City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

We were actually waiting on Councilwoman Smith to make her way here. If you haven't noticed her running style coming down the aisle, [laughter] it's a sight to see. Hey guys and welcome to this city of Spartanberg city council meeting. Uh on our agenda we have a moment of silence and then we have a pledge of allegiance. Um um just uh remember of course the Reverend uh Jesse Jackson passing and uh all he has meant to the upstate Greenbull uh born and raised and all that he's done to the United States, you know, across the world as as you really think about it. But just a tremendous person and u will truly be missed and just be mindful of his family during this time.

All right, stand for a moment of silence. Amen. Mayor Pro Tim, would you lead us in the pledge of allegiance? I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. We have item three, approval of the minutes of the February the 9th, 2026 city council meeting. Second. All in favor? Any that oppose? Eyes have it. Item four, approval of the agenda for the February 23rd, 2026 city council meeting. So move. Second. All right. All in favor? I.

Anyone opposed? Eyes have it. We have public comment. And the way it works now, we don't have to get your address, per se, but I will call you up by your last name and give us your full name, and you can speak as follow. Miss Blakeley. You know my name Blackly. Blackley. [laughter] I know. When it came out, you looked at me. You looked at me and I'm like, I know I just said it wrong.

Well, I [snorts] just want to thank you all uh for having me. I'm here on behalf of the Tory Dandy Foundation where I uh won his foundation. And what we do is we get to give money. I get to give Tory Dandy's money away. This is our last installment of the 50,000 that we uh entered into an agreement with uh the city of Spartanberg to provide uh a partnership for youth services here in the city of Spartanberg. And of course, Mr. Dandy couldn't be here. He was here this weekend, but he's at the NFL combine. And so I am here to present Kim Moltry with the last and final installment which is a check for $10,000 to provide youth services here in Sparber County where our mission is to equip the youth for skills to succeed in life uh through different community partnerships. And so we want to thank you all. Uh I can't say enough about Miss Moltry Brown. She has done a phenomenal job and and keeping us updated with u all the work uh that you all done for the youth and been able to have Mr. Danny come in and speak to the youth. The last meeting we had was at CC Wilson I believe and he came up and he was out. We got started late and I was like Tori you got to come in. You got to get in. You got to get in here. The youth are waiting on he was in his big Rolls-Royce and um not knowing that he was actually on the phone ne negotiating a contract for us Mr. lamb. CD lambd lamb.

Yeah. And so and then he actually came in and spoke to the students and actually did a facetime with one of his players. He is looking to give back and and we hope that we will re revisit this uh once he comes back this summer for some things we have planned. And I also want to give a shout out to Mitch Kennedy for uh keeping us updated on what we can do for Sparberg. You do an excellent job here in the city. Keep doing great work that you do and stay motivated. And I want to thank you all for having me. And Kim, would would you do I hand this to you? Uh, thank you all and have a good meeting. Kim is being very modest back there, but check [applause]

Hope, thank you. And, uh, of course, uh, tell Tori thank him for all that he does. And I did see the video of the kids talking to CD Lamb last summer and it was just blowing u blowing us away. There was actually an adult in the audience doing more talking than the kids. So, but no, tell him thank you uh local guy, hometown guy right there in Woodruff, South Carolina. Just truly appreciate him and all he's done and did see him this weekend at the sneaker ball and was given to us for a mentor. So, thank you. There's more to come. Y'all be patient, [laughter]

