The State’s Morgan Hughes met with Columbia Mayor-elect Daniel Rickenmann to ask a handful of questions before he takes over as Columbia’s new mayor on Tuesday. Rickenmann has been a city council member for 12 years, first serving as an at-large councilman and, since 2017, representing District 4.

He will succeed Steve Benjamin, who decided not to seek reelection last year after serving for three terms.

Here is the transcript of Hughes’ Q&A with Rickenmann, edited for clarity.

Q: What is your proudest accomplishment from your time as a council member? How will you keep momentum around that issue as mayor?

A: I don’t know if there’s one moment that I’m most proud of. I think the thing that I feel is very beneficial is I have the ability to work with people and always have. I like to have around-the-table discussion, and a lively discussion. I think debate is good. I think having people bring different perspectives to an issue is important so that you can see all sides of it so that you’re moving forward. And I think that’s . . . something that I bring to the table that I’ve used before and will continue to do.

What is the number one thing Columbia has going for it? And what is the city’s number one missed opportunity, in your opinion?

You know, I think the number one thing Columbia has is its assets. We’re strategically located geographically, I mean, within 1,000 square miles there’s 75% of the population of America. We have three highway systems that border us, we have rivers, we have everything for our quality of life. Incredible, great neighborhoods, business districts, (a) thriving downtown, low impact traffic. So when you put all those together, we have assets to sell. I think probably our biggest disadvantage is that we haven’t sold our city like we should. I think a lot of people don’t realize what we have here.

And I would add to the first one, I’d be remiss if I didn’t add the people here, there’s a story behind every door here. And that’s something we need to tell. And I think when you go out, to be competitive today in the economic development world, we know that the Southeast is going to grow. So for us to be competitive with our sister cities, our neighbors, our neighboring states, we have to sell ourselves, people need to know our story. And they need to know that Columbia is a lot more than two hours from the mountains and two hours from the beach.

You’ve of course served as a councilman for years. How do you think your leadership style will change when you move over to mayor’s seat? Or if it will?

I think it’s gonna be a different viewpoint. You know, I think we’re going to be driving the issues forward, more overseeing, but also be the collaborator. So, Columbia’s biggest opportunity is to collaborate more. And I think that’s going to be the lead role for me, is not only to collaborate with our council members, but with the different partners and the community, the universities: Allen, Benedict, South Carolina, Columbia College, CIU (Columbia International University), we need to engage the entire community.

And you know, when we start engaging both the businesses and neighborhoods and the universities, then we really have something. If you look at other capital cities on our level, the growth that they have had has been double digit, and we’ve been single digit. So I think by really working together, and realizing that our common goal here together is to lift all of us up together, I think, is what we have to do.

Steve Benjamin was mayor for 12 years and was a former president of the US Conference of Mayors. How do you plan to make your mark as mayor?

I think a lot of my focus is going to be here, by making sure that we’re investing in the city and that we’re fixing. It doesn’t matter where you go in the community, people are concerned about safety. They’re concerned about future growth and opportunities, jobs with advancement. They’re also worried about education, and then, you know, livability.

So I think my focus is going to be really about being focused on the city, making sure that we provide the most effective, efficient customer service and delivery of services, really focused on making sure that people aren’t frustrated with our system, that we take the hurdles out of the way, the red tape that causes small businesses not to have the ability to grow or be at a disadvantage from somebody else.

And I think the other piece of that is keeping the investment here in our community. Finishing these unfinished projects, like Finlay Park, the Greenway, access to the river, you know, really focusing on those things that help connect all the city but also are things that people who are looking to relocate and want to invest are looking for. They want to see a community that is completed that doesn’t leave things unfinished forever and ever.

Hypothetically on your first day as mayor, you get to magically achieve one goal. Maybe it has to do with taxes or ongoing development, city services, whatever you want. Money is not an obstacle. What’s the one thing you do and why?

If I had a magic wand, the first thing I would do is make sure that all our public safety entity departments are fully staffed with all their needs. Because a clean, safe city is the cornerstone to all economic development. And that economic development then rolls over into neighborhoods, and it keeps our neighborhoods strong. Jobs deter bullets.

What will you as mayor do to honor your campaign promise to improve the city’s ecosystem for businesses?

I think first of all, we’ve we’ve already kind of started having conversations with the staff. Okay, we know we have these hurdles and red tape, how do we reduce that to make it easier for people to do business here? What restrictions, like water extension fees, is that very necessary on a small business? And is it keeping empty spaces in north Columbia, or in Five Points, or downtown from being developed?

