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Council members press for update on public safety building and raise alarm about police pay and staffing

Charleston City Council · January 20, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Councilwoman Snodgrass urged the city manager to provide a status update on the city's public safety building project (about $4 million invested so far) and warned the police department is understaffed — "151 certified officers out of 173" — and that starting pay is "right under $24 an hour," prompting calls to address retention in the upcoming budget.

Council members on an evening in January pressed city leaders for greater clarity on the public safety building project and for a review of police compensation amid concerns about retention.

Councilwoman Snodgrass asked the city manager for a detailed update on the public safety building purchase and demolition timeline, saying the city had now invested about $4 million between…

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