One candidate for the Williston school board is already used to public service.

Timbo Williams, 39, is one of two challengers and an incumbent vying for the two seats up for election this time on the board.

Williams, the Barnwell County fire coordinator, is running against Williston resident Chris Rivers and incumbent Doris Young.

Tommy Boyleston, the other board member whose seat is open for election, decided not to seek another term.

Election day for all three public school boards in Barnwell County is April 13.

The fire coordinator is the county liaison for all the county volunteer fire departments. Williams had been the fire coordinator since 2005. He is also the assistant fire chief for Williston Fire Department and also is a deputy coroner for the county.

Williams sees the school board as another avenue in which he can help the community.

"I like to help the community anyway I can. I've got kids in the school system. It's just to help the kids anyway I can," he said.

Williams has a 9-year-old and a 14-year-old in Williston schools and a 4-year-old that will be going to Kelly Edwards next school year, he said.

This is Williams' first attempt at an elected office.

There is not any one particular topic that Williams wants to tackle immediately if he were elected to the board, he said.

"There's no one issue that I would like to change. I would like to change the picture. It's a collaboration of things," Williams said. "I need to get in there and get my feet wet and see what is going on."

Williams is a Williston native, having graduated Williston-Elko High in 1989. He also attended Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College and was one semester away from graduating with a degree in criminal justice when he married his wife Melissa.

Williams said Williston students are lucky to live in a small town were "everybody knows everybody," and students don't get lost in the crowd.

"We are a unique town and we are fortunate that unlike Greenville or Spartanburg. Williston is a small town," he said.

"This is another step in helping out the community. I know the background of Williston," Williams said.