New Tega Cay City Councilmen sworn in

The Tega Cay City Council bid farewell to former Councilmen Ron Kirby and Chris Landvik-Larsen, and two new councilmen took their oaths of office Monday night during a special meeting of the Tega Cay City Council at the Glennon Center.

Following Mayor George Sheppard’s presentation recognizing Kirby and Landvik-Larsen for their service, David O’Neal and Ryan Richard, the candidates who defeated them last November were sworn in by the Hon. Justin Bice. Council unanimously elected O’Neal, who had the most votes in the council race, to a two-year term as mayor pro tempore to serve as acting mayor in the Sheppard’s absence.

Both Richard and O’Neal said they are eager to get to work.

“I was asked to run to be a voice of the younger citizens of Tega Cay,” Richard said. “I think we’re ready for something a little different.”

Richard said he’s looking to get more constituents, particularly the younger ones, interested and involved in city government.

“Their opinions do matter,” he said.

“I look forward to taking that type of perspective, hopefully get more people in the council chambers for meetings, have more input from our citizens. If we had to look at the numbers of younger families in the city of Tega Cay, the growth of that 25 to 35 year-old dynamic has to have doubled or tripled at least. Those citizens have an impact, they pay taxes, and they’re interested in having a say so in what’s going on. I just think they want to be heard. They want to be involved, not just sit back and let it run itself.”

The new councilmen cited parks and recreation projects as important concerns among Tega Cay residents.

“Everybody likes the parks and recreation here,” O’Neal said.

“We’ve got a big park planned – Catawba Park – coming up. I’ve just been sitting in on some of the meetings, and I can’t wait to get involved with that,” O’Neal says.

Although residents may hold differing views, O’Neal said the common threads among them are strong.

“We’re a city of great diversity. We like to have fun,” he said.

“We’re an energetic city. (My family has) lived in this city for a long time, and obviously we live here for a reason. We enjoy it. I just want to do whatever I can to make sure we do maintain the good quality of life.”

This story was originally published January 5, 2016 at 6:23 PM with the headline "New Tega Cay City Councilmen sworn in."