Session 1

Charleston County Council Chairman Teddie Pryor and Charleston County Administrator Allen O’Neal will welcome attendees and provide a brief overview of what they can expect to learn during the first session. They will also introduce the concept of home rule as it relates to Charleston County in the state of South Carolina, and introduce many of the local elected and appointed officials to citizens.

1) Register citizens of Charleston County to vote in all Federal, State, County, and Municipal Elections and maintain voter registration database for Charleston County (currently 210,000+ active registered voters)

2) Conduct orderly, fair, and legal Federal, State, and County Elections for Charleston County. We also conduct Municipal Elections for Awendaw, Isle of Palms, Lincolnville, McClellanville, Mount Pleasant, North Charleston, Ravenel, and Rockville. We assist Charleston, Folly Beach, Hollywood, James Island Kiawah Island, Meggett, Seabrook Island, and Sullivan’s Island with their Municipal Elections.

b. Prepare Election Definition for Voting System (absentee ballots to be mailed and iVotronic Voting System for Election Day)

3) Provide voting system to civic organizations and schools for their elections.

4) Maintain up-to-date files for all voting districts within Charleston County (U S Senate, Congressional, State Senate, State House of Representatives, State Constitutional Officers, County Offices, School Board, Public Service Districts, etc.)

1) Elections are held throughout the year based on Federal and State Laws and Municipal Ordinances.

2) Voter Outreach (Civic Organizations, Schools, 114 polling locations for 182 precincts)

1) Federal and State Laws, county and municipal ordinances dictate every function of our office.

The Board of Elections and Voter Registration Office take great pride in providing every citizen of Charleston County the opportunity to cast their own vote in a fair and impartial election. As citizens of the USA, we should never forget how precious our right to vote is and the many young men and women who have served or are currently serving to defend our right to live in a free country. We encourage every one of you to get involved by VOTING and working at the precinct level on Election Day.

Charleston County offers several online services through its web site at www.charlestoncounty.org in order to make it easier for citizens to easily retrieve public documents, parcel maps, apply for building permits, pay taxes, renew business license and view information about County meetings, agendas, department functions, financial reports, open solicitations and tax information.

The web site is available 24 hours a day, thus allowing citizens to research information or access public documents at any time without having to worry if the County offices are open or not and all from the comfort of their own office or home.

The web site consists of approximately 3700 pages of content, plus subsidiary web sites and all the dynamically generated pages from the online services provided. During the last 5 years the traffic to the Charleston County web site has been growing at a fairly fast pace reaching 129,000,000 page views in 2009.

The “Navigating the Website” session will show how to navigate through the Charleston County web site and how to access the available online services and most popular information.

Charleston County Government is a large presence in the county, touching the lives of most citizens. Its EMS service saves lives, the Sheriff protects lives, it disposes of all your household waste, it recycles, it controls mosquitoes and drainage, it assesses property for tax purposes, it builds roads, and it operates a large library system.

How does something this large (a third of a billion dollars every year) finance and operate itself, and how do I get a say-so in the process? Learn how property is appraised, how taxes are levied and collected, and how the money is spent. Learn how tax bills are calculated and how delinquent taxes are collected. What’s RFP, LOST, ATI, FY, SBE? What’s an assessment ratio, a procurement card, an execution notice, and a service center? And, by whom and how is all this planned and approved?

The Follow the Money segment of the Citizen’s Academy will show you how government raises and spends your money and show you how you can get involved in the process.

The Register Mesne Conveyance Office records land titles, liens and other documents related to property transactions in Charleston County. The RMC, an elected official, must assure that all recorded documents comply with the requirements of federal and state recording statutes and are available for public review.

Charlie Lybrand was elected to County Council in 1990 and to the RMC Office in 1994. Prior to that, Charlie had his own construction business for 15 years. In 1979, Charlie came home from work one day and announced to his 8 and ½ month pregnant wife that he was going into business for himself. His wife said you can’t do that, we’re going to have a new baby. Charlie replied, we’ll have two new babies and as they say the rest is history. Charlie and his wife Phrona of 40 plus years have two children, Whitney Hannam (husband Matt Hannam, Grandson Ollie 3, soon to be new grandchild {we don’t know} and a son Wes Lybrand.

After serving four years as a County Councilman, Charlie was elected to the RMC Office in 1994. At that time, the office used micro film and mainframe technology. It is now State-of-the-Art. Today the Charleston county Record’s Office is the envy of the State. It has an electronic front desk, a real time online day book, the documents are book and paged as well as bar coded at the front desk.

The Charleston County RMC Office was the first Records’ Office in the State to go online. Since June 1997, every document recorded in the Charleston County Records Office has been imaged and put on line for the world to see. 24 hours a day – 7 days a week. Except for maintenance down times of course.

The Historic Records which are housed in their own temperature controlled room and begin in 1719 are currently being imaged by a volunteer who commits over 20 hours a week to this project. When completed, the historic library’s lights will be turned off and visitors won’t be allowed, unless by guided tours. The imaging of these priceless documents will protect them and keep them in mint condition for generations to come.

Because of the technology, Charlie has been able to reduce the size of his staff by 7 people. Two by transfers and five others thru retirements and attrition. No one was laid off yet the Office staff was reduced by seven.

Charlie may also have the only Office in Charleston County (or the State for that matter) that does not use voice mail. When you call the Charleston County RMC Office, a real person answers the phone. This follows Charlie’s belief that he and his staff work for the citizens of Charleston County and he wants the Citizens of Charleston County to feel like they are going to a friends place rather than a big cold government building. Charlie is at his desk five days a week so if you need him, just give him a call. If you get a chance, stop by and say hello. You’ll be greeted the way it use to be. Warm and Friendly.