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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — City of Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg is calling for more transparency from the Charleston County School District in the wake of recent decisions that have led to a "crisis of confidence" from the district's constituents.

In a statement released Tuesday, Tecklenburg asked the board to hold a public meeting to explain the decisions to place Superintendent Dr. Eric Gallien on paid administrative leave, the refusal to appoint Michelle Simmons as the chief academic officer, and the dismissal of members from the district's Health Advisory Committee.

"Taken together, these actions, and the lack of basic transparency surrounding them, have created a crisis of confidence among our principals, teachers, parents, taxpayers, and state legislators, at least two of whom have now called for formal investigations on a bipartisan basis," Tecklenburg said in a statement.

"I'm respectfully calling on the CCSD Board of Trustees to schedule an immediate public meeting, where they can explain and debate these actions in open session and begin working together to restore confidence in the board and its decision-making."

Tecklenburg's statement comes after a heated press conference held by the four members of the CCSD's Board of Trustees, who voted against the recent actions the board has taken.

The four board members at the press conference called for the reinstation of Gallien, the hiring of Simmons, and the reinstation of the Health Advisory Committee's members who were ousted from their positions.

In the portion of the press conference that allowed for questions, open discussions took place regarding the prominence of Moms for Liberty's influence in school and local politics.

Following the press conference, Representative Wendell Gilliard sent a letter to the state Attorney General Alan Wilson, imploring him to investigate whether the Moms for Liberty faction violated any state laws. Gilliard also asked him to take action to protect the superintendent, students, and staff from "further harassment and intimidation."

“South Carolina law is unequivocal in its commitment to protecting individuals from politically and racially motivated attacks, and it is essential that these protections extend to all citizens, including those who serve within our educational institutions,” the letter, dated Oct. 2, reads.

“... I respectfully request that your office investigate this matter thoroughly and impartially to determine whether any violations of the law have occurred. It is imperative that we ascertain whether these attacks have violated any laws and are indeed racially motivated.”

Gilliard also sent a letter to Ellen Weaver, the superintendent of education in South Carolina, asking Weaver to look into the actions of the board as well.

On Monday night, at a community meeting in North Charleston, one CCSD board member described the struggle against the actions of the majority on the board as the "new Civil Rights movement."

"We are in it," Darlene Dunmeyer-Roberson added. "We are not going to faint. We are not going to get weary."

Now Charleston's mayor is also imploring the board for transparency regarding decision-making moving forward.

“More than 220 years ago, when Charleston and the nation were still young, President George Washington warned in his farewell address of the dangers of factions, and of the unique threat they represent to our form of government. In recent days, we have seen those dangers play out on our county school board," Tecklenburg wrote in a statement.

"I believe it's time for everyone involved to step back, remember that we serve all our citizens, and begin mending the broken bonds of trust between our school board and the citizens, parents, and students it serves.”

Growing up in Puerto Rico, Shamil Velazquez dreamed of attending culinary school.

By the time he could walk, Velazquez was already donning chef’s whites, and his uncle, also named Shamil, had became an early mentor. Young Shamil would cook with his uncle, grandmother and mother at home so often that eventually, he could not see himself doing anything else with his life.

For the last six years, Velazquez has lived his dream, working in Greenville and Charleston kitchens within the Neighborhood Dining Group family of restaurants. Most recently, the Puerto Rican chef led the kitchen at Delaney Oyster House, and he was the opening executive chef at Minero on Johns Island before Cheyenne Bond took over earlier this year.

Velazquez credits his upbringing for his love of cooking, but he is also quick to mention his time at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. That’s where he met his wife Katie and made the connections that propelled him to Napa Valley to work for chef Cindy Pawlcyn, who taught him how to build relationships with local farmers.

In July, Velazquez announced he would be leaving Charleston to pursue a teaching position at his alma mater.

