Meet Travelers Rest City Council Candidates Jon Campbell, Sheryl Guarniero, Catherine James, Lisa Lane, and Jeremy Walton. 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, 2025, 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 Travelers Rest.
An Overview of the Travelers Rest City Council 2025 Election
Katy Smith: But first, a quick primer on elections in the City of Travelers Rest. TR has eight seats on council, and all of them are at large, meaning all voters in the city can vote for them. In odd-numbered years like this one, TR holds elections for half of its council members and in every four years for its mayor. TR elects these council members by ranked voting, meaning the top four vote-getters in a race for four seats are elected to council.
Mayor Brandy Amidon is running for re-election unopposed. There are six candidates for the four city council positions. They are Jon Campbell, Richard Drew, Sheryl Guarniero, Catherine James, Lisa Lane, and Jeremy Walton. Today, you'll hear from all of them except for Richard Drew, who declined to participate.
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: Jon Campbell
Katy Smith: First up, alphabetically, is Jon Campbell. I'm pleased to be here with Jon Campbell, who's running for Travelers Rest City Council. Thanks so much for being here, Jon.
Jon Campbell: Thanks, Katy. It's good to be here today.
Katy Smith: Well, tell us about yourself and why you're running for office.
Jon Campbell: I'm a longtime resident of Travelers Rest. I've lived in the city for 21 years now. I'm a 1992 graduate of Bob Jones University. I went to work in Travelers Rest in 1998, started my career in Greer, and then I came over to Travelers Rest. I started as a patrolman with the police department. I became the sergeant and then eventually the investigator. I worked there for about 10 years before going to the state.
I worked for the state law enforcement division for 18 years. And I retired last year with 30 years in law enforcement total. I had a dual career. I was in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve. We had wars in between there, so I was activated many times and I went overseas. I'm a graduate of the Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Academy. I retired from the Coast Guard in 2012.
I have a lot of experience in law enforcement, a lot of experience in government. I was assigned to the command cadre in Charleston, and part of that job was getting funds to build the Intel Fusion Center. So I had to work with government there and work with senators and get money. So I have some experience with that. When I was with the state law enforcement division, I was with the special victims unit. I stood that up working with vulnerable adults. And part of that job was working with legislative committees to rewrite the laws and to make those laws better applicable and work with our vulnerable community.
Our senior citizens are my primary focus with that and have been for many years. And that's my background and that's what I'm hoping to port those skills over to work with the city now that I've retired from my law enforcement career.
Katy Smith: Thank you. What do you believe are the biggest issues facing constituents?
Jon Campbell: I've talked with a lot of people around town. They are concerned with, of course, the main things that you hear from everybody is crime and traffic.
A lot of the things that I hear from people are general. They're just general things. And one of the great things about Travelers Rest is it's one of the best small towns in America. And so we have what I call invisible government. You can see that in a lot of people might think this is negative, but we have around 10% of people vote. That's because they like invisible government. They like things to run smooth. And when you see people coming out to the polls and coming out to meetings, they're angry about things that need to be done. We're not seeing that as much. We just saw that with development on Paris Mountain. We had a lot of input there.
But for the most part, Travelers Rest is a great place and things are going good. I want to see that continue. And one of the things that is a trap that people fall into is resting on their laurels and not staying in tune with the needs of the people and listening to the people. So I like to listen to what people say. When I worked for the city years ago, one of the things we had was a community policing initiative. I went door to door and met a lot of people. And I would ask them, what is your major concern?
And it would catch them off guard because no one had ever asked them that question before. But I hear the same things today that I heard many years ago: traffic. And traffic is a big thing. I worked on several projects with the DOT to realign the roads in Travelers Rest. We still have some problems there that need to be fixed. And that's an ongoing thing. I'm glad the city is working for that. We have a lot of people rotating out of council now, so we need people coming back in. And I was listening to the council meeting, committee meeting this week, and the city administrator said that 70% of the city employees have been there less than five years.
