Sumter candidates discuss goals, issues at Social Justice Consortium forum
With a busy night of election campaign events across the Midlands, only 13 candidates and one stand-in from contested races attended the Sumter-based Social Justice Consortium Candidate Forum on Tuesday at Westend Community Church.
Group president Chuck Wilson spoke this week and still said he was pleased with the turnout for the forum that focused on election races involving Sumter County. Forum co-sponsors included AKA Sorority and other members of the Divine Nine Greek letter organizations.
About 75 members of the public attended the forum.
Candidates for mayor of the City of Sumter, Sumter City Council, Sumter County Council, Sumter school board, local Statehouse and local Congressional races were invited to participate and took questions in a panel setting from a moderator.
The following is a summary of the participating candidates' responses, with candidates listed in alphabetical order.
Sumter school board Area 1
Brian Alston
Brian Alston was a member of the school board 2018-22 and was part of the often-controversial board that attempted to reopen a recently closed school in Mayewood Middle in early 2019. That action violated the district's own financial recovery plan after overspending in 2016, and then-state Superintendent Molly Spearman subsequently placed the district on a "Fiscal Emergency" declaration. Next, the board appealed Spearman's declaration to the state Board of Education, which later unanimously ruled in favor of the state leader.
Additionally, instead of closing low-enrollment schools, that board rezoned attendance lines for students to balance facility utilization. Alston was a member of a Transportation Ad-Hoc Committee that worked with a consultant on the extensive realignment study project.
He was also the board's Policy Committee chairman for two years at a time when it supported the development of the district's strategic plan with administration. Various policies were developed by his committee, including new mission and vision statements and core values for the district. In his remarks Tuesday, Alston said that strategic plan is the foundation for successes seen in the district now.
Regarding implementing the state's new cellphone policy limiting students' access to phones during the school day, Alston said steps taken must be deliberate to not put an extra burden on teachers and remove students from classroom instruction.
"Is a teacher going to be burdened once again with another policy that takes their attention away from delivering critical instruction and curriculum to our students to enforce a cellphone policy?" Alston asked. "If you remove the child from the classroom, then they are still not receiving the quality instruction that they deserve.
"So, we must find a way, including talking to students. We cannot make decisions in isolation. Talk to students, talk to parents, talk to administrators, and come up with a way to enforce the cellphone policy that serves all of us and still delivers on our educational promise."
Alston's opposition in the Area 1 race is incumbent Daniel Palumbo, who was unable to attend because of a previous obligation.
Sumter school board Area 9
Bonnie Disney
A life-long educator and current chairwoman of the trustees, Bonnie Disney is seeking reelection after serving essentially a two-year term to stagger the board for the future. Staggering is necessary now after all nine board seats were up for election in 2022.
Previously, she also served about 1.5 years as an appointed board member in an at-large seat in 2017-18 when the Sumter County Legislative Delegation expanded the board from seven to nine members in a non-election year after a financial crisis in the district.
Disney has said she thinks the district and the board are moving in the right direction now.
In her remarks, she emphasized her experience in education and her belief that the new statewide cellphone law in schools is necessary to keep students more engaged with the classroom teacher.
Disney is also the chair of the board's Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Committee that meets monthly to discuss with the Office of Academics and administration various policies and programs to improve student achievement and well-being.
She said the district's teachers work hard to improve student outcomes and address learning gaps.
"We are asking our teachers to do everything they can, and I could start naming each and every thing that we have as programs to help students," Disney said. "We are helping our students with academics, and don't let anybody fool you. And, you know, in public school, every child is welcome. We don't say, 'Sorry, we don't take your kind.'
"Every child is our child, and we will address the individual needs, and we will help every child."
Disney's opponent in the Area 9 race, Desaray Ross, could not attend because of late notification, she said, and family obligations.
Sumter school board Area 2
Neither candidate, incumbent Brittany English nor challenger Chris Patten, attended.
