Voters in Hartsville came out in force on Tuesday to cast their ballots.
They were voting in a race for Hartsville City Council District 1 between Jannie Harriot and Adlena Garrison as well as the Mayoral race between Hartsville businessman Mel Pennington and former City Council member and City Finance Director Pam Sansbury.
Sansbury is a Hartsville native and served in city government for 32 years. She focused on a platform of bringing reform to the city's financial system and getting the city's finances in order.
Pennington is also a native of Hartsville and is a funeral director and embalmer at Brown-Pennington-Atkins Funeral Home, which is the oldest family-owned business in Hartsville.
Most voters who came out to the polls on Tuesday, said they felt an obligation to make a difference in the future of their city.
"If you're going to complain about the government, whether federal or local, you have to vote in order to do that, and I think that people have worked a long, long time to have the freedoms that we have and it is an obligation as an american citizen to vote," said voter Beverly Johnson.
Residents say there were different factors leading them to the polls, but all agreed that they're looking for some aspects of change.
"The biggest thing right now are the water bills that I've got in the last four months. Three of them have been up around $90 and the other was $72. Then, I think this town above all, needs to put priority on expanding its limits," said voter Bryan Blackwell.
"Utility bills are going up and stuff like that, so we want to see somebody do something about that so I'm hoping this will help to kind of have someone make up their mind to get the decisions made to change some of these things for us," said voter Chester Reed.
"I think with the economy being the way it is, Hartsville's been hit also and we need to be mindful of those who are having to pay those taxes. There are a lot of things that we can't afford to do and we don't need to waste any of the money that we do have," said Johnson.
Regardless of who wins the race for mayor, Hartsville residents hope that the city can address the issues it's facing now and move forward toward prosperity, change and growth.
You can count on continuing coverage of the mayor's race and election results on News13, as well as online here at SCnow.com and in Wednesday's edition of the Morning News.
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