The second part of that is the customer service. I want to be able to provide the technology, the training for the employee so that they can do a better job, but also give them the autonomy to make decisions. Because the more layers we add, the longer it takes to complete things, the more frustrated our citizens get.

There are a number of ongoing developments in the city, several of which have relied on government tax credits. Do you envision continuing that style of economic development? Or do you prefer an alternative approach?

I think we have to address the tax issue. We’ve gotten the study, we have the data now we need to work with our community partners to do everything we can in the most creative way to make ourselves competitive. The high taxes here affect affordable housing, they affect outside investment, inside investment and growth. And if we don’t address that, I think we’re missing the opportunity.

If we decide to use a legislative method, if we try to work with our partners and create the financial bridge that Steven Walters, the economist on the (city) tax committee, proposed along with Dr. (Rebecca) Gunnlaugsson, and then I think we we can achieve this. But if we don’t, we’re at a disadvantage competitively. So everything else falls to the wayside, we can’t subsidize our way out of the situation. And that affects everything, like I said, from affordable housing to investment.

(NOTE: In 2020, the city of Columbia commissioned a property tax analysis. It was authored by Gunnlaugsson, principal at Acuitas Economics and former chief economist with the state Department of Commerce.)

Speaking of ongoing development, which projects do you view as most impactful for Columbia’s future and which are your priorities?

We really have to finish the projects that are out there. I mean, we have a handful of projects out there. There’s great opportunity for other projects, legendary projects that need to be addressed. What we have to do is really create a stronger strategic plan that has milestones, timelines, and accountability, not only for myself as the mayor but for council, for staff, for any of our partners, so that we can achieve it.

We’ve had development plans for north Columbia that have been sitting on a shelf for 15 years or longer. Making sure that we can take those plans. Finally getting the ULI plan that was out there cleaned up, finalized and adapted because it talks about connectivity, which is what when investors come here, they talk about how the connectivity. Roads diets, how we connect commercial corridors and neighborhoods so that we can attract that outside investment. Taking the long range plan of, you know, railroad realignment, quiet zones. You’ve got growth with the university (USC) and how we change that relationship so that it becomes more integrated in town and gown, the growth of Allen and Benedict. We have 66,000 students between all of these schools here and, and how we keep them connected, along with the universities, that we’re growing together as a community and not at silos.

(Note: In 2013, the Urban Land Institute helped lead an effort in Columbia to imagine what the Midlands should be in 2040. Among recommendations from that effort, which relied on community input, was a strengthened city at the region’s center, with few new roads, the dawn of real mass transit and more green living, according to a story in The State.)

Some of your departing colleagues on council have been known to champion social issues, like equality for racial minorities and LGBTQ+ residents, and improving affordable housing in low-income areas. What is your philosophy about the city’s role in social progress?

Well, I think for one, everything we should do, should make sure that we understand the effect it has on every individual citizen. And part of that is making sure that everybody’s at the table (and) part of the discussion. I don’t think categorizing folks is what we should be doing. What we should be doing is making sure that every opportunity, that we equal the playing field so anybody who wants to grow, and wants to excel has that and there are no hurdles in anybody’s way, no matter what neighborhood or where you’re from, or how you feel about the world.

With the rise in COVID-19 cases, do you envision seeking any new pandemic policies like mask mandates or anything like that?

At this point, I don’t. I think at this point I’m going to continue to encourage people to get vaccinated. I’m going to encourage people who are sick to follow the guidelines that people have. And if you look today, I was at the grocery store yesterday evening, almost everybody in the grocery store was wearing a mask. They’re doing it because they understand that we got a contagious (virus.) But if you look at what’s happening around, we’re seeing a spike and then you see a decline. And I think we have to continue to do our best efforts as individuals, but we can’t afford to in the community, create any more anguish. We’ve got too many folks who are struggling both financially, mentally and physically because of the pandemic.

I’ve got one more and we just wanted to throw a fun one in there. In October, William Shatner and other civilians flew into space on a commercial rocket ship. If you were offered an all expenses paid spaceflight of your own, would you go? Why or why not?

Well, I can’t because it’d be over the ethics law. Because of the dollar amount I can’t go, so I would have to pass that on to a lucky citizen.

Absent the ethics question, would you be interested in going to space?

I think it would be incredible to look back at Earth and see it from above. I mean, when you see the pictures and you see that, I think that’d be an incredible experience. Probably a little scary at times, but really an unbelievable experience.