As part of our continuing effort to bring relevant local news to our readers, we’ve proactively reached out to the candidates running for Tega Cay Mayor and City Council. We’ve furnished them with a series of questions designed to provide the answers you need in order to decide on the candidates who will occupy the available seats.
Leading up to the election on Tuesday, November 4, we will feature one of the candidates along with their responses to a list of questions. We will not manipulate their answers in any way, we’ll simply provide them to you, our readers. This will allow you to make an informed choice. The order in which they’ll be featured was determined by response time to our inquiry.
Today, we’ll feature Heather Jones, Candidate for City Council.
Please refer to the following article for the list of additional candidates: https://tegacaysun.com/2025/09/06/york-county-municipal-elections-who-is-running/
Please state your name:
Heather Jones
Please state your occupation:
Currently I am serving my second year as a Co-President of the Tega Cay Elementary School PTO (501(c)3) and I am chair of the Tega Cay Stormwater and Environmental Committee. These volunteer roles are in addition to being the primary Stay-at-home Parent in our household for our 1st and 4th graders at Tega Cay Elementary.
How long have you lived in Tega Cay?
My family moved to Tega Cay a little over 3 years ago at the end of June 2022 to be closer to our extended family already living in the city.
What do you believe is the role of the City Council in our community?
The primary role of the City Council is to act as the voice of Tega Cay residents in guiding the decisions made by our City Manager and administration and ensuring projects and ordinances align with the 10 year comprehensive plan and resident feedback. They are also responsible for providing fiscal oversight to ensure taxpayer funds are managed with transparency and accountability. I also believe it is important for the members of Council to be accessible to residents and proactive in facilitating communication to build community trust.
What skills and experience do you have that you believe would be beneficial to you as a Council member?
My prior professional and volunteer experience has equipped me to have the skills necessary to fulfill the role of City Council member. I have extensive experience navigating legal and regulatory documents and analyzing complex budgets from my previous involvement on multiple nonprofit boards. My early jobs in retail and as an IT Help Desk professional after completing my B.A. in Psychology at Trinity University (San Antonio) allowed me to refine my ability to work with people and address their problem and later my time as an Institutional Research Analyst and Graduate Student at Texas A&M University in the Nautical Archaeology Program required me to work with large data sets in order to guide decision making with a “big picture” view of projects. Finally, as a parent to two young children I am well versed in time management for multiple schedules and share a common day-to-day perspective with many other families in our community.
What previous community involvement have you had in Tega Cay or another city?
Since moving to Tega Cay I have been deeply involved in our community. I founded the Tega Cay Crafters group with a fellow resident in 2022 to create a new social option for local crafters, and this year the group was able to collaborate with local school Beta clubs to cut and sew flannel hearts to donate to a local NICU support charity. I have also served as a parent volunteer for my daughter’s Girl Scout troop and a community volunteer for the Tega Cay Lions, including being a 2024 Citizen of the Year Semi-Finalist.
Before stepping up to serve as an officer on the Tega Cay Elementary School PTO board, I volunteered as a room parent, lunch duty monitor, and have coordinated the entry for the school into the annual Fort Mill Scarecrow crawl the last three years. Outside of volunteer roles, since 2022 I have been a regular attendee and public speaker at monthly council meetings, attend the city’s quarterly public safety meetings, and participated in the focus group meetings held as part of developing the new 10 year comprehensive plan.
I also began the process of founding a local nonprofit in 2024, with the eventual goal of bringing a Creative ReUse Center to York County. This project is driven by my committee work with Spare Parts (501(c)3), helping by setting up and overseeing their online store during the pandemic and then transitioning to a brick and mortar retail location in San Antonio from 2020-2022. I also had the pleasure of volunteering as a meal delivery driver for Meals on Wheels in San Antonio during that same time period.
What do you see as top priorities for the City and why?
From my time attending council meetings, serving on city committees, and listening to feedback from residents I feel that maintaining our current status as one of the safest places to live in South Carolina and navigating the pressures we experience from the exponential growth in York County are top priorities for the City.
