Two years ago after Republican developer William Cogswell beat incumbent Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg by 566 votes of more than 27, 000 cast, City Paper reporter Skyler Baldwin asked for an interview. Cogswell’s communications director, Deja Knight McMillan, told him he first needed to get me, the editor, to phone for a discussion. “We’re probably not going to do any interviews with you guys,” she said quickly, adding the campaign didn’t like a Facebook comment I made about a Cogswell ad that kept coming up on my personal page. The ad showed snapshots of supporters at several Cogswell functions, leading me to note, “I don’t see any Black or Brown faces. That’s all I need to know.” McMillan reiterated, “I’m certainly not going to bend over backwards when William’s extremely busy right now to give you an interview.” A couple of minutes later, she added, “As soon as we can find some time, I will make sure to pencil him in.” Two years later, Baldwin is still waiting. The waiting game In the intervening months, Baldwin and City Paper reporters asked dozens of story-related questions by email or voicemail, only to be generally ignored. Freedom of information requests are slow to arrive. Routine information that previous administrations were quick to provide has been scrubbed or simply not provided. “They definitely said don’t talk to the City Paper,” one former city staffer revealed. “And The Post and Courier. Those were the two big ones that were mostly holding them accountable.” Over the last two years, several key administrators that worked for Tecklenburg or former Mayor Joe Riley left the city’s employment either by resigning or by being forced out. Current public employees don’t return calls, vitally aware they aren’t supposed to talk with any media unless it’s cleared by McMillan’s office. A different senior staffer was told “every request needs to go through communications, and if they deem it appropriate for staff to talk with media, they’ll facilitate.” Then sometimes, the request is ignored. This zeal for message control makes it tough for city staffers when they’re approached by reporters at an event or in the field. What many have been told: “At least send a text and try to wait for direction” from the communications department. An end run and a thaw Two writers with The Post and Courier, both of whom asked not to be identified, said dealing with the Cogswell administration for information has been particularly vexing, especially in 2024. “They see us as the enemy,” one writer observed, noting a feeling of being stonewalled. “I’d just basically get no response,” the writer said. “So I said the heck with it and would work around them and would reach out and find someone. I didn’t keep badgering them. I just backed away and did an end run.” In a January story on the one-year anniversary of Cogswell being sworn in, the administration wouldn’t offer an interview with Cogswell, but did respond to written questions by email. But then in June, Chief Policy Officer Logan McVey, a young hard-charging GOP political operative who had been Cogswell’s campaign manager, left the city’s employment. Since then, there’s been a message thaw for the daily newspaper, the writer said. Meanwhile, local television reporters often say they don’t have much trouble getting Cogswell on camera for short statements at events, but they also don’t have many sit-down interviews over policy. What’s ahead Publication of this story won’t endear the City Paper to the Cogswell administration, although many frustrated city staffers likely will quietly cheer from the sidelines for the focus on secrecy and message control. From a public relations perspective, it’s not unheard of for politicians to tightly control messages. But with Cogswell, it’s different. “It wasn’t a communications strategy, but was just a try to bully reporters, which is just so dumb,” one of the two former staffers noted. “And it’s unfortunate, too, because it didn’t have to be like that.” Over the next two years, the City Paper will continue to ask questions about Charleston public policy and how local government is functioning. A request for an interview with the mayor is pending. Still. But regardless of whether Cogswell and his team open up a little, the newspaper will continue to provide insights so citizens can judge how the city is doing. Like how reporters usually find out what happens in secret backroom meetings that are too often in vogue these days. Why? Because information will continue to flow from Cogswell’s independently elected political peers who don’t rely on him for influence. They will continue to explain what’s going on without sending a text first and waiting for direction from the mayor’s office. Help keep the City Paper free. No paywalls. No subscription cost. Free delivery at 800 locations. Help support independent journalism by donating today.
https://charlestoncitypaper.com/2025/11/21/cogswell-camp-keeps-quiet-with-local-press/
Cogswell camp keeps quiet with local press
