Kimberly Williams is the first woman to serve as mayor of New Ellenton.
Williams defeated longtime New Ellenton Mayor Vernon Dunbar to become the city’s first female mayor last November.
“I realized fairly quickly that I was [the first female mayor] of New Ellenton,” Williams said. “I remember through all the years that there was never a woman mayor around here.”
New Ellenton’s history begins in the 1950s after the town of Ellenton and the surrounding land was acquired by the federal government for the Savannah River Site.
The new town was located just outside of the border of the site, and it boasts a population of 2,210 people as of the 2020 Census.
Williams is a native of the city of moved away after high school.
She said she moved to the Myrtle Beach area after high school. Williams said she came back because she wanted to raise her daughter, Ashley, in the community in which she was raised, that it was where here family was, and that it was closer to the home of her soon-to-be husband, the Rev. Dennis Williams.
“We moved back here a little over 17 years ago,” Williams said Sept. 29 at the New Ellenton City Hall. “Once I moved back, I was a little bit disappointed. Things weren’t quite the way they used to be when we were growing up. The town was kind of dwindling.”
She said she decided to run for mayor at a meeting held to recruit candidates for the city council. She and her husband didn’t know the purpose of the meeting.
She said the people at the meeting asked her to consider running. Williams said she told them that she would consider running if the group didn’t have enough people to run for council.
“That’s when they told me no, we’d like you to run for mayor,” Williams said. “I was like, ‘Wow, mayor, that’s a little much. I’m not into politics. I’ve never really thought about running for mayor. I’ve never done that before. That would be new to us.'”
Williams said she asked the group if she could take some time to pray about it. She said the group responded that they needed an answer that night. Williams said they then stopped the meeting to allow her to pray. She said she asked God to help her find the words to respond to the request.
Those words were yes, I’ll do it.
As the first female mayor of the city, Williams said she faced some questions about her toughness but added that women are strong because they have to run households and take care of children.
“I’m not saying that men aren’t a huge part of that, but I know that I like to take care of things,” Williams said. “When I see an issue, I want it taken care of. I think it needs to be taken care of immediately. When I see safety concerns, when I see problems, those things need to be taken care of.”
Williams said she thought it was a woman’s instinct to make sure that those in her care are provided for and are safe.
One of her first actions as mayor was to increase the city’s police force and to correct violations at the city’s water plant, both safety concerns.
Williams added she and the council have also worked on economic development including bringing a bank back to the city and to improve the city’s shopping center.
