James Hoard announces his intention to seek the Republican nomination for Greenville County Council from District 17 (Northern Greenville County).
James Hoard is a resident of Taylors, having lived in the district for approximately 15 years. He is deeply passionate about preserving the Northern part of Greenville County, from Travelers Rest to Slater/Marrietta to Tigerville to the NC border.
James has 3 key initiatives.
1. Fighting for the family; James has spent the last four years fighting for family values and parental rights. He has spent the last 4 years serving on the Greenville County Library Board, where he has spent a great deal of effort to protect our kids from adult-themed material in the children’s section of public libraries. He will always stand firm and have the courage to defend our children that allows children to be children without the pressures of sexualization. The family unit and parents are the only people who should determine when and where their children are exposed to adult material.
2. Continuing the fight for lower taxes, James has a record of fighting for fiscal responsibility and transparency, and lowering taxes. In 2025, with James’s help, the Library Board reduced the tax burden on Greenville citizens by an unprecedented 6% (.5 mill). He has worked to keep fiscal accountability in his time on the Library Board and can proudly say that with his help, the Library Board was the ONLY county board or commission that gave back to the citizens of Greenville County by REDUCING taxes. Coupled with the County's 1.5 mill reduction, citizens of Greenville County were able to receive a 2 mill REDUCTION in tax levy. James will commit to continuing to work with colleagues on the County Council to continue to find ways to REDUCE taxes and to claw back the 7-mill tax increase the council gave us 4 years ago. James served as the Buildings and Grounds Committee chairman and helped the library to build a NEW library branch in Taylors (Blue Ridge Branch) with no extra financial burden to taxpayers.
3. Public Safety: James understands the growing community needs for public safety. He will commit to working with the council and our sheriff to better serve the needs of District 17. We are the most northern part of the county, and response times are often longer than in other parts of the county. James will pledge to work with all to come up with a solution that provides adequate and necessary safety patrols and response times. He would like to explore the feasibility of a “satellite” base located in the northern part of the county that could possibly serve as a launching point for deputies to respond from. He would also like to see any revenue from the sale of public safety equipment be retained by the GCSO so it can be used to help provide necessary funds for important things such as the dog program or the drone program.
James is single and is a resident of Taylors, SC. He has ample time to devote to the position and looks forward to serving his fellow citizens in District 17.
