City Council - Regular Meeting

Okay. Okay. How are you? Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Let us call the City of Spartanburg City Council meeting to order. We're going to stand for a moment of silence, then be led by the Pledge of Allegiance. I'm looking out for a Boy Scout. Don't see one, but let us stand for a moment of silence, please. Amen. Mayor Pro Tem, lead us in the pledge, please. I pledge allegiance 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 for that. If you don't mind, please silence your phones, because I hear mine. Beeping in the back. Council, Mayor Pro Tem, check your advice.

I made one mistake one time and I will never outlive it.

Item three, approve of the minutes for the May 26, 2026 City Council meeting.

Second. All in favor? Aye. Before we go to item four, we want to amend The boards and commission, it's item 11. Yes. Item 11, City of Spartanburg Boards and Commission Appointment. We will amend that, take it off the agenda, bring it back at a later date. Do I hear a motion to amend?

Make a motion that we amend the agenda as described. Second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Any that opposed? Ayes have it. So now can I get the approval of the agenda as amended for June 8, 2026? So moved. Second. Second. All in favor? Aye. Ayes have it. We have public comment at this time. We have a couple, a few here. And the way the public comments work is that all you have to give us is your first and last name. We have your other information here on the printout that you sent in. And just get up, tell us your first and last name. And you have two minutes to state your name. opinion or thoughts or what have you.

First, we have Ms. Vanessa Lech.

Yes, ma'am. Come on up.

Did I come up too soon?

No, you're good.

My name is Vanessa Lech. Spartanburg City's trap-neuter-release policy for feral cats is a failure, and the situation on Collins Avenue is worsening. I've witnessed large numbers of cats throughout the area. I've already sent evidence to the full city council through city staff from PETA, people for the ethical treatment of animals and wildlife conservation experts documenting the issues with trap, neuter, release policies. Feral cats are known carriers of numerous diseases, including but not limited to toxoplasmosis. Some of these diseases have already caused environmental damage in places where feral cat populations were allowed to continue spiraling out of control. These policies encourage pet abandonment. The people abandoning these animals should be held criminally and financially accountable whenever legally possible. Taxpayers are still subsidizing these policies even when NGOs are heavily involved because animal control officers are taxpayer funded. Residents of my household suffer from severe cat allergies that do interfere with breathing and require urgent medical treatment. After repeated calls to animal control, nothing has improved because trap neuter release has replaced real animal control. end trap-neuter-release immediately. Public policy should not be dictated by activist NGOs that pressure local governments into adopting failed trap-neuter-release policies. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Henry.

I'm great. How are you today? Got my time here for you. I won't be too long. My name is Henry Leck. I'm Vanessa's husband, proud member of the South Converse neighborhood, invested in the community, friends of Duncan Park for the revitalization of the stadium. I both run both the American League of Baseball teams and I'm working with Kim and Scott to bring my team that I coach. It's a college level team in Spartanburg County and we're going to bring them for the celebration of the 100 year to have a game for the community. But I'm here on TNR. My concern is not whether we care about animals, we all do. My concern is whether this program is producing measurable results. Before public funds are spent on any program, taxpayers deserve to know what success looks like, how it's measured, and whether those goals are being achieved. If we cannot clearly demonstrate that TNR is reducing the feral cat population, then we need to reevaluate whether the program is accomplishing its intended purpose. While TNR may prevent future litters, it does not remove existing cats from neighborhoods. Residents in my neighborhood, we all got together on this. We still deal with cats on our property. They're ruining our gardens. They're under our homes and in our crawl spaces, and they're around our businesses. Many citizens did not choose to host a cat colony, yet they are often expected to live without the consequences. The rights and concerns of property owners should be considered alongside the goals of any animal management program. In closing, thank you for your time and consideration. I respectfully ask the council to review the city's TNR program, its cost, its results, and its long-term effectiveness so that citizens can have confidence that public resources are being used widely. Thank you, council. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, sir. We have Mr. Joshua. No, I'm sorry. Isaac Quick first.

