Serving Barnwell County and it's neighbors since 1852
Three have filed for the District 7 seat on Barnwell County Council: Travis Hooper, Alan Kennedy, and John Zorn. All have been born and raised in Barnwell County. The seat is currently held by Chairman Jerry Creech, who is not seeking reelection.
District 7 has a population of 2,993, according to 2020 census data. The district is the largest in population and covers the eastern side of the county, including sections of Hilda, Friendship, and Kline communities.
Hooper, Kennedy, and Zorn are all Republicans.
Travis Hooper is a Barnwell native raised by his parents, Maxine Hopper and the late Gary Hooper.
He is married with three children and three grandchildren. He is a local business owner to his own lawn care company and his late father’s business. Hooper is an ordained deacon at Barnwell First Baptist Church, a member of Masonic Lodge Harmony #17, currently serves as the President of the Ellenton Ag. Club, and is a member of the Echo Coalition Committee.
Alan Kennedy is a Barnwell County native who grew up in the Friendship Community with parents Richard and Angie Kennedy. He is married with three daughters.
Kennedy is a 2009 Barnwell High School graduate and is currently employed as a maintenance mechanic at the Savannah River Site, where he has been for eight years. Prior to working at SRS, Kennedy worked in law enforcement for six years and has been a volunteer firefighter for 15 years. He is the Barnwell voting Precinct 3 Executive Committeeman for the Barnwell Republican Party.
John Zorn is a Barnwell County native who began serving the county as an EMT in 2010 at Williston Rescue. He later worked as an S.C. State Trooper with Troop 7.
Toward the end of his career in law enforcement he was a front-line supervisor and Field Training Officer for the City of Barnwell Police Department. He returned to Barnwell County as a paramedic for Thorne Ambulance. Zorn also served as a volunteer firefighter with Friendship Community Volunteer Fire Department.
Why have you chosen to run for this seat?
Hooper: I have chosen to run for Barnwell County Council District 7 because I feel the need to continue the improvements started by the current councilmen. I also want to help improve our community even more. I believe that we live in a great community and I want to be part of keeping our community great for our children and grandchildren.
Kennedy: I have chosen to run for this seat because I want to see Barnwell County grow, prosper, and be a safer place for our families to live and work.
Zorn: I have chosen to run for this office due to several factors. The biggest factor that has driven me to run is my deep desire to serve my community and put its needs above my own. As I feel my selfless careers serving my community will show a proven example of.
What does holding this position mean to you?
Hooper: I have a personal interest in the increasing rates of overdose because my own nephew was a victim of this. I want to see programs that help those addicted and their families. As a member of the Echo Coalition team that meets monthly, I have first hand knowledge of the violence and drug issues that affect this county.
Kennedy: Holding this position would mean that the constituents of District 7 would have a voice from someone who truly cares about them and who considers this area home.
Zorn: This office means to me giving back the most important thing to my community, its voice. I feel that in politics more often than not the voice of the voters gets lost somewhere along the way. Holding this office for whomever is elected means that your voice and opinions should be the last thing you are concerned about, because you now represent an entire district as well as a county. Their voices should be the ones speaking through you.
How will you ensure the issues of the constituents you represent are prioritized on the county level?
Hooper: I want to be a representative that will personally meet with the community and listen to what our community needs. I will be vocal about my beliefs and what needs to be done for all people in our county.
Kennedy: I will ensure that the issues and concerns of the people whom I will represent are prioritized by being approachable to them and by having the determination to stand and fight for what they want and need without backing down. I want people to be able to come to me at any time and know that I truly care about them and our community.
Zorn: I have many ideas on each of the topics that you included (i.e. healthcare, gun violence, increasing rates of overdoses.) Access to healthcare I would want to start with the activation of the 911 system and EMS. I would like to see a fourth EMS unit back in Hilda. Next, I would want to work with MUSC to try and open avenues of communication about BBEMC and what the two counties can do to help with getting the specialist office opened from the original plan. On gun violence, I would work very closely with Sheriff Grits and see what resources his agency needed to begin reducing the number of violent crimes as well as drug crimes. The increasing number of overdoses I would like to work with Axis 1, Fire, EMS, and the Sheriff’s Office to hold community days to increase the knowledge of resources that are in place and available. I would like to hold training events that taught about the dangers of common and dangerous street drugs as well as the administration of Narcan.
How will you build a relationship or build trust with the community you serve?
Hooper: I will be a strong voice for the people that I represent in this county.
Kennedy: To build trust with the community, I will be transparent and have an open-door policy. I also plan on having regular town hall type meetings within district 7 to keep people informed on what is happening, good or bad, and to listen to concerns or comments. I believe this will allow me to be held accountable as I believe anyone who represents the people should be.
Zorn: I plan to build a relationship with my community through selfless services and running a transparent campaign. I would like to hold quarterly community meetings to be able to have open conversations with people in the community to ensure my office and the council were doing everything possible to assist and answer their questions and concerns.
What are three major issues you think need to be fixed or addressed across the county?
