Rock Hill Mayor John Gettys announces candidacy for reelection in October 2021 race
Rock Hill Mayor John Gettys has announced he is running for reelection in the city’s October election.
In a video, Gettys, who was first elected in 2017, said he’s “not done” building on the city’s successes he’s helped bring about in the last four years. Gettys became the city’s first new mayor elected in two decades.
“I’m looking forward to where we can bring wealth and prosperity to all of Rock Hill, where we can make things happen for all of Rock Hill such that we can live up to the standard of being that bright, shining city on a hill,” Gettys said.
York County Councilman William “Bump” Roddey, who ran against Gettys in 2017, also has announced he is running for Rock Hill Mayor this year. Roddey, who is currently serving his fifth term on county council, lost in 2017 by roughly 500 votes in a runoff after neither candidate secured a majority in the city’s general election.
Official filing for the city’s mayoral race opens in July.
Gettys, in his video announcement, listed several projects finalized during his time that are estimated to bring in $4 billion of development, including the city’s most notable 240-acre Carolina Panthers’ headquarters project.
“That started because I wrote a letter to the new owner and invited him to relocate his spring training camp to Rock Hill,” he said. “Look what that brought us — a $2.5 billion development with jobs to come right on I-77.”
Gettys also pointed out during his time, city officials have lowered residents’ electric rates, established a free-of-charge electric bus system and put Rock Hill on the map with its All-America City title.
Gettys said he knew Rock Hill “was something special” when city officials, in less than 10 days, opened a coronavirus vaccination clinic, which at the time in January, was the first of its kind in South Carolina.
The site, which relocated from the Galleria Mall to City of Rock Hill Operations Center, averaged more than 900 visitors a day, officials said.
“In 59 days of operation, we put 50,000 shots in arms, saving people from sickness and some from death,” Gettys said.
About 32% of all first and second doses administered in York County have been through the city’s clinic, according to data from the state’s health agency.
Split elections
Rock Hill’s upcoming election was scheduled to include three ward races in addition to the mayoral seat. However, city officials have decided to postpone the ward elections by several months due to a delayed release of U.S. census data, which is needed for redistricting.
Monday night, city council passed the second reading of an ordinance to pause the Oct. 19 elections for Wards 4, 5 and 6 until the needed 2020 census data is released, which is anticipated in late September, officials said.
Rock Hill’s mayoral race will go on as scheduled. That race will not be impacted by redistricting, officials said.
Rock Hill must redraw its six wards every 10 years based on new U.S. Census Bureau data. Delays related to COVID-19 slowed the bureau’s original redistricting data delivery until Sept. 30, according to the 2020 census timeline.
The September release date will not allow city officials enough time to properly redraw district lines before the October election, city attorney Paul Dillingham said at a council meeting last month.
Once the city receives the necessary census information, Rock Hill officials plan to get the district lines redrawn in 60 days, Dillingham said. Council members elected during the postponed 2021 race would have their four-year terms cut by three or four months, Dillingham said.
Councilman John Black represents Ward 4. Councilwoman Nikita Jackson represents Ward 5. Councilman Jim Reno represents Ward 6.
York City Council voted on a proposal this month for the city’s manager to draft an ordinance to delay its November election for Districts 1, 5 and 6, Mayor Mike Fuesser told The Herald. Council will vote on first reading of the ordinance next month.
This story was originally published June 15, 2021 at 12:41 PM.