Mayor, members of council, and distinguished city leaders, on behalf of Christian Families Against Destructive Decisions, we stand before you today with deep gratitude and genuine honor. Thank you for naming what matters. We sincerely thank you for recognizing June 2026 as Forging Strong Fathers and Families Month. Your leadership in making this declaration sends a powerful message not just to individual households, but to our entire community. that strong families are foundational to a thriving city. Too often, conversations about fathers and families are treated as private matters, confined to walls of a home. But today you have affirmed something profoundly important. that strong fathers and strong families are community issues. They impact the safety of our neighborhoods, the well-being of our children, the stability of our schools, and the future of our city. When fathers are present, engaged, and supported, children are more likely to succeed academically, avoid risky behaviors, and grow into responsible contributing adults. When families are strengthened, communities become safer, more compassionate, and more resilient. Your proclamation is more than symbolic. It is a statement of values. It declares that we as a city are willing to invest in the foundational relationships that shape the next generation. We also recognize that this work is not easy. Strengthening fathers and families requires collaboration from nonprofits, churches, educators, and civic leaders alike. And today, by issuing this recognition, you have taken an important step in fostering that collaboration. To the mayor, to each council member, To all city leadership, thank you for your vision, your courage, your willingness to elevate what truly matters. I'm closing. As an organization that is fully invested in the mission of building strong families and generational heritages, it would be our honor to stand with you in this effort. Together, we can build stronger fathers, stronger families, and a stronger future for our city. Thank you, sir.

Thank you. I do appreciate it. Joshua, quick.

Good evening. I'm also here to represent CFAD. CFAD believes that fathers are not the problem to be condemned but part of the solution to be called forward. I stand before you as owner of Quick Bail Bonds here in Spartanburg. Doing what I do, what I can tell you is almost 95 percent of the people that come through my business every day come from single-parent families. What I've learned is that Across the state, 24% of our households are single-family households. However, based on the number of children in those households, 41% of all the kids in the state are in single-parent households. that directly contributes to crime, punishment, imprisonment. And too often what we do is we address the proximate cause. What's the closest cause to crime? Poverty. And we try to address poverty in economics. But just because something is the approximate cause does not mean it's the root cause. And the root cause of this is broken families and fatherlessness. And I see it every single day. Spartanburg City, 33 percent, according to a recent census of our children, excuse me, 33 percent of households are single-parent households. But then the question is, what percentage of those are our children? Is that 50 percent of the population based on how many children are in the household? If that is 50 percent of the population, what does that look like for Spartanburg City in the years ahead? it does my business grow at the expense of families. We stand here saying that we appreciate your initiative. We see the need and as my business pours back into organizations like CFAD and we stand and we see to fight that need for the betterment of our community, we are asking for a partnership with you all that will allow us to change the tide of our children and our communities so that education and industry and progress can be brought forward because that's not gonna come from broken households.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Summer Benton.

Good evening, Mayor, council members. I serve also with Christian Families Against Destructive Decisions or CFAB for short. First, I want to sincerely thank the mayor and this council for recognizing June 2026 as Forging Strong Fathers and Families Month. That kind of declaration sends a message to our city that fathers matter, families matter, and the future of Spartanburg matters. Today, Spartanburg's families are under pressure. At CFAD, we believe that strong fathers help build strong homes, and strong homes help build strong neighborhoods. Strong neighborhoods help build a stronger Spartanburg. We also believe fathers are not the problem to be condemned, but the critical part of the solution to be called forward. There are many men in this city who want to do better, lead better, love better, and stand stronger for their families. They simply need a call, a community, and a standard. That is why on Father's Day, June 21st of this year, in a couple weeks from now, CFAD is hosting the Fatherhood Standard at the Beacon Restaurant parking lot from 1.30 p.m. to 2 p.m. It will be a brief but focused public gathering calling fathers, grandfathers, future fathers, pastors, leaders, community leaders, and families to raise the standard for our homes and our city. We want the city to know that CFAD is ready to help at the grassroots level through fatherhood training, family strengthening, mentoring, community mobilization, and ongoing support beyond Father's Day. Over the coming weeks, we are launching Operation Watchmen, Fatherhood and Community Stability. Our aim is simple and bold, to help Spartanburg see that fatherhood is a community stability issue and raise up to 1,000 men who will take their place as watchmen for their homes, churches, and neighborhoods. So again, we thank you, Mayor and members of the City Council, for recognizing this need, and CFAS stands ready to help turn this declaration into action. We saw your post on Facebook, and at the last minute, we asked just for a few of the young men who are from our organization, who have been blessed, who did not know their fathers, but have their fathers come. That's easy. We don't mean you see in the suits and so forth. So I say that we have a track record of impacting and we want to partner with y'all to hopefully increase their impact for our fathers.

