Moe Baddourah to run for Columbia Mayor
March 13, 2013
Restaurateur would be first business person to lead city government in more than three decades
COLUMBIA, SC – March 12, 2013 – Noting that it’s been more than threedecades since a business person served as Columbia’s mayor, CityCouncilman Moe Baddourah on Tuesday announced his candidacy for Mayor.
Baddourah, a 34-year Columbia resident and owner of Moe’s GrapevineItalian Restaurant on Rosewood Drive, said his business background gives him the experience necessary to lead city government.
“Business experience is a much-needed commodity in government,” he said. “Business people often have unique insights, particularly on economicdevelopment and on issues facing the business community. And I thinkbusiness people also bring common sense and innovative problems solvingabilities to the table.
“Besides, it’s been more than thirty years since a business person served as Columbia’s Mayor,” he added.
Baddourah said the biggest contrast between the incumbent Mayor and himself can be found in their approaches to public service.
“My philosophy is simple: I believe public service should be aboutserving the community and improving the lives of ordinary citizens,” hesaid. “The people’s interests aren’t well-served when politicians awardimportant jobs to friends or create new government positions forcampaign workers.”
Shortly after being elected in 2010, Mayor Steve Benjamin began a pushto create new city positions for two campaign aides. And in December,the mayor led the charge to hire his one of his friends for the position of city manager — even bypassing several more experienced people whohad applied for the job.
“Personally, I believe the incumbent Mayor is a good person. But ifwe’re going to truly meet the challenges we face and move Columbiaforward, our leaders must be willing to rise above politics as usual and truly focus on the interests of those we were elected to serve,” hesaid. “Particularly after last year’s election debacle, we ought to befocused on rebuilding public trust and restoring the faith that manypeople have lost in the Columbia/Richland County political system.”
Baddourah said the Mayor’s Office could use a dose of “a businessperson’s common sense,” and the city must rediscover the notion ofsetting priorities. He cited the Mayor’s recent proposal to increase the city manager’s salary to $190,000 a year; Baddourah was one of twoCouncil members to vote against the contract.
“To me, it sends the wrong message to give such an excessive payincrease to a city administrator when some of our police officers makeless than $30,000,” Baddourah said. “It defies common sense. It’scertainly not a decision someone with business experience would havemade.”
He said curbing violent crime will remain his top priority.
“We can no longer deny there’s a problem,” said Baddourah, who chairscouncil’s Public Safety Committee. “We must make public safety a higherpriority. We need more boots on the ground in key crime areas, and wemust ensure our police have the support they need to do their jobseffectively and safely.”
Another priority will be ending the unwise practice of diverting moneyaway from the water and sewer maintenance fund to pay for otherexpenses. “The continued raiding of this maintenance fund has causedunnecessarily high water rates and left our water and sewer system indisrepair, which is both a quality of life issue and a threat to theenvironment,” Baddourah said.
