JAMES ISLAND--The fight to keep the town of James Island from dying is far from over, town officials said Monday after voting to appeal a judge's decision that the town was not formed legally.

Town Council held an emergency meeting to discuss legal options in the wake of Friday's ruling, which held that the state law that allowed the town to form is unconstitutional. Council voted unanimously to authorize the appeal, and council members predicted the S.C. Supreme Court will reverse the ruling.

FILE PHOTO James Island Mayor Mary Clark

"We're going to win this thing. Mark my words," Councilman Joe Qualey said.

Predictions of victory aside, though, town officials said that Circuit Judge Thomas Hughston's ruling was a heavy blow. Although the City of Charleston's lawsuit against the first formation of a town a decade ago led to its demise, many felt the city had a weaker case this time around.

"This is almost like a death for us," said Mayor Mary Clark. "It reminded me of a wake."

The decision also has elicited anger from town residents, much of it directed toward Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr.

At the meeting, some residents passed around bumper stickers that read, "Screw Iraq, Attack Joe," and many bitterly denounced the city's decision to challenge the town's legality.

Others said they cannot imagine that the town will again lose its right to exist.

"The town will never ever come to an end, ever," said resident Sandy Just. "I think everybody's confident that it's eventually going to win out because this is America."

Qualey said he has heard supportive comments from residents in parts of the island that are included in the city's boundaries. They want the town to survive, he said, because it has been aggressive in limiting growth.

"We've done more in six months to protect what is left of James Island than the city has ever," he said.

Lawyers on both sides say that an appeal will allow the town to stay alive until the case is decided by the Supreme Court, just as the first town did.Town attorney Trent Kernodle said there is no timeline for when the court will hear or decide the case.

In his ruling, the judge said that a law that allowed the town to incorporate by sharing marshes and waterways already in the city is unconstitutional because it does not generally apply statewide. The town maintains the law could apply elsewhere.

Even if the high court rules against the town, there are other options, officials said. Backers could approach the Legislature to pass a new law that applies more broadly.

Some said that, on one level at least, the town will never be lost.

"The most important thing is that the town is in our hearts," said Just.

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