Building a Better City: A Conversation on Leadership with Steve Benjamin, Mayor of Columbia, South Carolina
By Nadhira Nuraini Afifa
Editor’s Content Note: This article references guns and mass shootings.
At a concert in Las Vegas in 2017, Stephen Paddock used a gun with a bump stock attachment to kill at least 59 people, injuring over 850 others. This was the highest-casualty mass shooting in the United States to date, after which concerns about gun possession yet again came to the forefront of government priorities. Pressure came from all sides of the gun control discourse, and many state lawmakers looked to the federal government to ban such attachments, which turn guns into weapons that simulate fully automatic firearms. They argued that these accessories had no appropriate purpose for either sport or civilian defense; their only use was for destruction. Taking similar critiques of bump stocks into consideration, Columbia, South Carolina, under the leadership of Mayor Stephen K. Benjamin, became the first U.S. city to ban the use of these attachments.
In 1999, before his 30th birthday, Mayor Benjamin began his official political tenure through an appointment to South Carolina Governor Jim Hodge’s cabinet as director of the state’s Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services. In 2010, he won the special mayoral election to become Columbia’s first Black American mayor. His first term occurred during a national recession, which prompted him to enact initiatives that cut the unemployment rate by roughly fifty percent and secured billions of dollars in new regional capital investment. In November 2013, the state re-elected Mayor Benjamin by a 30-point margin for a second term, and he led his administration with an intense focus on job creation and a firm belief in Columbia’s potential.
Amidst the continuing controversy around guns in this country, the Voices in Leadership series welcomed Mayor Benjamin to the Leadership Studio on Tuesday, September 11, 2019. Throughout the event, he shared lessons learned during his career, including challenges and successes while leading Columbia in outlawing bump stocks. The discussion was moderated by Representative Jeffrey Sánchez, Former Massachusetts State House Representative and Spring 2019 Menschel Senior Leadership Fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Taking Risks and Doing What is Right
Bump stocks use recoil effects to bounce the rifle off the shoulder and bump the trigger back into the finger. This allows the gun-user to continuously fire with one pull. In December 2017, Mayor Benjamin initiated a city ordinance that banned the attachment of bump stocks, taking a great risk by imposing the restriction in a city where people strongly believe in gun rights. But he believed this was the best course of action for Columbia’s residents. Reflecting on this, Mayor Benjamin shared:
“You know, we live in the American South where [the] Second Amendment is a major issue of concern and public discourse… I am a supporter of the Second Amendment. I own firearms, but I also believe that with gun rights come gun responsibilities, and that there are certain types of weapons, there are certain… additions to firearms that should not be on the street.”
Columbia’s law made it illegal to attach bump stocks and similar accessories, such as trigger cranks, to any guns within the city, except by military or law enforcement personnel. Under this rule, bump stock devices are classified as machine guns, which generally are illegal under federal law. The ban requires any bump stocks to be destroyed or turned in to law enforcement authorities. Possession of a bump stock, just like possession of a machine gun, would be punishable by monetary fines and up to ten years in prison.
This certainly applied to many people in Columbia; most immediately, people who own, make, or sell the attachments. The Justice Department says as many as six big United States’ bump stock manufacturers have shut down their stores shortly after the ban operated. Existing owners are also not allowed to keep their bump stocks, and the government does not offer any compensation for the devices, which cost them hundreds of dollars.
Mayor Benjamin’s bump stock ban received mixed responses when it was first introduced. Many critics argued that the ban was inconsistent with the values and priorities of most gun owners and Second Amendment advocates. However, some people also argued that the ban was legally sound, given that bump stocks are unnecessary additions. Regardless, Mayor Benjamin knew that he had made the right decision for Columbia.
Leadership Isn’t Smooth; Hold Tight
Mayor Benjamin spoke candidly about the many successes and challenges he has had over his years of leadership, especially when taking on controversial issues that have immense emotion attached to them. When first speaking about banning bump stocks, Mayor Benjamin shared that he sometimes got caught in the heat of the moment and had to step back and realize that it was his job to calm the situation in order to create real dialogue and make change around the issues. He is a prime example of the reality that being a leader is not always a smooth undertaking. Despite various critiques directed at him, Mayor Benjamin holds firm to his principles, saying:
“It is so important that we kind of hold the line, continue to respect each other’s opinions. But on those issues where there is no compromise, where we are talking about issues that go to your values or just the way in which we treat each other as fellow human beings, I just think you hold tight to those issues from all the other issues. You don’t bend or break on those issues.”
Effective Leaders and Intellectual Honesty
Mayor Benjamin first realized his passion for serving the public when, as a law student, he consistently had more fun with work outside of the classroom than in the classroom. And he knew that being a public servant meant that he would have to be an effective leader. To him, a cornerstone of effective leadership is not only having intellectual capability but also emotional honesty. He believes that great leaders understand and respect people’s diverse opinions and views and try their best to make wise decisions using this knowledge. Mayor Benjamin shared this insight with the audience, stating:
“I think it has to start with the intellectual honesty and emotional honesty that two people, equally owed, who may be people of goodwill might look at the same thing and see it very differently… recognizing you have to respect diverse opinions and diverse views.”
He also understood that leadership comes with great responsibility that requires research and inquiry, decision-making, and development of a team that agrees on the upcoming path. Mayor Benjamin opined:
“You’ve got to go do your homework. You’ve got to make sure you have the data and research to support your position… And once you decide that’s the direction you want to go in, and you spend your time coalition building and building some consensus — once consensus building is over, you’ve got to lead.”
Respected leaders are those who are not afraid to take risks, and Mayor Benjamin did not hesitate to make an unpopular decision. He also shared his belief that leaders should not falter as long as they are sure they are doing the right thing:
“And I think if it’s clear that you’re being thoughtful, and compassionate, and doing the right thing, then you can rest at night. I mean, there are more than enough issues here domestically and globally to keep us up at night. We ought not be up at night about the things that we can actually impact.”
Passionate Leadership through Public Service
Despite the difficulties that come with being a leader and public servant, Mayor Benjamin believes that by thinking a little bigger about ways in which people can have thoughtful and inclusive leadership, people can make huge differences in their communities. Speaking to the audience, he stated:
“We need good, thoughtful, talented people involved in the discussion. You’ve been given a very special skill set you’ve acquired over the course of your lives. You’re surrounded with some of the most talented professionals in the entire world right here, or wherever you happen to be. Make a difference. The world needs you. This country needs you for sure, and your community, your city, needs you.”
Near the end of the session, Mayor Benjamin encouraged everyone in the room, as members of the Harvard community with great talent and resources at their disposal, to take leadership roles in their communities:
“I would encourage everyone within the sound of my voice, if you have never thought about public service, to think about it. Passionate leadership can really help change the arc of an entire nation, and if you change this nation, you change the world.”
Story written by Nadhira Nuraini Afifa, a Master of Public Health candidate in Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Originally from Indonesia, Nadhira obtained her medical degree at the Universitas Indonesia. Nadhira is interested in the double burden of disease in developing countries and is involved in several research projects related to stunting and HIV.
Story edited by Sherine Andreine Powerful, MPH, a second-year Doctor of Public Health student at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. A Diasporic Jamaican, she received her Bachelor’s degree in Latin American and International Studies from Yale University and holds a Master of Public Health degree in Population and Family Health, with a concentration in Global Health, from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Her interests, centered around the English-speaking Caribbean, include feminist global health and development leadership; gender and sexual health, equity, and justice; and resilience and anticolonial sustainable development in the context of climate change.
