What’s the state of Cayce ahead of mayor’s race? Candidates take very different stances
In just two weeks, voters in Cayce will choose who they want to be their mayor for the next four years, and in some ways how they want to see their city move forward.
After four terms as mayor, incumbent Elise Partin, 54, faces a challenge from Abbot “Tre” Bray, 39, a member of the Lexington 2 school board, in the nonpartisan race for the suburban city’s top job.
On the campaign trail, Partin touts the businesses that have opened during her tenure and the changes she’s initiated in city government.
”What’s really exciting about what we do here, why we really are the model, is we’ve built so many ways for citizens’ voice to be a part of what we do,” Partin said. “It’s really a collective voice. It’s what our citizens want to do.”
But Bray says that when it comes to Cayce’s business environment, too often the city gets in its own way in attracting and retaining businesses in the city limits.
“The location is highly desirable, and the charm of Cayce is always going to be evident,” Bray said. “It’s a wonderful spot, but we haven’t capitalized on it.”
He criticizes increases in taxes and fees that he says amount to a 114% hike since 2010 in what Cayce residents pay to the city.
“But there’s nothing to show for it,” Bray said. “Services haven’t increased, sanitation doesn’t get picked up twice (a week) in the summer... As a lifelong Cayce resident, it makes me sad.”
But Partin says Cayce has managed to keep taxes and fees lower than many other cities in the region.
”We’ve created a culture of customer service,” she said. “We’ve added proximity to our interstates, the airport... There’s a commercial real estate agent that says we have a camaraderie and team spirit that others lack, including our relationships with neighborhood leaders. I talked to a businessman the other day who said Cayce is the model for how a city should be.”
She says Cayce has invested in its infrastructure during her time as mayor, replacing 75% of the city’s water lines and completing a major improvement and beautification project along Knox Abbott Drive that replaced sidewalks and vegetation along with the area’s old water pipes.
She points to several businesses that have opened in the city under her watch, including many on the south end of State Street in what’s now branded the River Arts District. Partin credits the revival to the Soiree on State, the street event that brought attention back to the area — including art exhibits hosted in what were empty buildings.
“Some came and looked at the art, and then looked around at the space while they were in there,” she said. “Then we had a business open and another business, without any incentive money. It just helps to see what’s possible.”
But Bray says the city is often slow to give businesses and developers the approval they need to get projects underway, and bureaucracy can be a problem. He points to an ordinance that restricts the building of new houses on lots of less than 60 square feet, which is larger than most existing lots in the city, thus limiting new home construction even in existing neighborhoods.
“We have a culture problem,” Bray said, and he thinks that tone comes “from the top.”
“If everything goes through the mayor, then everything is slowed up and micromanaged,” Bray said. “It creates a toxic culture. Plus I’m just fundamentally against the same person being mayor for 20 years.”
In recent days, controversy has swirled in the race over an inflammatory mailer some residents received. Bray has criticized the mailer as an attack on his campaign and conservatives in general, while Partin has called it a “dirty trick” sent ahead of Election Day to generate sympathy for her opponent.
If elected, Bray says he would impose a 12-year limit on himself in the mayor’s office, reshape the culture within city administration, and ensure more home development for the area’s growing population.
“We’ll find developers to fill the market gaps that we have, like for retirement-type patio homes,” he said. “You have almost got to move Lexington to find a patio home.”
Partin said she wants to keep the focus on the good work the city is already doing.
“A lot of that city gov stuff, we don’t want people to have to think about,” she said. “I want them to know the trash will be picked up, that they’re safe, they will have a great quality of life. That’s our job, to make sure that they know they are supported in those ways. And that’s because we are bare bones about it. We have the lowest taxes and fees while we invest in our employees.”
This story was originally published October 25, 2023 at 2:11 PM.
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