On the public safety side, this means ensuring our Police, Fire, and First responders have the funding and support they need to maintain the standards our residents expect in areas such as low response times, high community involvement, and maintaining our low crime rate.
When it comes to navigating pressure from the surrounding growth, this will require proactively managing several key areas including working to maintain and update existing infrastructure and amenities with grant and outside funding opportunities whenever possible and ensuring our city is engaged in regional collaborations such as with RFATS and SCDOT to manage traffic and infrastructure impacts. There also needs to be a focus on growing our tax base to maintain our financial health as a city and proactively seeking ways to maintain community elements such as our thriving Rec Sports programs and Tree City USA designation that reflect the unique community feel of Tega Cay.
Have you previously served on a governing board of any type (business, government, non-profit organization, church, etc.) or as a leader in any organization? If so, please briefly describe the organization(s), your role, and the number of years you served in that capacity below.
Since moving to Tega Cay I have served in multiple non-profit board and committee leadership roles, including:
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Chair of Tega Cay Forever, the 501(c)3 committee for Tega Cay (2023).
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Chair of the Stormwater and Environmental Committee (2024 – present).
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Co-President of the Tega Cay Elementary School PTO, 501(c)3 (2024 – present)
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Team Lead for the Tega Cay Lion’s Annual Senior Citizen Holiday Party (2025)
Prior to moving to Tega Cay, I was also involved as a lead committee member for the nonprofit, Spare Parts in San Antonio. I also served as a local officer in the Society for Creative Anachronism (an educational 501(c)3) as the Southern Regional Rapier Marshal (2016 – 2018) overseeing reporting and safety for all local groups in South and Southeast Texas. I also served as the Local Chronicler (2015 – 2016) handling newsletter and local reporting requirements and Local Rapier Marshal (2012 – 2015) managing local practices and required reporting to the previous Southern Regional Marshal for the San Antonio chapter of the group.
What do you believe are the three (3) greatest strengths of the City of Tega Cay?
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Hands down the greatest strength of Tega Cay is the people who live and work here. Our residents are some of the most politically and civically involved in the area and what our passionate city staff accomplish for the small size of our city is exceptional.
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Our natural setting and location as a lakeside community, amenities, and designation as a Tree City USA, which make Tega Cay unique compared to neighboring communities.
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Our low crime rate and strong financial base, which are a direct result of the hard work of our city departments and staff along with the oversight of prior City Councils.
Does your interest in serving on the City Council stem from a personal interest or goal?
My desire to serve on council comes from a very deep belief that a community is only as good as the involvement of its residents. I want to bring my passion, skills, and perspective to help continue crafting this amazing community where we all live.
Is there something in particular you hope to accomplish while serving on the City Council, and why is serving on the Council important to you? Please elaborate.
In addition to maintaining the strong financial and quality of life position our city currently holds, I would love to see Tega Cay pursue intentional and responsive expansion of its amenities. This includes supporting existing proposals to install a digital marquee for the Lake Ridge side of the city to share event information with residents, as well as exploring ways to expand our amenities for our residents during planned upgrades through new additions such as small skate features at parks with planned upgrades in the Parks and Rec long term plan. Working with the city to have pre-planned art and community events for The Grove as it is built out to build community and help support the new businesses is another goal I would hope to accomplish.
Serving on council is important to me because I believe community is a verb and requires work to actively shape and guide the experience our residents will have. As a former Air Force brat who moved a lot as a child, getting to pick where I live is not something I take lightly. My family chose Tega Cay and serving on council is a way that I can contribute to our city continuing to be the premier community that has kept many residents here and drawn new families seeking the “Good Life.”
Please list any areas you believe the City of Tega Cay could improve upon:
One area where I think our city has room for improvement is in how it connects and communicates with residents. Tega Cay has multiple methods for sharing information (Email lists, phone alerts, City app, social media, phone lines, in person), but a common piece of feedback I’ve heard is that despite all these options there are times that information isn’t consistently reaching residents. Our City Council plays a large role in helping to boost communication between the city and residents and it is also important for them to be responsive and professional in using established communication channels to build trust and respect with the residents.