State Senate District 35
Jeffrey Graham
Jeffrey Graham is the Democratic nominee for the state Senate seat being vacated by outgoing Sen. Thomas McElveen, D-Sumter, who is not seeking reelection. The Senate seat includes portions of Sumter, Kershaw, Richland and Lee counties.
A Camden native and former mayor of the City of Camden, Graham said he has experience working to benefit the greater Sumter region as a board member with Santee-Lynches Regional Council of Governments. That agency works to improve quality of life in the four-county region of Sumter, Clarendon, Lee and Kershaw.
Graham said his top three priorities if elected would be to improve infrastructure, protect voting rights and increase health care access throughout the district.
"We must continue to improve our infrastructure so that we can provide the jobs and provide the educational opportunities," he said. "That is why Central Carolina Technical College, that is why all of our colleges, that is why our elementary schools, that is why our middle schools, they all have to be supported. And, at the Senate level, we can do that. If we have partnerships with you and your community and our community, we will be able to improve our schools so that we have those jobs."
Mike Jones
The Republican nominee for District 35, Mike Jones, was unable to attend because of another candidate forum in Columbia. He did have a stand-in for him in James Sumpter, who served with him in the military. Jones retired from the military after 36 years with the rank of lieutenant colonel as an officer.
In a candidate questionnaire with The Sumter Item, Jones said his top three priorities as a state senator would be infrastructure, education and providing resources to law enforcement and solicitors' offices.
Sumpter, a fellow retired lieutenant colonel, said Jones originally worked for him as a private.
"He ended up coming up through the ranks as enlisted personnel to sergeant first class, which is E-7," Sumpter said. "After pushing and prodding him, I ended up getting him to go to Officer Candidate School (OCS). After that, he started progressing through the ranks. He served as an ordnance officer, a logistics officer and other positions."
Sumter City Council, Ward 4
Scott Burkett was not present at the forum.
Jimmy Davis
Davis is the owner of Air Solutions Heating and Cooling in downtown Sumter. He has lived in Sumter his whole life. He has two small children, and he said he wants to serve the community the way it has served him.
"I think what I bring to city council is I'm young, I'm energetic, I've ran multiple businesses, so I know that side of things, and city council is a business," Davis said about why he is the best candidate to elect. "It's managing budget, managing managers of the city, and if that is what it takes for my family to know that I want them to come back to Sumter and call Sumter home, it will be important to me."
Rebecca Lynn Kennedy
Kennedy was born and raised in Sumter. She was employed by the City of Sumter in an administrative position for 17 years. Kennedy is the owner of Carnivore Butcher and Bottle and said she has been involved in local government since she was 15.
"It's not that we don't have education and we don't have jobs, it's that we don't have people taking advantage of it, and I think I have the ability to kind of pull people together, volunteers together, and we'll see if we can come back into a neighborhood-type city," Kennedy said about why she is the best candidate to elect. "I'm so looking forward to being involved in the city again, and I do own a business, but I do have time to dedicate to the city and our community, and I appreciate the chance."
Lucy Mahon
Mahon is a home health worker who has been serving Sumter since 2019. She was born in Columbia but visited her grandparents who were Sumter residents often as a child. She ran for state Senate earlier in 2024.
"I think one of the most useful things that I bring in terms of experience to help coordinate that is just the team building that I've already had to integrate into my world since being a health care worker," Mahon said about experiences she brings to the table in order to effect change and direct council in wise decisions. "I work with nurses, social workers, doctors, and just being a good communicator is one of the keys to helping take things back in the community, back to the council."
Gene Weston
Weston has been back in Sumter for 30 years and is from Sumter. He raised his two daughters in the city and said he wants to keep Sumter on the right track. Weston is the owner of Burgess-Brogdon Building Supply.
"Just being available to people. Whether it's in my office, whether it's having dinner somewhere out in Sumter, downtown," Weston said about how he will engage with grassroots organizations and community leaders to ensure that their voices are represented in decision-making processes. "Those organizations that I'm involved with, the church, the Cemetery Association, the Habitat for Humanity - whatever it is, just being available and taking those ideas and.