Though Velazquez has left the area, there are still several Charleston area chefs who attended culinary school, many paying thousands and thousands of dollars to do so. Would they do it again?

At a crossroads

For the younger generation of cooks, culinary school is becoming less attractive, recent data shows.

A 2022 report by The Washington Post found that the number of individuals seeking higher culinary education is decreasing, making it easier to get into cooking schools. The Culinary Institute of America, Velazquez’s alma mater, now accepts 97 percent of applicants, compared to 36 percent two decades ago. In the same 20-year period, the number of accepted students who actually attended dropped from 91 percent to 33 percent, according to the report.

As interest wanes, culinary campuses are closing.

Johnson & Wales University, whose flagship campus is in Providence, R.I., previously operated in Charleston before permanently shuttering in 2006, the same year the college closed its Norfolk, Va., location. Johnson & Wales’ Denver and North Miami campuses were the next dominos to fall, both closing in 2021.

Now, the university’s Charlotte campus, which opened in 2004, finds itself at a crossroads, the Charlotte Business Journal reports. Johnson & Wales’ enrollment has plummeted by 55 percent, and there is growing concern that the school’s only remaining branch can survive in the Queen City.

Annual tuition for Johnson & Wales is $39,792, while the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park costs $20,850 per semester.

“Schools are pretty expensive now, and I think sometimes people have a misconception of what will happen after,” said Michael Zentner, a 2001 Culinary Institute of America graduate who left the restaurant industry three years ago to open a private events company called The Drifter with his wife, Courtney.

Cooks rarely receive offers for executive chef roles after graduating from culinary school. That doesn’t mean it is not a worthwhile endeavor, Zentner said.

“It was a really good way of working under a whole bunch of people in a short period of time,” Zentner said. “You have to think of it as an apprenticeship more than a college.”

The real work starts upon graduation, the former Charleston Grill chef said. Culinary school gives you the script and the practice, but chefs truly learn to cook at a high level while working in a high-performing professional kitchen.

Sorelle executive chef Nick Dugan had a winding path to culinary school. He entered his first restaurant kitchen at age 13 and worked in the industry until high school graduation.

Charleston, SC will be the site of a new tech pilot project to bring the future of the city to life with augmented reality (AR) via inCitu, a startup that democratizes urban planning by turning city planning data into accessible, smartphone-based AR experiences.

CHARLESTON, S.C. and NEW YORK, Oct. 3, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Charleston, SC will be the site of a new tech pilot project to bring the future of the city to life with augmented reality (AR) via inCitu, a startup that democratizes urban planning by turning city planning data into accessible, smartphone-based AR experiences. Although urban development information is publicly available, too often the open data is inaccessible or indecipherable to the average person. By putting the future of the city in the palm of residents' hands on the street, Charleston is becoming actively transparent, boosting the accessibility and inclusivity of open data to improve local conversations around urban change.

In beautiful, historic Charleston, there's a major initiative under way to protect the city from flooding. Proposed development of the perimeter protection barrier has been met with lively debate from citizens who care passionately about how it will appear. Using InCitu's AR tool, residents would be able to scan a QR code on-site and see the proposed designs in real-scale, as if it is built.

"People assume the worst until they have an opportunity to view new buildings or large-scale infrastructure projects with their own eyes. The community can use their phones and see proposed building designs for themselves" said Paul Turner, CEO of Virtual America, a local Charleston-based start-up technology company specializing in virtual and augmented reality for applications showcasing art, architecture and history. "This is an easy-to-use low friction way to allow local advocacy groups and individual citizens to see and provide direct and immediate feedback to architects or commercial developers on their plans for new building and infrastructure projects throughout the City of Charleston. Also to allow City leaders and associated oversight organizations to quickly gather citizen comments beyond the traditional town hall or oversight board meeting format.

