Three of the four candidates running for open seats on Richmond Hill City Council touted their experience in city government. The fourth, a newcomer to politics, told voters he’d bring a different voice to the table during an hour-long candidate forum on Oct. 12 at the Stevens Wetland Center in J.F. Gregory Park.

Not surprisingly, the main issue raised at the forum, organized by the Bryan County Democratic Committee and Bryan County Republican Party, was the city’s continuing growth, as candidates were asked a number of growth-related questions relating to quality of life, the environment and small business.

Local Republican Party Chairwoman Karen Hewitt and local Democratic Committee Chairwoman Patti Hewitt posed questions to candidates Chris Raiford and Van Hunter, who are running against each other for the Post 3 seat being vacated by retiring councilman Les Fussell, and Post 4 hopefuls Steve Scholar and Rafael Redondo, who are vying for Scholar’s seat.

The four men took turns telling voters their views during the event, which was moderated by Bryan County News Associate Editor Andrea Gutierrez and livestreamed by the Richmond Hill Bryan County Chamber of Commerce.

Raiford, a banker who moved to Richmond Hill from Atlanta, noted he hailed from a law enforcement family and was the first in his family to go to college. He has degrees in economics and banking from the University of Georgia, and has spent three years on the city’s planning and zoning board. He’s also been involved in local civic groups such as the Exchange Club, where he has served as president.

He’s facing Hunter, a former council member who served from 2002 to 2006 and again from 2010 to 2014. A single father who moved to Richmond Hill while in the military, Hunter is a businessman who currently works at Ace Hardware.

Scholar, the Post 4 incumbent, is a retired Air Force public affairs NCO and was once general manager and editor of what was then known as the Richmond Hill Bryan County News. He later went to work for the city of Richmond Hill as planning director, and retired from the city.

Redondo, a newcomer to city politics, is a graphic designer with Nine Line apparel. He said he moved here with his family from Orlando and “fell in love with the community.”

Up first was the topic of growth management, and candidates were asked what the city should do to ensure infrastructure and critical services kept pace with growth.

Already designated the fastest growing county in Georgia and the sixth fastest in the United States by the 2020 census, Richmond Hill is facing more growth with Hyundai’s arrival at the Belfast Commerce Park and the massive Heartwood development at the Belfast Keller interchange.

Raiford went first. He said the city has been dealing with growth – and doing so successfully – for some time.

“Growth is already here,” he said, adding, “The city has already done an outstanding job with the infrastructure we already have.”

Raiford referred to the city’s $25 million wastewater treatment plant, which was opened in 2015 and still has capacity for future growth as proof the city has been forward looking in dealing with growth.

“We just need to continue to build on the progress already made and collaborate with the county and surrounding counties and get them involved as well,” he said, adding it was also important to continue following the city’s unified development ordinance, or UDO.

Raiford said “balance is the hardest thing in the world,” but finding a balance is important to “protect the sense of community we have here for everyone.

“We need to be thoughtful in our approach, to see what’s coming, how much is coming and try to manage it accordingly,” he said.

Hunter said growth was a challenge when he came to Richmond Hill nearly four decades ago, and added that “growth management is probably at the top of the pyramid of the challenges we have to deal with in this community.”

He said he wants Richmond Hill to hire a planner to help handle growth.

Scholar, who moved to the city in 1994, cited statistics he said showed the county grew by 48 percent over the last decade while Richmond Hill grew by 79 percent over the same period, and now has a population of 18,000.

He pointed to his time as planning director and previous four years on council working on the UDO and efforts to apply “smart growth” concepts to decisions, but also said as a councilman he wants to know what residents want to see happen.

“The majority want controlled growth, they want smart growth, and that’s what we’re striving to do,” Scholar said, adding that with the new interchange now starting to grow, most of the feedback he gets from residents is that they “don’t want the city to look like Pooler.”

That is taken into account, Scholar said.

“Our views as a city council aren’t the most important, your views are the most important, that’s what I’ve tried to do on council,” he said.

Redondo said that while he didn’t have experience on council to fall back on, “uncontrollable growth is a double-edged sword.

“There has to be a way to actually control not only the growth, but at the same time conserve the character of the city itself … it is one of the reasons I fell in love with this community,” he said. Candidates were asked what they would do to help encourage small business.

Hunter called small business the “life blood” of Richmond Hill while adding that when he first arrived many residents would drive to Savannah to shop and now they drive to Pooler. He said making it easier to get permits and information from the city as well as incentives such as military tax credits will help, and praised a woman who started a local bookstore for taking a chance and thriving.