Mr. Hawkins. Hello y'all. My name is Liv Hawkins. Uh I work at Wford. I'm also a member of the city's bicycle and pedestrian committee. Uh last week I had an issue that I ran into on Memorial Drive which wraps next to the Spartanber Memorial Auditorium kind of wraps around Wford's campus of uh students starting to park in the bike lane there. Um, if you're unfamiliar with the conditions there, that road is just just hilly enough and just windy enough to where I think people tend to speed down there. Uh, and that bike lane is right up against oncoming traffic. So, sometimes when you have a car in the lane, it makes seeing around it kind of difficult and it feels very dangerous, especially when you have to veer into the vehicular lane. You have like a line of four cars and you can't quite see it. So, that was an issue that I uh ran into getting back to campus for my lunch break the other day. I'd like to thank Councilwoman Brown on uh her help on that. I had posted about it. She uh comment on that and I had a sack meeting uh during my lunchtime a little bit after and already the campus safety representative from Wford there like provided an update on it and that was really good. Um I hope to see continued improvement to make that bike lane safer um for people who use it. I've seen runners on it. I've seen uh escooters are really popular on campus if you've ever been on Wford's campus. You've seen them everywhere and bikes like myself. Um whether that is plastic ballards, better signage, uh a mixture of approaches, better enforcement, more consistent enforcement. Uh and I just hope to, you know, see more bike lanes like that because, uh it really is a good a good route for me to get back to campus after, you know, going and

getting lunch or a coffee downtown during my break. But yeah, thank y'all.

Thank you, sir. And Mr. Johnson, come forward, please. Well, good evening, mayor. Good evening, council, uh, all of the constituents and the and the folks of, uh, Spartanberg. Uh, first off, thank you so much for allowing me this opportunity just to come say hey to you all. I am Germaine Johnson. I am the current candidate that is running for governor of South Carolina. Uh, and I'm just honored to be here this evening. I I was in the area today for a few events and I just wanted to stop by and uh tell you what I'm looking forward to working with each and every one of you. Um, being in the House of Representatives for three terms now. Uh, I have been up here a number of times trying to help solve some of the uh, issues that is uh, plaguing the city of Spartanberg. Um, as I have not allowed myself to just stay in my district for whatever reason. I want to save the kids' lives of everybody in South Carolina. Um, and I have done so for uh over a decade now. So, uh, I look forward to having the opportunity to meeting with any and every last one of you all. Uh, I would love to make my contact information available for you all to sit down and just to introduce myself and talk about the plans and the policies that I have that I've laid for, uh, for the people of South Carolina. So, uh, really appreciate you all giving me the opportunity to introduce myself and, uh, hope you have a great rest of the evening.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Johnson. Good luck to you. Thank you. [clears throat] All right. We're at item six, Hub City Spartanbergers update. Presenter, Mr. Tyson Jeff, general manager of the Hub City Hub City Spartanbergers. Tyson, good evening. Good evening, sir. How are you? It's good to see you.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to to come and and talk about the 25 season and and create an outlook of what we have planned for 2026. Um, first of all, before I get too deep into the recap, I do want to just say publicly and on the record how much we appreciate the collaboration and the partnership with the city of Spartanberg. Um, with all the employees. Um, everyone has shown nothing but uh, love for us and um, it's been unbelievable to partner with all of you, all of you all, both in this room and um, out in the community. uh as someone that has come from different markets and worked with different municipalities, I've never experienced something like this. So, I just want to say thank you all uh for your support and the continued support as we can look to get better and uh continue to have an impact on our community. So, for the 2025 season, um it was nothing but smiles and it was nothing but um amazing things and amazing memories that we were able to create at the ballpark and around the community. Uh we feel that we made an unbelievable impact on Spartanberg and on the upstate and hopefully helped put Spartanberg on the map as a destination, especially the downtown environment as we look to continue to shape that into a hub for for everyone. Um we were able and very fortunate to host a couple extra games because we did have fine success on the baseball field. So, we hosted 68 Spartanbergers um events over the course of the season and welcomed over 240,000 fans into Fit Third Park for our inaugural season, which was truly unbelievable. A few kind of fun stats to talk about. Our fans enjoyed 8,200 lb of hamburger meat uh and over 3,000 lbs of hamburger toppings uh which we'll try to beat next year. So, if you come out to a game, buy a hamburger, go to the burger bar, load it up. Um, we

sold over 570 foam burger hats. It was actually uh a nominee for one of the best merchandise items in all of minor league baseball. Beyond that, we did win um a new era in minor league baseball competition as being the uh the best baseball cap in all of minor league baseball, which put us on a n national stage um as uh not only a brand, but as a destination. So, we're really proud of that. Um again, we did win in our first year the south division of the South Atlantic League. I'm sorry. There we go. I'm just learning how to do presentations, so