Hooper: Three major issues that I want to address if elected are increasing budgets for rural fire departments, having better EMS response in the county, and pushing to get Barnwell County to build an emergent care facility to meet the needs of our people.
Kennedy: The three major issues I believe that need to be addressed are EMS service and emergency health care provision, Appropriate funding for our fire service and law enforcement, and fiscal accountability.
Zorn: As there are several major issues, I feel need to be addressed across the county it is hard to just choose three, however, I will only give three for this article. The first issue is actually my main issue as it has the potential to have the worst consequences. I would advocate and fight for a fourth ambulance to be placed back in Hilda. This isn’t just because that unit answers the vast number if not all the calls in my district. It’s because in certain medical situations the closeness of that unit is certainly the difference in the outcome of a call. The second issue that majorly needs to be addressed is the missing fire tax. This money is much needed in the fire service and can go a long way in providing equipment and supplies for our volunteer firefighters and the communities that they protect. The final issue is exploring what our county can do to provide better emergency medical care such as emergency room or hospital. I would like to speak with MUSC and see their improvement plans for BBEMC. I would like to work with them to try and obtain a deadline as to when they would have the specialist offices that they originally planned to have at BBEMC would be available to our communities in the county.
What is your first priority if elected?
Hooper: My first priority, if elected, would be to find ways to increase budgets for rural fire departments that will enable them to provide better service to the people of our community.
Kennedy: My first priority if elected is to work towards providing a more reliable EMS service for the citizens of our county.
Zorn: My first priority if elected is to advocate and fight for that fourth ambulance. A fourth ambulance in the county is a need not a luxury. That ambulance, although it’s stationed in my district serves every district and citizen in this county. That fourth ambulance can very much be the difference between life and death in critical situations that require immediate transport. We are fortunate as a county to have a great network of first responders that are more than willing to drop what they’re doing to answer the call and they help combat this missing ambulance, but in a critical situation our first responders are managing patients for extended periods of time awaiting EMS response. A fourth truck would help to alleviate that problem and save lives.
What are some short term and long term goals if elected?
Hooper: Short Term Goals: Find ways to help EMS give quicker response times to people in need, and work closely with law enforcement and Axis I to bring solutions to violence and drug overdoses to the county.
Long Term Goals: Work with state officials to try and bring some type of emergency healthcare back to Barnwell County and look into the possibility of increasing infrastructure in the county to help small businesses thrive.
Kennedy: Some short term goals of mine are to help our fire departments and sheriff's office acquire the needed funding either through grants or other means, work towards a more responsible use of county tax payer money, and to bring back some type of emergency care inside of our county.
A few of my long term goals are to bring jobs and industry back to Barnwell, support small business growth and development, and to work with county agencies to mitigate the litter and trash problem in our county.
Zorn: Most of my short-term goals are listed above such as the fourth ambulance, the fire tax, and last is one not talked about before the condition of unpaved and paved roads in our county. My short-term goal for an ambulance is to work with our current EMS provider to see what it would take to have that fourth unit and open negotiations. A short-term solution for the fire tax is to begin trying to figure out where it went and why it went there in the first place. As far as the road conditions are concerned, I would want to work with both our county administration and SCDOT to try and figure out how we can begin to fix some of the problems. I know from experience that the unpaved roads in this county go months without attention. It has taken citizens taking photos and going to the county administration building to get the roads graded. No citizen should have continuously ask for their unpaved road to be graded, nor should they have to contend with the potential damage it may cause to their vehicles. I would like to work with our administration and SCDOT to ensure that the unpaved roads are well maintained regularly.
My long terms goals share some of the common as my short term. The first is finding a permanent fix to the EMS system here in the county, trying to get unpaved roads paved as well as roads in disrepair fixed with the state, advocate for paid volunteer firefighters, and try to increase infrastructure. My long-term goal for fixing the EMS system is a simple one. A county funded and operated system. With the money that is being paid out and the potential billing recovery there is no valid answer as to why we do not have our own EMS system in place. I know the first thing that is going to be said is I am trying to create a job. This is not the case because if elected and this plan is successful, I will walk away from a career as a paramedic in my home county as it would be unethical for me to have any part whether in office or not. This is a need as the county needs to be able to fix the problems that are causing the issues, but more so have the control to do so versus just asking it to be done and voting to fine a service. My solution and goal for the roads in our county is to begin working with the state to what their maintenance schedule and plan is for both the unpaved and paved roads in our county. Now I understand that some of the unpaved roads are county responsible roads. I would like to work with our administrators to see what their maintenance plans were for the future and our roads. Another cause near and dear to me is advocating for paid volunteer firefighters. I feel that this is something that has been thrown to the wayside with the old saying of “It’s volunteer for a reason.” With the rising cost of everything and the higher-than-normal inflation we need to step up and support our volunteers more now than ever. I would like to talk to managers and directors of our business we have in our county now to see what the county could do to build its infrastructure and bring new businesses in. With an increase in new businesses comes major growth potential for our county. As well as creating new jobs that would help keep our county thriving for the future generations.
