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Challenges Facing Fort Mill
- Growth - Fort Mill will continue to grow.
But our growth rate has slowed from a high of nearly 10% to a much
more manageable 1%.
The positive side of this is the opportunity to plan for infrastructure improvements and capital projects at a more relaxed pace. My goal will always be to accommodate growth while protecting our small town integrity.
- Economic development and downtown revitalization - I understand the importance of revitalizing our downtown business area. A healthy downtown contributes largely to our positive perception of
ourselves as a town and it is an important part of what identifies us as a community. I believe in applying strict code enforcement to ensure
safety compliance and improve store-front and store-rear appearances. The difference in the first seven months of this year has been astounding.
Property owners are replacing windows, painting and making other necessary repairs to their buildings.
While the economy has impeded significant progress, we still discuss several major projects for the downtown area. They're the Hinson property (on White Street just across the railroad tracks,) the old post office site (at the top of Main Street and Tom Hall Street) and the old Tony's Pizza site (at the middle of Main Street.) All three of these projects are projected to include ground floor retail, second floor office and third floor residential components. I believe "a rising tide raises all ships." When completed, these quality downtown developments will almost certainly be a "rising tide" capable of elevating our downtown commercial district's prospects.
It's also important that we reach a proper balance with our commercial to residential tax base. This'll require attracting more commercial business into our town limits. I'll keep working with Council and staff to finely tune our marketing strategy (to effectively sell Fort Mill to potential businesses and patrons.) I'll continue to look for ways to augment the efforts of York County Economic Development and the South Carolina Department of Commerce as they work to attract businesses to the Fort Mill area.
- Communication - Good communication is one of the most important components of any successful organization. I'm committed to an on-going, in-house assessment of our communications tools and strategies. I'll continue to work with Council and staff to improve Town Hall's internal and external communications. (Internal communication refers to the exchange of information between council and staff. External communication refers to the exchange of information between council/staff and our citizens and between council/staff and other public and private entities.)
- Transportation - The vast majority of our roads are controlled by the county and state. In 2009 we completed a transportation study that examined Fort Mill's traffic issues from the municipal perspective. Our goal was to identify any realistic measures the town can implement to ease vehicular congestion and improve overall safety. The study confirmed that, while we won't be able to create a significant impact, there're things we can do to help. We'll be phasing in some of these measures over the next several years.
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Personal
- Lifetime Fort Mill resident
- Wife: Maureen
(married 27 years)
- Daughter: Courtney
(husband -Daniel Newell, son - Tucker)
- Son: Jason (graduated Magna Cum Laude with honors from USC Upstate in Spartanburg, SC)
Education
- Graduate Fort Mill High School
- Graduate Winthrop University (BA in Communications)
- Graduate of the Municipal Association of SC Municipal Elected Officials Institute of Government
- Graduate of the Urban Open Space Leadership Institute
- Graduate of the National League of Cities Leadership Training Institute.
Employment
- Gastonia Sheet Metal, Inc., Director of Business Development. GSM, Inc. has been providing roof installation, roof maintenance, HVAC and specialty sheet metal services to the Carolinas
and beyond since 1927.
Civic Involvement
- Fort Mill Town Council (Mayor 2008 - present, Councilman 2004-08
- Fort Mill Zoning Board of Appeals (2003)
- Fort Mill Citizen of the Year (2006)
- Fort Mill Community Optimist Club
- Municipal Association of South Carolina
- Fort Mill Rescue Squad Board of Trustees (Chairman 1999-2008)
- Move Fort Mill Forward Board of Directors (2002-06)
- Fort Mill Area Council Board of Directors (Chairman 2002)
- York County Regional Chamber Board of Directors (2001-02)
- York County Regional Board Executive Committee (2002)
- York County Regional Chamber Foundation Board of Directors
- York County Regional Chamber Governmental Relations Task Force (Vice Chairman 2003-04)
- Fort Mill School Bond Referendum Task Force (1999 and 2004)
- Fort Mill High School Football Public Address Announcer
- Nation Ford High School Football Public Address Announcer
- York County Sports Hall of Fame Nominating Committee
- Catawba Masonic Lodge #56
- Hejaz Shrine
- Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas Dave Thomas Service Award (2002)
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Progress To Date
- Strategic Planning - We remain committed to the concepts and recommendations of the Town of Fort Mill's Comprehensive Plan. Updated in 2008, it is the primary component of our planning strategy and it will continue to guide our strategic planning decisions. But, as always, we will be flexible in our decision making process as we understand that each project must be considered at the particular time and circumstances of its proposal.
We also adhere to a proactive planning strategy and maintain our pledge to gather quarterly for extended planning sessions. Typically, these sessions are Friday (four hours) and Saturday (six hours) events, with the stated goal of investing the appropriate time to properly execute the strategic planning process. These sessions can also be utilized for, among other things, reactionary planning, staff or consultant presentations, committee updates and, if necessary, the conducting of town business.
In addition, we've added a monthly workshop meeting to our calendar. This important meeting is always tentatively scheduled for the fourth Monday morning of each month. As with the extended session, this meeting can also be used for to address any matters that need study or require timely action.
- Expanded Events Calendar - We understand the importance of festivals and social events to the overall quality of life in Fort Mill. Accordingly, we are committed to a continual upgrade of the Town's events calendar.
In 2008, we acted on the advice of our staff and undertook a positive overhaul of the town's spring festival. The Town assumed ownership of the event, renamed it SpringFest and implemented a traditional concept focusing on delicious food and great music.
The goal has always been to maximize the potential of our town festival. In keeping with this, in 2010, we transitioned from a local one day event to a regional four day affair. We re-branded the festival as the South Carolina Strawberry Festival in Fort Mill. It was an amazing success as approximately 20,000 people enjoyed the inaugural affair in Walter Y. Elisha Park.
