25 www.CharlestonWomenPodcast.com | www.ReadCW.com | www.Instagram.com/CharlestonWomen Charleston Women in Business In November 2016, Tinkler ran for Charleston County Treasurer and won, becoming the county’s first female treasurer. Tinkler’s win was also the second time that she was the only Democratic pickup statewide. Since being sworn in on July 1, 2017, she has implemented the Advance Tax Installment Plan; successfully advocated for tax law changes in Columbia; grown an outreach program; and begun to issue motor vehicle decals and registrations from her office while adding new ways to pay including credit cards at the counter, e-checks online with no fee and over-the-phone payments with bilingual service. She is now serving in her second term. In addition to leading her office, Tinkler serves as the president of the South Carolina Association of Auditors, Treasurers and Tax Collectors. She sits on the board for the National Association of County Collectors, Treasurers and Finance Officers, as well as on the board for the National Association of Counties and Society 1858 of the Gibbes Museum of Art. STATE LEVEL Across the South Carolina state house and senate there are 170 members of the General Assembly, of which currently only 22 are women. To take on the role of governance within this framework is as rewarding as it is challenging, according to the following women whose legacies will leave a lasting imprint on our past, current and future legislation. VIDA MILLER, State House Representative (1996-2010) Governance was always in Vida Miller’s DNA. She grew up in Greenville during the 1960s, where her parents were involved in local politics, serving as poll watchers and precinct managers and running for public office. Her family was also good friends with former South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Nick Theodore and then Speaker of the House Rex Carter. In her 20s, Miller moved to the Lowcountry, where she taught a marketing class at Horry-Georgetown Technical College. “I remember being upset because I wished students had more skills than they did,” she said. “And frustrated with a system I thought had failed them, I kept searching for the missing link.” Looking for a way to make a difference, Miller ran for the Georgetown County School Board in 1986. Having won the election, she served for eight years, during which time Georgetown County was supported primarily by the farming community, which produced tobacco and cotton. “Until the early 1990s, all leaders and money came from the crops produced in the West County,” Miller explained. “Although we did not have the tax base on the Waccamaw Neck and it was a financial risk, we borrowed and bonded money to expand the district by building Waccamaw High School. A middle and intermediate school followed, and those schools became some of the top in the state. That’s a lot to be proud of.” When she came off the board in 1994, running for higher office was not in Miller’s vision. That changed when the chairman of the Democratic Party asked her to consider campaigning for House District 108, which represents one of the largest geographical regions in the state. The region stretches from Murrells Inlet to the City of Georgetown, McClellanville, Awendaw and North Mount Pleasant. Miller stepped up to the challenge and in 1996, she ran, won and served for 14 years. Miller started by helping pass a state bond referendum, which earned $100 million for state schools, from which Charleston and Georgetown counties benefited. Locally, that meant the recently-founded Waccamaw Neck schools had enough funding so that they no longer posed the financial risk they had just a few years earlier. Additionally, Miller helped pass the South Carolina Education Lottery, which funded grants for teachers and allocated $3,500 to $5,000 scholarships for students with a 3.5 GPA or higher to credit towards attending state colleges or universities. Further, Miller was instrumental in having the Confederate flag removed from the South Carolina State
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