Sumter mayor
Travon Adams
Adams is a combat veteran whose family has been in Sumter County for generations. He has a political science degree from the University of South Carolina in Columbia and previously worked for Bernie Sanders.
"My plan is to build large, high-density housing, which is not gonna be a slum or anything like that, but I'm going to try to break it up into where you have ADA for the elderly at the bottom, making sure that these places are close to things to eat and easily accessible around town, and I want to make sure that we're actually targeting teachers, social workers, police officers, firefighters as far as retention and fringe benefits and keeping those people retained in Sumter," Adams said about specific steps he would take to address systematic inequalities in housing and ensure affordable housing for underserved areas.
Foxy Rae Campbell
Campbell is a real estate agent in Sumter who ran for mayor once before in 2020 and got the third-highest number of votes. She said she wants to pull in people to Sumter from surrounding areas such as Charleston, Hilton Head and Spartanburg.
"To have better communication between the police department and the youth, I feel like there definitely needs to be more interaction in the communities so that the children - our children - do not see the police as a task force and more as peace keepers, as to where they'll feel comfortable approaching them, as to where they'll say, 'hey, you know what, I think something's going on on this side of town, I'm not comfortable, I feel like right now my life is in danger,' and right now a lot of children here in Sumter do not feel comfortable with calling the police, and the response time for the police or even the fire department or anyone to get to the children or to get to the scene, it's 30 minutes to an hour," Campbell said about how she would improve relations between law enforcement and marginalized communities to ensure public safety policies are fair.
Reginald Evans
Evans was born and raised in Sumter and is a Marine Corps veteran. He worked for the National Guard for about 12 years. He ran for the Sumter City Council Ward 1 race and Sumter School District Board of Trustees District 9 race in 2022.
"I've got three things that I'm really focused on; that's education, public safety and health care."
"I want the mayor to be a full-time position, and then he or she can be daily involved in improving the system," Evans said about why he should be elected mayor. "Health care: I want to expand Medicaid. Any person that's not wanting to expand Medicaid does not deserve your vote. Expand Medicaid, put $2,000 and $10,000 in seniors' pockets."
David Merchant
Merchant was elected Sumter's mayor in 2020. He has four children who have gone through Sumter School District, and prior to becoming mayor, Merchant served two terms on city council.
"I want to be reelected because I've got to know the people of Sumter. I was on council starting 12 years ago; I've been in the mayor's office for the last four years," Merchant said about why he should be reelected. "You don't just see me pop up every two years or four years, you see me every Friday night at the ball field or in the schools moving around my kids and your kids or your grandkids, so we need to keep that momentum going and make Sumter a nice place we can all live."
Sumter County Council
Shery White, who is running against incumbent Vivian McGhaney for the county council District 5 seat, and Tasha Gardner-Greene, who is running against Michael Leviner for the county council District 7 seat, were the only two candidates at the forum. An NAACP County Council forum took place the same night, and both candidates came from that forum to join the Social Justice Consortium forum.
Shery White, District 5
"I am running for county council after serving on the school board for two years because I see that we can serve our children, I believe, if we serve and make the lives of their parents and grandparents better, and we have a lot of opportunity where we can do that. We cannot educate a child who does not live in a safe home or have parents and grandparents who are making no living wage. If they're worried about the roof over their head or what's going into their mouth to nourish them, they are not able to focus on that child's needs, and I've seen that time and time again."
Tasha Gardner-Greene, District 7
"I think the millage for the school district is needed for Sumter County schools," Gardner-Greene said about her opinion on funding for the district and giving the school board autonomy. "When you look at our schools compared to the DoD schools, do we compare? So, I think the millage and having those funds for our teachers and for the things that we need, for new buildings, are very necessary so that we are competitive. When you have Third Army and the Air Force coming in, our schools should be just as competitive as those military schools and establishments that those children are coming from and into our school system."