Thank you John and thank you Becky together, for you all being here tonight. This is what civic engagement looks like. Appreciate you being here.
I was a neighborhood planner for a long time. Some of y’all might remember me. Last I was at Haynie-Sirrine, I was at Greenville Housing Fund and we had this really fun meeting where we looked at a map of Haynie-Sirrine and surrounding areas and talked about what we could do with affordable housing dollars. If you all remember that night, it was a really good one. I appreciate y’all working on that with us. Some of that fund money went to purchase teams from these because of that group. So I just want to thank you all for that.
As John said, my background is in planning. I am the third generation of my family to live in the upstate. I have two daughters who are seven and four, and that’s a big reason I’m running. As a planner, I see where we’re going in terms of growth. My life is data, looking at trends, growth trends. But I’m also concerned for the future they’ll have here. Will there be any affordability left? Will there be solutions? As a planner, I take that seriously. I have a skill set to help address that and that’s not something that always lines up every day. It really is about making it better for the future generations to come. I think about stuff in the shower and I’m washing my hair, think about streets that are overcrowded or new developments that are coming up. I mean, this is what I’ve lived and breathed through my entire career. So, when the opportunity came up, I said, hey, this is another way I could serve.
A lot of people know me from the housing space, but what people don’t know is that it’s very personal to me. When I was a child, I experienced housing instability around age two to four. While we weren’t on the streets, we were in other people’s homes and every day looked different. I remember that feeling — not knowing where my head would rest. Our church stepped up, and that sense of community stayed with me. I think that’s why I jumped into public service. Later, back home, my dad and I would argue at the dinner table about politics every night. We were a very heavy news family. He used to complain about government 24/7 and I thought, well, I’ll fix that. So I spent time at the federal, state, and local level. Before that, I went to college, was vice president of student body, passed legislation in student government — that really set me on the path. Then I came back here through AmeriCorps, which landed me at Greenville County Redevelopment Authority, where I fell in love with housing affordability and creating economic mobility. I’ve been in it ever since — 13 years in government, nonprofit, and private sector roles.
I’ve done quite a bit with United Way, was chair of Young Leaders Society, went through Grassroots Leadership Development Program, Bergman’s Women’s Leadership Institute, and I’m also a neighborhood president. I live at Fite Cottages, just behind my doctor’s office. I’ve worked on master plans, downtown plans, neighborhood plans. At the Housing Fund and at GC Planning, I’ve been involved in thousands of homes for restaurant workers, teachers, fire, police, nurses. A lot of my job is policy. I helped write the Wolf Family tax incentive, the tiny home subdivision ordinance, and other policy tools for affordability. Now I get to work across different states, consulting on planning, housing, zoning, and policy.
The big four I’m focusing on come from the GVL 2040 plan — plus childcare. These are not just my priorities, but what Greenville residents said their priorities were in the plan. Affordable housing. Improved mobility and transit. Green space and the environment. Economic opportunity. And I’m adding childcare. As a planner, I respect the process. The community said these are their top concerns, and I think that’s where we should focus.
Childcare is a space I work in. Countywide we have 4,500 children who do not have any access to childcare, and it’s worse in the city. We have the least amount of daycare centers within the city. There are two zoning districts in the city where it’s not legal to have daycares, or you have to go through extra steps. I think opening that up would help. My girls have enjoyed after school and summer camp programs, which are wonderful and 70% subsidized. But I think, why am I paying the same thing as somebody who makes $20,000 a year? Let’s make sure I’m paying my fair share. That would open more slots, allow more staff, and maybe fund an under-four program.
Trees are another big one. We’re sitting on $3 million in fees but we don’t have a planting plan yet. Tree giveaways are great, but planting a tree is hard. It should be strategic — planting trees can cut utilities by 25%. Instead of losing trees to development, we need to preserve the buffered edge of properties. I understand clear-cutting the middle is easier, but edges should be protected. That helps with noise and quality of life. The city sometimes pushes developers on this but not consistently.
Green space — we’re lucky to have parks nearby, but the investment hasn’t been equitable. Parks like Rotary Park in North Main got upgrades when they were fine. But parks like David Hellams Park or West Washington Park playground has old metal poles sticking out. That’s the kind of inequity I’d like to address on the west side of town.
Affordable homes — homeownership has dropped from 60% to 40% in 10 years. Let’s get it back up. The city owns quite a bit of land at Greenline-Spartanburg, Mountain View area, and infill. We could use land trusts, mixed income neighborhood trusts, and provide both homeownership and rental with equity gains. I’m concerned my generation is locked out of homeownership. The median home price is $450,000, which is a $3,600 mortgage. It doesn’t match incomes. We need starter homes and mixed income options.
Transit — people need safe options. We need protected bike lanes, not just paint. In Knoxville, I used the trolley. Here, 10,000 people drive to BMW and other employers daily. Why don’t we have a park-and-ride? That’s an easy fix. Let’s enforce distracted driving laws to raise revenue for transit. Let’s expand buses to employment centers. And our trolley system, which is funded by tourism dollars, should run daily and serve residents too.
That’s it in a nutshell. I want to open it up to questions for y’all.
On affordability and land: I think a land trust is a great option. You can set it up in perpetuity so homes stay affordable. Homeowners still get equity, and renters in mixed income models can build equity too. The Greenville Housing Fund has already started a trust. Habitat and other nonprofits are exploring it. It works for ownership and rental, and taxes are assessed based on actual use, not market speculation.
On trees: We should use the $3 million tree fund to help preserve big trees and to remove dead trees before storms. The incentive has to be high enough to stop clear-cutting. Developers need stronger nudges to keep trees on the edges of sites.
On community engagement: Sometimes notices for rezonings come just days before council votes. That’s too short. We should give more time and extend the notification radius for big projects. When people move in, they should get a welcome packet with neighborhood contacts and city services, maybe a QR code to join text alerts.
On transit funding: Yes, I support increasing funding to reach 30-minute service. But we need to focus on major employment routes. Charleston and Columbia have better ridership because they invested in 30-minute service. People need reliable options to get to work.
On city-owned land in Haynie-Sirrine: I’d focus on consolidating contiguous parcels first. Work with private owners to fill gaps. Seek county funding promised from County Square. Do environmental studies. And before development, plan infrastructure and affordability together. Otherwise improvements could push long-time residents out.
