Election 2011 | Conway City Council candidates (updated)

Vivian Chestnut (incumbent)

Age | 76

Office running for | Conway City Council

Family | Husband Paul, 2 daughters, Lynn and Paula and 4 grandchildren

Education | High School diploma from Aynor High School with 50 years of business experience.

Military | none

Previous offices held | Conway City Council 1995- to present.

Other civic experience | First Citizens Bank Advisory board, Clemson Extension Advisory Board, Family Outreach Board and many other memberships and awards.

What’s one primary contribution you can make, if elected, to help the Grand Strand’s economic recovery? | "I can work to make city government more user friendly for businesses that exist or want to locate in the City of Conway."

Randy Alford (challenger)

Age | 54

Office running for | Conway City Council

Family | Dr. Siena Shields Alford, wife; three sons

Education | Undergraduate degree with honors from USC; graduate program from Wharton

School of Business

Military | none

Previous offices held | Conway City Council, 2005-2009

Other civic experience | president, Rotary Club of Conway; former member, a Lions club in another city; member,

Chamber of Commerce; former member, Main Street USA; graduate, Leadership Conway

What’s one primary contribution you can make, if elected, to help the Grand Strand’s economic recovery?

Small businesses with less than 10 employees provide most of the new jobs so I would be in favor of giving a business license tax credit to a business for hiring one new full-time employee during the fiscal year. This hiring would have to be confirmed via the IRS and Social Security. I would strongly encourage citizens to shop at home. By evaluating the per capita income and the business license revenue, you can determine how much locally earned money is spent locally. I would make a contest out of increasing this percentage and having a festival to celebrate such an accomplishment. Real property taxes should not go down and neither should spending on infrastructure. This type of spending has a multiplier effect where $1 million in spending results in $2.5 million in spending in the local economy. Therefore a percentage of the overall budget has to be earmarked for infrastructure. To recruit business, it is necessary to speak the language of investment personnel and know what they are looking for. You must understand your own demographics and be able to sell your area to new businesses. I would favor incentives to attract new business. Overriding these actions is the need to deregulate and simplify doing business in the city.

Thomas “Tom” J. Anderson II (incumbent)

Age | 44

Office running for | Conway City Council

Family | Wife April, Children Caroline and Thomas J.

Education | BA from CCU; currently doing graduate study in Management, Leadership and Finance

Military | none

Previous offices held | Conway City Council, May 1998-December 2004, Conway City Council (mayor pro tem), January 2007-present

Other civic experience | Horry County Solid Waste Authority Board of Directors, Vice-Chairman; Theatre of the Republic, past president; Conway Elementary PTO, past president; Deacon, First Baptist Church; Sunday school teacher.

What’s the one primary contribution you can make, if elected, to help the Grand Strand’s economic recovery?

You ask what “one primary contribution” I feel I could make to help the area’s economic recovery . . . if only it were that easy. I do know that by keeping Conway financially stable, while continuing our work to ensure this as a wonderful and inviting place to live, work, and play, we can ensure that we will see growth and prosperity in the coming months and years. We also have been fortunate to have staff and elected officials who saw what was coming and planned for it as best we could. This planning also included a need for being conservative and patient while doing our best to continue to offer the services our citizens of Conway expect. No one knows where the new normal will be, but one thing is certain, any future economic recovery will require experienced thoughtful planning. I believe I can offer this.

Barbara Blain-Olds (challenger)

Age | 59

Office running for | Conway City Council

Family | husband, Jesse Olds; son, Craigon Lennon

Education | BS in Sociology, University of South Carolina; M.Ed. with a concentration in adult learning (USC); and Juris Doctorate, USC School of Law

Military | none

Previous offices held | 2 terms on Conway City Council

Other civic experience | Girl Scout troop leader; Horry County Historical Society member; Regional Education Community Advisory Board; numerous past board/commission memberships

What’s one primary contribution you can make, if elected, to help The Grand Strand’s economic recovery?

I will encourage individuals, especially those who have marketable skills and minimal job opportunities, to develop their own businesses. I will also take every opportunity to promote business-friendly terms in Conway, and to partner with other entities to increase prospects for business and industry in our area.

Charlie Frye (challenger)

Age | 59

Office running for | Conway City Council

Family | wife: Pam; children: Derek, Brad & Tracy

Education | BS in Business Administration, CCU

Military | none

Previous offices held | none

Other civic experience | Member, Conway Recreation Advisory Board; past president, Downtown Merchant Association; Chamber of Commerce; Shriners

What’s one primary contribution you can make, if elected, to help The Grand Strand’s economic recovery?

As a resident of Conway and owner of numerous small businesses throughout the last 40 years, I would like to utilize my business common sense and bridge the gap between small businesses, the citizens of Conway and the local government.

Dale Todd (challenger)

Age | 44

Office running for | Conway City Council

Family | Leslie Todd, wife, Zachary Todd, son, Mary-Katherine Todd, daughter

Education | BA USC/Coastal Carolina

Military | Retired from South Carolina Army National Guard

Previous offices held | board of directors president, AVX Credit Union

Other civic experience | none

What’s one primary contribution you can make, if elected, to help the Grand Strand’s economic recovery?

I would like to work with other council members to help Conway become more business friendly. Having recently opened a business in Conway, I understand first hand the frustration that potential businesses face. I sat in on the UDO "Unified Development Ordinance" meetings and was very disappointed in what the city was proposing. However, the city heard the displeasure from local business and has placed a hold on implementing the UDO for now. Some areas were addressed to help stream line the process and those seemed to have helped. I believe there is still more work to be done to have the city considered business friendly. But with a common-sense approach, anything can be accomplished.

Larry White (incumbent)

Age | 57

Office running for | Conway City Council

Family | 4 children and 10 grandchildren

Education | BS environmental sciences, Elizabeth City (N.C.) State University

Military | none

Previous offices held | none

Other civic experience | Masonic Lodge- Morning Star No. 73; A Father’s Place; Neighbors Helping Neighbors; Horry County First Steps; Community Coalition of Horry County; president, South Carolina Public Health Association.

What’s one primary contribution you can make, if elected, to help the Grand Strand’s economic recovery?

When re-elected I want to streamline the process for new business startup in Conway. Our motto should be "Conway is open for business and we invite your partnership with our community". I want us to involve business owners and the community in decision making so that business and consumers are engaged in planning for the future. My goal is to bring more business to the area so that we can reduce the number of unemployed persons and continue the positive growth that makes us a great city and community.

Incumbent Councilwoman Vivian Chestnut did not return a questionnaire.