Ben Davis, CEO of MOODOG, an established local animation and interactive experience studio with content produced for Peacock, Kennedy Space Center, SC Aquarium, Patriots Point, and many more, states that "Bringing data to life for the community in this way allows everyone to be part of the story - which is our mission! From here, we can imagine a multitude of both serious and fun interactions that will accelerate understanding and communication."

As cities create digital replicas of their urban centers, adapting technology into the existing city planning processes to handle real time 3D data will be a commonplace challenge. Although urban development information is publicly available, too often the open data is inaccessible or indecipherable to the average person. Cities like Charleston are leading the way for smart, democratic cities that streamline the time and costs it takes to plan and build for a sustainable, safe, and equitable future for all. For more info on these projects follow @incitu_ar on instagram

About inCitu:

inCitu is a New York-based technology company delivering on a mission to bring future cities to life via augmented reality (AR). It empowers residents, industry professionals, and decision makers to collaborate on the process of urban change. inCitu turns proposed and upcoming development information from private and public resources into a real-scale AR experience, available to anyone with a smartphone. To date it has worked on more than 4,000 construction sites in New York, California and beyond.

Moondog Animation Studio is an entertainment studio located in Charleston that has a track record of producing exceptional story-driven experiences. They utilize cutting-edge technology in the fields of animation and interactive experiences, ranging from screens to large-scale location-based entertainment venues. They incorporate technologies such as AR, VR, AI, projection mapping, human input interaction, blockchain, and more.

Virtual America is a Charleston-based technology company focused on researching and developing virtual and augmented reality applications showcasing the creative work of artists, historic preservationists, architects, museum curators and local/regional tour guides and storytellers.

Media Contact:

[email protected]

Media Contact

Dana Chermesh-Reshef, inCitu, 1 3475858166 3475858166, [email protected], https://incitu.xyz/

Twitter, LinkedIn

SOURCE inCitu

After some last-minute funding maneuvers, the city of Charleston, S.C., approved the terms of a construction contract for a long-awaited bike and pedestrian bridge connecting downtown and the scenic West Ashley district.

It now awaits federal approval before Mayor John Tecklenburg can sign off on it and work can begin.

The Ashley River Crossing is a separated bike path and stand-alone bridge that promises to enhance the connectivity of Charleston's metro area, according to the city's online project page. It will tie to the end of the West Ashley Greenway and connect to downtown when its construction is completed.

The bridge's design work is expected to take about a year, while construction will likely last for three years, said Jason Kronsberg, Charleston's parks director and the project manager for the effort.

He added that there should only be minor disruptions to road and boat traffic during the work. Beginning at the existing West Ashley Greenway on the west side of the river, the new structure will cross the Ashley just south of the U.S. Highway 17 vehicular bridges.

In addition to the bridge, improvements will be made at key intersections along the West Ashley Greenway and at the Bee Street and Lockwood Drive intersection on the Charleston Peninsula.

Several Factors Led to Bridge's Higher Cost

The Post and Courier reported Sept. 27 that as construction firms submitted proposals for the project this summer, local leaders became aware that their most recent cost projections were insufficient.

That is when the estimate ballooned from $42 million about a year ago to about $74 million now, the Charleston newspaper noted. As a result, city officials had to secure more funding from county, state and federal agencies. In addition to dipping into the city's hospitality tax funds, the Medical University of South Carolina chipped in too.

In total, the city's contribution to the project via hospitality tax funds stands at $13 million.

Construction bidders attributed the higher-than-expected cost projections to rising interest rates, as well as increased labor and material costs. The winning bid came in at $73.8 million.

City leaders had considered scaling the project back when the new estimates were calculated but Councilman Mike Seekings said South Carolina Transportation Secretary Christy Hall was determined to find additional help from all levels of government to bring the project across the finish line.

"Secretary Hall put her money where her mouth is," he told the Post and Courier.

With Hall's help securing an additional $30 million committed from various agencies, the city was able to move forward by signing a contract with Superior Construction, a Midwest and Southeast heavy civil firm with an office in North Charleston.

