King is the first of over 100 Candidates for Mayor and Town or City Council in the Lowcountry to answer all ten questions in written form. Mayor Techlenberg, who sometimes sits on the CARTA Board and Mike Seekings, member of Charleston City Council, Chairman of the CARTA Board and Candidate for Mayor have both not yet provided answers to these questions, including the critical Low Line. Seekings is alleged to have said he's been given a dozen copies of the questions by voters.
King will be available to respond to press inquiries about her answers to the questions at 8 am at the Citadel Mall Bus Stop before departing for downtown Charleston on the #33 Bus at 8:23 am. She will arrive at the Mary Street Transit Center at 8:55 am and be available for interviews there for as long as needed. You can see the trip itinerary on Google Maps.
King can be reached for comment today by phone at (843) 442-6079. Her full answers to all ten questions are set out below verbatim, formatted with images added by Best Friends.,
Answers of Christian King
Do you favor
locating the bus rapid transit line on the old railroad line running into
Charleston (site of the proposed Lowline park) or do you believe that it and
its stations should be located in traffic on Meeting Street?
I am very much in favor of locating the bus
rapid transit line on the old railroad line running into Charleston. I agree
that it makes common senses and the best use of funds now and the future to use
the abandoned railroad right of way beneath I26 offers the opportunity for a
faster trip downtown and space for functional stations to connect with free
DASH bus service, regular CARTA bus service to Mt. Pleasant, West Ashley &
James Island, Bike Share and services like Uber. All of this can be combined
with a pleasant, useful linear park and bikeway using the rail line and space
in the existing, but little used "park" under I26. It is quite
obvious there is no space in the Meeting Street right of way to put stations
and locations for other transit services to transfer passengers.
This common-sense proposal of a distance of an
uninterrupted BRT trip on a dedicated transit line is being supplanted by a
proposed Low Line Park. According to their website, the proposal is from a group called the Friends of Lowcountry Low
Line who purchased the property from Norfolk Southern.(This portion-does not
make sense to me. Why did they do they or who selected the board) Their focus per the website to be in
creating an economic output. This focus concerns me because of our Community mindset
and our community goals need to be about more than just the dollars and sense
of Economic Development. Our leadership in this community needs to be about
more than just the dollars and sense of Economic Development.
Our
leadership and especially the leadership of District 7 on Charleston City
Council MUST reprioritize the balance between money and people...and it MUST be
done now before yet another generation
of young people behind. PEOPLE must come FIRST!
There are many
adults in our community who have already been left behind by decades of our
City government focusing solely on the dollars and sense of Economic
Development. For many of those people who have been left behind, there is simply
no way to fix this. We can help them to survive in this world that left them
out, but our primary effort NOW must be that of building strong capable
children for the future of our community, and that is what MY life's work has
always been about.
Finally, this quote is taken from the website
of the Friends of Lowcountry Low Line who purchased the property from Norfolk
Southern: The late Jane Jacobs, author,
and champion of community-based approaches to city planning, wrote that
"Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only
because, and only when, they are created by everybody." However, I am sorry that I was not aware of
this issue earlier to promote the essential open, public discussion of this issue
and clear standards be obtained before the November 5th election.
2. Will you commit to holding a public
hearing to hear the public’s concerns and consider written materials
presented. prior to your council’s vote on approving or disapproving the CARTA
annual budget?
Yes, I will commit
to holding a public hearing to hear the public consider written materials
presented, prior to your council’s vote on approving or disapproving the CARTA
annual budget. I will also hold quarterly meetings and input sessions in
various communities of my district to hear their concerns, issues, and
suggestions about CARTA. Actually, I think all of the City Council should spend
a day twice a year riding the bus line from their home to understand the
challenges their constituents face and if elected I will make that proposal.
3. Do you believe the rapid transit line should reach downtown
Summerville or are you willing to let it end at the Charleston County line?
I believe the Rapid Transit Line should reach downtown, Summerville.
