Simple Civics: Greenville County

Latest Episodes:

District 17 - Meet your candidates for the Greenville County Council Republican primary May 17, 2022

Show notes

Meet Joe Dill and Joey Russo, primary candidates for Greenville County Council District 17 in the Republican primary on June 14th. In this episode, each candidate has 10 minutes to introduce himself to the voters. Mr. Dill is the incumbent and Mr. Russo is seeking to unseat him. Your vote is so important - especially in the primary! In 2020, one of our County Council primaries was decided by just three votes! Please take a listen and share with your neighbors.

Joe Dill Website: https://joedillforcountycouncil.com/

Joey Russo Website: https://www.votejoeyrusso.com/

Produced by The Greenville Podcast Company.

Your primary election to-do list! May 10, 2022

Show notes

Primary elections are not the extra credit assignment - they are for ALL voters (and in some cases are more important than the November general election!). This episode is your complete voter to-do list, for newcomers and long-time voters alike. Lawson Wetli with the League of Women Voters of Greenville County fills us in on all of the details about registering, research, and voting in person on election day, early absentee, or by mail.

SC Election Commission website:

https://SCVotes.gov

Voter registration info:

https://info.scvotes.sc.gov/eng/voterinquiry/VoterInformationRequest.aspx?PageMode=VoterInfo

Sample ballot:

http://vote411.org/

Greenville County election commission:

https://www.greenvillecounty.org/VoterRegistration/

Find Lawson Wetli on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawson-wetli-76499543/

Produced by The Greenville Podcast Company.

Law Enforcement in Greenville County May 03, 2022

Show notes

Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis and Greenville City Police Chief Howie Thompson lead law enforcement to maintain public order, manage public safety, and enforce laws within their jurisdictions. Both came into their roles at the beginning of one of the most tumultuous times in recent history. In this episode, we'll hear from them on the basics about their organizations, their strategic priorities, and how their view their work during this time of racial reckoning and change in our community and nation.

Find Sheriff Hobart Lewis on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hobart-lewis-1b1b19126/

Find Chief Howie Thompson LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/howie-thompson-80571b158/

Greenville County Sheriff's Office:

https://gcso.org/

Greenville Police Department:

http://greenvillepd.com/

Produced by The Greenville Podcast Company.

Nonpartisan school boards Apr 26, 2022

Show notes

In all but two school districts in South Carolina - and in the majority of districts across the nation - school board races are nonpartisan. Candidates run to serve on the school board without affiliation to the Democratic, Libertarian, Republican, or any other political party. Why is that and what are the benefits? Catherine Schumacher with Public Education Partners talks with former school board member Tommie Reece about political parties and schools.

Find Catherine Schumacher on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-schumacher-b938407/

Find Tommie Reece on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommie-reece-ab89b717/

Produced by The Greenville Podcast Company.

What is a FILOT and why do we have them? Apr 19, 2022

Show notes

If you attend Greenville County Council meetings, you’ll typically see several items on the agenda related to Fee in Lieu of Tax agreement. Your eyes might glaze over at this point in the meeting or your ears might perk up wondering why someone might pay a fee instead of a tax.

These agreements have been in the news twice just this year as Council rejected a Greer development project looking for a Fee in Lieu of Tax agreement and reversed course allowing a FILOT for another large development project.

What are FILOTs, or Fee in Lieu of Tax agreements, why do they exist, and how do governments use them?

To help us understand, we're joined by Mark Farris, President and CEO of Greenville Area Development Corporation, or GADC for short. GADC is a county chartered organization tasked with promoting and enhancing the economic growth of Greenville County and Mark joined GADC in 2014. Over his decades-long career, Mark and his teams have brought billions of economic investment to the communities he served along with tens of thousands of jobs.

We hope you’ll find Mark's discussion of FILOTs in South Carolina's tax system helpful.

Find Mark Farris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-farris-1778b6a4/

Scott Case Episode on Taxes: https://simplecivicsgreenvillecounty.org/property-taxes-in-greenville-county-an-overview-with-county-auditor-scott-case/

Produced by The Greenville Podcast Company.

Partnerships between government and nonprofits Apr 12, 2022

Show notes

Partnerships between nonprofit organizations and government can help each party achieve its objectives in a way that neither could on its own, and all for the benefit of the larger community. Jenn Hulehan, member of Simpsonville City Council, and Mark Steenback, Chief Resource Officer with Habitat for Humanity, discuss a partnership between the city and Habitat that is bringing 13 new affordable homes to Simpsonville and what goes into a successful government/nonprofit partnership.

Jenn Hulehan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbhulehan/

Mark Steenback LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marksteenback/

Produced by The Greenville Podcast Company.

Why Transit is Essential Apr 05, 2022

Show notes

Getting cars off the road, getting employees to workplaces, getting shoppers to retail - transit is essential to making these things happen. James Keel, Director of Greenlink (Greenville County's transit system), and Erin Predmore, Executive Director of Greenville Connects (a local transit advocacy coalition), discuss why transit is essential, the many improvements to Greenlink in recent years, and how you can ride if you haven't already.

Produced by The Greenville Podcast Company.

Van Broad, City of Mauldin, and Taft Matney, Mauldin City Council Mar 29, 2022

Show notes

"Businesses like to go where people are happy. If you've got people who are happy, you've got happy employees."

Van Broad, newly retired economic development director for the City of Mauldin, reflects on why economic development is important, how it is done, and how it's about so much more than simply recruiting businesses to our community. He's interviewed by Taft Matney, Mauldin City Council member, and he says:

"Economic development is multifaceted. It can be community development - like renewing a downtown - taking events, the cultural center, activities, connecting people, connecting opportunity, and using that to showcase to business that you can do business in the community. And certainly you want to do business in a community where a city council and the government sees the value of investing in arts, investing in people, and not just in the traditional sense of industrial and business development and recruitment, but really in community life and quality. I think those are hand in hand with economic development."

Produced by The Greenville Podcast Company.

Speaking up for change and bringing others along: Tina Harris Mar 22, 2022

Show notes

Tina Harris, Director of Greenville County Outreach for FAVOR, says, “I have a desire to do more advocating for the homeless and being a mouthpiece because I can look at my own experience, and I know it wasn’t a good or pretty picture. So, I’m open to standing up and being a voice for those that don’t have a voice.”

She’s been recruiting more people who have or are currently experiencing homelessness to stand up and speak up. “I knew that they had a heart for change. And change comes when people come together – not in fear to open their mouths because of who’s listening, but we come together strong and we speak out for what is right.”

Tina is interviewed by Susan McLarty, Coordinator of Greenville Homeless Alliance (GHA), who with Tina recently piloted the first GHA advocacy academy.

Produced by The Greenville Podcast Company.

Do primaries matter? (YES - and sometimes more than the general election!) Mar 15, 2022

Show notes

In 2018 (the last mid-term or non-presidential election), more than half of South Carolina's voters turned out on the November election day. But back in June, only 20% of voters cast a ballot in the primary election. And that small group of summer voters largely determined who ended up in office. Because most of our races in South Carolina have just one party represented on the ballot in November, and that person is chosen during the summer primary. Jason Zacher, Senior Vice President of Business Advocacy with the Greenville Chamber and Upstate Chamber Coalition covers this and other important election-related topics. He's interviewed by Derek Lewis of Greenville First Steps.

Produced by The Greenville Podcast Company.

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