Campaign Life

SC WIL article

Jenn Hulehan Campaign Life, Know Your Council

SC Women in Leadership recently shared this:

“Public service is a calling, and for Councilwoman Jenn Hulehan, that calling led her to become a councilmember of Simpsonville. It wasn’t the title that brought her there – it was her want of change and not seeing it happen. Then she realized, if you can see the needed change, you can be the needed change. Experience or none – a commitment to your city or town is the only qualification required for being a successful councilwoman.”

“Get to know more about why Jenn chose to serve her community as well as curated news on issues affecting women in the latest WIL Weekly.” https://bit.ly/3g7gZP8

Q&A with LWV 2

Jenn Hulehan Campaign Life, Q & A

Question: What is the biggest threat to quality of life in Simpsonville?

Answer: The biggest threat to quality of life in Simpsonville would be failure to plan strategically for the future. In 2015, when I decided to run for Council, it was because the leadership at the time had stopped focusing on what’s best for Simpsonville. Their focus on other things distracted them from very real problems, such as our aging and increasingly inoperable Public Works equipment.They put in place short-term fixes for problems that required long-term, sustainable solutions. This had a negative impact on quality of life in our city. I’ve spent almost four years working to correct course. We absolutely must continue to focus on long-term, strategic planning that creates sustainable services for our residents. I will continue to address it by focusing on maintaining our healthy general fund balance; economic development and smart growth; and pushing for completion of long-term planning initiatives like the Downtown Master Plan and the Comprehensive Plan.

Q&A with LWV

Jenn Hulehan Campaign Life, Q & A

The League of Women Voters posed this question: “If elected, what will be your top three priorities?”

My Answer:

The #1 most important issue to me is strategic, long-term planning for the future. When I first took office, there was no long-term planning happening on Council. There was no vision for the future of Simpsonville, and no plan to achieve a better, brighter future. We have made significant changes in the last several years. We have a capital improvement plan. We’re working on the Downtown Master Plan. We traded in the previous Council’s “pay as you go” strategy for dealing with the sewer. We have planned for fiscally sustainable services (police, fire, public works, and recreation), not just for next year but for ten years down the road. Three long-term planning priorities are:

  1. Completion and implementation of the Downtown Master Plan
  2. Revisions to the City’s Comprehensive Plan
  3. Focus on smart growth, which encourages a mix of building types and uses, diverse housing and transportation options, development within existing neighborhoods, and community engagement.

Vote 411

Jenn Hulehan Campaign Life

The League of Women Voters Greenville asked all Simpsonville City Council Candidates to complete a Vote411 profile by October 6th, so this information could be shared with the public in time for absentee voting (Learn more about absentee voting here).Vote411 is an excellent source for finding out what’s on your ballot. To access that information and learn about the candidates, just go to vote411.org. Then, select “Find What’s On Your Ballot.” Put in your address and click submit. On the next screen choose “Simpsonville City” and then click “Go to My Races.” Then, it gets a little weird language-wise. It will ask you to choose what it calls “Villages in Simpsonville City.” Select “SC City of Simpsonville.” Underneath that, it asks you to “Choose SImpsonville City Council.” We vote at-large for each seat, but you can only view one seat + the mayor at a time. So if you select “#3,” you get the information about the Ward 3 seat and about the Mayoral Candidates. To see other seats, you need to go back and choose #1 or #5. Go check it out to prepare to vote November 5th!  Here are some screenshots for you visual people!

I Want a Sign!

Jenn Hulehan Campaign Life

img_20191001_1240077538061265417601152.jpgWe’ve got signs! They’re recycled from the 2015 election, so my “helpers” (Oakley and Bonnie Ray) and I have been putting stickers with the 2019 election date on them.  If you want one, sign up below, and we’ll have someone deliver it to you at the address you provide. And don’t forget to Vote Jenn Again on November 5th!

On Re-electing Mayor Curtis

Jenn Hulehan Campaign Life, News

#ThrowbackThursday: Mayor Janice Curtis and I ran into each other on February 13th, 2016 at I ❤ Simpsonville. I ran for office in 2015, and when I started, I didn’t know who Janice Curtis was. It’s been my great pleasure to have gotten to know her since I embarked upon my campaign and council journey. I’ve learned a lot about her in that time. Here’s some of what I know:

1) She really does love Simpsonville. And she will always, always, do what she thinks is in this city’s best interests. Always, what is best for Simpsonville is at the forefront of her mind and informs every decision she makes.

2) She will always tell it to you like it is. Straight truth–whether you like it or not. And that’s refreshing in politics.

3) She gets things done. The woman makes things happen. There have been a number of times where I have said, “Janice, this will never happen.” And she proved me wrong.

Listen, the mayor and I don’t always agree. We often disagree. But she always listens to me. And she’s always willing to work towards a compromise IF it’s in the best interest of our city and if it does not compromise her principles.

Janice Curtis ran for mayor when we desperately needed a strong leader to turn the tide in favor of our city. And she has been that leader. Only a couple of months into our terms (perhaps around the time of this photo), I said to her (during some trying times) “You may not always be the mayor people like, but you are the mayor we all need.” That remains true to this day: we need strong leadership to continue moving our city forward. We need a mayor who can get things done, who tells it like is, and who ALWAYS puts our city first. We need a mayor like Janice Curtis.

And that’s why I’m excited she’s announced her intention to run for re-election. It’s why she has my respect, my support, and my vote. #KeepSimpsonvilleStrong

One Simpsonville

Jenn Hulehan Campaign Life

I’ve written previously about the divisive Us vs. Them  rhetoric that persists in Simpsonville.  I want to be clear: I have no intention of contributing to that rhetoric or engaging in conversations that encourage and support it.

My focus is on the future.

My vision is of a united Simpsonville–one Simpsonville–moving forward together.

“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” –Henry Ford

I want this city to be the very best Simpsonville it can be, and I think that we can do that together by making economic development a top priority and by committing to community and cultural programs and services.

Let’s talk about that.

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Excerpts from the Launch Speech

Jenn Hulehan Arts, Campaign Life, Economic Development

jenn announce 3On July 16th, we had a campaign launch party at Carolina Olive Oil in Downtown Simpsonville.  More details from this event, including, pictures, video, and speech highlights are forthcoming.

Here are some excerpts from my speech that highlight my platform:

We need to make economic development a top priority. It is vitally important that we implement strategies to retain and grow current businesses. It is equally important that we implement strategies to facilitate economic opportunity—to attract new businesses to Simpsonville and to support them as they become established in our community.

We need a stronger commitment to community and cultural programs and services. We need a comprehensive plan to provide access to the arts for all of our citizens. We need a comprehensive plan to support programs that educate, inform, and inspire through a variety of cultural activities. We need a comprehensive plan that contributes to the overall economic development of Simpsonville.

It’s Official!

Jenn Hulehan Campaign Life, News ,

jenn web filedIn case you missed it, yesterday I officially filed with the city as a candidate for the Ward 3 seat of the Simpsonville City Council.  It’s time to get this campaign started! Stay tuned for more news and updates.

Remember: like the campaign page on Facebook and select “get notifications” to make sure you never miss an update! And of course, keep reading this official blog!  There will be a lot happening between now and November.

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