David Farrow Plans to Challenge Riley in November

CHARLESTON - Charleston native David Farrow is so opposed to everything Mayor Joesph Riley has done he's pledging to serve only one term if elected in November.

"I'm in this because I love Charleston and I've watched it become increasingly statist under the iron fist of Joe Riley," Farrow said.

"West Ashley and the islands are being sucked dry to fund his vision on the peninsula."

Farrow says he will back up any assertion he makes during the campaign by October. Currently he and his campaign staff are pouring over thousands of documents he plans to use to bolster his case for change.

Farrow refuses to identify himself with a major political party, instead he says he is a conservative libertarian.

Farrow said he is having to learn on the job how to be a politician because he is a writer and journalist by trade. He served as managing editor of the Charleston Mercury for two years after it began publishing in 2002, and he has two books coming out later this year.

"As a journalist it's really hard," he said.

"I opposed him for a long time in the press," Farrow said. "If I'm wrong sue me for libel. I've never been sued. I've made a lot of assertions that have never been answered."

Farrow said he wants answers to the unanswered questions he's been asking for 20 years.

He said the Crosstown, also known as Septima Clark Expressway, is one of his main issues.

"It's something that everyone uses," Farrow said.

He added that drainage problems have plagued the heavily traveled road for years and that just now getting around to addressing is too little, too late. Farrow said he would unveil his own plan to address the Crosstown next month.

"We're talking to engineers and think tanks across the country and will release a report by mid September," Farrow said.

Farrow sees himself as one of a dying breed, a native Charlestonian who remembers a time before Mayor Riley, who took office when Farrow was still in college. Riley will be seeking his 10th term as mayor in November.

He said Riley has a legacy of bad decisions to live down.

"When I was a kid, Lockwood Boulevard was a landfill," he said. "They can spend $74 million for the Gaillard (Auditorium) but they can't fix the Crosstown? You don't need federal money for the Crosstown."

Additionally he takes issue with Riley's recent calls for a bike route over the Ashely River into downtown, calling proposals to close one lane of the bridge to traffic for a bike lane "insane."

Farrow said he would "cut out all these damn studies, we know what we need. We need to prop up our infrastructure, it's crumbling," and he insists he's not being hyperbolic.

Farrow also doesn't believe Riley deserves any credit for turning around the city's downtown area.

"I believe globalization was happening anyway, King Street would have come anyway," he said.

Farrow said he would make a priority of courting "real jobs," not just tourism related service sector jobs, which he said will eventually dry up.

"When the dollar menu goes to $1.50 the first thing that goes is the dessert," he said. "Tourism is the dessert. I've met a bunch of kids with masters degrees that are waiting tables."

Farrow believes the majority of "old Charleston" will support him because they are horrified by what the city has become in the past 36 years. He also believes he has a chance to beat Riley because at least two other Democrats are planning to run, and that will split Riley's base.

"I'm going to get the 28 percent that always votes against Joe," he said.

Farrow plans to court the youth vote as well as long-time Charleston residents. He said his campaign ads will run on The Bridge 105.5 FM, and he has a presence on Facebook.

Every Thursday he holds a forum on the David Farrow for Mayor Facebook page from 7 to 8:30 p.m., during which he takes questions.

"I'll always answer them clearly," Farrow said. "Unless you answer questions clearly and precisely it's a lie."

"I'm going for the youth," he said. "Think about it, Joe Riley's been mayor all your life. I was in college when Joe was elected and I'll be eligible for Social Security in six years."

"If it's going to take 40 years to achieve your vision, maybe it's time to give someone else a try," he added.

Farrow said he truly feels called to serve.

"And yes, I do realize how trite that sounds, but it's the truth."