Yeah. Um, we did win uh the South Division. Uh, we made it to the championship and unfortunately fell to the Brooklyn Cyclones, but the the glass half full look at that is if we win won the championship in year one, then everyone expected to happen every year. So, we've got something to chase on the field and plenty to chase off the field as we continue to look to better our experience for for all the fans, both the ones that are coming back um for their second, third, fourth, fifth, 60 something game or for the fan that hasn't come uh to Spartanber and to the Spartanberger games yet. Uh, and the biggest thing that we're most proud of, and I I started with this, is we we know we created millions of smiles and millions of memories for for many people um that came into our ballpark, whether that was for a Spartanbergers event or another event. Um, one of the biggest things that we were focused on in year one, and it's not something that as you look across the landscape of venues, especially minor league baseball, um, teams are willing to attack in their inaugural season, but that's trying to fill the ballpark as many days out of the year as we possibly can. And if you've heard me talk before, um I like to say that we have 66 home games and there's 299 days um in the rest of the year that we need to open our gates and have people uh enter into Fit Third Park to make sure that we're truly a community hub and a community asset. And that means that we're welcoming people of all different kinds and with all different events throughout the year. Um some of the things that we did uh over the first year um that we were really proud of is we hosted over a hundred additional uh public and private events at Fifth Third Park. And so those spann from uh kind of larger scale events with Wford and USC Upstate, which was our our very first event that we hosted. And we're very proud that that's something that will live in history and connected to Fit Third Park is that we could have two local universities uh taking center stage and and playing a game against

each other there. Um SEC graduation, uh we'll continue to host that in 2026, but we're really fortunate to work with them and and have over 3,000 people that came to that. that was family members as well as the graduates and the the staff of uh Spartanber Community College. Uh we worked with BMW Charities on the Cole Swendell concert, had over 5,000 people. Um it gave us that opportunity to truly test the facility and see what a concert could look like. Um definitely learned a lot of lessons through the process of hosting not only the concert but all the additional events. Um, we worked directly with the city on the red, white, and boom, uh, which was unbelievable. It was a challenge because we stacked that on top of a baseball game since we were playing at home. Um, so logistically to operate a Spartanber games and then allow people onto the field and reopen the gates for a new wave of people to come in um, created challenges that we faced headon and and think we uh, we executed really well. And a lot of that was with the partnership of the city and everyone working in the city to make sure that that was successful. Um, as you look at the pictures, you'll see that there were around 6,000 fans in the park. Some of those being on the field, the rest of them sitting in the stands. And then there were, um, I don't know the exact number because we didn't get to count on them, but there are plenty of people sitting around the ballpark in some of the green spaces outside of the gates watching the fireworks show for that event. And then um one of the other key events uh that we hosted and creating a very unique experience was moving Morgan Square Madness, which is the USC Upstate uh tip off event for men's and women's basketball. We built uh their court on our field and executed that in front of their fan bases and the community, which was really fun to see. Um and hopefully we have that opportunity to work with them again. So, um, one of the the biggest takeaways is that we we

