Candidates criticize town’s communication and transparency. Here are their plans
With the incumbent mayor stepping down after next Tuesday’s election, the four men running for the top job in Batesburg-Leesville want to make changes in how the town operates.
The candidates laid out their arguments at a debate one week before Election Day, where many of them said they wanted to see more transparency in town government.
Steve Cain, one of two current town councilmen running for the job, said he feels town council often doesn't have enough information when they're asked to vote.
“The lawyers will come in with a thick contract and say we need to vote on this tonight,” he said. “We get the meeting packet at the same time, we haven’t discussed it, and there’s already five votes for it.”
Greg Moseley, a funeral director, said the townspeople were uninformed about major projects going on in town.
“There are multi-million projects that we find out about after they’re voted on,” Moseley said. “We don’t need higher taxes or bloated spending.”
He wants to see the town have a more active presence on social media to keep citizens better informed about town business and activities.
Larry McConnaughhay, a self-employed former law enforcement officer, agreed that voters needed to be better informed. “They need to let us know further in advance what’s being voted on, and it needs to be public knowledge.”
David Bouknight, the other council member, said the council had done the town's business out in the open, except for matters that need to be discussed, but not voted on, in a closed-door executive session. “When we come out, 90% of the people are gone,” he said. “Nothing is being hidden from the community, not one thing.”
Cain complained that the town often rushes through a budget with two meetings in one week. He called for the council to adopt a zero-based budget, while Moseley wanted council members to review the budget individually, along with the town manager.
Located on the western side of Lexington County along the line with Saluda County, Batesburg-Leesville has a population of 5,000 people spread across what were two separate small towns until 30 years ago.
Like much of the county, Batesburg-Leesville has dealt with the pressures of growth spilling over from the east of the county. The town recently completed a connection to Lexington County’s Joint Municipal Water and Sewer Commission to supplement the town’s 90-year-old water plant, something that was controversial as it meant Batesburg-Leesville would no longer be self-sufficient in its water system.
Cain has been critical of that project, and a deal that would share sewer capacity with Aiken County.
“That’s going to allow development there that competes for homes and jobs with us,” Cain said.
Bouknight said the Aiken deal would ultimately benefit residents of Batesburg-Leesville.
“Aiken will make the repairs to increase our capacity from 2.5 million to 4 million gallons per day, and in return they get 1.5 million gallons for an industrial plant,” he said. “That’s a $14 million project that the town doesn’t have to pay for.”
McConnaughhay said he wanted to see the town improve its infrastructure. “We can prioritize where we want to work at, and some of that will rely on the town, some on DOT, and some on the property owner,” he said. “We can bring it up to modern times.”
All candidates agreed they wanted to see pay increase for first responders, which the town struggles to retain when they can make more money with other agencies.
Batesburg-Leesville has one of the most crowded ballots of any local municipality this November.
Incumbent Mayor Lancer Shull is stepping down after eight years in office. In the running to replace him are two current members of the town council, David Bouknight and Stephen Cain, as well as Larry McConnaughhay and Greg Moseley.
The competition for four district seats on the town council is also fierce. Cain is simultaneously running for re-election for his seat in District 2, while McConnaughhay originally filed to run for a council seat in District 1, challenging Barbara Brown, before withdrawing to focus on his mayoral bid.
Brown also faces a challenge from Troy Teague and Bo Turner, while Cain is being challenged for his town council seat by Tyler List.
Two other council seats, District 5 and District 7, have no incumbents running for re-election and multiple candidates making a move to replace them. Cathe Knox and Sheba Williams are running in District 5, while Natalie Gray and Joe Montgomery are running in District 7.
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