Seniors, County Clash Over Building Use

Should a nonprofit have to rent out its building that was built by the county?

That question was at the core of a public clash between a Dorchester Seniors Center board member and Dorchester County Council members Monday night.

The Seniors Center recently voted to end its publicly available rental of the Faith Sellers buildings, raising the eyebrow of Councilman Willie Davis who said that was not their decision to make since the nonprofit operates on public property with public funds. Tony Oglietti addressed County Council during the public comments portion of the meeting. 

"That's not our mission of Dorchester County Seniors," he said. "We supply services to Dorchester County seniors."

Davis engaged Oglietti in a heated conversation. He said Dorchester County citizens shouldn't have to wait until they are seniors to use the building. Former County Administrator Ed Carter said the building was originally built with rentals in mind — there's even a caterer's kitchen within the building. 

According to Oglietti, the nonprofit rented the building less than six times in 2012 and it had become a hassle that "costs (the organization) money to rent it." When Dorchester Seniors evaluated options to raise rental costs to cover expenses, the board decided to do away with the process entirely. 

Monday's public encounter ended with council members saying they'd like to sit down with the Dorchester County Seniors board to discuss the matter further. 

Watch a short video of the exchange between Davis and Oglietti attached to this story. 

Edited 3 p.m. March 21 to correct ownership of the building. It was originally reported that the Faith Sellers building was owned by the Town of Summerville. While the town owns the property and leases it to the county and Dorchester Seniors Inc., the building itself was built by Dorchester County.