To improve communication with residents, I believe the Council needs to get curious and proactively seek out what is causing the inconsistent communication. Effective city communication has an impact on everything from understanding how council lands on a vote, to emergency communications or basic operations (i.e. the infamous leaf truck schedule). Identifying the exact places where things are not working as they should also means proposed solutions can be targeted and fiscally responsible.
The City Council must render decisions regarding the implementation of policies and/or programs that may be somewhat difficult. Are you willing to take on the responsibility of making decisions that are in the best interest of the public even though they may be somewhat difficult?
I am absolutely prepared to take on the responsibility of making difficult decisions and will always place the best interest of our city at the forefront of my approach. A recent example of when I had to demonstrate this was when I served as Chair of Tega Cay Forever and had to lead the dissolution of the committee and its nonprofit status with the state. I also think any parent of young children will also be very familiar with the daily responsibility of making unpopular or difficult decisions.
What do you believe is the single most compelling issue facing the City of Tega Cay?
I believe the single most compelling issue currently facing our City is the need to grow our commercial tax base over the next 5-7 years. While we have a balanced budget, healthy emergency reserve fund and sound debt ratio, a portion of our budget comes from residential developer impact fees that will eventually come to an end. Continuing to avoid new development over supporting existing infrastructure, ensuring that the current development at The Grove continues as planned, and focusing on ways to support our existing business communities will be important for handling this upcoming transition without having to immediately jump to residential tax increases, cutting services or delaying maintenance and upgrades to aging parts of our infrastructure that residents rely on.
Please tell us about any other activities, specialized skills, knowledge, or professional experience that would contribute to your effectiveness in serving on the City Council.
While I have only lived in Tega Cay a little over three years, my extensive experience in the community and city committees has given me a solid understanding of the operational side of our city. I have already developed relationships with many members of our city staff and have a good working understanding of the expectations and obligations that come with serving on council, which means that if elected I will be ready to hit the ground running serving our residents.
My background in nonprofits means that I am used to working with a high degree of accountability and transparency, which is something residents also expected from their City Council members. I also bring a unique perspective when approaching funding and financial discussions in looking at grants or other outside sources of funding or collaborations as ways to expand our services without incurring debt as a city. Finally my crafting and creative background gives me insight into things that build a sense of community and can have a positive impact even when they don’t show up as a line item on a report or budget.
Many are concerned about the growth within Tega Cay. What’s your plan to help ensure we maintain a small town feel while continuing to grow appropriately?
While Tega Cay has hit the physical limits of its growth, I appreciate the concern about how future development within Tega Cay and the growth around us may impact the “Small Town Feel” that so many residents value. Council being proactive and maintaining oversight of The Grove (formerly Main Street) development in conjunction with active communication with the Planning Commission will be an important step in maintaining the feel of our city. Tega Cay is also currently developing a new 10 year Comprehensive Plan and ensuring that any future work done within our city limits aligns with that vision will be an important job for the next City Council. I would also like to see our city work to maintain our existing recreational green spaces and look into ways to offset the development that has already happened through new initiatives such as residential tree giveaway events.
Is there anything you’d want to tell us about yourself and why the people of Tega Cay should vote for you?
My husband and I have been married 15 years and we chose to move to Tega Cay with our kids not only because of the safety and amazing schools, but because we saw the wonderful experience so many families have had in this city over the decades since it was founded. I am asking the residents of Tega Cay to vote for me because I will represent them with the same passion, hard work, integrity and collaborative approach that I already bring to my volunteer roles around our amazing city. I truly believe we can Craft our Community, Together!
I appreciate this opportunity provided by the Tega Cay Sun to share more about myself with the residents and wanted to thank all the candidates for City Council for their passion and willingness to run and serve.
