Meet Fountain Inn City Council Candidates Jason Sanders, AJ Dearybury, and Stephan Thomas. Your vote is so important for the 2025 election! Please take a listen and share with your neighbors.
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.
Candidate links:
Introduction
Katy Smith: On Tuesday, November 4th, there are elections in all six cities within Greenville County. I'm Katy Smith with Greater Good Greenville, and we are pleased to bring you interviews with most every candidate in contested races. Today, we feature the city of Fountain Inn.
An Overview of the 2025 Fountain Inn City Council Elections
Katy Smith: But first, a quick primer on elections in Fountain Inn. In odd-numbered years like this one, the city of Fountain Inn holds elections for half of its city council members, and in every four years, its mayor. Seats that are up for election on Fountain Inn City Council this year are for Wards 1, 3, and 5.
Katy Smith: In Ward 1, Jason Sanders has filed for re-election and he is opposed by Marc Lisak. In Ward 3, Joey Garrett has filed for re-election and he is opposed by AJ Dearybury and Stephan Thomas. In Ward 5, John Christopher Don has filed for re-election and he is unopposed.
Katy Smith: Today, you'll hear from Ward 1 candidate Jason Sanders. His opponent, Marc Lisak, did not respond to multiple attempts to reach him. And you'll also hear from Ward 3 candidates, AJ Dearybury and Stephan Thomas. Joey Garrett did not respond to multiple requests to participate.
Katy Smith: All of the details on how these interviews worked are at the end of this episode and in the show notes. But in short, know that each candidate had the same three questions and 10 timed minutes to respond. To find links to each candidate's campaign information, please check the show notes.
Meet the Candidate: Jason Sanders for Ward 1
Katy Smith: First up in Ward 1 is Jason Sanders. I'm pleased to be here with Jason Sanders, who's running for Fountain Inn City Council Ward 1.
Jason Sanders: Thank you for having me.
Katy Smith: Tell us about yourself and why you're running for re-election.
Jason Sanders: I'm a husband to a wonderful wife of over two decades. I've got four wonderful children as well. A little more about me is vocationally, I've worked in health care finance for over 21 years. I'm currently a director for a healthcare system based out of North Carolina, and I work remotely, so that's great. I'm able to be here with my family when they're able to be here on the summers. I get to see them a little more.
Jason Sanders: As for running for re-election, it's because I want to continue to serve my community, which we do as a family. I went to Presbyterian College and the motto there was Dum Vivimus Servimus, which means while we live, we serve. I've taken that to heart over my adult life, from serving at church as a finance liaison with Vacation Bible School and Bible Studies, as well as in the city helping with food donations for the Feast for All and Christmas Shop.
Jason Sanders: I'm also involved with my children's school and helping with various HUB activities, and HUB stands for Help, Unify, and Bless. It is a collection of seven different area churches in Fountain Inn that work together to provide and support the teachers that feed into Fountain Inn High School. With that ministry, we spend time praying for the schools and serving and supporting the teachers and staff in various ways. I strive to continue to support and encourage our community in all that I do.
Katy Smith: Thank you.
Katy Smith: What do you believe are the biggest issues facing your constituents?
Jason Sanders: One of the biggest areas of concern that I know people have is growth, which is huge, and the pace of the growth. We know that there will be growth because it's just a matter of time for that to come, but we need to ensure that the growth is handled appropriately.
Jason Sanders: One of the ways we did this recently here in town, in Fountain Inn, is we enacted impact fees, which will help with fund future costs related to police and the fire and park space for recreation. It's a fee applied to any new growth, new buildings that are coming into the community to be able to help expand further capital purchases and other things that are coming that we know will be down the line, like new fire trucks and other things like that.
Jason Sanders: Another mechanism that we have used to help with the growth is revamping the city's code. We're currently in that process and looking at making changes there. We've made some changes along the way, but we're doing a full revamp right now to ensure that the growth that is coming is handled appropriately and that we have the right things in place to help with that. It's important to me that Fountain Inn grows in a healthy and controlled manner.
Katy Smith: Thank you.
Katy Smith: What would be your priorities if re-elected?
Jason Sanders: With me having four children, they are all actively involved in sports year-round. Recreation for them is near and dear to my heart as well as for the community. It feels very important to me that children are involved in these sports.
Jason Sanders: But right now, with the growth, we are limited in the space that we have here in Fountain Inn for additional recreational activities. Whether it's new sports or having enough space to have fields for everybody that wants to play baseball or football to be able to join, we just have run out of space. We don't have enough of that, so there's limitations on the number of teams we can create due to that.
Jason Sanders: In my next term, I will continue to push for more recreation space so we can open it up for everybody that wants to be able to play. We have some discussions on land right now, but I want to make sure that we continue to do that and make sure that it's there for the children.
