Aiken City Council meets for mayoral transfer of power

AIKEN, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - During Monday’s Aiken City Council meeting, a new mayor was sworn in.

Teddy Milner took over for Rick Osbon. Milner beat Osbon in the Aiken Republican primary by 14 votes. She told News 12 she was relieved to see it was official and she would be the next mayor of Aiken.

“I just put one foot forward every day and took every day as it came. I’ve worked hard; my group that helped me during this campaign, and there was no way I would have ever been able to do it without them,” Milner said.

Osbon has been mayor since 2015, and Milner became the city’s fourth mayor in the last 66 years. She’s also the first-ever female mayor of the city of Aiken.

Osbon said: “What a great honor. We’re able to do a lot of things for the city of Aiken moving forward. I know that momentum will continue and a lot of great things will happen. So it’s been a labor of love and an honor to serve the city I love.”

The room was full as those watched and cheered for Osbon and Milner.

“To be able to serve a city that has meant so much in my life and my family’s life has really been special,” said Osbon.

Milner said: “Let’s go to work and improve our city.”

She’s been preparing to take over by having meetings with individual departments to better learn their roles, so she can start work right away on items she feels need to be addressed first.

“I’d like to see infrastructure being improved in the town. I’d love to see police salaries increase in the town. I’d like to see the buildings downtown renovated, that are in disrepair,” she said.

Her first item addressed was appointing a mayor pro-temp. Ed Girardeau, District 4 representative, will serve that role until 2025.

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