Wagener voters elect two new council members and mayor in landslide election

WAGENER, S.C. (WJBF) – Big changes in leadership are soon coming to the town of Wagener. 

Voters have elected a new mayor and two new council members following Tuesday’s election. 

Incumbent Mayor Mike Miller has served as mayor for 3 consecutive terms spanning 12 years.

That will soon change, as voters have elected Kevin Young to be the town’s new mayor, along with two new council members. 

Incumbent Council member Randy Kitchings will also step down, with Mildred Schofield and Patricia Middleton will soon join council.

Schofield getting a seat with 127 votes, with Middleton winning 92 votes. 

Middleton says there’s several issues that have plagued the town she plans to address. 

“We got to address finances, we have water leaks all over Wagener that we’ve got to take care of. We need to clean up around here—we just have a lot of work to do,” she said.

Young was one of three candidates in the race for mayor. 

Incumbent Mayor Michael Miller winning 40 votes, Joyce Jeffcoat-Derr with 26, and Young getting 100 votes in a landslide victory.

Young echoes the need for change.

“They really haven’t run off of a budget in quite some time, so to cut a lot of overhead where it needs to be is the primary goal to start. Then, we need to work on having a full police department, and a full certified volunteer fire department—to get everybody certified to be able to do what needs to be done,” said Young.

He says part of his plan is to make improvements around the town for homeowners.

“We want to beautify it, look at the infrastructure to see where it needs to be improved, and what we can do to have more activities for youth and adults,” Young said.

He and Middleton also want to get more resources to local law enforcement, which has been a major problem in recent times.

Last year, 19 firefighters joined former fire chief Tillman Rushton resigning from their positions.

Just a few months ago, former police chief Jeff Warchol was fired by incumbent Mayor Mike Miller and town council.

Current firefighters say they’re hoping to see the talk turn into action.

“As far as the new mayor, I hope he’s going to clean it up, because that’s what we’re working toward,” said Jonathan Busch. “I know that our fire chief has a meeting set up for Tuesday—I’m hoping that goes well, and I believe it will.”

“The first three main goals would be the budget, and the police and fire department,” Young added.

The councilwoman-elect adds they also want to provide more transparency to the public, and work together as a community to drive home solutions.

“The main thing is for us to work together as a team, because that is something that was lacking. But, we’re not looking backwards, we’re looking forwards,” said Middleton.

Current town council members will stay on through the end of the year.

Young, Middleton, and Schofield will take office in January.