Substantial changes to membership of the Laurens County Council just got a little more intriguing with the just-before-the-weekend action of the Council Chairman.
County swearing in is reportedly happening Tuesday evening (Jan. 7); however, Council Chairman Brown Patterson has filed an official challenge to the voting registration address of new council member Arthur Philson, Jr. who will represent a seat that includes a part of Clinton.
This is Patterson’s complaint:
1/3/2025
Attn. Laurens County Voter Registration and Election Commission,
I wish to file a challenge on the voter registration for Cassandra Philson and Arthur Lee Philson, Jr. registered at 3212 Milam Rd Clinton, SC.
I believe they have falsified information and perjured themselves when signing documentation with your office.
Reasons for the believe that 3212 Milam Rd. Clinton, SC is not the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Philson:
According to Laurens County Tax records the parcel for 3212 Milam Rd (507-00-00-049) has never been assessed with ANY structure on the property. It has only been assessed with 29.19 acres coded with ag exemption.
According to Laurens County Tax records Casandra Philson has been claiming residential exemption/owner occupied rate of 4% since acquiring her home at 101 Meek Dr Laurens, SC (445-00-00-072) in 1990.
Multiple Lawsuits have been served to Mrs. Philson and service has been received at 101 Meek Dr. by Mrs. Philson and that address is noted on multiple court documents.
One affidavit of service even spells out that 3212 Milam Rd is a bad address and an abandon property. A neighbor on Milam told the process server it was not their resident. As well as a neighbor on Meek Dr told the process server that Mrs. Philson lives at 101 Meek Dr with her husband.
Power to 3212 Milam Rd has been disconnected since 2019 with no restoration of service.
I request the Commission investigate the voter registrations of Mr. and Mrs. Philson and determine if they are valid. If they are found to have not resided at 3212 Milam Road Clinton, SC I request that the number of times they voted with a false voter registration be determined and published by your commission.
Respectfully Submitted,
W. Brown Patterson, Jr.
It is unclear if Patterson’s complaint - if it is upheld - would disqualify Philson from taking the office to which he has been elected. Philson’s seat is 1 of 3 undergoing a shift going into 2025, based on the June 11 Republican primary and the Nov. 5 General Election.
Philson, as a petition candidate, defeated incumbent Dianne Anderson 1,831 to 1,387 in the General Election. But Patterson’s complaint would indicate that Philson does not live in the district to which he was elected, and state law reportedly says just that a person has to “establish residence” within the district prior to taking office.
Anderson, who was defeated, is the long-time member of the Laurens County Council - in fact, the longest serving member of the current council.
Two other seats are changing.
Justin Lane defeated incumbent David Tribble, 721 to 355, in a June 25 re-vote for the Republican nomination to a district that also includes a portion of Clinton (and Joanna) after the two men tied at 647 apiece in the June 11 GOP primary.
Matthew Brownlee is taking the seat which was held by Luke Rankin. Brownlee crushed Dale Stetz, 1,281 to 176, in the June 11 GOP primary. Rankin has vacated the seat and now is the SC House District 14 representative, a seat that Stewart Jones held but resigned from to run for Congress.
Jones was seeking the seat vacated by Jeff Duncan, but ran 3rd in a crowded field headed by Sheri Briggs, who was sworn in to the 3rd District in Washington, DC, on Friday.
That move shifts the focus of the Congressional seat from the City of Laurens (with Duncan) to the City of Anderson (with Briggs).
Incumbent Laurens County Council Member Shirley Clark survived a Democratic primary challenger and a Republican general election challenger to maintain her Laurens-based seat.
The election results would make membership of the Laurens County Council, which makes important decisions on spending and taxes (and has come under serious questioning at the end of last year because of a jump in local property tax charges, only a portion of which the county is responsible for), as Patterson, as chair voted on by the council and Clark, incumbents vice-chair Jeff Carroll and Kemp Younts, Lane and Brownlee as newcomers, and Philson if he is deemed qualified to hold the seat, and not disqualified if Patterson’s residency challenge is upheld.
Configured that way, the Laurens County Council will have 5 white members and 2 black members (same as 2024); 6 men and 1 woman (one less female member from 2024).
Patterson’s challenge document is 18 pages - a 1-page letter and 17 pages of exhibits related to the Philsons’ residency, allegedly in Laurens and not on Milam Road which is located between Clinton and Laurens (the exhibits include a picture of the Milam Road house). Patterson did not ask the elections commission to disqualify Philson.
Neither The Clinton Chronicle nor golaurens.com have received an official notification from Laurens County Government that there will be a swearing-in ceremony this Tuesday evening (Jan. 7) and it is not listed on the county Home Page nor as a “council meeting” on the county’s website’s county council section. These meetings are the 2nd Monday of each month - Dec. 9 was the most recent meeting and the next meeting should be Jan. 13. It could be scheduled as a mass swearing-in for everyone who won election or re-election in 2024, and their families, to be conducted in a county courtroom.