Jason Sanders: One of the other areas that I'll focus on is continuing to support our police and fire departments. It's a very high area of concern for our family. My father-in-law is retired from public safety. My wife, her family, and I have devoted many years to supporting the needs, encouraging, and uplifting the departments. When I'm re-elected, I will continue to work hard to ensure that the police and the fire department have all that they need to make sure that they can do their job effectively and ensuring that our citizens are safe and cared for.
Jason Sanders: Also, small businesses are a vital part of our community. My family will continue to patronize these businesses and offer our support wherever we can get it. And as a part of revamping the zoning code, I will work to ensure that any barriers are reduced or removed so these businesses can easily get in and start working.
Katy Smith: We have a couple more minutes. Is there anything else you'd like to share with listeners?
Jason Sanders: I would love to be able to continue to support and their support, but also serving our community. I look forward to being reelected so I can do that.
Katy Smith: Well, thank you so much for joining us and thank you so much for your willingness to continue to serve.
Jason Sanders: Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you all for doing this. This is great.
Meet the Candidate: AJ Dearybury for Ward 3
Katy Smith: Next up is Ward 3 and alphabetically is AJ Dearybury. I'm pleased to be here with AJ Dearybury, who is running for Fountain Inn City Council Ward 3. Thanks so much for joining us today.
AJ Dearybury: Thank you for having me.
Katy Smith: Well, tell us about yourself and why you're running for this office.
AJ Dearybury: My name is AJ I have lived in the city of Fountain Inn for nine years with my husband. I have served previously on city council in 2019 to 2021. I currently serve as the Board of Zoning Appeals representative and chairperson for my ward. I decided that I wanted to run again for city council because I wanted to get back in and finish doing what I had started previously.
Katy Smith: Thank you.
Katy Smith: What do you believe are the biggest issues facing constituents?
AJ Dearybury: The biggest issues that we have in my community, which is one of the larger subdivisions in the city of Fountain Inn, I think resonate with everybody. It's infrastructure and growth and getting people to slow down. Also just making sure that... The growth is really top on the list because people are concerned about the number of cars, the number of houses, the number of people traveling our roads, using our resources, and how do we accommodate that?
Katy Smith: What would be your priorities if elected?
AJ Dearybury: Focusing on a strong community, supporting small businesses, investing in infrastructure, increasing employment opportunities, and enhancing the quality of life. I'm really big on enhancing quality of life. I would support initiatives that would assist small businesses with establishing their businesses and continuing their growth. Fountain Inn has a lot of great small businesses.
AJ Dearybury: I would also focus on the budget that addresses the current and future infrastructure needs because I think sometimes in the past we've been a little bit short-sighted or did not expect the growth rate to be so dramatic, which it has been. Because when you're on the top list in the country of great places to move to, people come. I would also support medium and large business as well, because we need those for employment opportunities. Those would be the main things that I would focus on.
Katy Smith: Thank you. Well, we have a little bit more time. Is there anything else you'd like to share with listeners?
AJ Dearybury: I want to serve the city of Fountain Inn again. I have been as BZA, but I want to serve in the capacity of city council. Currently, there are no women on our city council, so I don't think it's very reflective of our city. I would throw that out there: hey, I'm the only woman running.
AJ Dearybury: I feel that the perspective that I could bring is different. I wasn't born and raised in Fountain Inn, and there's a lot of people that were. But I chose to live in Fountain Inn. I bought my home in Fountain Inn, and I consider it a place that is my home. I only want to improve it. I want to improve the quality of life for all of the residents. I thank you for having me and for the opportunity to share my heart and my vision.
Katy Smith: Well, we thank you for joining us and we thank you for your willingness to serve your community.
Meet the Candidate: Stephan Thomas for Ward 3
Katy Smith: Last up is Ward 3 candidate Stephan Thomas. I'm pleased to be here with Stephan Thomas, who is running for Fountain Inn City Council Ward 3. Thanks so much for joining me, Stephan.
Stephan Thomas: Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Katy Smith: Tell us about yourself and why you're running for this office.
Stephan Thomas: I'm running for the office because I've lived in Fountain Inn for about four years now, and I see a lot of hurdles that small businesses and individuals have to come up against. Small towns are growing quickly in the upstate. Fountain Inn is one that's growing in the top five in double-digit percentages. The way we grow and the way we handle that is going to be paramount. We don't want to be struggling against the infrastructure or zoning or anything like that.
Stephan Thomas: A little bit about me is I was in the restaurant business for 25 years through Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. I was mostly in leadership. By the time I was 23, I was in a leadership position, and from there, I dedicated myself to training and development. I've opened a little over 25 to 30 restaurants, some for different brands, not all the same one. I love the restaurant industry. I got to meet a lot of people, a lot of different cultures, a lot of different places.
