At our most recent Greenville County Council meeting, a colleague placed the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) on the agenda with the intent to “table” it—which, under our rules, effectively means to kill the ordinance entirely.
For those who may not be aware, we reconsidered the UDO at the beginning of this year to address both council and constituent concerns about its structure and impact. The goal was to take the concerns seriously and amend the ordinance to reflect what is best for Greenville County. It wasn’t a simple decision either. Due to our rules and the fact that it was passed during last year’s session, this ordinance was almost solidified. Had it not been for this specific strategy, we would now be stuck with the ordinance as is!
However, before council has even begun the process of making those necessary amendments, some members are already looking to throw the entire effort away, disregarding years of work, and over $400,000 in taxpayer money that has been invested in this process.
I did not agree with this attempt to kill the ordinance outright. As a result, some whom I typically align with have publicly been spreading accusations of my “poor leadership”. I can let many things in the political realm roll off my back until it comes to attacks on my integrity. That’s where I will always draw a hard line and even push back when necessary.
So let me be clear:
- Following the lead of those who want to kill the UDO without even trying to fix it is poor leadership.
- Throwing away taxpayer money and years of county staff’s salaried time without a proper strategy is poor leadership.
- Turning a vital land-use ordinance into a political football is poor leadership.
If I led council the way some seemingly expect me to, simply catering to whichever way the wind blows, I would not be serving my constituents or the long-term success of Greenville County. It is unfortunate that politics works this way—where one variance in opinion results in public attacks, rather than reasonable discussion.
This approach to governance is not productive, not responsible, and not something I will ever participate in.
Regardless of any political heat I may take, I will never make decisions based solely on who yells the loudest, or who demands their way with no real explanation as to why. My responsibility is to all residents of Greenville County—not just a select few.
If anyone takes the time to look back at my newsletters from last year, they will see that I was one of the main voices publicly addressing concerns about the UDO. Some of the research that actually came from me taking the time to go through the ordinance is now comically being used against me as reasons to “trash it.”
My stance has not changed: We must fix what is broken before it is approved!
Throwing it away without even attempting to make the necessary adjustments would be a disservice to this county and to every taxpayer whose money helped create it.
