Donna Rainey - Ward 3 Report

Ordinance 2026-13 (Rezoning – 300 Pope Field Rd, GR2 to NC)Vote: NoThe Neighborhood Commercial (NC) district is intended to serve nearby residential areas, but the ordinance also clearly states it should be located at or near major intersections. This property sits in the middle of a residential area and is not near a major intersection such as Hwy 8. Approving this rezoning is inconsistent with the ordinance. While a flower shop could benefit the community, this is not an appropriate location. The ordinance passed by majority vote.

I wanted to share some good news for our city. Easley recently received the South Carolina 2025 Athletic Department of the Year Award and the South Carolina 2025 Park Excellence Award for the Brushy Creek Greenway. In addition, Parks and Recreation Director Christman Short received the South Carolina Parks & Recreation Association Young Professional of the Year Award.

How I Voted at the Feb 9, 2026 Council Meeting

My apologies for the delay in sharing this information. Unfortunately, this special meeting was problematic before it even began. Several agenda items were leaked prior to the official agenda being released, and inaccurate information circulated on Facebook. This misinformation caused unnecessary concern and frustration among the public.

And we have a New Council

I may or may not have access to my City of Easley email account (drainey@cityofeasely.com) because of my decision not to sign the Acceptable Use Agreement adopted at the December City Council meeting. Councilmember Justin Alexander and I voted against this agreement because we believe certain provisions raise concerns related to freedom of speech. 

Voted NO: Ordinance 2025-14, Second Reading. Sale of West End Hall. I still believe this was back-room shenanigans. Most of the council apparently knew of this except me and Justin Alexander.  The appraisal was over a year ago and not one mention of this in all those months.  This sale was a loss to the taxpayers and it is the council’s duty to give the city permission to negotiate a sale and that did not happen.  (S.C. Code § 5-7-40 – Ownership and disposition of property by municipalities. The council may sell, alien, convey, lease, or otherwise dispose of property under such terms and conditions as the council deems advisable.  Authority to negotiate terms: State law’s grant of power to sell or dispose of property ( § 5-7-40 ) implicitly allows the council—or its designees—to negotiate terms of sale or contract subject to later formal legislative action. ) The council did not appoint a designee to negotiate.

The council always receives the agenda toward the end of the workday on Thursday before the Monday council meeting. I took a quick look and was totally surprised to see the sale of West End Hall. My initial thought was why the council was not advised of this forthcoming sale to the Pickens School District.  At the work session, I find out all the council member except Justin Alexander and myself, already knew about this. It's been in the works for about a year. The mayor and the Ward 2 council member tried to say it was discussed before at a work session but there are no minutes to prove that. (Gaslighting???)

Sorry for the delay but I had an Advance Budgeting class and other business in Columbia this week. I really learned a lot at the budgeting class and hope I can get what I learned into practice eventually.

The council received and update from Easley Combined Utilities in the work session and a presentation was held for the public in the regular council meeting Oct 13, 2025.

Zoning and Land Development Rewrite in Easley: A $78,607 Process That Raises More Questions Than Answers

This post will only address the council meeting but I will follow up with a second post with information on the Unified Development Ordinance and other issues.