The rapid
population growth and the need for affordable housing is pushing more and more
people to outer areas, such as Summerville to live. But they are still working
in Charleston. To help reduce traffic congestion the rapid transit line needs
to go all the way downtown.
4. Do you believe
the rapid transit line should run in segregated lanes
on Highway 78 or are you willing to have it operate in traffic from Rivers?
Ave. to Merlin G. Myers parkway outside Summerville?
I believe that the rapid
transit line should run in segregated lanes on Highway 78. Have you ever seen
Fairground Traffic? To have it operate in traffic from Rivers will defeat the
purpose.
5. What do you
believe should be done to assure that affordable housing is constructed
within walkable distance (a half-mile) of the rapid transit line, including the location of the old Navy Hospital in N. Charleston
Planning and zoning using allow more density in areas that will allow it. Plans
should be in place for permanently affordable housing and mix-use housing
areas. Also, tiny homes and other creative use should be considered.
6. Do you support
the implementation of a complete streets standard in the area you would
represent accommodating pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders?
Yes, this is
very similar to what Charleston Moves asked me and answer to them and now is
Yes, I would work to support the implementation of a complete street standard
in my area that would represent accommodating pedestrians, cyclists and transit
riders.
7. Will you support
requiring developers to build sheltered bus stops and pull outs as part
of their development agreement with your Town, City or County?
Yes!! Regardless
of the outcome of this election, I am going to work with BFOLT as a priority
issue for my community. There are too many members of my community, traveling
to and from work having to stand in the elements while waiting on the bus while
other areas especially in tourist areas who are very comfortable.
8. Do you support
returning regular scheduled public transit bus service to one of our local
beaches three days a week, Friday, Sat. and Sunday for 12 hours a day with
service not less than once an hour starting no later than Memorial Day Weekend,
2020 and to operate said service until the last Sunday prior to Oct. 1 of the
year? Yes!! I have you seen the traffic during that time of year?
What a
difference it would make if we could reduce the number of vehicles going
there. I believe that it will also
increase the number of low wealth community members access as well. Also, this
bus service would also eliminate the problem with finding parking and the
schedule of parking.
9. Would you
support repeal of the “Pay Go” plan and restoration of full funding for
improvements in regular bus service, raising the money available to improve
CARTA and Link service within Charleston County from the current level of 3
million dollars per year to 14 million dollars per year.?
Yes, we need to
spend the money now and provided full funding for improvements in regular bus
service,tackle the unreliable service, increase frequency and extend hours,
especially on the Citadel Mall-Sam Rittenberg-North Charleston-route that was
suggested by CAJM in May.
The pago plan is currently diverting 11
million dollars and bus funding a year to road construction. We do need more
roads West Ashley, however in many areas there is no more Room for significant
new road capacity. Improving transit is the only way we get to reduce
congestion that building new roads to undeveloped areas which creates more sprawl and more traffic instead
of making sure the area's current residents who are paying sales taxes have
better transit service. Failure to provide an increase in higher funding for
Carta is irresponsible and unfair to the
people who voted for the referendum. We need to improve basic bus service West
Ashley with money the voters
appropriated for that purpose in 2016. We need to spend the money now because
14 Million today is worth far more than
five years from now. The funds are available-use them now. The citizens of West
Ashley deserves those services.
10. Will you commit to a plan to complete and
commence operations no later than Nov. 2023 on the bus rapid transit line serving Summerville, Lincolnville, Ladson, N. Charleston, the Neck and Charleston. Yes, I
will definitely commit to a plan to complete and commence operations no later
than Nov. 2023 on the bus rapid transit line serving Summerville, Lincolnville,
Ladson, N. Charleston.
I am so
disappointed that we could not have taken Indianapolis example and already have
ours in place. . Indianapolis voted to build its bus rapid transit line the
same day Charleston County did in Nov. 2016. Operations commenced there in Sept. 2019, 2
years agn ten months after vote approval. Plans for our line anticipate a 9
year planning and construction process the longest such process we know of
anywhere on Earth for a project of this type.
.
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