Irmo Community members came together Thursday night for an Irmo Town Council candidate meet and greet at the Tin Zoo and BBQ off of St. Andrews road.
All eight candidates running for office were invited to come out and share their views but only five showed up.
Kelly Busch, Dan Newbanks and Erik Sickinger- all of whom are running for town council seats, spoke and mingled with attendants.
“Irmo’s a great place, Irmo doesn’t need to change but the way we govern it does,” Kelly Busch stated in his concise speech.
“I just really want to turn it back over to the individuals and I’ll leave it with that. So, individual property rights, Stand With Dan,” Dan Newbanks said closing out his longer more detailed speech.
“The reason why I’m running is because I went to a town council meeting and I thought, ‘Irmo deserves better,’” Erik Sickinger said during his turn on the mic.
Barry Walker and Mike Ward, two of the three running for mayor also shared their views and talked among attendants.
“Those things that we did were to reach out to people, to build relationships, to be the advocate for listening to the citizens and what they have to say," Barry Walker said of how council used to be, "We’ve lost that in the last four years and its my job to get it back."
“There are always going to be people that are upset. But, here’s what I believe: we’re all human first," says Mike Ward, who surprised some when deciding to run for Mayor and not a council seat, "You have to respect one another. And that was one of the reasons that I decided to run for mayor, because when we look at the current leadership, I see a lack of respect.”
The candidates who were not in attendance tonight were the current Mayor Hardy King who is running for reelection, as well as two council incumbents also running for reelection Mark Pouliot and Julius Waites.
Check out the full speeches below:
