County Council Dist. 5 Tommy Dunn
Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
1. What is the role of Anderson County Council?
Our role is to serve our citizens by providing quality public safety, infrastructure, and community services. The extent to which we provide these things is defined by our constituents. I’ve found that people want to see value out of their hard-earned tax dollars, and when they have a problem or concern that’s a local responsibility, they want it addressed in a timely manner. We have to serve as a voice for all the citizens and not become beholden to special interest groups with particular agendas.
2. What are the top three issues facing Anderson County over the next three years?
I think the issues of growth combined with housing and infrastructure needs are on everyone’s mind to some extent, and these three issues are all related. Lots of counties across the state are growing way too fast, while others are losing population and face pretty grim futures. Our population growth rate in Anderson County is about 1% annually, which I think is healthy, manageable, and reasonable. The issue as I see it is to try and spread this growth out over the county so that certain communities aren’t overwhelmed by the impacts of new housing development and the strain it outs on roads, schools, and other services.
3. What are the top three challenges for Dist. 5 over that same time period?
I’ve always looked at District 5 as a “town & country” area. It’s just close enough to the city for us to enjoy movie, theaters, restaurants, shopping centers, and the like, but far enough out to where you can see cattle grazing and crops growing right across the street from you. The first challenge as I see it is to help District Five maintain that character which makes it so special.
At the same time, I very much want kids raised in District Five to stay in District Five when they become adults and start their own families, and that leads into the next big challenge we face. Our community needs more housing for people who work for a living, and a lot of what’s being built nowadays is way beyond the means of our younger families. There’s not enough rental housing available for them either, and we need to address that.
Our third challenge is keeping up with the needs of our public safety infrastructure—law enforcement, fire protection, emergency management, and EMS. I’ll continue to do all I can to make sure we are providing these local agencies with what they need to do their jobs, and that means us folks on County Council have to be aware of what’s going on in our communities and are listening to what we are being told by our citizens as well as those working in public safety.
4. During your service on Council what are the three things of which you are most proud?
Since I came onto Council we’ve recruited 118 major economic development projects to Anderson County. They’ve accounted for almost $5 billion in capital investment and direct creation of almost 9,000 jobs. We recruited a broad range of industries, so a downturn affecting one sector won’t have an impact that hurts our whole local economy. Because of our strategy Anderson County has weathered two major national economic downturns, and I’m very proud of that.
Over the past couple of years, we’ve completely overhauled the county’s old, fragmented, and inefficient EMS system and replaced it with a model that has led to improved care, better quality control, faster response times, and—most importantly—far superior outcomes for patients. This is the real-life stuff that affects people in their hour of need, and I’m proud to have played a part in this effort.
Finally, I’m proud that so many folks have seen fit to support me over the years. I try to treat everyone honestly and fairly, and I would be humbled by being given the opportunity to continue serving you on County Council. If you have questions, comments, or concerns, please call me any time at (864) 844-3765.