So, that's concerning. They've hired an outside consultant who came in and they presented a compensation study, which is phenomenal. That would have been one of my things that I would have recommended. I've said that for years: hire an outside consultant to come in and look and to give you recommendations. It's always better to get an outside pair of eyes to come in. And they did that, and it was just really encouraging to see that. I'm hoping that the council adopts those things, and they continue to work with that, because that is a great step forward for the police department, the fire department, public works, and the taxpayers.
Because it is very expensive to have turnover. You bring people in, you train them, you just get them going, and then they leave because they're not getting paid. And they get paid far more. They were in the 30th percentile, somewhere down below 40%. So you can go just about anywhere and get more money. And that's not a good place to be in. So this new compensation study, when that kicks in, that's going to address that issue. That should help with a lot of the other issues that are facing the city.
There are some other things. The growth is always a big issue. I really believe in planning ahead and making sure that the infrastructure is in place before we lay the first brick down. And you can see some of the problems in Travelers Rest that have happened from that. [Could not verify with context] has been redesigned probably a dozen times since I've been there. I was just behind a car yesterday that cut me off because they didn't realize that the traffic pattern had changed and the lanes had shifted.
You have to be really careful not to get sideswiped going down that road now when you turn to go towards City Hall, because everybody's in the wrong lane. And one of the things I noticed is when they changed the traffic pattern, they didn't change it to an arrow. And so that's a different branch of government or a different agency that does that. Somebody needs to address that. Those are the little things when the citizens will say, "I hate that intersection," but they don't understand what the actual problem is with that intersection.
And I look at it and I say, "I see the problem. The problem is that DOT did not replace the lens and change it to an arrow." And it's a very simple fix. But how do you articulate that? You need somebody that has the experience. And when you have people in the government that you have a high turnover rate, you're losing that expertise. Years ago, we would have just called the guy, and he would have been there 20 years or so, and he would have known immediately what to do. Now, you have to wait for the skill set to catch up, and that's where you see issues and problems and friction with the citizens and people.
Another issue that I hear a lot from talking to people is bicycles. So many bicycles. So many bikes can be a problem, but they're a huge catalyst to growth in our area. If we hadn't had all the racing and everything that goes on with that, we probably wouldn't be in the rank that we have now for the best place to live. So, we need to learn to live together and share the road and work with those groups of people that come in and make sure that they are safe and they don't get killed by vehicle traffic and poor intersections and things like that.
My focus, I think, would be on public safety because that's my background. I have a very good working relationship and had for years with the chief of police there, Ben Ford. He's a great guy. We should be really grateful to have a guy that's there. When I worked for the city, I went through three chiefs, and I think I was the chief once when I woke up one day. I've seen the bad times and the good times, and I think we're in a really good position now in the city. And it's a real great opportunity to come in and be able to, hopefully, if I get elected, to continue and apply my skill set.
Katy Smith: Great. What would be your priorities if elected?
Jon Campbell: I think my focus would be on continuing with the growth and the development and making sure that we're not falling behind there and then a public safety approach. And I'd also like to see something done with the seniors. We're the only city in the county that doesn't have a senior center. And I'd like to see work on that going forward.
Katy Smith: Well, thank you so much for joining us and thank you so much for your willingness to serve.
Jon Campbell: Thank you.
Meet the Candidate: Sheryl Guarniero
Katy Smith: Next is Sheryl Guarniero. I'm pleased to be here with Sheryl Guarniero, who is running for Travelers Rest City Council. Thank you for joining us today, Sheryl.
Sheryl Guarniero: Thank you for having me. I'm happy to be here.
Katy Smith: Well, tell us about yourself and why you're running for office.
Sheryl Guarniero: I would love to. I have lived in Travelers Rest for about six years now. And like many of my neighbors who are new to that area or newer, we've moved there from other parts of the country because we love it. We chose to be there. We love the community, we love the people, and what has been created there. It's very meaningful to us. So we all really love to get involved, myself included.