recognize that with these other events, we can bring in, um, a lot of different people into our ballpark. Um, our goal always with Spartanberger's games is to to welcome as many types of people as we possibly can, and that goes well beyond baseball, which is why we position oursel as entertainers versus just baseball operators. Uh but these other events allow us to market to different demographics and bring in different groups of people to show off the beautiful facility that that we have and hopefully bring them back for other events as well as Spartanberg games. And then uh finally uh it's what do we have in store for 2026 and how do we one up oursel? Um and so our our marketing campaign and something that you'll hear a lot from us is we're going to make it a double. And so that um aligns with the fun that we're creating in the park, whether that for be for Spartanbergers games um or other events. Uh we want to try to double up the fun, double up the smiles, double up the memories and all the the fun things that we're trying to execute at the ballpark. And a lot of that um we've already started to do. So if you were paying attention, last week we hosted Walford and University of South Carolina. Uh we had 4,200 people. is one of the biggest baseball crowds that we've had um since uh opening night of last year, which we're really proud of for us to be able to execute that in February. Um thank the weather gods. Uh they they really helped with a 70°ree day and some sunshine. Um but it was a it was an amazing experience and um you know to provide some perspective, we weren't even in the facility until mid to late March of last year. So for us to start executing these events um plays into our mission of of constantly utilizing the facility as much as we can. Um and so you'll see a list of we have additional college baseball games coming up. We we actually over the

weekend we hosted Boston College Northwestern and Cornell who played uh six games over three days. um and to welcome not only their fans but their families and to to hear uh the feedback that they had for our beautiful facility um and the community that they came and they booked hotels in and stayed. I think some of them might actually still be here because of the the weather up up north. Um so we're getting some extra hotel nights from them. Um and uh I think Boston College might actually be sticking around their team because they're supposed to go to Florida later this week. So there's like you know what, we're just going to stick around. So, uh, they're still utilizing our facility for practice. Um, but it was great hosting them and seeing some, um, some new faces at the ballpark. We do have Wford and USC Upstate to kind of have the the burle battle of the Berg um, take place in in mid-March. And then as we get into our season, we will host USC Upstate vers Clemson, which we expect to be another really large crowd. Uh, Clemson, both both schools have really leaned into that. So, we're really excited to see how we can fill up the park for those. Um, one of the things that we're most proud of and it we had wished we could have executed this in our inaugural year, but again, we were not in the ballpark until March is high school baseball. And giving those high school players the opportunity to take the field at Fifth Third Park. It is one of those things that is going to create lifelong memories for those kids and and hopefully it um allows them to continue to uh further their baseball experience hopefully into college and then professional. Um but to give them that taste now uh while they're competing we uh we have extended the opportunity and as you see the schedule we will host um the all the uh Spartanberg County public high schools um over the course of March uh starting next week with the Steve

Sanders tournament their championship day which includes all the Spart a lot of the Spartanberg schools as well as schools outside of Spartanberg County. Um, so that's something that we're really excited about and proud of and looking to execute. Um, obviously professional baseball. Uh, we will host 66 home games, hopefully more as we make a playoff run and and hopefully bring in the championship. And, uh, as we get later into the season, we have our banana ball games. Um those will are expected to bring in probably the biggest crowds that we'll have ever experienced with three different dates um in a row. All expected to be well over 5,000 people um in the park and as you've probably heard with Banana Ball, there's people across the country that sign up for that lottery uh which will go live here pretty soon. Um and then uh looking at non- baseball events, our goal is still continue to um execute private events uh using our Milicanin club and the other spaces around the ballpark. So we have a goal of 75 plus of those which is achievable. We to provide perspective on that we executed around 60 last year. So we're accounting for about 15 to 20 additional of those. and then some of the repeat uh with uh SEC graduation. We are still working with BMW charities and South Carolina charities to uh hopefully get the concert back. We would love to have a conversation with the city. We are on the road uh over July 4th. Um so it allows us to utilize the whole facility in a in a different way and better um that experience for anyone that might be coming for Red, White, and Boom. So would love to have that conversation. Morgan Square Madness Truck Treat, which was a um a community event just to provide a safe space for the kids to come and trickor treat. Uh we did this one last year and it was really cold and really rainy when we did it and we had

