This week’s KellyGram is dedicated to a personal friend who has been a public servant for most of his life—Howard Duvall. Howard grew up in Cheraw, SC and graduated from Cheraw High School. He went on to earn a degree in Political Science from the Citadel, and afterwards, he served in the US Air Force and the South Carolina Air National Guard. After his military service, Howard returned to his home town of Cheraw, where he served on the Town Council before being elected to the position of mayor. He eventually became the executive director of the Municipal Association of South Carolina in 1992 and served in that capacity until his retirement in 2008. There is no one—literally, no one—in South Carolina who knows more about municipal government than Howard Duvall. And so, he decided to throw his hat in the ring for the At-Large seat on Columbia City Council and was elected in 2016.

Knowing Howard, I can say with confidence that he is a true, dedicated public servant. He has no hidden political agenda or axes to grind; he simply wants what is best for the citizens of the City of Columbia. Throughout his first term on the Council, Howard has been very active and played an integral role in preparing for and promoting Columbia as a destination for viewing the August 2017 Total Eclipse, finding funding for the ShotSpotter system, and helping to restore law and order in the city by working to limiting the number of bars in Columbia with all-night permits. Here are some of the ways he hopes to make Columbia even better in the 2020 term:

• Improving crime prevention efforts through stronger partnerships between Columbia’s neighborhoods and police officers, and keeping morale high at our phenomenal Fire Department by increasing pay for firefighters.
• Updating Columbia’s infrastructure by servicing and replacing water lines and repairing our roadways.
• Freeing up the city’s budget through wiser spending decisions and eliminating government waste—not by increasing Columbia’s already heft property and sales taxes.
• Creating new jobs by developing, supporting, and enacting policies to attract new companies and promote entrepreneurship.
• Providing Columbia residents with better and more responsive customer service from the City’s agencies.

Though he has several enthusiastic opponents who are intelligent and well-meaning, I genuinely believe that Howard Duvall is THE person for the job! Vote for Howard Duvall for City Council At-Large on November 5th!