Russ Tony Ferrara is a candidate in the Republican primary race in Aiken County Council’s District 2.
His opponent is Mike Kellems.
Voters will go to the polls June 14.
Incumbent Camille Furgiuele announced earlier this year that she wouldn’t be seeking a third term.
Ferrara is a former County Councilman, and he currently serves on the Aiken County Board of Assessment Appeals.
He is a retired nuclear engineer who formerly worked at SRS/SRNL.
In addition, Ferrara is U.S. Army infantry officer veteran and a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Q. What do you think are the biggest challenges facing your district, and Aiken County as a whole, in the next several years and what should be done to address them?
A. 1. I strongly support keeping the county property tax millage rate at 67.3 mills without any increase whatsoever.
There is very little discretionary funding available to Council, and the impact of inflation will make this effort very challenging for our next Council representative.
If elected, I will demand conservative and efficient county operations in order to ensure taxpayers are protected while at the same time providing essential and mandated county government services under the local Home Rule Act.
2. I strongly support SRS/SRNL new missions.
If elected, I will advocate establishment of the SRS Development Authority to manage and operate our struggling 435-acre county-owned SRS Research Park (Carrol H. Warner Savannah River Research Campus), have the ability to hold property title, raise revenue, and most importantly actively lobby our U.S. Congress and executive branch (to include DOE/DOD/NASA/Homeland Security) in Washington, D.C.
I would like to see our SRNL (currently having an annual operating budget of ~250 million with ~1000 employees), being one of the 17 DOE national laboratories, be transferred from DOE Special Programs (currently having four national laboratories) to the DOE Office of Science along with the other 10 large and diverse DOE national laboratories.
3. County-wide reassessment is completed every five years. As our at-large representative on the Aiken County Tax Appeals Board (Aiken County Board of Assessment Appeals), it appears that residential property in Cedar Creek, Woodside and surrounding planned communities will likely see an increase in their residential assessments resulting in a subsequent wave of local property tax appeals. It’s absolutely necessary that we have a district representative who will actively assist property owners in order to ensure that they are treated fairly and appropriately during this reassessment process. If elected, I will actively assist all homeowners requesting district representative assistance and support during the process.
4. Economic development and industrial diversification is extremely important for District 2, to include the municipalities of New Ellenton and Jackson. I will strongly support, along with the Aiken Edgefield Economic Development Authority (Economic Development Partnership), attracting diverse economic development and industrial development within District 2 and the remaining seven Aiken County Council districts.
5. Planned development and comprehensive engineering along Whiskey Road (the highway corridor overlay district) between Powderhouse (Road) and Eagle Road is a high priority for District 2.
As a S.C. licensed professional engineer I am uniquely qualified to assist with this district priority in an effort to continuously plan and properly develop this corridor into a traffic thoroughfare that we, as a community, can all be proud of in the South Aiken area.
6. I strongly support efficient conservative local government, no property tax increases, economic development, industrial diversification and local law enforcement.
Q. What new businesses would you like to see attracted to your district and Aiken County, and what do you think should be done to bring them here?
A. Specifically, I would like to see the towns of Jackson and New Ellenton revitalized with direct county funding support. This is particularly true for their commercial districts.
In New Ellenton we were disappointed to see our only bank close as well as a number of other commercial businesses in recent years.
In addition, aggressive efforts to attract new SRS/SRNL missions can pay big local dividends in the future.
I strongly support the Advanced Small Modular Reactor (ASMR) concept that is currently being spearheaded by Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL), and think SRS/SRNL should be actively engaged in this advanced technology to include development and prototype siting.
I also believe that a significant portion of the $600 million plutonium disposition settlement our S.C. state government recently received should be spent in District 2 and more directly in the New Ellenton and Jackson communities to support their business and commercial revitalization efforts.
Q. What is the one thing you would like to do to make your district a better place to live and how would you go about making it happen?
A. Our Aiken County Planning and Development Department, under Director Joel Duke’s leadership, has a done an outstanding job planning residential communities in District 2.
Whatever he is doing I will continue to support. In addition, as mentioned above, planned engineering and development along our Whiskey Road Corridor, to include turn lanes where appropriate, in order to minimize the high rate of traffic accidents we experience, would greatly improve our district, and make it a better and safer place to live.