With my background, I'm an environmental scientist and I'm in sustainability. I have a very deep appreciation for that value of open space and green space in a community. And also being from the Northeast, I understand what overdevelopment looks like. So I know how important it is to protect those areas as we grow with that background. And I understand that people here want that, and it makes sense for them to ensure that this development is smart growth, and it still respects our town's character, and it preserves what makes Travelers Rest such a great place to live.
Katy Smith: What do you believe are the biggest issues facing constituents?
Sheryl Guarniero: Definitely some of the biggest concerns that I've heard are around that growth and development. Not just the pace of it, because we're growing so rapidly, but also there's a perception that developers are being prioritized over the residents. And people who live in the community, especially in Travelers Rest, we want to feel confident that our government is working for us, and not any outside interests.
I think another challenge that we absolutely bump up against with that growth is the challenge of traffic and infrastructure. The two main roads that go through the center of Travelers Rest are Highway 25 and Poinsett Highway, and they're both owned by SCDOT. So that makes things a little difficult when you're trying to make changes and adjustments, such as making it more pedestrian friendly and adding crosswalks or being able to adjust traffic patterns and traffic lights to help meter the volume of individuals coming in and out of the city.
And that creates a little bit of a conundrum with trying to find a fix because we have to go to SCDOT every time something needs to happen. And so, for example, there's a crosswalk in the middle of town that was put in and on state roads, you need a traffic light at every crosswalk. But adding more traffic lights is going to add to the congestion. So it's a catch-22. There needs to be—we as city council members need—a stronger dialogue and compromise with the city and the state to be able to address these issues in a timely way. Because the DOT only has a certain budget set for every year. And sometimes for projects, you can be waiting maybe up to five years to get something accomplished.
And on top of that, with that in mind, the actual city limits of Travelers Rest are very small. People don't realize that. So a lot of times things that are happening just outside of city limits will appear that they might be related and they're not. And also because that puts that, for example, development in the county, it makes it difficult because the city has no control over that. It falls back to the county.
But that traffic, that growth, is still filtering through Main Street, through Route 25, on [Could not verify with context] and State Park Road. So it's still effectively the city's concern, and it impacts everybody who's coming into that space and wanting to use it. So there definitely also needs to be a stronger relationship between the city and the county as well, because unless an area is annexed into the city, there's no city control around it. There's no way for the city to be able to incorporate it into their development and keep their minds open to what may or may not impact the downtown area.
And that is something that is going to be critical because the growth outside of those city limits is—we have to make sure it doesn't cause overwhelm inside city limits. And that is something that I believe a lot of people, when they're complaining about specific things happening and going on at a traffic light or an intersection, that's what's at the root of all of it. So it's something that needs to be discussed. These relationships need to start to be nurtured now. So as things grow and change, we'll be able to collaborate on these things and work together to make sure that we have the best case scenario for everybody who lives in the area.
Katy Smith: Thank you. What would be your priorities if elected?
Sheryl Guarniero: My priorities, I love to sum them up into three little areas. So we have smart growth, safer streets, and strong community. With smart growth, that means making sure that development is balanced and thoughtful. So we're protecting our green spaces, ensuring that growth doesn't outpace the infrastructure that is there currently: the roads, water, sewer, things like that.
And also making sure that—I think this happens all over the place, but especially in Travelers Rest—things like parking are able to keep up with the needs of the residents, the visitors, and the businesses in our city. Because we truly are almost a gateway to the mountains that are there. We are the last city right before you head up Highway 11 to the scenic route towards Caesars Head or Jones Gap. So we do get a lot of visitors coming in. So we need to account for that.
When I say safer streets, what I mean is we're not only tackling these traffic issues, but we're also making sure our vital services within the city, such as our police, fire, or EMTs, are growing alongside our population growth so that residents feel secure as the community expands.
And finally, what I mean about strong community is being able to build a trust and connection. There absolutely needs to be a level of transparency as we're growing and changing between city council and residents. So that we're able to receive feedback as things are moving through, as developers are submitting permits for different developments or asking for an area to be annexed into the city. And it also means being able to create opportunities for the residents to come and feel heard and also be able to come together.
