Candidate Profile: Scott Crosby for Mauldin City Council Seat 4

Scott Crosby has been political all his life. He’s just never been a politician. But now, he plans to change that, as he’s declared himself a candidate for City Council Seat 4.

Identifying himself as a constitutional conservative, Crosby, like many who fit that description, has been dismayed with the direction of the country in the last few years. Particularly when it comes to taxation and the growing—and what he considers to be unnecessary—influence of the federal government.

“I felt like it was time to get involved,” Crosby said. “And I want to be one of those people who makes a difference.”

A professional systems analyst for over 30 years, Crosby and his wife Rhoda have lived in Mauldin for 17 years. “We like it here and we’re happy to live here,” he said.

But what hasn’t made Crosby happy is some of the fiscal decisions made by City Council in recent years.

“It’s not as though they have done a terrible job,” Crosby said. “The town is not badly run by any standard.”

He has high praise for the public safety services the city provides.

“The police force is excellent and the fire department is very well run,” he said.

Crosby points to Founding Fathers such as Thomas Jefferson and John Adams as influences. He believes they would share his opinion that government has become intertwined in people’s lives to a degree in which it was never intended.

An example of this, according to Crosby, is the city’s ownership of the Mauldin Sports Center.

“I understand that the argument for it is that it is making the downtown more attractive,” he said. “I don’t think it has.”

“I’m vehemently opposed to socialism and the city owning and operating the Sports Center is an example of socialism,” Crosby said. He claimed that the facility is operating at a $300,000 loss and should be privatized.

He went on to say that he believes the presence of the Sports Center prevents similar businesses from coming to town, thereby hindering the type of development the city would like to attract.

The operational loss of the Sports Center was especially concerning to Crosby in light of the .

“We have a lot of residents on fixed incomes and a lot of other people who didn’t get raises this year,” Crosby said.

Crosby emphasized that he believes the state of the city is generally good, but that a closer look at expenses and improved efficiency will benefit taxpayers. With his professional background as a systems analyst, Crosby believes he is just the person to do it.

City Council Seat 4 is currently held by James Kennedy. Election Day is Nov. 8.