District 23 - Meet your Candidates for South Carolina House of Representatives

Meet Democrat Chandra Dillard, South Carolina House of Representatives District 23 candidate in the November general election. Also running is Libertarian James Atkins Jr. who declined to participate. District 23 generally represents downtown Greenville, Nicholtown, West Greenville, and the Mill Communities of Pete Hollis Boulevard and Rutherford Street. In this episode, each candidate has 10 minutes to introduce themselves to the voters. Your vote is so important! Please take a listen and share with your neighbors.

Links:

Chandra Dillard

Sample Ballot

Transcript

Katy Smith:
Hey, Simple Civics listeners. Thanks so much for listening week after week. We are so glad to be a resource for you civically engaged citizens. If you would like to be a resource for us, I have three invitations for you. First, share this podcast with a friend who you know cares about our community. Second, rate and review us on Apple or Spotify, which helps more people find us. And third, feel free to make a donation to help us share this content. We are a nonprofit and your support really makes a difference. You can click donate in the descriptions or show notes for today's episode, or you can go to simplecivicsgreenvillecounty.org and click on the big green donate button. But just being a listener is the greatest gift you can give. So thank you, and here's today's show.

Katy Smith:
When you go to the polls on November 5th or in early voting, you have the chance to vote not just for the president. South Carolina voters will also choose their state, house, and senate members. These members of our legislature make important decisions about things such as the state budget, policies on education, healthcare, public safety, and the judicial system, and much more. I'm Katy Smith with Greater Good Greenville, and on this episode of Simple Civics: Greenville County, we feature interviews with your candidates for House of Representatives District 23, Democrat Chandra Dillard. Also running is Libertarian James Atkins Jr. and declined to participate. District 23 generally represents downtown Greenville, Nicholtown, West Greenville, and the Mill Communities of Pete Hollis Boulevard and Rutherford Street. Here's how the interviews worked. All candidates received the same question at the time of their invitation to join us, and they were given 10 minutes for their interview. Candidates were allowed to bring along a companion, such as a campaign manager, family member, or friend, and to record our session themselves. There were no edits made to the interview. We've put links to the participating candidates' preferred internet presence on the episode page. Well, I'm pleased to be here with Chandra Dillard, who's running for re-election for House District 23. Thanks so much for joining me.

Chandra Dillard:
Well, thank you for having me.

Katy Smith:
Great. Well, tell us about yourself and why you're running for re-election.

Chandra Dillard:
Well, I'm a Greenville native. I was educated in Greenville County Public Schools, graduating from Greenville High School. I continued my education at Winthrop College, which is now Winthrop University.

Chandra Dillard:
And there I obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in business. I also have a master's in public administration from Walden University. And after Winthrop, I returned home to Greenville to start my professional career and service to this community. And so that my professional career is very varied.

Chandra Dillard:
I'd like to think that I have captured the three-legged stool of non-profit, for-profit, and government. And so in those early days, I started at corporate headquarters for logistics and manufacturing and was there 17 years. And then I moved to Furman University, where I'm proud to say I'm the director of community relations. And I've been there 20 years this year. and my government experience has been nine years on Greenville City Council and afterwards I ran for the state house in 2008 where I have been. So I am running for re-election because I love serving my constituents. I love being an advocate for Greenville County and I want to continue making the people of this state better. Their position in this state and their quality of life better in this state. And I believe at this time with partisan politics, there's a need for more people like me who can work both sides of the aisle and advance a positive agenda and get things done.

Katy Smith:
Thank you. What do you believe are the biggest issues facing your constituents and what will you do about them if reelected?

Chandra Dillard:
Well, without a doubt, one of the biggest issues is finding housing that people can afford. Also, reliable transportation in District 23, which is basically downtown Greenville and our mill villages, a lot of our manufacturing facilities and what I call large places to work are outside of the city limits. So transportation is critically important for those who don't have a vehicle of their own. And affordable child care. You know, a lot of people aren't in the workforce because of that. And so we continue to strive for ways to have affordable child care. And then I would say managing growth. And some people might say, well, why is that your problem? You're a state representative. Well, it impacts the neighborhoods and the neighbors that I represent. And many, many of the traffic issues that I hear about are state roads. And so I have to work collaboratively with the city of Greenville and Greenville County on how we manage growth and its impact on our citizens here at home.

Katy Smith:
Thank you. What would you do in the first 30 days after being sworn in?

Chandra Dillard:
Well, after the first 30 days, well, during the first 30 days, I would look forward first to building relationships with my new colleagues who are elected. I don't know how many of them that will be this year, but I always look forward to the first day of school. That's what I call it. And recundling some relationships as well. Also, as a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, I go to work day one on the budget for the state. And we have tons of committee hearings. And so that that will definitely take up the first 30 days. And then advancing issues that are important to Greenville County, you know, during the fall, while I am running an election, I am meeting with organizations and constituents and they're beginning to share what they would like state support on. And so I take those things with me in January. Right. And we begin to work on whether it's policy or funding. And so definitely I'll have that at the center of those first 30 days. And then I'll just continue serving my constituents again, trying to provide the best constituent service I know to do.

Katy Smith:
Thank you. We have a little bit more time. Is there anything else you'd like listeners to know?

Chandra Dillard:
Well, I appreciate Simple Civics. And I want to encourage all of the listeners to vote. Voting is so critical, whether it's a presidential year or the city council year. You know, I tell people in season and out of season, every time there's an opportunity to vote, because who you elect or you choose not to elect has some serious consequences on our daily lives. Lives and sometimes I think that goes unnoticed and I know people are busy living their life but I want to encourage people to exercise their right to vote. Talk to their neighbors and their friends about voting as well and I just can't say how critically important that it is.

Katy Smith:
Well, thank you so much for running for office and for being willing to continue to serve. And thanks so much for being with us today.

Chandra Dillard:
Thank you.

Catherine Puckett:
Simple Civics: Greenville County is a project of Greater Good Greenville. Greater Good Greenville was catalyzed by the merger of the Nonprofit Alliance and the Greenville Partnership for Philanthropy. You can learn more on our website at greatergoodgreenville.org.