And community also means, even outside of city government, being able to foster local events that bring everybody together physically. And in an age when everything's so disconnected, it's great to be able to meet in person. And those events can also help support the small businesses on Main Street in Travelers Rest as well, because they are a key part of our community and also their own gathering places for everybody who lives there.
Katy Smith: Thank you. We have a little bit of time left. Is there anything else you'd like to share with listeners?
Sheryl Guarniero: I would love to say, at the end of the day, my campaign isn't just about politics. It's about the people. We're all neighbors. These are my neighbors. That's why I decided to run for office, because I want to be able to be someone they feel they can come to, they can talk to, and be a resource to help advocate for their own voice.
And Travelers Rest really deserves that. We deserve smart growth that protects the character of downtown Travelers Rest and safer streets that really allow us to be able to be out and moving and walking around and using the Swamp Rabbit Trail, and that strong community where everyone feels connected, where we feel we can have this open dialogue and we are people. It's not somebody at odds with another, and we feel it's not "my way or the highway." It's an open floor for everybody to discuss things and feel heard and come up with a compromise so we all have a voice in how our community looks as it grows. That's what I'm running for, and that's the future that I believe that we can all build together.
Katy Smith: Thank you so much for joining us today and thank you so much for raising your hand to serve.
Sheryl Guarniero: Thank you. Thank you for having me on.
Meet the Candidate: Catherine James
Katy Smith: Next up is Catherine James. I'm pleased to be here with Catherine James, who is running for Traveler's Rest City Council. Thanks so much for joining me.
Catherine James: Thanks for having me.
Katy Smith: Great. Well, tell us about yourself and why you're running for re-election.
Catherine James: Well, thank you, Katy. I want to start by expressing my gratitude for your work with this podcast and the work that Greater Good Greenville does to help make civics topics approachable for all of us. You break down topics into bite-sized pieces that we can all understand and learn from and hopefully use when it's time to vote or to advocate for issues that impact our daily lives. This is critically important and it's something that I've made as a personal goal, which is to communicate with my constituents so that they know what's going on and can follow along as City Council considers projects and makes decisions. So I appreciate the opportunity to join you today.
A little bit about myself. I currently serve on City Council for Travelers Rest. I was elected in a special election in 2023, so I've been on City Council for almost two years. I currently serve on the Public Works Committee and recently graduated from the Municipal Elected Officials Institute of Government, which is a multi-part training program covering topics including budgeting and municipal finance, forms of municipal government and the Freedom of Information Act, economic development and governance and policy.
I have lived in Greenville County my entire life and the last 21 years as a resident of the City of Travelers Rest. I am a graduate of Furman University and in my profession I serve as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Brand Strategy for Greenville Federal Credit Union. Additionally, I serve as President of the Board of Directors for Roper Mountain Science Center Association and Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for Greenville County Schools Foundation. My husband and I have one daughter who is currently a student at University of South Carolina, and my parents also reside in the city of Travelers Rest, so we are a Travelers Rest family for sure.
Katy Smith: What do you believe are the biggest issues facing your constituents?
Catherine James: First of all, I want to say that Travelers Rest is thriving. We have a very bright future ahead of us, and I'm especially grateful for our city staff and public works, fire, and police teams. They are a huge part of why Travelers Rest is so incredible and so popular for people who are moving, visiting the upstate and moving to the upstate.
But a big issue that I am concerned about is our infrastructure capacity for the next 10 years. There is no denying that Travelers Rest infrastructure will be strained by the rapid growth into the northern part of Greenville County and the areas surrounding Travelers Rest. As more and more housing developments are planned northward, and we can see them as we drive up Highway 25 and 276 and out Whitehorse Road, the City of Travelers Rest must be intentional in its plans to scale capacity of city services and infrastructure to meet the expected demand, even though those areas may be outside of the city.
We are already feeling the impacts of this growth on a daily basis in the increased volume of traffic coming through the city at peak times. And I think effective traffic management requires a combination of strategies, including investment in infrastructure, but also leveraging technology and influencing travel behavior to improve how cars get through our city. It's absolutely going to require a collective effort to engage our county partners, our state legislators, SCDOT, and maybe even other cities to come up with creative solutions to help manage and reduce congestion and plan for increased traffic volume.
