North Augusta holds second Meet the Mayor event; Flythe property, voter turnout discussed

Samantha Winn, Aiken Standard, S.C.
·2 min read

Jun. 16—North Augusta Mayor Briton Williams met with citizens at his second Meet the Mayor event at Summerfield Park on Tuesday.

The first Meet the Mayor event was held on Third Thursday in May, an initiative to help residents connect with local businesses.

Williams hopes to start close conversations with the public to improve the city.

"I thought we had good turnout and good questions across the board, something as simple as how come the limbs aren't being picked up, to how do we get voters to vote, and how do we improve race relations? We discussed the whole gamut," Williams said.

"I was appreciative of the questions because they were good questions, and that was a positive; and I thought that everybody was respectful, and I think that the citizens appreciate us coming out," Williams added.

North Augusta residents on Tuesday came to speak with Williams as well as Council members Pat Carpenter and David McGhee on the usage of the Flythe property, single-member districts and more.

North Augusta resident Richard Adams came to represent Precinct 54 and discuss low voter turnout and the use of single-member districts in local elections.

"There is a strong degree of apathy here in the entire city, but particularly here in this precinct, so it's just important that as many bodies as we could get to come out here and support this event," Adams said.

"The residents do not feel like they have equal and fair representation," Adams continued. "A lot of people are hopeless, and they feel uninspired and that is a huge reason (and) part of why people did not show up to vote."

Council member David McGhee enjoyed listening to residents Tuesday night but hopes for more community involvement in the future.

"I try to make myself available and talk to people as much as I can," McGhee said.

City Council meets regularly on Mondays, starting at 6 p.m. at the Municipal Building off Georgia Avenue. The council will vote on the Riverside Village noise ordinance on Monday.