Darlington mayor-elect hopes to bring positive change to the city

DARLINGTON, S.C. (WMBF) - The city of Darlington will soon have a new mayor.

Curtis Boyd won Tuesday’s election, and now he’s sharing his vision for the city.

Boyd is a 55-year-old business owner and former teacher at Florence-Darlington Technical College, where he taught math for almost two decades. He’s the owner of several gyms in the Pee Dee, and he’s also a black belt karate instructor of more than 30 years.

That said, he’s no stranger to leadership positions, which is why he believes the transition to mayor made sense.

He said he thrives on overcoming challenges, both physically and mentally. An example of that is the countless miles he’s run in solo races as long as 50 miles and relay races as long as 200 miles.

Boyd said his hope is that his attitude rubs off on the citizens of Darlington.

“My goal is to bring a good positive outlook to the citizens, for the citizens to be happy with what we’ve got, excited with what we’ve got and bring them on board,” Boyd said.

Boyd said he wants other cities in the Pee Dee to look at Darlington in a few years once he’s been mayor for a while and start to imitate what Darlington has.

Boyd has several goals he wants to accomplish as mayor.

“Our goal is to grow the recreation department,” Boyd said. “Our goal is to grow the citizens as far as more residents in our town. Since 1990, we’ve declined over 2,300 residents, so our goal is to increase that back.”

Boyd also hopes to improve sewers and drainage in the city.

Boyd is grateful for those who elected him mayor. He knows he has a lot of work to do, but he said he’ll embrace the challenge.

“I thank those that voted for me and believe in my vision,” Boyd said. “Together we can make it work.”

Boyd will officially take office in January, but he said he’s already started work on his new job.

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