“That young lady went out on a ledge and she’s doing quite well now,” he said.

Scholar said over the past four years he’s seen more than 200 small businesses relocate to Richmond Hill, and one of the complaints from those who want to locate here is that costs such as tap in fees for utilities such as water are too high.

But, he said, businesses want rooftops at the same time residents complain about growth.

“We talk about growth, talk about traffic but business people come here because of rooftops,” Scholar said. “We’ve got to find a way to balance that.”

He said shopping local will also help, and made a point of saying he didn’t go to Pooler or Savannah to shop if he didn’t have to.

Redondo said tax breaks and education on available incentives through the Richmond Hill Bryan County Chamber of Commerce will help. He also added, “there’s going to be a lot of diversity here, and a bunch of different cultures merging together as part of the growth of the city. We should take into consideration the diversity that is coming here.”

Raiford said he almost disagreed “with the premise of the question,” because of the city’s ongoing growth as reflected in the Census numbers.

“I don’t think you do that without some success in business,” he said, echoing Scholar’s comments on the number of businesses that have set up shop.

“We do have a very attractive community for small businesses, and with the rooftops coming in Heartwood (a planned development at the Belfast Keller interchange), the commercial piece is coming as well.”

Raiford praised the RHBCC, adding that the business community is active in helping one another grow.

The city can do more, he said.

“We can always make it a little bit better, but I think the city is already doing a good job now or we wouldn’t see the growth we’re seeing.”

Candidates also were asked how they might preserve quality of life and ways to make renting or buying homes in Richmond Hill more affordable.

Scholar said city council has added public safety equipment and personnel as well as more parks, but finding a way to corral the cost of housing is difficult with the average price of a new home in Richmond Hill now about $380,000 and an existing home at $275,000.

That new home cost is largely due to the price of land in Richmond Hill now, Scholar said, adding that he bought his home in 1999 but it would’ve been difficult to do so now.

His solution would be to “work with the county to see what to do about the price of land, that’s the sticking point,” he said. “That doesn’t mean there aren’t solutions out there. Better wages will help, and we’re turning the corner on some of these things but we’re certainly not there yet.”

Redondo said he believes accessible health care will help improve the quality of life in Richmond Hill, and asked what happens if someone has to go to the hospital at night once urgent care providers are closed. He wants to see more around the clock health care options available.

As for housing, Redondo said he bought his house four years ago and it’s already gone up considerably. That increase, he said, was out of the city council’s control but “we need to find a way to approach that problem.”

Raiford said as a banker he saw a problem without a quick fix, one which included both higher interest rates and the rising cost of land.

“If there was a magic lever somebody would have already pulled it,” he said.

Still, the city should work with others to find solutions, because if home prices stay high and climb higher, “there’s an entire segment of the population that is not going to be able to live here.”

Hunter said quality of life was about more than the cost of homes, adding that “37 years ago there wasn’t any place I could afford and it’s still sounding just as bad.

“I don’t have an answer for the price of land or cost of construction, it’s incredibly challenging for all of us, but quality of life is not just about a house, it’s about why we came to this city in the first place.”

That’s “also about people and family and things you can’t put a price on,” Hunter said.

“The primary reason people come to this community is because of the schools,” he said. “And when you look at the schools in this area, it’s a wonder everybody doesn’t move here.”

Candidates were also asked about what they’d do to protect the environment, including trees and water, and solve the city’s flooding problem in the face of continuing development.

Redondo said protecting the environment and the character of the area should be the city’s top priority and the planning and zoning board should “facilitate how to manage not only the water but the sewer as well.”

Raiford said Richmond Hill has worked to be proactive, requiring the addition of trees and water infrastructure to enable the city to continue to grow.

“I believe the city is planning to add another tower to bring up additional water pressure for development down on Exit 82,” he said. “We’ve always been proactive to make sure there’s available water for future growth, because we’re going to need it.”

Scholar said he was a tree person, and took credit for the crepe myrtles on Highway 17 heading into Savannah, saying those were planted when he was the city’s planning and zoning director.

“Richmond Hill is a tree city and you don’t get that designation without some efforts to maintain trees,” he said, adding that the city keeps an arborist on call to help keep tree canopy healthy while also requiring developers to have a tree plan and maintain at least 50 percent canopy in new development.

As for water, Scholar said the city is also working with the school system to reuse water for irrigation at the new schools.

Early voting under way

Early voting for the Nov. 7, 2023 municipal elections is underway in both Pembroke at the Harn Community Center and in Richmond Hill at the Timber Trail gym. Also on the ballot is SPLOST. 

For information visit www.mvp.sos.ga.gov.