Another big issue is figuring out how to preserve Travelers Rest's unique charm and its approachability among all this rapid growth. That means keeping the quiet, slower pace, and small-town feel that we have, which is what makes our quality of life so lovely. It means ensuring that our sidewalks and streets are safe for walking, running, and riding bikes, that we safely connect all our neighborhoods to the many amenities across town, and that we prioritize preservation of our natural resources, our trees, and our green spaces. And this is all part of the city's comprehensive plan, and we need to stick to it.
Katy Smith: Thank you. What would be your priorities if re-elected?
Catherine James: Growth is inevitable, but we can moderate its impact. Sustainable, community-driven growth should only happen when it aligns with our comprehensive plan and priorities. Our city's strategic plans do allow for well-managed and thoughtful development, but I want to make sure that we also maintain and preserve Travelers Rest's quality of life.
Prioritizing the city's infrastructure needs should drive every planning discussion, whether those plans are inside the city limits or in those areas that directly surround our city. We must consider the condition and capacity of our streets, intersections and sidewalks, our city services such as sewer, waste management, emergency services and public safety. All of that to meet our current needs and to prepare for future challenges, which, by the way, are not really that far into the future. So a priority for me will be to make sure that critical infrastructure investments and improvements are prioritized in any development proposal.
A second priority is that I will insist upon transparency and timely communication of potential projects and proposals, and I will set high standards for accountability in our planning processes. To me, this is foundational in maintaining trust with citizens so that they know that I am representing their best interests. And a third priority I have is to review and strengthen our zoning ordinances to ensure that they protect Travelers Rest's natural environment and unique characteristics. We have some holes in our ordinances that need improvement, and I think it's our job to take a critical look at them and apply them appropriately.
Having now gained a couple of years of experience on council, I've been able to see how governance at the local level should work and should not work. And I've gotten a full view of the lay of the land, so to speak. I've also had time now to build relationships and make connections with city, county, other municipal representatives, and our state and federal representatives. These connections are so important to helping me advocate for our city's needs.
And it takes time, practical experience, and relationship building to truly become an effective member of council. And I believe the experience I now have and the connections I've made in this time are what make me a strong voice on council. They've also given me an even deeper sense of duty and responsibility to building a brighter future for our city. And so I truly hope that I can continue to work for the citizens of Travelers Rest and make my priorities a reality.
Katy Smith: Well, we have a little bit of time left. Is there anything else you'd like to share with listeners?
Catherine James: I do. I just want to say this. It has been a tremendous honor and privilege to serve Travelers Rest as a City Council member for the past two years. In this time, I have worked diligently to learn as much as I can about all aspects of city council and governance. And it feels just like yesterday that I took my oath of office.
My job as your council member is to represent your best interests in all city matters, something which I take very seriously. To me, this means two things. One, putting in the work to research and understand the costs and benefits of any proposal that is brought before council. And two, by listening to you, my neighbors and community, to ensure that I am representing your needs and desires appropriately. I hope and pray that voters will give me the opportunity to use what I've learned to serve Travelers Rest for the next four years. So I respectfully ask for your vote on Tuesday, November 4th. Thanks again, Katy, for having me on your podcast.
Katy Smith: Well, thank you so much for joining me and thank you for your willingness to continue to serve.
Catherine James: Thank you.
Meet the Candidate: Lisa Lane
Katy Smith: Next is Lisa Lane. I'm pleased to be here with Lisa Lane, who is running for re-election on Travelers Rest City Council. Thanks for joining me.
Lisa Lane: Thank you, Katy. I'm so excited to be on this podcast and to be able to share a little more about myself.
Katy Smith: Great. Tell us about yourself and why you're running for re-election.