Thank you. Thank you all for being here. Haley. Drought. Drought. I'm getting better.

Yes, hello. I just wanted to say how much I love living in Spartanburg. Moving to Greenville and then moving to Spartanburg, I just enjoy the community here. I enjoy how walkable it is downtown. And I like Morgan Square. And I'd love for it to continue to grow. And I like the arts that we have in Morgan Square. I think it'd be really cool to continue the arts more into Barnet Park and utilize the amphitheater that we have and just continue to do more art events and for the city to support those events and all of the, there's so many colleges with theater programs and art programs and seeing support for that so that we can grow and the city can bring in more money and more reasons for buses to go downtown and more reasons for people to walk around would be amazing. So thank you so much for this great city. I like it.

Thank you. Thank you.

We're at item six. We have a proclamation declaring June as Ford and Strong Fathers and Family Month. I'll be presenting this to the actual Fatherhood Coalition, Upstate Fatherhood Coalition, headed up here locally by Phillip Haygood, Mr. Buckmeyer, Ms. Martha, and I'm sorry. So to you all and everyone else that's present for this presentation, we do strongly believe in strong fathers and fathers. Working with the Fatherhood Coalition for quite some time and seeing the impact in our school system, We always can depend on mom to come to the school, but when you have fathers at the school, it's a totally different, it happens here, totally different. So I've always been ready and able to do whatever I could and cater for the fatherhood coalition.

So on behalf of the city of Spartanburg and today, Whereas fathers serve as the foundational architect in forming strong and resilient families, providing unwavering love, steadfast guidance, and constant support that shape the character of their children and the future of all communities. And whereas the profound influence of engaged fathers on their children's development is transformative as they impact core values, build emotional resilience, and equip young people to thrive socially, academically, and personally. Whereas the South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families, established in 2002, demonstrated a remarkable increase in impact annually by serving thousands of fathers and children statewide. Whereas through the long-standing and productive collaboration with the South Carolina Department of Social Services, along with numerous state, local, and private partners, the center has expanded its footprint from strategically open new offices now operating 15 hubs, hub locations that deliver services across all 46 counties of the state of South Carolina. Whereas centers has strengthened its Fathers 365 statewide network, regionally affiliated, enabling thousands of fathers to access high-quality programming and partner in healthy relationship, economic mobility, job training, legal navigation, and mental health support. Whereas when fathers actively engage in forging deep and purposeful relationships with their children, these families experience powerful outcomes, including more income earned by program participants, more children support pay, more saved incarceration costs, while the center continues to serve as a national model for innovative and effective fatherhood.

All right, now I'm not as flustered. I got the microphone. So for Red, White, and Moon, we're really going to push out the patriotism message, the 250th celebration. We already done our save the date. Then we're going to start taking out the different elements, the pre-show being the first element that includes the band, the parade. Then we're going to move on into the patriotic programming at Fifth Third Park, as well as the, you know, thing that people are most interested in, the fireworks. So we'll talk about that. We've got posters, billboards, the Spartanburgers are helping us advertise on the marquee and at the games. So we've got some graphics that way. Another thing that was promoted on WSPA website, there's even t-shirts. So, you know, get yours. But yeah, we'll start running additional posts this week and continue into the weeks leading up to the event, increasing the post as we go.

And also one week after Red, White, and Boom, we will be at Duncan Park Stadium celebrating 100 years there. And this also is a collaborative effort in the planning with the Friends of Duncan Park The Spartanburgers have been great. Actually, on the 8th, there will be Duncan Park Stadium replicas given away at the game. And so they will start. And they have been promoting the history of baseball in Spartanburg throughout the season with their, I think, six different pastime games. And so there will be one on the 8th. And then the friends of Duncan Park will put together a small program and we'll unveil some history plaques there at the stadium. And our hopes is having young people there starting at nine. We are a Nike RBI affiliate, so we'll hold a play ball event there and finish up the day. I just learned that. there is one thing that changes. That is actually a college wooden bat game at one o'clock, not a high school game. So we'll make sure we get that corrected. But once again, you can see the collaboration of a number of organizations along with city staff planning our events. And Jess, if you don't mind, I'll go ahead and mention just a couple of other things when it comes to celebration of the 250. If you'll see in our community centers, at our camps, in our pools, there'll be different themed activities throughout the month of July. So you may walk into a community center and all the kids are wearing red, white, and blue or they maybe have flags or there's something at the pool. So we wanna make sure that we embed that throughout the programming that we already have. I think everyone knows that we have lengthened Music on Main to include one extra month this year. That came out of a recommendation from a lot of people about being able to extend it. We hope that we'll have good weather. Last year, we had no cancellations. This year, we have four more weeks of Music on Main. And then just to end up with the 250th celebration International Festival this year, instead of having one honored country, that honored space will be dedicated to the 250th and bringing that history into that space. Are there any questions?

