“S
UMMERVILLE IS A special place, and I will work with every ounce of my being to make sure it remains a special place.” Tose words were
spoken by Bill Collins after the announcement that he had been elected mayor. “Tere’s a lot to be done. And it’s going to take the efforts of a lot of people. I just want to be one of those people doing whatever I can to help,” said Collins a couple of weeks later. Te publisher of the Summerville
newspaper for 35 years – he sold it in 2007 – Collins ran for mayor for two reasons: his attitude toward life and the realization that the slower pace of semi-retirement didn’t match his personality or his energy level. “I’m sort of an A-type personality, maybe triple-A. I’m full of energy and enthusiasm,” he explained. “And I love the town and love the people. It had been supportive of me, the newspaper and our family. I was in the position to give back, and I think if you can give back, that’s what you need to do. Te city is only as good as the people who inhabit it and who are willing to make it better.”
Collins took office on June 20, 2011, following Berlin G. Myers, who had served since 1972. Myers believed his most important accomplishments were keeping the “village” in fast-grow- ing Summerville and beginning the Berlin G. Myers Parkway. Collins wants to continue that legacy. His priorities are serving the town’s residents with better infrastructure and economic development. Te main elements in Collins’ plan
center around catching up the town to its current population and preparing
The
for the future. According to the census, Sum- merville’s population increased 56 percent to 43,392 between 2000 and 2010, the largest jump of any medium-sized or large municipality in South Carolina. Collins has watched his town grow; when he arrived in 1972, Summerville had only about 3,700 residents. “Our development has exceeded our infrastructure, so we’ve got a lot of catching up to do,” according to Collins. “But the good news is, we’ve got a lot of people here who have lived all over the world. Tey have talents and time and they, too, have energy. Tey want to see things happen here. And so I’m optimistic about being able to bring volunteers into the system to see if we can’t muster a spirit of volunteerism and do some things that might save some tax
Collins family
outside their Sumter Street
home: Left to right: Michelle Bridges of Summerville; Collins;
Margaret Collins; and Will Collins Jr. of Tallahassee, Florida.
dollars so we can spend those dollars a little more efficiently.” Collins doesn’t see funding improving any time soon. “It’s a major problem at every level,
from the city to the county to state and federal government. So, we’ve got to try to do things smarter and better. I want to try to see that we get the most bang for our buck out of all of our dollars and run the city like you run a business,” Collins said. To compensate for the rapid growth of the past decades and plan for future expansion, Collins believes the town’s top goals must be easing traffic conges- tion, becoming more business-friendly and increasing tourism. Traffic is at the
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