our partners set up with Candy and over 900 kids came through the ballpark to trickor treat on uh the concourse level. And then we're constantly with our ownership group, Diamond Baseball Holdings, working directly with them uh to try to bring in new events to Spartanberg, ones that will be unique, whether those be festivals, additional concerts, um other types of baseball, and uh very unique things that uh may exist during the holiday season and allow us to activate in uh November, December, and into January. So, we're still very focused on trying to load up our schedule with non- baseball events and again uh fulfill our promise to opening our gates and our ballpark to people um as many days out of the year as as possible. Um so, that's that's an update of 25 and 26. Um and then if anyone has any questions, I I as you know, I try to be an open door. Stuart Tyson, I I just want to say thank you, man, for an outstanding season and we don't mind winning championships in the first season. So,

we'll get you a ring. [laughter] We just missed it. Councilwoman Smith.

Yeah. Um, just want to echo the mayor's thanks. Um, I won't go on for too long, but I know almost everybody in the crowd, and I know almost all of them, everybody that I know in the crowd has been to a baseball game. Um, and just personally, my dad had season tickets and my kids were able to spend so much time with my dad just sitting there, you know, being able to just talk to each other in ways that I feel like no other activity allows for. But that's one of the things that I love about baseball. Some people say that that's one thing they hate about it is it's too long, it's too boring. But that's what is so great about it is it allows time for a relationship and it was really really [snorts] meaningful to me and my family to to see that relationship cultivated all the more. Um so thank you for all the smiles that you brought to our to our family. Um and and I want to congratulate your staff. They were such professionals to work with. everyone that we encountered in the ballpark. [clears throat]

Sam, who gave my dad a pencil every single time because he would come and get his um whatchamacallit scoreard. Score card. And he [clears throat] taught my kids how to do the scorecard. But she was always there with his pencil.

And then at the end of the season, she had made for him like um a folder for him to put all of his scorecards in. like there was just a a personal p personalization and a professionalism of of the team that worked there and Luke and SD. I mean, you just put together a a great team that I think represented Spartanberg and who we are really well. Um I do have a question on the 24 the 240,000 people that came. Um that's an incredible number. Love to see that. Did y'all keep or disagregate that? Like, do we know how many of those folks were from outside of Spartanberg?

We're still working on the what we do zip codes, so zip code data. And uh it paints, call it a majority of the picture. Obviously, we can't collect every piece of data from everyone.

Um but, uh yeah, there you can really see the hotspots and and a lot of those were uh from Spartanberg County area. And then you see a lots of random spots of people coming in and and some of those might be people coming in for travel, for business, or whatever it might be and being like, "Oh, there's a baseball game going on. I got something to do, so I'm going to go over there." Um, and then uh I think the special events is where you start to see people from outside saying, "Hey, this is a unique thing that I'm not getting anywhere close to where I live." and you start to see hot spots when you target those events and into North Carolina, western North Carolina, even the Charlotte area in some instances. Um, and then like when we were looking at the data from the South Carolina game, it was very expansive. So, that was one of those that we look at, we say, "Hey, when we're looking at events that we want to execute that are going to have um a huge economic impact, whether that be from hotel stays or people coming from outside to uh spend their money here in Spartanber County, we can now that we've executed a lot of these events, start to hone in on what is going to have the largest impact." Um, and that's something that's really important to us and I know it's important to the community overall. So, um yeah, we we should and I should in the future be able to share more data with you guys on what that looks like and kind of the spread of um of where our ticket buyers are coming from. I do know and look working with our marketing team that uh the majority is coming within a a 45 mile radius. Um but then you do have a wave of people that are coming from 60 miles plus. Uh, so that is showing that people are coming in to experience downtown Spartanberg and the Spartanbergers.

