Three file for seat on County Council
Yovonda Price-Mack. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Kirk Askins. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Robbin Brock. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
By Bobby Bryant, Editor
Three candidates have filed to run in the special June election to fill a vacant seat on Darlington County Council. Robbin Brock of the Pine Ridge area, Kirk Askins of Hartsville and Yovonda Price-Mack have filed for the Hartsville-area council seat left open when council vice chairman Lewis Brown resigned Feb. 1. The deadline for filing was noon Saturday, said Darlington County elections chief Hoyt Campbell. Brown resigned because he’d been offered a job opportunity that, he said, would conflict with his council duties. He is now Darlington County’s director of economic development. Brock and Askins both are running as Republicans. Price-Mack is a Democrat. In a statement, Brock said he had held this council seat from 2012-16. “My record on council will show that I am conservative with the taxpayers’ money,” Brock said. “I served as the Emergency Management Director for Darlington County for many years,” Brock added. “Because of this, and the fact that my father was a founding member of the Lake Robinson Rescue Squad where my entire family has served, emergency services are close to my heart. I will work every day to make sure that Darlington County has the best emergency services possible.” On economic development, Brock said, “I will fight every day for Darlington County to get its fair share of the pie.” Askins is owner of MKA Mechanical, a heating and air-conditioning company. This will be his first bid for elected office, he said. “The more I got to thinking about it, I’m at the point in my life where I’m almost an ‘empty-nester,’” Askins said. He was looking for a new challenge and decided to go for the open County Council seat. Askins said one of his goals is to make sure that the county and the Hartsville area do as much as possible to keep economic development going. Price-Mack describes herself as an entrepreneur with a home-based business. She said this is her first run for an elected office. She said she decided to run because she felt the county needs to do more for education and needs to do more on road repair, among other issues. Price-Mack said the county especially should do more for children.
