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Greg Oliver

Former West Union Mayor Josh Roberts, shown above with his Foothills YMCA summer camp group nicknamed “Baboons,” is now a teacher at Easley High School in addition to his summer counseling duties. Roberts was the youngest mayor ever elected in the state, when the then 23-year-old won election in West Union in April 2004.

CLEMSON — Former West Union Mayor Josh Roberts said he enjoyed his brief venture into politics, and the youngest mayor to ever be elected in South Carolina history hasn’t ruled out a return to politics in the future.

But, for now, Roberts is staying busy as an English teacher and wrestling coach at Easley High School. He is also in his first summer as a counselor for the Foothills Area Family YMCA. Roberts credits Kurt Kreuzberger, the current assistant principal at Walhalla High School and Roberts’ high school wrestling coach, for his influence.

“He had a huge impact on my life,” the 1998 graduate said. “I hope I can do the same thing for these kids.”

The fact that Roberts has served in local government and as a teacher should come as no surprise. He has always been a leader. As a Clemson University student, he served as president of the Phi Alpha Delta pre-law fraternity and was active in both the College Republicans and Alpha Phi Omega.

During his Clemson University years, Roberts met Clemson Mayor Larry Abernathy and the two hit it off.

Roberts asked Abernathy a lot of political questions. The more he learned, the more interested he became. After receiving his degree in secondary English in December 2003, Roberts decided to test the political waters. Since he had grown up in West Union, he felt the time had come for new blood and some new ideas and he decided to run for mayor.

“Having served as president of the Clemson University Republican Party my senior year, I have always found politics interesting and a lot of fun,” Roberts said. “I thought it would be fun to compete, to give people a choice and provide some competition.”

To his surprise, Roberts won election in April 2004 and one of the first individuals he notified was Abernathy.

“I e-mailed him. He e-mailed me back, telling me I didn’t have to call him ‘Mayor’ anymore since I was now a mayor,” Roberts recalled.

While winning election proved exhilarating, Roberts soon discovered there was much to learn.

“It was a huge learning curve because you really can’t prepare for it until people begin calling you,” he said. “You think of things you can do and, when they don’t work out, how to do things differently the next time. That has helped me in my teaching.”

Roberts also faced the challenge of working alongside town council members who were two and three times his age.

During his tenure, boundaries of the town were extended to incorporate a larger subdivision and bringing in new businesses. However he also inherited the closing of Winn-Dixie.

“I was trying to get something moved into that building but, unfortunately, the last couple of years have not been good for new businesses,” Roberts said.

The newly-elected mayor also sought to obtain a water agreement between West Union, Walhalla and Seneca.

“I was trying to pull us all together, but it’s hard — especially if you’re the youngest (mayor) in the smallest city,” Roberts said.

Roberts didn’t have much time to see his goals come to fruition. The two has two-year terms for mayor and council and Roberts lost his re-election bid by eight votes in 2006. Roberts called the defeat “tough,” But added that he only entered political office to serve people.

“It’s all about the people and what they want and that they get what they want,” Roberts said. “Everything that’s happened has been for the best.”

After the defeat, Roberts continued to work for the Dept. of Social Services but then applied for an open teaching position in the Pickens County. Roberts got the job and is now entering his third year as a freshman and sophomore English teacher and wrestling coach.

“I like working with kids,” Roberts said. “It’s fun, it’s a good school and good being a teacher and coach.”

After spending last summer playing what he called the “I’m a teacher and want to hang out all summer” game, Roberts decided to take a summer job this year and learned of the counselor positions at the Foothills Y.

Roberts has been working with campers in a wide variety of activities, including swimming, hiking on nature trails and conducting an animal scavenger hunt as well as games. The campers are divided into different groups and Roberts leads the “Baboons” — consisting of 10 third-grade students from Oconee and Pickens counties.

“One of the things I like best about the Y is that, in Oconee County, there’s nowhere for kids to go,” Roberts said. “They sit around and watch TV or go on the Internet, so the kids really, really benefit from being here, having fun and interacting with one another.”

As far as his future goals, Roberts admits that politics remains in his blood.

“It’s definitely a possibility,” he said. “Things have been going really well and I look forward to seeing what the future holds.”