Oconee County Council is a five member elected governing body. The Council is responsible for adopting the annual budget, setting the county property tax rate, and creating legislation via ordinances, resolutions and proclamations. Daily operations of the County are directed by the County Administrator, who is appointed by the Council. Council members serve a four-year term.NOTE: If a candidate's answers are not visible, the candidate may not have completed the survey prior to our publication date. Updated response will be posted as they are received. Voters are welcome to encourage the candidate to share their views.
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Campaign Phone
657-493-2094
Qualifications for Office
35 year resident of Oconee County. 37 years employed by Duke Energy, mostly at Oconee Nuclear Station (ONS). Degrees in engineering and business. Master degree in business. 5 children, 12 grandchildren, 2 great grandchildren. Proven problem solver at work. Managed multimillion dollar projects at ONS. Owned a small business (Residential Homebuilder) and licensed in SC since 1999.
Oconee County has the third lowest taxes in the state and has been named one of the 25 best rural areas to live in the US. Growth is inevitable. Common sense regulations controlling growth are required, but this is not enough. I believe in impact fees, where developers pay upfront as part of their planning for infrastructure improvements. This would include money for schools, roads, water, sewer, and emergency response. Fees would be based on development size.
Homeless people deserve the same consideration and respect as any other person. Rather than force them out or lock them up, the community needs to help them. Recently the county council voted to hire two new sheriffs deputies to manage the homeless. The two salaries plus benefits and police cars cost taxpayers over $200,000 annually. According to Sheriff Crenshaw there are 25 known homeless persons living in Oconee County. I believe money could be better spent helping these individuals find work and housing and becoming productive citizens of this county. Examples would be short term housing, drivers licenses, new clothes, transportation to job interviews, etc.
Oconee County has a shortage of affordable housing. Median price of a home is $350,000 and median household income is $65,000. There are currently less than 20 homes for sale in Oconee County less than $200,000 (some of which are not liable but require substantial renovation). There are 12 new homes for sale between $200,00 and $240,00, which is the range the median income could support. I believe that council could and should enact regulations and incentives that require and encourage developers to build some affordable housing units in their projects. Impact fees on expensive homes and developments could be used to encourage affordable housing also.
I am not in favor of data centers in Oconee County. Average data centers use electric comparable to 100's-1000's of homes. If a data center is built, several hundred homes cannot be built due to shortage of electricity and water. Water consumption is also an issue. Noise pollution (from cooling units) is a concern for nearby residents. Studies show wildlife leaves the area near data centers due to constant noise. Some data centers are designed to produce their own electricity, but diesel generators add to the noise pollution. Data centers routinely employe 15 or so permanent employees. Data centers are expensive and would contribute positively to the tax base, but I believe the negatives outweigh the positives.
In addition to controlling growth while providing affordable housing and attracting new industry, the management of our finances is the most urgent issue of the council. Oconee County has overspent (or under collected) budget for the past 6 years and is also over budget for the current year. over $20 million is reserves has been spent for these overages. We must live within a balanced budget. Current council blames former administrator and finance directors, but I believe council is ultimately responsible for budget and tax collection. More frequent reports to the council from finance department are required. Discussion of shortages and overages should be routine and public at finance and council meetings.
