The Lyman Town Council sent letters to state legislators on Sunday evening, asking them to oppose any congressional redistricting that would split the town.
Lyman Mayor David Petty says he sent letters to State Representative Rob Harris and State Senator Lee Bright, signed by himself and the full Town Council. Town leaders are asking representatives to oppose a new congressional map currently being considered by the South Carolina General Assembly that would split Lyman in two.
“This is not a partisan issue. This is a Lyman issue,” the Council said in an open letter to the public on Monday. “Our job at Town Hall is to serve every resident the same way, no matter what street you live on. When our town is split between two congressional districts, that job gets harder, and so does the work of getting effective representation for the people we serve.”
Under the new map, the D. R. Hill precinct would be moved into a new 5th Congressional District, while the rest of Lyman would stay in Congressional District 4. The D.R. Hill precinct consists of neighborhoods along Holly Springs Road. Congressional District 4 is concentrated in the Upstate, whereas Congressional District Five spans from Pickens to Rock Hill.
Petty says that the Town Council does not believe this change is right for the precinct. He notes residents’ proximity to their current congressional field office in Greer, an office located more than an hour away under the new congressional map.
“Right now, residents of the D. R. Hill precinct in Lyman are about a twelve-minute drive from Congressman William Timmons’s field office,” Petty said. “A congressional district is not just about who represents you in Washington. It’s about whose office picks up the phone when your family needs help, and whether you can actually get to that office when it matters.”
Read the full open letter to the public from Mayor Petty and the Lyman Town Council at https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1GUUPTUoj5/. To see which congressional district you would fall under in the proposed redistricting, view this virtual map.
