This isn’t the first time I’ve been on the minority side of an issue, and it probably won’t be the last. Leadership sometimes means standing your ground, especially when you believe your district’s voice deserves to be heard loud and clear.
I’ve stood in this spot before. When Greater Greenville Sanitation came under scrutiny from state legislators, I fought to protect it, not because of any disagreement with the people involved (many of my political affiliation), but because my District 19 constituents overwhelmingly wanted to keep their sanitation service just as it’s been for decades: local, reliable, and responsive.
That effort wasn’t about defiance, it was about representation. And that same principle guided my decision on the Fire Services Study.
Read the resolution HERE
Starting From a Place of Respect
Greenville County’s fire districts are made up of dedicated, highly trained professionals who consistently put others before themselves. They already cooperate across district lines through automatic-aid agreements and mutual respect that go far beyond jurisdictional boundaries.
Before the Council vote, a local firefighter reached out and handed me two research papers he’d written for school. Not to sway my opinion, but to make sure I had the full picture. That small act of generosity said a lot about the character of the people who make up our fire service.
One of those papers explored the idea of consolidation, honestly weighing its pros and cons without agenda. The other took a hard look at EMS and how their relationship with local fire departments can sometimes become an unseen burden, especially as fire departments respond to more medical calls and fill gaps when EMS units are stretched thin.
That paper opened my eyes to something important. When we talk about improving fire service, we can’t leave EMS out of the conversation. These two services are linked on nearly every call. If one is strained, the other feels it immediately.
Thankfully, I learned just last week that the county is already conducting an EMS study, and I’ll be pushing to ensure that part of that work includes evaluating and strengthening the connection between EMS and our fire districts. Any improvement there is a win for both, and more importantly, a win for every single call they answer together.
Why I Couldn’t Support the Study as Written
The Fire Services Study that came before Council framed its purpose around one word: “consolidation.”
That word might sound administrative, but for the people who serve and the communities who’ve built and funded their fire districts for generations, it carries weight. It signals that the outcome is already decided, and that’s a terrible way to begin a discussion that should be rooted in support, not suspicion.
If the goal was truly to study how to strengthen fire service, consolidation should have been listed as one possible outcome, not the reason for the study to exist.
Starting from that premise erodes trust before a single page of the study is written.
What a Better Study Could Look Like
In my opinion, a proper study would focus on improvement, not control. It would ask practical questions about:
- Modernizing our Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) system, which is the digital backbone of emergency response.
- Working on any communications protocols to ensure that all public safety organizations can share information with each other in real time.
- Better integrating EMS and fire coordination.
- Extending the life of our equipment and improving training.
- Supporting the people who serve, not redrawing their boundaries.
If we truly want to make a difference, rebuilding our outdated CAD system should be at the top of the list. That system decides who’s dispatched, how fast, and how effectively different agencies communicate. Modernizing it could save precious seconds, and seconds save lives.
That’s meaningful progress. And it doesn’t require a single district line to be changed. Thankfully, Councilor Collins has been working tirelessly with fire chiefs to lay the groundwork to address this very issue, and I look forward to supporting his initiatives when they come forward to the Council floor.
Standing Firm, Moving Forward
It’s possible to care about all of Greenville County while still standing firm for your district’s voice when the time calls for it. That’s what representation is, balancing the whole with the part.
My opposition to this version of the study came from District 19’s clear message that the process, as written, wasn’t right. Not just people who work for our various district fire departments, but primarily from Constiuents all over the district who appreciate the hard work our fire departments do for them every day.
But my hope remains that the study will ultimately evolve into something valuable, a tool that helps us understand where our fire districts are today, what they need, and how we can best support them.
If it leads to better coordination, stronger communication, smarter resource use, and faster response times, then it will have done exactly what it should.
Public service is about earning and protecting trust. Whether it’s fire, EMS, sanitation, or anything else, progress should never start with fear. It should start with respect.
My “no” vote wasn’t about rejecting improvement. It was about insisting that we do it the right way. I’ll continue to support any feasible effort that strengthens those who serve, because when our first responders win, every citizen of Greenville County wins!
