Jennifer Willis Speaks at Saturday Sessions

Redistricting and the environment were just some of the issues Pickens County Council Chairwoman Jennifer Willis addressed during this month's Saturday Sessions at Jimmy's Restaurant in Easley.

Pickens County Council has been working on redrawing voting district lines, similar to the city of Easley, to bring balance to the system as population ebbs and flows.

"We had a median number that we're trying to get to in each of the districts," Willis said.

The study performed by the county showed that the city of Easley had to contract district lines due to population growth. Clemson, Pickens, Liberty, and Six Mile each required an expansion of their district lines.

"What we were trying to look at was not just how we affect the voters but make sure that we were not affecting the minority populations, make sure that we weren't carving school board members out of their district," Willis said.

"This also had some effect potentially on school attendance lines, so we were trying to be real careful to make sure that we didn't go and draw a line- and that's mostly in the rural and unincorporated lines," Willis said.

Once the council had settled on the new voting district lines, the map was sent to the South Carolina Office of Research and Statistics for approval. 

County Council will vote on the newly drafted district map during the monthly meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 15. If approved on Monday, the redistricting map will be made available for public review and comment before it is finalized.

"In September we will make a formal decision as to whether we need to change it or whether we can send it on to the Department of Justice for comment," Willis said.

Willis also addressed the county budget process, announcing to the Saturday Sessions attendees that the county was able to avoid tax increases in light of approximately $4M in state budget cuts for the county.

"We've done that through attrition, eliminating positions when employees leave," Willis said.

"We have not eliminated any positions from people who currently have a job, we have done it without effecting employee benefits, we have done it without cutting employee pay, and we've done it without effecting the services that citizens receive," Willis explained.

Technology and the internet are part of what has helped the county operate more efficiently in light of the shrinking human element.

The county did add one position, for the first time in four years, in response to an EPA mandate for storm water regulation.

"That is the biggest burden that we as a county are facing right now- compliance with regulations that are coming down from EPA," Willis said."

Willis said the county has struggled with federal mandates that don't necessarily reflect reality here in Pickens County, but rather they reflect the environmental situation in more populated areas in the Northeast. Air quality measurements are currently being tested in four different points in the state of South Carolina, Willis said.

"Why am I being measured on somebody else," Willis said. "Measure Pickens County on Pickens County."

The date for the next Saturday Sessions has not been set. Keep an eye out for updates here on Easley Patch.