Stephan Thomas: I have twin boys; I'm a father. They are amazing. One of them goes to the University of Oklahoma. I'm glad he's getting his education, but I'm not a fan of the Boomer Sooner. The other one goes to the University of Central Oklahoma and he's a huge musician, so at some point I'm sure he'll just want to play guitar and do gigs. We'll see how that goes.
Stephan Thomas: I'm very active in my church. We just opened—we're almost at a year—in the Younts Center in Fountain Inn for Upstate Fountain Inn. I enjoy serving with them as well. I've been on the board of directors for the chamber in Fountain Inn.
Stephan Thomas: Depending on how the race ends, I'll be the chair next year or I'll be on city council, one of the two. I'm also on the Board of Zoning Appeals in Fountain Inn. I'm just trying to stay active with the growth and helping out and not be a person that sits in the back and just types things on keyboards or says things. I want to actively be helping come up with solutions and really giving the people a voice. I was Rotary president a year ago, so I love my Rotarians and what we do for our communities. That's about it for me.
Katy Smith: Thank you.
Katy Smith: What do you believe are the biggest issues facing your constituents?
Stephan Thomas: I definitely go back to infrastructure. At the rate that we're growing, with the amount of houses that are coming in, it's vital that we keep our infrastructure front and foremost. Safety, of course, because as more people come in, now we have to continue to grow our police department, fire department, our roads, and our sidewalks.
Stephan Thomas: In order to get everything in the right place, you have to worry about zoning and what can be allowed and what can't be allowed. People who own their land and sell their land should be able to do so. But obviously, we want to try to help navigate what's going to be the best use and the best spot for that for the entire city to have some consistency across the board.
Stephan Thomas: Small businesses are the backbones of small towns like Fountain Inn and we need them; we've got to have them. We do have currently 418 coming from 385 down to Main Street with all of our nationals, so we have QuikTrip and Starbucks and Duck Donuts and Wendy's now and a hospital coming in and some other things. But our downtown charm and what people really like the most about Fountain Inn is how it still feels like a small town.
Stephan Thomas: That's our mom and pops. Those are our people that have been there for a long time. They're part of the community. They are helping build that culture that we love, and we want to keep it that way. If you put it all in a nutshell, it's definitely supporting our small businesses and making sure they have a clear path to getting open and being successful, our zoning, and our infrastructure.
Katy Smith: Thank you.
Katy Smith: What would be your priorities if elected?
Stephan Thomas: That's a great question. I don't think I have a ton of priorities because I think the job of the city council is to listen to the people. There are going to be things that are brought to the council that need the people's opinion, and it's my job to get their opinion and bring it to the council. My priority is to ask a lot of questions.
Stephan Thomas: Why are we doing this? Why are we putting it here? What are the pros and cons? How does it affect the people? How does it affect those three categories of small business, zoning, and safety? And how can we best bring those people's opinions to every decision that we make?
Stephan Thomas: Whether it be our impact fees that we just passed or the city budget for the new municipal building complex, or are we putting apartments here or are we putting a new housing division here? These roads are not great. How do we handle that with SCDOT and getting them more involved?
Stephan Thomas: Those are my priorities: listening to the people, taking what they have said and their concerns, and using my previous skills—what's in my toolkit, my tool belt—to add value to what they want and what's best for the city, and then bringing it forward to the rest of the council.
Katy Smith: Thank you. We have a little bit more time. Is there anything else you'd like to share with listeners?
Stephan Thomas: I just want people to vote. I would love to be voted in. I would love to be part of the city council. I'd love to help and serve. But the main thing is to get people out there, get them active. Know if you can't make it to the council meetings, it is on YouTube. You can watch it. If you can't make it to the planning meetings, it's on YouTube. You can watch it.
Stephan Thomas: There's a ton of information out there. Keep yourself informed and go out and vote. The most important part is if you have a candidate that you like, set it on your calendar now. Make sure you make time. Make sure you know where you're going to vote.
Stephan Thomas: I know it's challenging. And really, my ward is because I'm in Laurens County. If you're voting for the county, it's in one place, which is not this election cycle. But if you're voting for Fountain Inn, it's at a different place for our ward. Know where to go. Make sure you're registered to vote and do your due diligence of knowing who you're voting for.
Katy Smith: Well, thank you so much for joining us. And thanks so much for willingness to serve.
Stephan Thomas: Awesome. I appreciate you guys having me and doing this and getting information out to everybody in Fountain Inn. And go vote.
About Our Interview Process
Katy Smith: Thanks for listening to the candidates. Here is more detail on our process. All candidates received the same three questions at the time of their invitation to join us shortly after the filing period closed, and they were given 10 timed 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 interviews. We've put links to the participating candidates' preferred internet presence on the episode page.
Credits
Simple Civics: Greenville County is Produced by Podcast Studio X.
A Greater Good Greenville project.
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