Tag Archive

Video: Spartanburg City Council, Monday, March 8, 2010

By Steve Shanafelt

Spartanburg City Council heard from several nonprofit groups that have applied for Community Development Block Grants and HOME funds. The groups have requested a combined $130,944 in CDBG funds and $75,000 in HOME Funding. The public hearing was purely for informational purposes, and council took no action on the requests. Council also voted unanimously... »

Video: Spartanburg City Council Feb. 22, 2010

By Christopher George

At Monday’s meeting, Spartanburg City Council gave final approval to two rezoning requests. 700 Wofford Street was originally designated B-1 (Neighborhood Shopping District) and will now be designated R-8 (General Residential District) to allow for the construction of new Habitat for Humanity Homes. 778 South Church Street was rezoned from B-1 to... »

Video: Spartanburg City Council Feb. 9, 2010

By Christopher George

Video from the Spartanburg City Council meeting on February 9, 2010. »

Video: Spartanburg City Council, Jan. 25, 2010

By Steve Shanafelt

Video from the Spartanburg City Council meeting on Jan. 25, 2010. »

Video: Spartanburg City Council, Jan. 11, 2010

By Steve Shanafelt

If you’d like to know what happened at the meeting before you commit to watching these videos, the Spark’s coverage (which, unlike the videos, was actually timely) can be found here. In brief: Election of 2010 Mayor Pro Tem; appointments to Appalachian Council of Governments (ACOG) Board; ratification of Neighborhood Stabilization acquisitions; second reading of... »

City Council: Brownfields Grant and a New Mayor Pro Tem

By Christopher George

“I feel like a husband on his honeymoon,” Mayor Junie White said as he presided over his first council meeting. “I know what I’m supposed to do and how to do it, but it’s going to take a little time and practice for me to get used to it.” The meeting was... »

Video: Spartanburg City Council, Dec. 15, 2009

By Steve Shanafelt

Due to a number of unfortunate factors (the holidays and the lack of a stable Linux video editor being the main culprits), I haven’t been able to edit and post the video from last-month’s Spartanburg City Council meeting until this week. I think I’ve resolved all of the big issues, and hopefully we’ll now... »

City Council: Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan Adopted

By Christopher George

City Council voted unanimously to pass the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan at Tuesday night’s meeting. Development of the plan was funded by the county and city governments as well as by the Mary Black Foundation and the Spartanburg area Transit Study. The plan calls for 253.7 miles of additional sidewalk... »

City Council: Annexation, Panhandling, and Wayfinding

By Christopher George

Despite the threat of a lawsuit from Spartanburg attorney Eric Nodine, Council voted to move forward with its plans to annex 40 properties in the Hillbrook Forest and Arbours Commons subdivisions on Spartanburg’s east side. Nodine told council during the public hearing that by his calculations the city does not have the necessary 75% of... »

Sparkle City Headlines: Westside Annexation Woes And The 2010 Census

By Steve Shanafelt

Last week, Spartanburg City Council moved forward with plans to begin the annexation of more than 800 properties in the Westside area. They did so amid clear protest from many of those who own the annexed properties, many of whom are unhappy that a sewer agreement signed during the Reagan era is forcing them... »

Flying Oskar: Sweeping Spartanburg’s Panhandlers Under The Rug

By Christopher George

Sometimes those little things tacked on at the end of a story are more interesting than the things that make it to the top of the page. Such was the case last Tuesday night when I was writing my usual city council wrap-up story. Buried by the drama of the much-anticipated westside annexation battle... »

Spartanburg City Council, Nov. 17, 2009

By Steve Shanafelt

Here’s the video from the Spartanburg City Council’s Nov. 17 meeting. Please forgive the low quality video, as we were still figuring out the limits of the equipment, and shot this at the lowest possible video setting. To view the entire playlist, click here. Again, please bear with us as we figure out our equipment... »

City Council: Westside Annexation Moves Forward

By Christopher George

After receiving a tongue-lashing from westside residents, City Council voted on Tuesday to move forward with the annexation of more than 800 properties in the area. The proposed annexation is expected to bring approximately 1,600 new residents into the city, and increase tax revenues by an estimated $500,000 per year. There was a full... »

Sparkle City Headlines: Municipal Election Year Shuffle

By Steve Shanafelt

When I ran across Jason Spencer’s story in today’s Spartanburg Herald-Journal floating the idea of changing the municipal and school board elections to fall on the standard, even-numbered years, I couldn’t help but crack a smile. After all, the Spark has been loudly promoting this discussion — more or less alone — for months... »

Big Idea: Improving Local Elections

By Steve Shanafelt

As I mentioned yesterday, my first voting experience in Spartanburg was troubling for a couple of reasons, not the least of which being finding the polling station. But after spending last evening at the Spartanburg County Office of Registrations and Elections — and seeing the work they put in — I’m reluctant to point... »