Editor’s Note: This article is part of a series of questionnaires profiling candidates running for City Council Post 1 in the upcoming Richmond Hill municipal elections. (Tuesday, November 4). Answers were edited for length and clarity. Follow the Bryan County News for more election coverage.
About Vee
Lavetris “Vee” Singleton was born and raised in Savannah before moving to West Palm Beach, Florida. Her family has roots in Bryan County since the 1900s with her father, Vietnam vet and local city advocate Donald Singleton, originally from Richmond Hill.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Florida State University and a master’s in education from the University of Phoenix. She is a graduate of Leadership Savannah and Leadership Bryan, regional leadership workshops for area professionals. Singleton has served as planning commissioner since 2020 and chairperson of the Mayor’s advisory committee since 2019.
Additionally, Singleton has over 20 years of higher education administration experience. She is currently a Government Program Coordinator at Gulfstream Aerospace.
Why are you running?
I have always been interested in government as a whole, and being on the Planning Commission, I found that the real decision makers are our City Council. I feel that my past experiences of being a Planning Commissioner make me a really good asset to the City Council.
What sets you/your ideas apart?
“I believe that experience matters. I have experience in Planning [Commission], I have experience in my education [as a Political Science major], my time on Planning Commission, my time in my leadership programs, such as Leadership Bryan, Leadership Savannah…and those have all prepared me to not only lead but listen [as well]. They prepared me for how local government works and how I can best serve the community.”
From your perspective, what are the three biggest issues facing the city of Richmond Hill?
Sustainable growth
Drainage
Effective community engagement
{on point 3] “We are a growing city…residents are now starting to ask, ‘we’ve got the city, we’ve got the residents, we’ve got the government, how do they work together’? How do the city and city officials work with and for its residents, and what does that relationship look like? How is that communicated to the government, and how do they talk back and forth responsibly?
“For a long time, I don't know if that was done effectively. So that's got to be addressed. There are a lot of people that move to Richmond Hill, and they're like, have so many questions about very simple things in the city, and you shouldn't have to go to Facebook to find everything. Not everybody has Facebook, not everybody has internet [access], and so there's got to be effective community engagement within the city, for a growing city our size.”
How has social media affected local government, if at all?
Social media has made people more emboldened, and I think it’s made people use their voices. There are positives and negatives…but more people are now involved with local government [through social media] because it’s made it more accessible to people.
Where do you see the city of Richmond Hill in 10 years?
“In ten years, I think that Richmond Hill will have definitely solved some of our big issues that we are plagued with right now. We will have found ways to sustain our growth and find effective solutions for our drainage and we will be a more transparent city. We’ll be a leader [in the region].”