Safety in Small Cities: Aiken Ranks Poorly in “Societal Costs of Crime.”

The Aiken Mayoral Campaign: Initial Ethics Disclosures 

The Old Hospital Property: A Presentation by the latest Developer

by Don Moniak

August 11, 2023 (updated August 12th)

Safety in Small Cities: Aiken Ranks Poorly in “Societal Costs of Crime.”

A new public safety analysis by Money Geek is quickly making the rounds locally. The analysis, based on admittedly incomplete FBI data, identifies the City of Aiken as the 13th least safe small city in the U.S.A. in terms of crime costs—-with small cities defined as those with populations between thirty and one hundred thousand. Of the 660 small cities in the analysis, Aiken ranked a lowly 648th in terms of the societal costs of crime.

No matter how the data is viewed, The City of Aiken does not rank well. However, reporting measures to consider before repeating the number as an absolute are: 

1. The report ranks small cities by “Crime Cost Per Capita,” which is a measure of economic costs and impact of crime, but not actual crime rates. The U.S. Department of Justice does consider crime costs to be a key measure of the impact of crime. 

The University of Chicago Press reports the “aggregate cost of crime conveys the scale of problems from crime and the value of deterrence.” 

A RAND Corporation study describes the crime costs in terms of a complex cost-benefit analyses involving trade-offs between more policing and more crime prevention programs. The report concludes that “as a minimum, it is important to recognize that returns on investments in police personnel are likely to be substantial.”

2. The crime rates measured by Money Geek involve a limited set of higher profile violent and property crimes, and not total crime rates. Among the exclusions are “white collar” crime such as fraud and embezzlement, lower profile violent crime such as “simple assault,” and crimes of morality such as illegal drug usage.

3. All crime rates reflect the reporting practices of individual jurisdictions. Reporting that is more thorough in any jurisdiction can result in a perception of a relatively higher crime rate. Vice-versa, a less thorough approach to reporting can result in the appearance of a relatively lower crime rate. For example, the reporting of the crime of rape is known to vary substantially across jurisdictions, and is considered by most reliable sources to be underreported. 

4. Crime within city limits but occurring in property “donut holes” under the jurisdiction of the Aiken County Sheriff Department as an Aiken County crime. For example, the burglary and grand larceny at Floyd and Green jewelers in 2022 was in ACSO’s jurisdiction due to the fact the business has never been is annexed into the city. (updated 8/12)

Chronic staffing shortages found in places like the City of Aiken and Aiken County can result in a reluctance to report.

The most recent (June 30, 2023) City of Aiken Human Resources report to Aiken City Council identified twelve (12) vacant Public Safety Officer positions, while the 2022-2023 city budget identified eighty-four 84 full time equivalent positions. 

Although Aiken City Council receives the Human Resources monthly staffing report within the Issues and Updates section of its public meeting agenda information packets. The information provided seldom provokes discussion from Council. In contrast, Aiken County Council reviews County staffing vacancy rates on a monthly basis during committee meetings.

The near absence of Aiken Public Safety’s reviews of new developments, particularly on potential crime, also routinely escape Council and the Planning Commission’s notice.

The Aiken Mayoral Campaign: Initial Ethics Disclosures 

All three candidates for Aiken City Mayor filed on-time initial campaign contribution reports with the South Carolina Ethics Commission. This is only the Pre-Election filing, and subsequent filing(s) will update the donor list. (All donor mailing addresses beyond “city” are redacted in this article, not in the filings).

Incumbent Mayor Rick Osbon reported $2,200 in cash contributions from four parties, one of which is a personal $600 contribution. One donor from Charleston, SC, Harry Limehouse, is identified as being in the “Parking Solutions” business. One Harry “Chip” Limehouse III is a former State Representative from Charleston who was involved in one of the failed efforts to redevelop the County-owned Old Hospital property at 828 Richland Avenue, West.

A second donor, Aiken builder Todd Gaul, is also a fellow investor in several businesses represented by Aiken Attorney Ray Massey, including CTR, LLC (1),  CTRK, LLC, and Aiken Alley Holdings, LLC, the business closely associated with former Pascalis project developer RPM Development Partner, LLC and a key player in the city’s attempt to privatize a portion of Newberry Street for the project.

Osbon earned 42 percent of the vote in the recent Republican primary election, and is now involved in a runoff election with fellow Republican candidate Teddy Milner. Since there is no Democratic Party candidate, the runoff election will determine who will be the next Mayor of Aiken.

The last election in which Rick Osbon raised funds was in 2015 during his successful campaign as Republican Party candidate to replace retiring Mayor Fred Cavanaugh. Osbon raised nearly $55,698 in cash contributions , including $8,000 in personal contributions, and $923 of in-kind contributions. Democratic Party Candidate and Aiken City Councilwoman Lessie Price raised $52,610 in cash contributions and $16,256 of in-kind contributions during that election.

Candidate Teddy Milner listed $6,000 in cash contributions from six individuals in her initial filing, with no personal contribution to date. All of the donors are from Aiken. In Ms. Milner’s first campaign for elected office she earned 29 percent of the vote in the recent Republican primary election, and earned a place in the August 22nd runoff election.

Candidate Kathryn Wade reported $1,600 in a single personal contribution. Wade earned 28 percent of the primary vote, trailing Milner by a mere 44 votes in her third place finish.

The Old Hospital Property: A Presentation by Potential Developer
(updated 8/12)

Tracey Turner is the latest potential developer of the Old Aiken Hospital and former Aiken County Administrator property at 828 Richland Avenue West. He presently has a $950 thousand contract with Aiken County to purchase the property, and has recently proposed to locate the Savannah River National Laboratory “Workforce Development” offices as part of the redevelopment.

On Monday August 14, 2023, Mr. Turner will make a presentation to Aiken City Council during a work session at City Hall, 111 Chesterfield Street, South.

The timing of the presentation is unknown due to a confusing Executive Session announcement.

An Executive Session is tentatively scheduled for 5 p.m. , but could occur before the 7 pm meeting or after the meeting. The subject of the closed-door meeting is a “pending appeal involving the City’s business license ordinance.“ (The ongoing Ed Woltz case is the only case that matches this description).

The work session is tentatively scheduled after the Executive Session, but might begin at 5 p.m. It will begin with an Aiken Public Safety and citizens briefing on the ”Virginia Acres Incident.” Mr. Turner’s presentation will follow that briefing.

Work sessions are open to public viewing but seldom to public participation; and are unavailable via live streaming on the City’s You Tube channel.

Footnote

(1) Mr. Gaul and Mr. Massey were listed as attendees (below) at a one-hour Aiken City Council closed-door Executive Session on January 24, 2022. (January 24, 2022 Meeting Minutes). The session was held to discuss the proposed sale of city property to CTR, LLC known as the “Brinkley Building.” The property, located at the corner of Newberry Street and The Alley, was purchased by the City in 2008 in the hopes of expanding the Municipal Building at 214 Park Avenue, West.

Massey is also Aiken City Attorney Gary Smith’s law partner, who was also listed as a meeting attendant. This proposed sale of city property is cited by the Plaintiffs in Paragraph 124 of the Blake et al vs City of Aiken et al lawsuit pertaining to Project Pascalis. Mr. Massey is named as a Defendant for his role with Pascalis project developer RPM Development Partners. (The latter stands for Raines, Purser, and Massey). Mr. Gaul is uninvolved in the lawsuit.

The proposed sale was on the agenda for that evening, but the agenda item was removed without explanation at the start of the public meeting. According to City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh’s supporting memorandum (below), the purchase offer was $180,851 less than the price the City had paid for the property in 2008.