Great. Awesome. Any other questions? Councilwoman Sal, I don't have a [clears throat] question. I just want to say I thank you for supporting the community and um I can't name them all, but I know that you have been involved and that is very very nice of

I'm I'm glad you brought that up and I appreciate you saying that. I think one of the things that when we look at last year, if you were to say, "Hey, what lessons did you learn?" One of the things that was really difficult for us it um as we were starting up our business is one we understood that we needed to be focused on that to find business success so that we could uh successfully give back in various areas of the community. We did our best to start to um create relationships and plant seeds with organizations. Uh but it is one of the things that we're very focused on in 2026. Some of that is just through the we recently rolled out two different identities. One being the Spartan Regiment, uh being focused on the Spartan Regiment and and celebrating 250 years of the United States. um as well as telling that history of what has happened in Spartanberg County and the impact that it had on our country as well as the Spartanberg pastimes and focused on Duncan Park and that having a direct impact of um not only funds but awareness uh so that Duncan Park can continue to be utilized in a special way and and last for another hundred years. Um, and there'll be other things that we do uh to make sure that that impact is resonating and and trying to um have that trickle down effect that is really the reason that we exist and we know if we're not giving back then people won't give back to us. So like we want to we want to be really focused on that. We've um hired a really good person with Michael McFaden who's very focused on establishing those relationships and um we're really uh fortunate that we have a staff of people that are willing and focused on not only the giving side of um from tickets to merchandise to other things, but also with their own time, efforts, and energy uh which is really important to us to make sure that we're putting that sweat equity back into the community.

Great. Great. Council Pman.

Yeah. [clears throat] I would just like to echo some of the comments, but but um Tyson, I think, you know, when when this whole project came about, I mean, there was almost unanimous excitement in our community about what the potential for for for Spartanberger baseball could mean to Spartanberg and Fifth Third Park and the the associated development with Project Core. and you know with with irrational unlimited expectations somehow you were able to to exceed those and and I think that's a testament to you and your incredible team of of folks. Um and and I think that you know when you look at how you build something to last. It's not just exciting baseball. It's not just the product um you know behind the scenes at the stadium. It's the work that you and your team are doing inside the community. Um, you know, I've seen the mayor and I were at the the unveil of the of the brand identity that that ties into the history of baseball in our community and and the work that you're doing with with our community is just is just exceptional and and you're getting everybody that doesn't even care about baseball. You're getting folks excited about uh Spartanberger baseball. And it's it's so great for our identity as a community to have something like the Spartanbergers that whether you're Walford or Upstate or Spartanberg High School or Dorman, we all are Spartanbergers and and and I think that is something that is u extremely exciting and is made possible by the work that you and your team are doing and and I'm just excited about year two and can't wait for the championship. And I do have one question. Um I can't remember but what was our record versus Greenville last year? Uh, we were better. [laughter] I don't know exactly, but we were better. There's some posts out there of us poking at them, and we'll continue to do that if people enjoy it. So, and you see those posts, please like and share, so that it helps the algorithm.

I enjoy it as long as the record stays good. Yes. [laughter] We'll get really quiet when they start reading this. No. Uh, outstanding. And And you may mention I I do remember opening night here. um for us last year. Greenville had a game the same night and to have the attendance that we had and I also heard that Greenville had a pretty good that was just one thing we both can exist together and again long as we continue to be have a better record at the end of the year uh than Greenville we're definitely heading in the right direction. I know it was job creations. I did want to u mention it. About how many would you say? Part-time and everything. You know, I know it's seasonal, but

yeah. So, we have a full-time staff of around 25 individuals. Um and then uh the biggest balloon in staffing does come during the season and other events, which is again uh another reason that we want to try to execute as many events throughout the year because it allows us to provide more hours to more people. Um, on a given game day, there's around a hundred different uh roles that we staff for. Uh, so as far as the the staffing list of people, there's usually around 200 to 250 individuals that could be staffed. Awesome. Awesome. Mr. Ty, now she clicks in.

