Three candidates want York County’s most rural seat, and its countywide vote

None of the three candidates vying to serve York County’s most rural district see themselves as politicians. They’re people who love where they live, each offering a background they believe will help to preserve it.

They also see reasons why the lone York County Council Dist. 3 vote matters to residents across York County.

Tommy Adkins, Stephanie Brown and Brad Sims offered their thoughts on growth, county funding and the future of western York County with The Herald. They’ll face off in the June 9 Republican primary election. The winner will take the seat unopposed in November.

Here’s a look at the candidates:

Tommy Adkins

Adkins, 60, is the incumbent. He’s finishing his first term on Council.

“I can truly say I’m the most unique one of them all,” Adkins said. “You don’t see many dairy farmer mechanics.”

Known for his bib overalls, Adkins see himself as the voice of “common, ordinary people.” Yet his time on Council taught him there are checks and balances most people never see. Issues from community growth to roads and job creation often come with state rules that tie the hands of local elected officials.

“On a local level, it takes you two years to even know which way to steer the wheels,” Adkins said. “They find out right quick how much your hands are tied.”

Dist. 3 covers most of western York County, easily its largest and most rural district. Yet in place like York, Dist. 3 is growing too.

“Why do you think we’re fighting so hard to keep it?” Adkins said. “What gets me is people come from other places because they love it here, and the whole time they’re changing everything about it. But you’ve got to have balance. People have to have jobs.”

Adkins wants to preserve the rural character of his district, but also understands there are reasons why people would sell to developers.

“That’s life-changing to people,” he said. “So they sell out, then the next thing you know, you’ve just got unsustainable growth. If you can’t get people to stop selling their land, you’re not going to get people to quit buying it.”

Adkins would like state and county help to limit what national tract builders can do, or other measures to limit growth. But he doesn’t support stopping it entirely.

“You can’t give one person their rights while you’re taking someone else’s away,” Adkins said. “And you can’t get people to understand that.”

As a dairy farmer and mechanic, Adkins believes he understands the basic issues that impact the daily lives of most people across York County. One example is the ongoing drought, which hits him and his 70 milk cows different than it might someone in an office job.

“It’s so widespread. Where are you going to get any hay?” Adkins asked. “Not to mention on the row crop side of things. We’re so far away from the basics for people, they don’t know what it requires to get their food.”

More info: Tommy Adkins for York County District 3 on Facebook

Stephanie Brown

Brown, 36, is a Charlotte native who moved to York seven years ago. She works in real estate, but her takes on growth often surprise people given that occupation.

When Fort Mill, Clover and York schools began looking at impact fees, builders like the ones Brown worked with opposed them. Impact fees are charges on new construction to pay for growth costs.

“I’m actually the opposite,” she said. “I’m a strong supporter of impact fees. ”To these builders, it’s nothing.”

Despite the new home subdivisions popping up in York that support real estate, Brown isn’t in favor of unchecked growth.

“I’ve seen a lot of growth, even just in those seven years I’ve been here,” Brown said. “If we don’t get our infrastructure set now, it’s going to be too late.”

Contentious business deal incentives that York County approved, like for Silfab Solar in Fort Mill or QTS Data Centers in Lake Wylie, aren’t in Dist. 3. But those properties in particular, stirring regular public debate, have shown how county decisions have a countywide impact, Brown said.

“There’s a lot more people that are aware of these big projects, and want to get involved because they feel like their voice wasn’t heard when the decisions were made,” she said.

Council shouldn’t be so district-centric, she said, but should shift its mindset like residents have. In a summer party primary when voter turnout is typically much lower than for general elections, any one vote can have a huge impact, Brown said. Likewise, when the next big project comes to York County a Dist. 3 vote will count the same as one from Fort Mill or Lake Wylie, regardless where the project is.

”Every vote impacts every district,” Brown said.

More info: Stephanie Brown for York County Council District 3 on Facebook

Brad Sims

Sims, 40, moved to Hickory Grove six year ago but has been in York County for 25 years. The twice deployed South Carolina National Guard member and former Rock Hill police detective now works in Charlotte, in banking fraud management.

A family health issue a few years ago got Sims thinking about the interest he’d always had in public service.

“The time is now,” Sims said. “There’s no sense sitting around waiting for things. I thought if I’m going to complain about it, I should do something about it.”

He also saw what he calls 90-10 issues, where a large majority of the public falls on one side of an issue but York County Council votes the other way. Sims points to the Silfab and QTS issues.

“That kind of made me get off the couch and say, why are we doing that?” Sims said. “Every time you turn around there are decisions that are negative that are in the news about County Council.”

Sims believes his risk management expertise can help at the county level. What falls to the county attorney now should shift under county manager control and branched to department heads so that “each of these departments is thinking about risk management for the taxpayers at the forefront.”

Other ideas include York County becoming active in attracting businesses, where Sims sees an opportunity in financial technology.

Charlotte is a national banking hub, so York County could bring in companies that serve banking, like Fort Mill did with LPL Financial. Those companies would bring high-wage and low industrial impact jobs, Sims said.

“All those financial industries, they’re all supported by fintech,” he said.

While issues like economic development and infrastructure are hot topics right now, Sims and the other candidates for Dist. 3 still see the age-old issue facing York County as critical — how to handle growth.

“You can’t stop the growth, but you can manage it,” Sims said. “And if you don’t manage it the growth will run you over. We’re kind of in the run you over scenario.”

More info: bradsimsforcountycouncil.com; Brad Sims for York County Council District 3 on Facebook