A first time candidate runs on her vision.
An elected official runs on her record.
When I ran for office in 2019 I had a vision for Greenville that bears scrutiny as I ask for your continued support. Transparency is important, and when you are elected to office it is fair for voters to request an honest report card. Below I have attempted to measure my performance against my promises, making no excuses.
2019 Campaign Promises and Results To Date:
A Greenville That is Truly Green
- Helped create a new program in 2021, PlantGVL, which has resulted in 995 newly planted trees in right of ways and in public spaces. 750 of those trees were in Unity Park.
- Prioritized trees in Unity Park construction, preserving 214 trees and removing dead or invasive species. 750 additional trees were also planted in the park as part of the project budget.
- Supported the new Tree Ordinance in 2021 which resulted to date in $1,371,727 in fees and city’s contributions collected, plus $965,897 in pending fees. The ordinance specifies that fees/fines will go into the Tree Fund and the City uses these funds for trees planted within a park, in a public open space, along a greenway, or in the public right-of-way in neighborhood streets. Main Street trees and Unity Park trees are in separate budgets and do not use these funds.
- Initiated land banking for greenspace preservation, budgeting $1,000,000 since 2019 for the purchase of land to preserve as open space with an increase expected in the 2023 budget, and preserving as greenspace 31 annexed acres.
A Community With Affordable Housing
- Allocated $11M for Affordable Housing since elected, championing a doubling of the annual allocation in 2020.
- Negotiated $7M allocation for Affordable Housing as a provision of County Square agreement that is incremental to $11M in budget.
- 1406 Affordable Housing Units have been preserved or are under development since 2019.
- 255 Affordable Housing are in the pipeline for preservation or new construction.
- 29 Housing Units serving the 80% Area Median Income tenants are also available as a result of the motel conversion ordinance.
A Downtown with Accessible Workforce Parking
- Budgeted $2.5M for parking garage rehab since 2020.
- Budgeted $700K for parking control technology since elected.
- Invested in Public/Private Partnerships to increase public parking supply in West End and in the Village of West Greenville, resulting in 198 additional spots, representing a joint investment of $4.75M.
An Effective Public Transportation System
- Achieved a 23% increase in funds within the City Operating Budget alone.
- Purchased 5 new Proterra Electric Buses with a Federal Lo‑No Grant.
- Extended service to provide transit to midnight on weekdays and to include Saturday service (8:30am-6:30pm).
- Developed free commercial driver’s license training program and bonus incentives to help recruit new drivers.
- Secured a $5.8M Federal RAISE grant from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to upgrade 336 bus stops.
- Improved ridership per month from a low of 32K trips at onset of Covid to a high of 66K trips last summer. Current ridership is about 55k trips per month.
- Tracked an increase in Paratransit (handicap accessible) trips per month from 550 in early 2021 to approximately 1,200 per month currently.
- Implemented new route designs and technology improvements that have improved the on-time performance rate from a 45% in early 2020 (pre Covid) to a 75-80% on time performance rate currently.
Neighborhoods Connected by Well Designed Roads, Trails and Sidewalks
- Using funding provided by the Neighborhood Infrastructure Bond:
- The City paved/repaved/resurfaced 38 miles of city streets from 2020-2022 and anticipates paving/repaving/resurfacing an additional 27 miles between 2023-2024.
- Allocated $4M to upgrade our technology for improved traffic monitoring and management, signal reliability and safety.
- Invested $8.7M to accelerate our sidewalk construction throughout the city.
- Budgeted $4.8M for neighborhood community centers, neighborhood parks, and athletic venues . Two examples, Bobby Pearse was built new and opened in June 2021 and Juanita Butler got the basketball court resurfaced.
- Planning multiple reconstruction (tennis/ pickleball/basketball) and field improvements in City parks.
- Allocated $4.1M for Unity Park river restoration to minimize flooding in Unity Park and downstream parks.
- Invested $10M for safe connections for Laurens Rd. Swamp Rabbit Trail Extension (2 bridges plus Cleveland Park access). Championed initial budget approval for a third safe connection at Verdae Blvd via bridge or tunnel.
- Created a line item in the Capital Improvement Program for traffic calming projects, allocating $950K through the 22/23 fiscal year.
A Safe City with Citizens Who Value Its First Responders
- Invested $38M for the Halton Road facility and upfit to house Greenville Police and Fire Departments, Municipal Court and new Traffic Management Center. Targeting a ribbon cutting in 2023 or early 2024.
- Invested $2.9M since elected in fire station improvements.
- Implemented new policies to improve transparency within the Public Safety Citizen Review Board.
- Added De-escalation and Use of Force training for all police officers and ongoing training in Crisis Intervention.
- Revised Fire Fighter pension policy to allow overtime hours to count towards pension eligibility.
- Requested staffing plans to increase the number of police officers as needed in 2023/2024 budget to respond to Greenville's growth.
- Allocated $2.7M to provide uninterruptable power supply and emergency signal preemption for safety and first responder vehicle priority in traffic management.
- Since 2020, violent crime has been reduced by 20% overall. Violent crimes include: murder/non-negligent homicide, negligent homicide, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault.
Smart Infrastructure Investment & Stewardship
- Continued work in stream restoration and stabilization, investing $1.3M through 22/23 fiscal year.
- Allocated $5.15M for investment in major corridors.
