches and calling
police about suspicious behavior.

"I offer that to you, dear citizens, as a challenge: that we be engaged in
working with our fine and brave police officers to make our city even
safer," he said.

Riley said the city's overall crime rate dropped in 2001. However, he also
alluded to a string of homicides late in the year that made last year the
city's bloodiest since the mid-90s.

"While one crime is one crime too many, certainly the level of violence,
most of it drug-related, that the city experienced last year is
unacceptable," he said.

The police department has been cracking down harder on the drug trade, and
a new collaboration with local, state and federal agencies will target
crimes involving guns, he said.

Riley said that Charleston was picked for the Renewal Community program
from among about 400 cities and counties that applied.

Jackson said the emphasis is on rewarding communities that have creatively
and effectively addressed pressing needs.

The idea is to reward success, not failure, he said.

"Charleston was chosen because it has a history of performing well," he said.

Riley and other city officials said the designation is a big deal.

While the first portion of Riley's speech was given over entirely to public
safety issues, the remainder dealt with a variety of topics. He urged
residents to vote for a pair of upcoming referendums, one for a countywide
half-cent sales tax increase that would pay for roads, mass transit and
protection of green space, the other for a $10 million city bond issue for
affordable housing. The sales tax referendum, he said, is particularly
important, citing first the need to preserve rural parts of Charleston County.

"Do we want to give future generations asphalt-covered sprawl, or do we
want them to continue to experience the feel and beauty of the Lowcountry?"
he asked.

Other topics included the recently-completed renovations to Marion Square
and King Street, as well as the fact that four new fountains will be built
or finished in the city this year.

Riley was not the only city official to note the weekend shootings. City
Councilman Wendell Gilliard suggested that Thursday be designated as a day
of prayer, making a motion that council quickly passed unanimously.

Councilman Jimmy Gallant, who serves as a chaplain for the police
department, said the community needs to recognize the sacrifices that
public safety workers sometimes make for city residents.

"We need to support our police officers," he said. "We've had our own
little 9-11 right here in Charleston."

In other matters, council: * Agreed to transfer the option to purchase the
Port City Paper property on King Street to the Humanities Foundation, which
will build 40 units of affordable housing for the elderly on the site. Some
council members questioned previously whether the project should be
restricted to the elderly, but said Tuesday they were persuaded that it has
a better chance of receiving state funding that way.

* Gave first reading to an ordinance annexing several properties on
Deleston Street on James Island totaling 6.1 acres.