Kim, I would like for you to tell us a little bit about this past weekend. It just goes to show our programming and what's possible and what goes on when we had the kids at CC and even Chad. I know some of us may try to talk about it as well, but just how we're just activating the community in a sense.

Certainly. On Friday, we had the opportunity to host Stop the Violence Coalition at CC Woodson for their tea night. I think at last count, there were about 175 young people that attended. There were speakers there, a very high presence of first responders, city police officers, county police, there just to engage with the young people. I left early, but I think there may have been a basketball game between the young people. And so that's really gearing us up. City Parks and Rec, we will host, I think, five, midnight basketball games up until the beginning of August. So we'll probably release those dates midweek. And we've actually asked some of our partners, Upstate Fatherhood Coalition has actually already jumped on one date to help us host those. So we'll see those come up during the, During the summer and that was a specific ask from those young people is give us space in the gyms To hold those games and and we will do this that and then on Saturday morning We had the community health awareness day, which is in partnership with a Spartanburg d9 the regional hospital system Regenesis and so we had a very good turnout there at TK Gregg Started off with a health walk, had health screenings, lots of vendors out for people to get information, and the weather was nice, and so we feel like it was a super success.

Thank you for that. Any other questions? I just want to thank you all for this. As it relates to the celebration at Duncan Park and the play ball initiative and maybe some of the other activities, Jess or Kim, are we engaging with like the, I know we have very active Little League, programs throughout the city. Hillbrook is probably the largest. Are we engaging with them to get them and their players activated in this?

You're actually right. Through Nike RBI, we have the affiliate, but Hillbrook is a part of that partnership with us as well as Youth Sports Bureau. We engage both of those organizations and then we will put it out to the general public to get kids out. Thank you.

Kim, I want to thank you all for the wonderful job that you did on Saturday. I had said I wasn't going to go to chat because my schedule was so busy and I got up there and I didn't leave up until about 12 o'clock. It was wonderful and there were so many vendors. I just really enjoyed it and food was good too.

And once again, that's a planning committee that meets throughout the year to put chat on.

Thank you. Thank you, guys. We do appreciate all that you guys do. Thanks a lot. Item 8, we have consent agenda. Mr. Mayor, I make a motion we approve the consent agenda. Second. All in favor? Aye. Any that opposed?

Ayes have it. Item 9, ordinance, an ordinance to provide the adoption of the city operating budget, its execution and effective for the physical period July 1st, 2026 through June 30th, 2027.

Presenter will be Mr. Chris Story, city manager, and Mr. Dennis Locke is there on deck.

Mr. Mayor and members of council, this item would have been on the consent agenda if not for the fact that we've made a couple of insertions since first reading consideration. Those insertions are the results of two open processes that allocate grants to organizations that fuel quality of life and the tourist and visitor economy in our community. Those are the hospitality tax discretionary grants and the accommodations tax grant processes. Those two committees, their compositions appointed by you all, they meet in the springtime and sometimes the calendars align perfectly and their recommendations can be included at first reading and sometimes they do not. This time they were inserted and are included in the document for second reading. It changes. None of the totals, it just simply includes the individual allocation amounts for transparency to the public. But we can, of course, discuss any budget-related matters that you would like and consider any amendments that you would like to consider or anything of that nature. Dennis and I are here as well as other members of the team if we can address any questions relating to the operating budget for next year.

Question, Mr. Foreman. Chris, thank you. I read through the insert today and I noticed on the hospitality. The Shrine Bowl was the largest difference from year over year. We gave, I think, $40,000 last year and we allocated zero this year. Is the Shrine Bowl moving? No, they did not.

No. They did not apply. They didn't apply. They didn't apply.

Okay. Do we have any insight into that?

