Mount Pleasant Magazine Jan/Feb 2018

73 www.MPtownCouncil.com | www.MPMcalendar.com | www.MountPleasantMagazine.com feature The first item of business after announcing my candidacy was to establish a sense of legitimacy to the campaign. Being a sitting town councilman helped. Having been a local newspaper columnist prior to my election to Council helped with name recognition. But to be considered a viable candidate in one of the state’s largest municipalities was going to be the first priority. My plan was first to put together a strong campaign organization comprised of a Steering Committee and a Working Committee. Both came together quickly. Mount Pleasant native and 2015 council campaign veteran Renee Ballam agreed to chair my campaign. Without a capable and experienced person like her, a campaign of the sort it takes to get elected in Mount Pleasant would not be possible. The next task was to get high-profile endorsements, and none was bigger or helped establish my candidacy more than the endorsement of former South Carolina First Lady Ann Edwards. Suzette and I filmed some video scenes at Ann’s harbor-front home that were prominently featured in the television commercial that aired closer to the election. Though her husband, the late Gov. James B. Edwards, was the famous elected official in this state, I have never seen anyone better at campaigning and connecting with the people than Ann Edwards. Next on the campaign agenda was to find a high-visibility location, preferably on Highway 17 North, to rent as a campaign headquarters. Not only did I want a place for meetings and organizing but also to hang signs and banners early in the year to remind local residents that there was an off-year election coming up and that I was running for mayor. Anna Allen, a local real estate agent who was on my campaign Steering Committee, called one hot summer day to say she had found a great place right on Highway 17 North near Hamlin Road, between Boone Hall and Brickyard Plantation. Anna arranged a meeting with the owners of the Jefferson Building, Dianna and Eddie Jefferson, who live on McKnight Road just behind the building. I knew instantly when I saw the space and met the Jeffersons that the deal was meant to be. Not only was the space perfect for a campaign headquarters, but the Jeffersons and their extended family became good friends and supporters. We fixed up the new headquarters with quintessential pictures of Mount Pleasant and every conceivable item that bore my campaign colors of Kelly green and gold. Then we sent out invitations for a big ribbon cutting in late July. Everything went smoothly until a violent thunderstorm swept through the area just before the event – the same storm that brought down the tarp on the Don Holt Bridge on Interstate 526 during evening rush hour, spawning the term “Tarpmageddon.” Traffic into Mount Pleasant was diverted to Interstate 26, and traffic snarled all over town. Many who were on their way to “The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.” -Oscar Wilde Mayor Will Haynie, left, performs with Bobby Houck, lead singer of The Blue Dogs, at a campaign event at the Rusty Rudder. Photo courtesy of Will Haynie.