We will also continue to work closely with our non-profit partner, Move Fort Mill Forward, to help provide an additional slate of quality events including, but not limited to, the Fort Mill Thunder car show, the Art on Main arts/cultural affair, the children's Fall Festival, the MLK, Jr. Observance, our annual July 4th Celebration and our popular Christmas Parade.
- Clear Springs & Kanawha Annexations - Working with Council and staff we expanded Fort Mill's boundaries by over 5000 acres, effectively doubling the size of the town's footprint. This was done working in concert with the recommendations and strategies outlined in our comprehensive plan. Our citizens have repeatedly expressed the rightful demand that growth pay for itself and these annexations satisfy that demand. They are an excellent example of smart growth and we confidently predict they will stand the test of time as a great benchmark in the history of our town.
- Advancement of Volunteerism - In 2009 we were awarded the Municipal Association of South Carolina's Municipal Achievement Award
 "in recognition of our superior performance and innovative program leading to an improved quality of life for our citizens." The award was for our creation of eight volunteer committees and the system we use to match applicants to committee seats.
The committees include our SC Strawberry Festival Committee, Hall of Fame Committee, Arts Commission, Veterans Committee, Recreation Committee, Beautification Committee, Storm Water Review Board and Code Review Board. These groups allow citizens the opportunity to put their time and talent to work in helping us address many of our challenges and make Fort Mill an even better place to live and work.
The results are impressive: the SC Strawberry Festival, Fort Mill's first-ever municipal Hall of Fame honoring the significant contributions of our citizens,
the effort to design and build a veteran's park to recognize the sacrifices of our military veterans, the formation of the town's first Martin Luther King Observance, the committee to assist the transition of recreational programs and services to town control, the creation of a team to help in the management of Palmetto Pride, and the formation of two citizen boards to assist us in protecting the rights of our residents. We are also looking into the possibility of forming a citizen's committee to look into issues important to our senior citizens.
- Establishment of Strategic Partnerships - The development of strategic partnerships is on-going. Several local non-profits are excellent examples of what is being done with this policy. Move Fort Mill Forward is doing a great job of spearheading our downtown revitalization effort. Volunteer groups like Paradise Community Basketball, Empowering Youth and the Fort Mill Community Optimist Club are effectively providing positive guidance for many of our community's at-risk youth. We will continue to look for creative and effective ways to support these kinds of efforts.
I am also proud of the valuable contributions of our churches on projects like the formation of the first ever Fort Mill Community Choir and the Martin Luther King Day Observance.
The Town will continue to partner with our non-profits and churches to enhance the quality of life of our citizens.
- Downtown Revitalization - In relative importance, this issue ranks up there with growth and traffic. August of 2008 saw the beginning of a two-phase construction project for the downtown area. The first phase culminated in brick in-laid pedestrian crosswalks, new metal mast arm traffic lights and additional flowers and greenery on Main Street. The second phase will result in a new tree canopy along White Street, an attractive pocket park at the top of the hill (between White and Massey Streets) and replacement of the retaining wall at the foot of Main Street. We also plan to eventually add the crosswalks and mast arm traffic lights (as in Phase One.)
It is crucial that we properly plan the next steps in our downtown revitalization process. I am advocating we treat downtown revitalization as a capital improvement plan and annually budget money for the purpose of systematically completing the plan.
Whenever possible, we must work cooperatively with the downtown stakeholders to maximize our resources and get the most out of our efforts.
- Lease of the Old Center Theater Building - I have studied a number of downtown revitalization efforts. Successful efforts often involve the establishment of a downtown entertainment venue. Historically, once the entertainment venue becomes a desirable downtown destination there is an influx of restaurants, coffee shops, ice cream parlors and specialty retail springing up to take advantage of the traffic the destination has generated. The old Center Theater building on Main Street could become such a catalyst for our downtown revitalization.
We have entered into a favorable lease arrangement with the owner of the old Center Theater building. We have selected a highly qualified consultant firm to help us determine the exact potential of this project's success. The feedback seems to indicate the project will be quite daunting in this challenging economic climate. However, we are committed to finding a practical and cost-effective way to deliver this project. We will keep working on this one.
- Evaluation and Upgrade of Channel 19 - We are extremely pleased with the progress of our public access TV Channel 19. Currently, we are regularly televising council meeting highlights, committee discussions, town events and etc.
We have added, as it has become available, documentaries and original programming to educate, enlighten and inform our citizens.
We will continue working with the Fort Mill School District to include them in our programming mix. Channel 19 has become an important tool for the dissemination of information pertaining to town and school district news and events. It is another great example of partnering to achieve common goals. The continued success of this partnership will require the efforts of the Town, the school district and Comporium Communications. It is an example of public/private collaboration doing some of its' best work.
- Evaluation and Upgrade of the Town of Fort Mill Web Site - Another communications related project underway is the evaluation and upgrade of our town web site. This is another vehicle that, with continued attention, will prove to be a valuable tool for the delivery of important information to our citizens. It is another project the town hopes to work with the school district to deliver.
- Other Communications Improvements - In our continuing effort to make use of the many social and business networking tools available in today's world; we have created our own Facebook page and utilized YouTube.
We are also taking advantage of our own direct mail vehicle to include "bill stuffers." The "bill stuffers" allow us to add any important notices in our bill envelopes.
We will continue our progress in this area.
- Transportation Planning - In 2009, the Town commissioned a traffic study to evaluate challenges within the town limits and to identify, from the municipal perspective, any possible alternatives for their improvement. We will attempt to implement any recommendations that are within our financial means and to lobby state and county officials for those that are not.
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