Well, I just had one question. if for the 2026 season if the mayor would have an opportunity for redemption [laughter] on throwing out the first pitch. I'm glad I gave you guys a highlight. If he's willing to come out every single night, we can try to break a Guinness Poker world record for most first pitches by a mayor in history. I'm G. We'll let you throw as many as you want until your shoulder blows out. That needs a doover. Okay. [laughter] Can't make it to the point. There we go. There we go. I'm glad you guys had a laugh. No, Tyson, again, thank you and uh thank you to the Spartanberers, man. I mean, just tremendous uh effort put forth by a lot of people, but especially your team.

Thank you. Thanks, everybody. Great. Great news. We're at item seven, guys. Consent agenda. Mr. Make a motion approve the consent agenda. Second. I always ask approving A and B. Yes, sir. Okay. Just want to make sure. I heard a second. Do I hear um um need a motion? Yes. And all in favor? I.

Any that opposed? Eyes have it. Awesome. Staff update. Mr. Story. Mr. Mayor, I'll be brief. U just to quick update on, you know, for several years we've been working towards bringing to downtown um an affordable housing uh uh apartment development uh at the corner of Kennedy and Converse Streets. and we received confirmation u since our last meeting that the uh tax credits have been awarded for that. So that project's a go. Um it'll move to to final design. Um but I just want to pass along that bit of good news as we try to build a downtown that is

for everyone and and u was that 80 80 units? Believe it's 60. Uh um but I I will confirm the the the the count there. Uh but it'll be a I'm pleased about bringing that affordable component to the downtown. I'm also pleased about putting putting to work uh a smart location uh that will work well um in an underutilized uh uh piece of our downtown. So that is good news. Um, and I u don't have any other items. Um, but certainly welcome any questions that you have.

All right. Council uh updates. Councilwoman Rogers.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, so a comment that I made in our last meeting was about civic engagement. We had [clears throat] a collection of youth in the room that were participating in state for the majority of the meeting. As I attend more of these meetings and see familiar faces in the audience, there's there is community engagement and civic engagement where people are present and participating. I know this room has had a lot of activity in the past week or so and I would just encourage continued civic engagement and um you know we here are representing the members of our community on city council on county council and I would just encourage you to participate in in the decisions that are happening in our community for the future and to communicate those to your representative. The other thing that I wanted to highlight was just the wonderful uh walk with you on Saturday, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you for coming out. I do appreciate that.

Yes, [laughter] it was it was definitely a drizzly morning to start, but it ended up being beautiful. But, um I really enjoyed learning about the Highland neighborhood. Councilwoman Sally, it was so good to see you as well um on Saturday. But I I think you know learning about the Bethlehem Center, learning um what our city um parks and recreation is doing to really engage the youth, the facilities that are there, the plans for the Bethlehem Center in the future. Um it's just it's so fulfilling and exciting to see the community partners uh Wford Sam um and uh I am forgetting I'm forgetting a

Macedonia the church. Thank you. Thank you. Um but people that are really engaged in making making a life for not only our community but our youth and focusing on you know supporting them as they grow through through our city um and and carry on to to hopefully bring a better future for all of us. So I will hopefully continue to join you on those walks um and meet more members. But thank you. Thank you Councilwoman Smith. I think the mayor is throwing shade at those of us that did not come on Saturday,

but not not much from from me tonight. Um, my heart has been heavy these last two weeks with the pedestrian fatalities that we've had in our in our community. Um, my sen my son is a senior at Dorman High School and and one of those fatalities was a also a senior. um you know students who are right on the edge of the rest [snorts] of their life um and you know taken taken too soon. And then just yesterday a woman who was crossing the street to go to her church and you know sing sing her hymn see her friends and um instead she was singing singing in heaven. But just please pay attention as as you're as you're out driving. Um it sounds so simple and cliche, but not when you take someone's life. So um I've just been reminded these past two weeks how um frail we all really are and how we need to just tell people that we love them when we love them. Um make it weird, make them feel uncomfortable because you never know when the last time you'll see them,

right? So, yeah. I love all of y'all. Thank you. Love you, too. Councilwoman Brown, I love you, too.

