City Quick Connect Podcast From The Municipal Association Of South Carolina

Manager for Municipal Advocacy Casey Fields, Research and Legislative Liaison Melissa Harrill and Legislative and Public Policy Advocate Scott Slatton discuss H4431, a bill which could make significant changes to business licensing for cities and towns. They also discuss what local officials can do to advocate for business license standardization and steps that have already been taken.

Legislative preemption of municipalities is any attempt to take away the abilities of cities and towns to make local decisions. Scott Slatton, legislative and public policy advocate, discusses the ways that local ordinances have made a difference in recent years and how to advocate for local decision making.

Manager for Municipal Advocacy Casey Fields takes a look at the beginning of the second half of the 2019 – 2020 legislative session, including bill prefiles, ways to stay involved, and Hometown Legislative Action Day in February.

Municipal Association General Counsel Eric Shytle continues the discussion of First Amendment audits, in which residents create recordings in public places, sometimes aggressively. He covers ways in which cities and towns can prepare facilities and staff for this practice.

A relatively new phenomenon, “First Amendment audits” involve residents testing their rights to create video recordings in public places, such as city hall offices. In Part 1 of this podcast, Eric Shytle, general counsel for the Municipal Association, explains the legal and historical background of the trend.

Annual renewals begin in January for the Municipal Association’s affiliate associations, which cover many professional development needs for cities and towns. Ken Ivey, manager of member services, as well as Elizabeth Copeland and Sara Snell, both of whom are staff associate for affiliate services, discuss the affiliates and the training opportunities they provide.

Sara Snell, Staff Associate for Affiliate Services, explains how cities and towns can use the data on wages and salaries in the Municipal Compensation Survey, and how they can submit the information for each year's survey.

The Municipal Association of SC awarded the 2019 Hometown Economic Development Grants to 14 cities and towns in amounts of up to $25,000 each. Scott Slatton discusses how grant applications are evaluated, and takes a look at this year's winning projects.

Eric Shytle, general counsel for the Municipal Association, continues the discussion from the last episode on some recent federal court cases that impact how cities and towns should handle physical forums and social media forums, as well as how they handle zoning regulations for religious uses.

Eric Shytle, general counsel for the Municipal Association, discusses some recent federal court cases that impact how cities and towns should handle physical forums and social media forums.

Venyke Harley, the Municipal Association's loss control manager, discusses how loss control can help keep employees and property safe.

The Municipal Association recently conducted its annual disaster recovery IT exercises. Krystal Dailey, the Association’s information technology manager, explains these exercises and how they can help with any organization’s capacity to continue doing business after a disaster strikes.

After Main Street SC's recent training meeting in downtown Orangeburg, Main Street SC Manager Jenny Boulware sat down to talk with Downtown Orangeburg Revitalization Association Executive Director Candice Roberson to talk about local projects, including the construction of the new farmers market pavilion.

Hurricane season gives many good examples of why cities and towns should understand their property insurance coverages. Director of Risk Management Services Heather Ricard talks through several things to think about, including the need to keep property schedules updated and named storm deductibles.

Annexation is an important issue for the development of cities and towns. Municipal Association field services managers Charlie Barrineau and Jeff Shacker discuss annexation methods in SC, and important issues to consider when planning or executing annexations.

The Municipal Association’s Raising Hometown Voices to a New Level of Influence handbook digs into the specific steps city and town leaders can take to advocate for their needs effectively at the State House. Manager for Municipal Advocacy Casey Fields talks through some of the key takeaways of the guide, and how it ties into the curriculum of the Advanced Municipal Elected Officials Institute of Government.

City-sponsored special events can bring questions about liability and insurance coverage for municipal officials. Heather Ricard, director of the Municipal Association's Risk Management Services, talks about some of the most common questions that event planners have.

For years, SC cities and towns have worked to simplify the business licensing process, which provides a key source of local government revenue. In this podcast, the Municipal Association’s legislative team discuss the Association’s push for standardizing business licensing around the state, how municipalities can participate as well as current legislation on the issue.

The Joint Academy of the SC Municipal Finance Officers, Clerks and Treasurers Association and SC Business Licensing Officials Association is coming October 8 – 11. Jeff Shacker and Scott Slatton talk through the agenda for this training opportunity.

The Municipal Association’s legislative team talks about the issues discussed in the first week of Regional Advocacy Meetings, and the best ways for city and town officials to get involved.