Orangeburg City Council: Kalu has big goals for city

Dr. Kalu Kalu said he is running for a second term on Orangeburg City Council to help “fully address the challenges of our families, students and local businesses.”

The City of Orangeburg will hold its election on Sept. 12, with three seats up for election. Members are elected to four-year terms.

Kalu is running unopposed for his District 2 seat.

“When I ran for the city council seat in 2019, one of my goals was to see a transformation of our city back to a viable and enterprising community. I am glad to say that the city council is on the path of making that a reality. The city council has endorsed many projects that will help our city to thrive,” Kalu said.

He said the future of the community will depend on out-of-the-box thinking.

“We need programs designed to meet certain needs which do fully address the challenges of our families, students and local businesses. For example, we have two HBCU academic institutions in our city, but we lack facilities to entertain these students, especially on weekends. I am glad that Claflin University is building a student center that will complement the city’s Railroad Corner development project,” Kalu said.

He cited the resurrection of the town’s downtown area as one of his goals.

“Our downtown used to be a thriving business area, but today the area looks like a ghost town. We must resurrect our downtown again. The city council has a plan to breathe new life in that area, and help to increase businesses. In order to accomplish the projects we have in mind, we need ‘result leaders’ in our city council,” he said.

Kalu describes himself as a “result-oriented” leader.

“We need leaders who can seek to understand and address the complex nature of the problem at hand and align policies, programs and communities to make a measurable difference in the lives of our people. We must also be good stewards. This is what I try to do,” Kalu said.

He wants to see an increase in the number of businesses and entertainment places, as well as more affordable housing.

“These ventures may help to increase the city’s tax base. I believe that our current and future city projects, such as Railroad Corner, skating park … and downtown revitalization will move the city forward,” he said.