On January 11, 2016, John Tecklenburg will be sworn in as Charleston's first new mayor in forty years. Many residents of Charleston are wondering what Tecklenburg's leadership will look like, especially after Mayor Joe Riley's decades of service. One of Tecklenburg's biggest challenges as he helps Charleston make the transition will simply be that he's not Joe.
"It's a big thing, replacing a figure that is beloved," says Gibbs Knotts, chair of the Department of Political Science at the College of Charleston. Exit polling after the November 3 mayoral election found that 80% of Charleston voters still support Riley. That's an incredibly high number by any standard. But Riley is on the way out, and it's time for Tecklenburg to follow through on his campaign promises. In recent days, he's met with Mayor Riley and his staff and has begun putting together his transition team. He plans to perform an internal audit of city departments in hopes of finding ways to improve efficiency. Tecklenburg will also have to reach out to work with City Council members, something he's also begun to do already. Joe Riley is a tough act to follow, but John Tecklenburg is poised to be another strong mayor.
Read the full article here: Following the Election, John Tecklenburg Faces His Biggest Challenge Yet