Council members G. Neil Smith, Jennifer Willis, Tom Ponder and Sam Wyche were sworn in Monday night in council chambers.
Smith will serve another two-year term as County Council chairman, after Council upheld his nomination, with Wyche abstaining.
“My view as chairman is to facilitate the meeting and direct it based on what the group wants to do,” Smith said. “What the council’s priorities will be is what my priorities will be end up being.”
The needs of his district are also the needs of the entire county, he said
“Jobs, prosperity, how do they make their utility payments, how do they keep their kids in school, all those issues,” Smith said. “If a man is able to support his family, and do it in a reasonable matter, then I find that the political environment is pretty easy. If you get a case of where they’re not able to support their family, they’re not able to keep their homes up, then it comes back and reflects on us.”
“I’m pro-growth, pro-business, pro-jobs,” he said. “When it comes to district issues, I’m just like anybody else, I want our roads paved, just like I want roads paved in others (districts). I’m not trying to push my district over anybody other’s. I just want a system that’s fair.”
Wyche, who began his first term as Councilman for District Three Monday, said he was looking for to serving the public.
“Campaigning is not my cup of tea,” he said. “I pledge is that I will make every decision based on what is best for this county and the people of the county. No decision will be made because it puts me in a favorable or unfavorable light.”
One of Wyche’s big priorities is “an economic stimulus plan for Pickens County,” he said, a plan “independent of whatever President Obama and Congress intitiates out of Washington, of out of Columbia.”
Wyche calls his plan “educational-based,” not industry or tourism based.
“It’s a job-creation based plan,” he said. “The resources are available. It’s just a matter of working out the details. The details can be the deal-breaker.”
“I think we can help ourselves of this economic curve, maybe survive it with a little less pain and come out of it ahead of some other counties in the nation,” Wyche continued.
Pickens County is well-positioned to survive the economic crunch, said Councilman Jennifer Willis. Willis was elected Vice-chair Monday night.
“We’ve got a lot of challenges,” she said. “But, luckily, we’ve done a lot of our work in the past and the county is in a good financial position despite the difficult economy we’re in.”
As the year unfolds, county council must “be very judicious in the way we spend our dollars,” Willis continued.
She outlined what’s high on her priority list by borrowing a line from former President George H.W. Bush.
“‘It’s the economy, stupid,’” she quoted, laughing. “Jobs, jobs, jobs.”
Road projects represent a lot of potential in her district, Willis said.
Extending U.S. 153 around the shopping center at the Saco Lowell site is scheduled for 2010, she said
“That’s the kind of project that the president-elect was talking about, it’s shovel-ready,” Willis said. “That’s already in the pipeline. It’s already approved. Those are the kinds of things that we need to see if we can accelerate and push forward.
Traffic issues along that corridor definitely exist, she said.
“If there’s federal money being given out, we need to be elbows in, getting our fair share,” Willis said.
Being well-positioned for the future, not only for the current economic situation, is important too, said Councilman Jim London.
“We need to be looking ahead, so that as the economy picks up, that we’re well positioned to move forward,” he said.
County priorities for London include infrastructure and the county’s comprehensive plan.
“That will give us a chance to look at where we are and where we’re headed,” London said.
Keeping county taxes low will not only benefit residents, but will help entice new businesses to invest in Pickens County, said Councilman Randy Crenshaw.
“With the economy like it is, we want to try to keep as much money in the people’s pockets as we possibly can,” he said. “If we can cut back and save money, that’s what we can to do, so the people won’t be hurting in this economy anymore.”
Economic development remains essential, Crenshaw said.
“That’s our main goal, getting jobs in here,” he said.
The new Springs Fire Station is a high priority for Crenshaw, he said.
Maintaining a certain level of service for residents is important for Councilman Tom Ponder.
“We need to take a look at expenditures and see what types of services we need to provide and continue providing and try to make the necessary adjustments based on the economy as we can,” Ponder said.
Law enforcement and roads and bridges are top county priorities for Ponder.
Regarding his district, Ponder said he was looking forward to getting the Crosswell Rural Fire Station operational and to continued progress on the Dacusville Recreational Facility.
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