BLYTHEWOOD – After the South Carolina DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) announced on June 3 that it would be closing some of its Blythewood offices located at 10311 Wilson Blvd., on July 7, Mayor Sloan Griffin went on television to offer land on Town of Blythewood property for the DMV to use for a mobile unit to serve Blythewood residents until a permanent solution could be worked out.
In a Facebook post on June 5, Griffin announced that, “I have called a special called meeting of the town council on June 10 at Doko Manor where Executive Director Swedo will join us for a public discussion.
“As part of that meeting,” Griffin wrote, “I’m asking council to consider a resolution calling on state lawmakers to support and fund the development of a permanent SCDMV location within the Town of Blythewood.”
Council members told The Voice that they were never consulted nor aware of the mayor’s land offer prior to the revelation on television, nor had they been notified about a special called council meeting or the proposal for a resolution prior to Griffin’s public Facebook posting.
In the same television news program featuring the interview with Griffin, Shwedo was also interviewed.
“I don’t see the mobile capability as an option at all,” Shwedo said. “The legislature two years ago turned down our request to fully man the mobile capability we have for anything other than for disasters and emergencies…and this doesn’t qualify for either. So, I don’t have the people and I don’t have the monetary resources.”
With no explanation from Griffin, the special called council meeting never materialized. Instead, he held what he called ‘a community conversation’ on June 10, at the Manor and invited Shwedo to attend. At the meeting, there was no accommodation for council members to sit at the front of the room, only a chair and table for Griffin and a podium for Shwedo. Griffin stood during his presentation and introduced council members who were seated in the audience.
In that meeting on Tuesday evening, Griffin encouraged the audience of 12 to listen to Shwedo’s information about the DMV move and then offer any solutions they might have to the issue.
In his opening remarks in regard to specific DMV offices scheduled to move out of Blythewood on July 7, Shwedo stated emphatically: “Is this really going to happen? Yes. Can you change that between now and then? No.
“Bottom Line is, there are five buildings on our complex. Three of them have been sold for a gorgeous high school, and if the pictures are like I see them, it will be such state of the art that every one of you will want your kids and grandkids going there,” Shwedo said. “But I cannot afford the solutions that everybody has with my money.”
In his June 5 Facebook post, Griffin also stated that, “the Mayor and Town Council stand together in strong opposition to the [DMV] closure and in firm support of protecting the services our residents deserve.”
Councilwoman Andrea Fripp and Councilman Rich McKenrick told The Voice that Griffin has not had any discussion at all with council members concerning the issue.
“We were not consulted by the mayor regarding providing land for a mobile unit or a special called meeting prior to the mayor releasing that information to the public,” said Mayor Pro Tem Donald Brock.
Shwedo told those in attendance that the new location will be at O’Neil Court which is only 7 minutes away, and that Blythewood residents will still have some of the shortest drive times in the state to alternate DMV offices – 17 minutes to either Shop Road or Winnsboro, and 23 minutes to Ballentine.
“Residents of Mt. Pleasant, the third largest city in South Carolina, have only one office. Their alternate offices include Monks Corner and Georgetown,” Shwedo said.
The DMV closure is resulting, specifically, he said, from reduced parking availability at the Blythewood SCDMV location due to the sale to the school. He said the only offices moving out of the Wilson Blvd. campus are those offering license plates, new and renewal registrations, beginners driving permits, the reissuance of drivers’ licenses with photos, and motor carrier services. The headquarters of SCDMV and the S.C. Department of Public Safety will remain on the campus.
Customers in northeast Richland County will be able to access these services at the SCDMV branch office at 228 O’Neil Court in Columbia or the office at 1161 Kincaid Bridge Road in Winnsboro. The O’Neil Court location will offer expanded services and augmented SCDMV staff to accommodate the anticipated increased demand at that office, according to Shwedo.
Customers can view all office locations and check wait times at SCDMVOnline.com. The last day of customer service at the Blythewood branch office is July 3.