Uh, Mr. Mayor, I'm I'm turning into Rob Rain because I don't have anything to just thank y'all for being here. I'm still, you know, on the road to recovery. So, I'm, you know, I unfortunately was not able to do the walk because I'm not allowed to do anything heavy incline wise. And I know how you like to incorporate all those hills on the mayor's walk. So, but I do look forward to getting back to those walks and um just chatting with our neighbors and I'm looking forward hopefully to some warmer weather. Um what's going on up north is exciting and scary and I'm glad it's not here. So, um but thank you. Thank you,

Councilwoman S. Thank you, Mayor. I want to say good evening to each and every one of you and thank you for coming. Um, yes. I I know the mayor thought I was not going to show up Saturday, but I did. And I said, I'll wait till the rain stop before I go. But thank you for using utilizing District 5 for your mayor's walk. Um, I think that uh it's always a learning experience no matter which way you go in the city. And um let's hope and pray that we don't have any snow and ice. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Foreman.

Yes, sir. Mr. Mayor, [clears throat] I just want to comment that, you know, if you've been downtown lately, it's a bit of a mess. I mean, um, but it's an exciting mess because it's progress. Uh, we're seeing dirt move on multiple sites throughout our downtown. And so as you think about the future and what it means, we talked about the Hub City Spartanbergers and Fifth Third Park all come to f that's come to fruition in the last year. These other projects will come to fruition in the next uh couple of years. Uh and and so progress can be disruptive, but it's also very exciting. And I would encourage everybody not only to support merchants throughout the city of Spartanberg, but also uh especially our downtown merchants during this period of transition. I think Christopher and the team have done a good job of outlining and highlighting the the parking availability. We have the the shuttle services in the valet parking. So, uh despite some of what you read on on social media, it is very accessible. I have gone downtown and have found no trouble in finding a parking space uh and have enjoyed my walks from where I have parked to my my uh destination of choice. So, um I would encourage everybody to continue to go downtown and and support our merchants and uh just be excited about what what is the seeds that have been planted and the and what will come in in years to come. Thanks.

Awesome. Mayor Pro 10. Thank everybody for coming out. That's [clears throat] it, Mr. Mayor. That's it, Maru. Wow. No. Um, [laughter]

one last thing. Um, I I did mention um No, before I go to Jesse Jackson, I did have the opportunity I I do want to take this opportunity to say thanks to Charles Delera. Uh if you don't know who Charles is, Charles Delera helped um um redo the uh baseball field, the youth fields over in Duncan Park. They had a screening last Wednesday, I think it was, of of just the movie, a premere movie of that redoing that park and everything that went into it. It's under the Harry the Delera Foundation, which is his father, but Charles is the local guy u that that put his own, you know, tears and sweat into that effort. Um Tyson mentioned Walford and USC and uh I I was downtown that evening and man and just to see the excitement again it was a beautiful beautiful evening uh to see the excitement uh for baseball back in um Spartanberg is just great. Also on yesterday, I will not um u uh fail to mention the United Teams takeover. Yesterday at CC Woodson from 5 into 8 young people putting a program together. They had a keynote speaker. They had uh vendors that were uh um the young people in their jobs or future entreprene um entrepreneurs and future businesses. Again, on a Sunday afternoon, Kim, I don't know the number. I know it was well over 50 or so kids just there having fun and uh connecting with one another. just opportunities we have to continue to do. Thank you to you and your staff for what you guys are doing. I know we're in constant communication

about young people, but uh again, just a tremendous effort there. And uh last but not least, again, I just think about the Reverend Jesse Jackson and he would always uh mention uh to keep hope alive and and that's what we all living for, hope. Uh do I hear a motion? Make a motion in executive session. Second. All in favor? I any that oppose? Eyes have it. Thank you all for coming out this evening.