I did go out to the airport and Joe Sessom is the one that's always responsible. He was in a serious accident and the person that was taking his place did not proceed with the request.

Okay. I mean... I want to be considered the committee, but also, I mean, that's a big event in Spartanburg, and I want to make sure that we, I mean, I'd hate to lose that activity just simply based on, I mean, it's a one-man, two-man, three-man shop. I mean, I get timelines and all that, but we ought to look at that, maybe not in the context of the hospitality committee's recommendation, but in some way to make sure that we're as a team adequately supporting that event. They bring thousands of people. There's a lot of visibility for Spartanburg associated with that.

There have been previous years that they missed the application and did not receive funding and went forward with their

It will move on, but those funds are needed to put the Shrine Bowl on. I've talked with them last year, and I guess I could say I dropped the ball as well, but it has been, Joe, and they've been looking to move two other leaders that could possibly step up and... be in the forefront of helping the Shrine Bowl stay here. It's an impactful event for the city the entire week and it's worthwhile. We definitely need to look into it.

We'll be happy to reach out to that group and check in with them about the event and its future and needs and provide an update to you all.

Yeah, thank you. Otherwise, we lose it to Myrtle Beach because I know that's who's been trying to get it.

Well, yeah, and I did notice, too, I just was curious, that the Museum of Art got a $20,000 allocation. Are they doing something special?

They're doing a mogul.

I think it was the Museum of Art, wasn't it?

Or Spartanburg Art Museum.

Yeah, old term, sorry.

They're doing a mobile-type unit and needing the extra dollars to... I am correct, right?

Yes, it was an additional project scope.

Those were just the two biggest sort of swings in that, and I was just curious what they were.

I will say to your question, the committee did award money in places that would really bring tourism. We looked at all the different Are you coming? Are you bringing external? Are you eating here? Are you interacting? Are we doing different interest areas from science to reading to free events? It was pretty comprehensive in terms of how we allocated and talked through each application.

Any other questions? Mr. Stewart? All right. Do I hear?

Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we adopt the budget. Second.

All in favor? Aye. Any that opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you, Mr. Story. Resolution item 10, resolution allocating the fiscal year 2026 community development block grants and home partnership funds. Mr. Martin Livingston, Community Development Director. Mr. Livingston, you have the podium. Good evening, Mayor, members of council.

Grounding the swim area, and it was just really cool to see, and I hope to make a meet sometime this year as well. And happy Pride Month. Good to see y'all.

good to see you um well you as as councilwoman sally would say you're still in my thunder you can see i just pulled up the schedule oh gotcha for this uh tiger sharks uh one thing i am proud of as as well as i'm sure everyone on the council are the tiger sharks their third year in existence they will be swimming tomorrow at the carolina country club so come out and see them on tomorrow at six uh six o'clock they will swim next tuesday at Dr. TK Gregg at 6 o'clock, and that's the 16th, and they will have a meet on the 23rd at Willis Road. Which one is Willis Road? Westside. Westside. Westside, YMCA. Okay, Westside, YMCA. And that's, of course, at 6 as well. And then that Saturday, the 27th, will be the all-team final meet, so it's like their little championship meet there up in Duncan. So I have had the opportunity to see him in the past. I have not seen him this year. I actually raced against a couple of them this past summer and I lost. Truly did. I mean, wow, this thing is long. But it is outstanding, guys. And I think I've shared stories about swimming. and all, but it is outstanding for Dr. TK Gregg and to see our team and the impact, the diversity within our team, man, it's just truly, truly, truly awesome. This weekend was a full weekend of activity as well as put the guns down, stop the violence weekend as well. We kicked it off with the proclamation at the courthouse uh... they participated in the charity that with the wall they even had a little of service last night and that's all of the uh... honor of uh... the beacon just walked out he let him have a service at the beacon last night at six o'clock uh... where they make candles prayed uh... for some of the victims and uh... past victims and just an outstanding event. So I do appreciate them putting that on. And just be mindful of our young people throughout the summer. Again, Fatherhood Coalition, thank you guys. CFAD, thank you guys as well. You heard. I would definitely hope to see you guys involved as well. I will be there in support and supervision. Only once a year now. But other than that, we appreciate everyone for being here this evening. Thank you for coming out. And to all of our graduates, good to see you. Clemson grad over there.

All right.

And do I hear a motion, guys?

I move.

You move. Second. All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Thank you. Let's go to executive session.