The city council positions currently held by council members Bob Brookover, Catherine Watt and John W. Ducworth III are up for election this year. Brookover is seeking another term alongside five others running for council, while Ducworth is not running again, and Watt is running for mayor.
Bob Brookover
Bob Brookover, a current city council member, is employed by Clemson University as a principal lecturer and coordinator of online and enterprise programs in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management.
He has three degrees from Clemson: a B.S. and master’s degree in parks, recreation and tourism management and a Ph.D. in higher education leadership.
Brookover voted in support of the Clemson Hub in the first and final readings of the housing development ordinance.
According to his “Save Clemson” candidate survey, Brookover’s main goals include repairing roads, improving parks, working on the tax increment financing district project, revising the zoning code to support the upcoming comprehensive plan, developing Green Crescent Trail and supporting efforts to build workforce and affordable housing.
Nanda Edgerton
Nanda Edgerton works as the founder of the nonprofit organization Rideshare on a Mission and has lived in Clemson since 2018, according to the Post and Courier.
If she had been on the city council, Edgerton would have voted in opposition to Clemson Hub, according to the results of her candidate survey.
Edgerton hopes to better connect residents and city leaders, restore resident faith in city leadership and use overlay zoning to support developing affordable workforce housing in the city, according to the Post and Courier.
“I would stop saying YES to (the students),” Edgerton answered in a survey when asked how she might encourage the University to house more students on campus.
In addition to her primary goals, Edgerton has ideas concerning offering rides to take Clemson Life alumni to work and organizing care packages for the homeless.
John Crolley
John Crolley is currently employed as a handyman/specialty contractor for Crolley Home Services. He has lived in Clemson since 1998 and has served on the Clemson Planning Commission for three years, the Post and Courier reports.
Crolley would have voted in opposition to Clemson Hub, according to his “Save Clemson” candidate survey. He also noted in the same survey that, as a Planning Commission member, he reviewed the Hub ordinance in the early stages and was aware of its implications.
“I directly raised concerns with parking, the claimed public benefits of developing the property, and the amount of stated public space,” Crolley said in the candidate survey, explaining that he voted against recommending the city council approve the project.
Crolley’s campaign platform includes establishing an allocated city ambulance service, revising the zoning code and increasing interactions between residents and the city council.
Adam Jones
Adam Jones is the president of HMC Builders Incorporated, a general contracting business, and has lived in Clemson since 1998, according to the Post and Courier. He has a B.S. degree in business administration and management from Clemson University.
Jones’ company does not build student housing, but instead focuses on restaurants and buildings for small businesses.
Jones has volunteered in city government over the past 10 years as a six-year participant on the Board of Architectural Review, according to the Post and Courier. He is currently on the Board of Zoning Appeals.
Jones noted in his candidate survey that he would have voted against Clemson Hub if he was on city council.
Jones’ main goals include working on affordable housing, increasing parking, addressing traffic and infrastructure issues and preserving the “small college town vibe” of Clemson by managing economic development benefits generated by the University, according to the candidate survey.
Windsor Sherill
Windsor Sherrill is a professor and associate vice president for Health Research at Clemson University. She has been a University faculty member for over 20 years and has an education in finance, management and policy, according to Upstate Today.
Had she been on council, Sherrill would have voted in opposition to Clemson Hub due to concerns regarding the project hurting downtown businesses and parking and creating challenges within traffic and infrastructure, according to her “Save Clemson” candidate survey.
If elected, Sherrill’s main goals include better representing “under-resourced and underrepresented” citizens, creating plans for more sustainable economic development, revitalizing downtown and responding to infrastructure needs.
Sherrill also aims to generate more affordable housing options, specifically for families and first-time homeowners, while fostering a sense of home in Clemson.
“Clemson can be the best small college town in the Southeast,” Sherrill noted in the survey.
Alma Evans
Alma Evans is an adjunct professor of economics at Tri-County Technical College. She graduated from Clemson with two degrees in finance and economics. She has lived in Clemson since 1964 and manages the 60-acre farm she was raised on.
“Since I’ve lived here so long, I’ve seen (land) dwindle down to just my farm,” Evans told Upstate Today.
If she were a current council member, Evans would have voted in opposition to Clemson Hub, according to her candidate survey.
Evans’ main goals include fostering the city’s relationship with the University, uniting the city, improving infrastructure and supporting smart development, according to the Post and Courier. She also wants to work towards making all future developments smarter, more physically and economically feasible and beneficial for all residents.
Evans recommended that the city council meet with the Clemson Board of Trustees to encourage the University to house more students on campus by “capping the number of freshmen students for at least a year,” Evans stated in the candidate survey. “It is obvious that dorms are ‘slow’ to be built on Clemson University’s campus.”
The Clemson city council election will take place on Nov. 5 alongside the mayoral election, and newly elected members will begin their terms in January 2025 and end in December 2029.
