Daniel Prince
SC Office of Revenue and Fiscal Affairs will conduct redistricting process
Union City Council met Tuesday night for its regular session. Jeff Shacker from the Municipal Association of South Carolina presented council with an award for 100% participation in 2021 in the MASC Municipal Elected Officials Institute of Government. Shacker said the council has received this award at least two other times in the past. He noted participation in the institute is voluntary, but he thanked council for its commitment to training and learning.
In April work anniversaries, Police Chief Robbie McGee was recognized for 18 years of service in the Public Safety Department. TJ Hopper was honored for 18 years of service in the electric department. Joe Nichols was recognized for 17 years of service to the city. Nichols is the city administrator. Jeff Roberts with the electric department was honored for 15 years of service. Larry Foster has served 9 years in the public service department, and Olin Brock was recognized for 6 years at the warehouse.
Council unanimously voted to adopt a resolution to allow the SC Office of Revenue and Fiscal Affairs to conduct the city’s redistricting according to all the criteria set forth in its presentation to council earlier in the year. The redistricting process has to be done following the census every 10 years in order to keep the number of voters in each district roughly the same. After this year’s census, the city’s precincts were showing a 50% deviation from the recommended number of voters per precinct, while the law allows for only a 10% deviation. The Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office recommends a 5% deviation. The group will present the redrawn maps to council for approval, and the process should be complete prior to the filing date for municipal elections.
With Union County Council voting to restart the Capital Project Sales Tax process this year, the city needs to appoint two members to the committee. City Administrator Joe Nichols said he had no recommendations as to whom to appoint. He asked the council members to think about people they might nominate and come back no later than the next meeting with two candidates. The process must move quickly in order to get projects approved in time to appear on the November ballot. Nichols stated two projects he has heard that will be considered by the committee will be the proposed new Career and Technology Center on campus at the SCC Union campus. He said a second project that will be proposed to the committee is a training facility for fire, law enforcement, and EMS. It would be able to host a variety of fire training, weapons training, and confined space training, among other things for the fire departments, public safety, sheriff’s office, and even EMS. He also said plants could rent out the space for some of the fire training that some of their employees have to do.
Council voted to appoint Annie Ruth Jeter to Municipal Election Commission Board.
In its final action, council voted, with Robert Garner abstaining, to terminate its agreement with Union County for building inspections and code enforcement. Nichols had this to say about the reasoning:
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After a period of public comment, the council voted to enter executive session to discuss a personnel matter. No action was taken following the session.