Lisa Lane: Well, as you said, I'm Lisa Lane. I am running for re-election to the City Council of Travelers Rest. I am not a politician, so this was all new to me. I did run for City Council four years ago. We had a city council member retire, and so I knew there was an open seat available. So I decided that I have a degree in accounting from Furman University and have lived in Travelers Rest for 20 years and thought it would be a great time to use my skills as an accountant and my knowledge of the city and as a citizen to run for city council and to be able to make a difference and have the citizens of Travelers Rest be heard.
So I ran for city council four years ago. I've been on city council for four years and have really had a great time. I've started a partnership with the garden clubs to beautify the downtown streetscape. We have planters that have been put up. We've had hanging baskets put up. I'm really excited about that. And we've done many wonderful things with the Poinsett Park and Gateway Park and Trailblazer. So I'm just excited to continue on for the next four years and see what more we can do.
My family life, I have two sons who are adults who are not living in our home anymore, but we have two dogs and two cats that we take care of. So we love animals, we love to hike, and we love the outdoors.
Katy Smith: Thank you. What do you believe are the biggest issues facing your constituents?
Lisa Lane: The biggest issues I feel facing the constituents is the growth of Travelers Rest, trying to make new residents feel welcomed when they come into Travelers Rest, but also keeping that small-town feel. And also for the residents who have lived in Travelers Rest for a long time to not feel displaced by all the new and added subdivisions, the businesses, and things like that. And to make sure that we have the infrastructure in place—the police, the fire, and all of those streets—to be able to live there safely, to still keep that family community, know your neighbors, and communication.
I think communicating with the citizens of Travelers Rest to know what's going on is important. I feel in the last two years, our communication with the citizens—we have an app now that citizens can go on and look to see what events are happening at Trailblazer, if streets are closed, things like that. So I think we've done such a great job trying to get information out to our citizens, and that's only going to improve in the future.
Katy Smith: Great. What would be your priorities if reelected?
Lisa Lane: The priorities that I have are making sure we continue with transparency, with communication. With not only events that are happening, but even what's going on in the city with planning, zoning, making sure that residents are aware of what's going on, where they can speak up, what opportunities they have to serve on boards and to share their thoughts about how they feel about the community as well.
I just want to make sure we continue to grow and sustain Travelers Rest in a way that is smart and we still keep the same feel that everybody has come to love about Travelers Rest. I think that a lot of towns, once they start growing, they lose the initial appeal. And Travelers Rest is very quaint and family oriented. And I just want to make sure that what we approve continues our values of Travelers Rest.
A lot of the subdivisions and a lot of the planning happened before I was on city council. So I just want to make sure that with future planning, we keep that in mind with our master plan. I know parks, Poinsett Highway, and parking are all priorities for our city. But I also think the people are what make Travelers Rest what it is. And I just want to make sure that we don't look at the infrastructure and forget the people. So thank you.
Katy Smith: We have a little bit of time left. Is there anything else you'd like to share with listeners?
Lisa Lane: I've been on the city council for four years. It was a great learning opportunity in those four years to actually learn the ins and outs of government and the processes. I know a lot of citizens see things like Paris Mountain. It's easy to look at something and then have an emotional reaction to it. And I understand the reaction to it because I also had the same reaction.
But there are processes in place that need to be followed. And we are all neighbors. And just to be respectful of our neighbors, to be respectful of our staff and our city council and our police and fire, we have a great staff. We have a great police and fire department. And Shannon Herman has done a tremendous job in the last two years to really advance changes. We've got the Poinsett Project going with the streetscape there that's for safety purposes.
We have a lot of intercommunication with other governing authorities. We have a lot of subdivisions outside of Travelers Rest in the county that affect Travelers Rest that people don't realize. So it's having that inter-government communication with the county. A lot of our roads, people don't realize are SCDOT. So we can't just make changes quickly. We have to talk to SCDOT and work with them to get the changes. For instance, on Poinsett Highway and our Main Street, that's all SCDOT. So some sidewalks are SCDOT as well.
