Roads trump party affiliation in bipartisan York County meeting

In today’s political atmosphere, it’s rare for Republicans and Democrats to speak to each other about much of anything. At least not civilly or at a low volume.

That’s the popular assumption anyway.

Yet when the York County Democratic Party invited a Republican member of the county council to address their monthly meeting this week, it wasn’t discussion of contentious national issues, or deep philosophical divisions, that animated the discussion.

Instead, the discussion focused on the purely, even mundanely, local; roads, traffic, and the pressures of over development.

York County Councilman Michael Johnson of Fort Mill was the guest speaker at the York County Democratic Party’s meeting at the Towne Tavern in Fort Mill. Around half of the attendees were from Johnson’s district, or at least the north side of the Catawba River. They came to hear about the street-level issues affecting residents of all political persuasion.

“The reason I invited him wasn’t political. It was just informational,” said Eileen Misek, a Fort Mill resident who organizes the speakers for the party meetings. “I know they’re doing so much building in my neighborhood, and personally I wanted to hear about it from my council member.”

Misek said she also invited Rock Hill Democrat Chad Williams, whose district includes portions of downtown Fort Mill, , but he was unable to attend.

For his part, Johnson said he was always willing to talk to his constituents whatever their party affiliation.

“I talked to the Tega Cay Women’s Club last month,” he said, “and out of those 40 women, I know some of them must have been Democrats. Some of them were probably Libertarians or Tea Party.”

The meeting was not completely free of partisanship.

In discussing party business ahead of Johnson’s remarks, Democrats took digs at Republican presidential contender Donald Trump, and members were encouraged to contact local GOP Congressman Mick Mulvaney in support of the 2015 Equality Act, a bill that would add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected categories under the Civil Rights Act.

In his talk, Johnson said he wants to alleviate congestion in northeastern York County, one of the region’s fastest growing areas.

That will require more coordination between the county and the municipalities of Fort Mill and Tega Cay, since developers who don’t get approval to do what they want from the county can seek annexation into the city or town, he said.

Johnson said he wants the area north of the Catawba River managed by its own planning commission, with an equal number of members appointed by the county, Fort Mill and Tega Cay and a representative from the Fort Mill school district.

But Johnson said he doubts the county would be willing to give up that kind of authority.

The next best thing would be more coordination between the county and municipalities in planning decisions when York County completes its review of its 10-year comprehensive plan, Johnson said.

Johnson said he also hopes to see road improvements in the next round of Pennies for Progress projects be completed faster.

“If you could just get from A to B effectively, you would be less concerned about growth,” he said.

In that bipartisan spirit, the party presented Johnson with a going-away present; a “Yellow Dog Democrat” coffee mug, which Johnson promised would find a home in his wife’s cabinet.

This story was originally published August 8, 2015 at 8:36 PM with the headline "Roads trump party affiliation in bipartisan York County meeting."