WALHALLA — Two locals are vying for a chance to be Walhalla’s next mayor after Danny Edwards’ lengthy tenure.
Sherri Campbell and Tim Hall are the candidates to choose from on the ballot for city voters.
Campbell is married to Randy, and they have three children. She is a former paralegal at Bagwell & Corley Law Firm and Bradley K. Richardson, P.C. and bookkeeper at Accudata, Inc. She has lived in Walhalla for 32 years.
Hall is married with three children, was a former Oconee County councilman and Walhalla banker. He now works for the U.S. Department of State and has been a diplomat. He has an undergraduate degree in financial management from Clemson University and master’s degrees from the University of South Carolina and the National Defense University.
The two mayor candidates were asked the same questions by The Journal on the direction they want the city to go, recent controversies and areas they would like to strengthen.
The next four years
Campbell credits her love for Walhalla to its small-town charm and its residents’ love for one another. She said she is hoping Walhalla would retain its small-town atmosphere in the next four years if she is elected.
“I don’t want it to be Anderson or even Seneca,” she said. “You’ve got the Ram Cat Alley and then you’ve got the Ingles on this end of town and then you got Walmart on this end of town. You know, to me, small town is you can have a lot in a small town, but it needs to be more accessible. I’m all for growth, but I think our last council tried to make us something that we weren’t gonna be.”
Campbell added she wants more residents to be “proud” of where they live, which could still help tourism grow.
“A lot of people say, “Oh, yeah, we drive through there on the way up to the mountain. We just don’t ever stop.’ … If you’ve got your citizens being proud of their town, being taken care of, you know what?” she asked. “You’re going to have more people stopping here (saying), ‘Oh, I heard about this’ or ‘I heard about this place.’”
Likewise, Hall told The Journal he hopes for a “prosperous” and “successful” city after a potential four years if elected. But Hall is focusing specifically on Walhalla’s aging infrastructure and its budget.
“I would like to see… where we have really well functioning infrastructure, an upgraded infrastructure,” he said. “I’d like to see a Walhalla that provides quality services, continues to provide quality services to its citizens. And I’d like to see a Walhalla that’s fiscally sound, and… a Walhalla that has more stores filled with businesses so that we have the money to fund those improvements.”
Talking greenway, Main Street
The Journal has extensively covered two recent controversies within the city of Walhalla — the greenway project (Walhalla Wanderweg) and debates on whether Main Street Walhalla is worthy investment for the city.
The greenway, a bike and walking path, has received support and flak from council members and residents since 2022. Then city administrator Brent Taylor presented a plan for the 3.25-mile linear park to run on both North and South Broad streets during a Partners for Progress meeting in August 2019. Former city administrator Brandon Burton said the project remained close to Taylor’s original proposal but is now being broken into phases with the cost estimated at about $920,000 for the first phase, which Burton said is a little under budget, and would be focused on South Broad Street from Coffee Road to South College Street. The first phase is already set to begin construction by the end of the year, but future phases are up in the air in terms of feasibility and funding.
Campbell said she believes the greenway is the “wants of the few,” adding she perceived those few as being “more interested” in getting the project off the ground “than getting our trash truck fixed.”
“Just little things like that, that they spent all this fortune on just a portion,” she said. “Haven’t got the whole thing taken care of yet, but they’ve got money already put into just this little piece. That’s something that could have waited. With me, when I’m paying my bills, I make sure my bills are paid first before I do something that’s like a treat. … Take care of your town before you leap on these bigger projects.”
In general, Hall said greenways “have been a good thing” but Walhalla needed to make sure it’s something it “can continue to fund as it expands.”
“That I don’t know. That we need to look at,” he said. “Revenues and expenditures need to be equal, and we take a good look at whether or not that is something that is a near term or a longer-term idea. The concept of the greenway, I’m not opposed to it at all. But the capacity to fund more and more expansions, I don’t know if we have that or not and it’s something that I would need to look more deeply into.”
Since February 2020, Main Street Walhalla has been part of Municipal Association of South Carolina’s Main Street program, which gives director Catie Fisher training and other information to help local businesses. The mission is to support and enhance the continuing economic development of downtown Walhalla while protecting and promoting its historic heritage, according to the Main Street website.
Where Main Street is concerned, Campbell said the city is more than just the downtown area.
“You got Catherine Street, which goes down to Sertoma Field and all the subdivisions and everything in between and the sidewalks. … Make Main Street nice but don’t forget about the rest of the town,” she said.
Hall said Main Street Walhalla has contributed to the “visibility” of the city, which “increases ATAX funds that are used for recreational needs and other downtown activities.
“We don’t want something that’s uncontrolled growth; I think that that kind of thing would be bad,” he said. “But I think that anything that increases Walhalla’s viability, increases revenues, improves the quality of life for our citizens because we’re able to use ATAX… there are a number of good reasons for that.”
Bettering the city
Campbell and Hall were asked about one or two components within the city they believe they could help strengthen as an elected mayor.
Better communication was no. 1 on Campbell’s list and a large reason she is running for mayor. Her second choice was strengthening Walhalla’s budget.
“Taking another look at our budget, see if we can make sure that money is put aside for breakdowns or emergency things, that way people aren’t waiting two or three days for their trash to be picked up. … Making sure the bills are paid, and then putting money aside for special projects,” Campbell said.
Hall repeated his four-year vision, wanting to strengthen Walhalla’s infrastructure and see a continued growth of revenue resources.
“I’d also like to make sure that we were focused on fiscal responsibility, a balanced budget,” he said. “That’s what’s important. When I talk about improving revenues and services… I’m talking about for all the citizens of Walhalla because we’re not a large town, so we need to make sure that everyone is included in that.”
WESTMINSTER — Some of the city of Westminster’s water customers are under a continued boil water advisory.
The city’s public works department said Monday all residents living on U.S. Highway 76 west of Riversong Drive, all roads off of U.S. Highway 76 — including Unity Church and Cobb Bridge roads — and north up U.S. Highway 76 all the way up to the Welcome Church community need to vigorously boil their water for at least one full minute before drinking or cooking. Any ice made from water that has not been boiled should not be used for drinking purposes.
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