The Charleston City Council voted 11-1 on Sept. 26 to authorize the mayor to sign off on the contract once it gets approval from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Council member Caroline Parker voted against the authorization and Councilman William Dudley Gregorie was absent.

If all goes according to plan, the contract will be sealed within a few weeks and design work can begin, the Charleston news outlet learned. Inking the contract locks down a "guaranteed maximum price" from the contractor, which can only fluctuate within a certain percentage of the total project cost. Any additional overruns would need special approval from the city council.

Despite the cost estimate struggles, Charleston officials struck an optimistic tone, telling the Post and Courier the project will be transformative for the city.

"It's a game changer," Kronsberg said. "It's a significant infrastructure project that will be just as successful as the Ravenel Bridge bike and pedestrian lane [across the Cooper River] when it was first implemented. If you build it, they will come."

Council member Peter Shahid, who is running for mayor, said the project is not only a recreational amenity but also an important piece of the city's transportation network. It would provide commuters who travel on foot or ride bikes a safe crossing to the city's employment hub and also could relieve some traffic on the existing vehicular bridges in the same area.

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Charleston lawmakers, four members of the Charleston County Board of Trustees and community members are seeking answers for recent board actions fueled by a conservative majority of five trustees. Among the concerns: why new Superintendent Eric Gallien is on paid administrative leave after a closed session that is drawing charges of the board’s lack of transparency.

On Monday, S.C. Rep. Wendell Gilliard, D-Charleston, asked S.C. Attorney General to look into what’s going on with the school board: “It has come to my attention that certain members of the Charleston County School Board, known to be backed by the Moms For Liberty organization, have engaged in a series of actions that may potentially constitute violations of the law, including racially motivated and possibly rising to the level of hate-crime offenses.”

Other S.C. lawmakers, such as S.C. Rep. Joe Bustos, R-Charleston, reached out to Gov. Henry McMaster and the state inspector general to investigate any violations of the state’s open meetings law.

The school board voted 5-4 on Sept. 25 to place Gallien on paid administrative leave following a complaint that hasn’t been aired in public.

Four trustees not in the majority coalition of the board on Monday called on the rest of the board to rescind its decision on Gallien and demanded answers about why the board decided not to hire a qualified, recommended candidate to be the district’s chief administrative officer.

More than 70 people attended the Monday press event by the four trustees. Community members were encouraged to get active and let board members know their positions on issues related to local schools.

When asked what could be done about the board’s apparently illegal use of executive sessions, trustee Courtney Waters said, “The discussion needs to happen in the public so that the public can weigh in and give us input on what is right for this district.”

In other news:

CP NEWS: Nutmobile spends the weekend in the Lowcountry. The peanut-shaped Planters Nutmobile stopped in the Charleston area at The Rise Coffee Bar in Charleston to celebrate National Coffee Day and at Holy City Brewing for a beer and nut pairing.

Former Citadel President Watts dies. The Citadel announced that Lt. Gen. Claudius “Bud” Watts III, a former president of the state’s military college, passed away Sunday at 87 years-old.

S.C. gas prices see another small drop. Gas prices in South Carolina have fallen nearly 6 cents over the past week to an average of $3.25 per gallon.

Affordable housing unit at old Archer school to be ready by next year. The renovation project to convert the former Archer School on Nassau Street to affordable housing is currently underway. Council members said units will be available in the coming months after a recent visit to the construction site.

Some hope to preserve unmarked graves near Gadsden Creek. Community members and city leaders are working to protect the potential unmarked burial sites of enslaved people and migrants from the 18th and 19th century from future development.

S.C. tech firm extends ‘poison pill’ to discourage unwanted buyout bids. Daniel Island-based Blackbaud Inc.’s board of directors unanimously approved extending the shareholder rights plan that was supposed to end Oct. 2 to discourage hostile takeover attempts.

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