So I think that is key: to get information to the citizens to understand that we want to do what's best for them. But some of that is not in our control either. But I know in the past couple of years, Shannon, with her contacts, being that she worked for Greenville County, she has a lot of contacts. A lot has happened in the last two years that have really progressed Travelers Rest. I'm really proud of that.
Katy Smith: That's great. Well, thank you so much for joining us and thanks for your willingness to continue to serve.
Lisa Lane: Thank you. I appreciate it.
Meet the Candidate: Jeremy Walton
Katy Smith: And finally, we hear from Jeremy Walton. I'm pleased to be here with Jeremy Walton, who is running for Traveler's Rest City Council. Thanks so much for being here.
Jeremy Walton: Thank you for having me.
Katy Smith: Absolutely. Tell me about yourself and why you're running.
Jeremy Walton: Well, as you said, my name is Jeremy. My wife and I have been in Travelers Rest for about six years now. We moved from Charlotte, which is where I was born and raised. But my mother was actually born and raised in Travelers Rest. So while I'm not born and raised there myself, we came back to our roots and just fell in love with the town.
I am actually a minority owner in the tasting room of Travelers Rest, which is right there in downtown, right behind the new [Could not verify with context] and Farmhouse Tacos. I had an opportunity to purchase that with my business partner and never looked back. It's just been a fun little adventure for us. And I really like the opportunity to be a part of Travelers Rest as a small business owner, but also as a resident.
As the opportunities of different patterns and growth have come to Travelers Rest, I wanted to get more involved with different things that I saw that I think would make the city better. And the way that I feel I can do that is by being on the city council. And so that's what brings us here today.
Katy Smith: Thank you. Well, what do you believe are the biggest issues facing constituents?
Jeremy Walton: I hope other people see things the way that I see them: that the growth for Travelers Rest seems to be almost unregulated. I know, obviously, it is regulated, but it seems every builder under the sun is just getting that check—"Yes, build a neighborhood here. Yes, build a neighborhood there." And it's taking away from that small-town feel that we fell in love with.
While I realize that from an economical perspective, there has to be growth within the city to be able to grow, I feel it just needs to be checked a little bit more. Just because there's a small plot of land here or a field there doesn't mean there needs to be a neighborhood. And it takes away from what makes Travelers Rest, Travelers Rest and so special. And so I want to try and get involved to make it slower growth and more regulated and just make sure that we're not running all the wildlife out and creating massive traffic problems through town and safety and security for everybody as it grows.
One of my other bigger things is pedestrian crossings for the street. There are several crosswalks within the downtown area. I don't feel they're marked very well, and people coming through town don't see them or recognize them, and I want to bring more awareness to that. More for pedestrian safety. Yes, we have the Swamp Rabbit Trail. Yes, there are sidewalks, but when somebody gets to the other side of the road, unless they get to it at an actual stoplight, there's not really awareness of the traffic driving through. And I want to bring more awareness to the ones that are not at stoplights so that pedestrians can cross safely to get out of the street to visit whatever shops or restaurants that they're headed towards.
Katy Smith: Thank you. What would be your priorities if elected?
Jeremy Walton: Really, the focus is what I just spoke about: making sure that the growth happens in a more regulated way and ensuring safety for downtown for all the constituents. That's really the two big ones for me, along with maintaining that traffic and regulating some of the lights, trying to sync those up as well.
It seems while traffic has picked up in downtown, with people trying to go through town, the lights are not regulated, and it's causing more backups, which causes more traffic. And if we can get those lights timed out correctly to help with the flow of traffic, then we can speed things along a little bit for everybody trying to get home or get to wherever they're headed without causing any major issues and backups. So those would be the three things that I'd really like to focus on.
Katy Smith: Thank you. We have a little bit more time. Is there anything else you'd like to share with listeners?
Jeremy Walton: I would just encourage anybody that's listening to get out and vote. Regardless of who you vote for, what your political affiliations are, just exercise that right and get out there and let your voice be heard.
Katy Smith: Well, thank you so much for joining us, and thank you for your willingness to serve the community.
Jeremy Walton: Well, thank you for having me.
A Note on the Interviews: 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.
