Taft Matney is the managing principal of TM Public Relations & Governmental Affairs and moved to Mauldin in 1973.
He is a 1991 graduate of Mauldin High School and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with concentrations in government and business from the University of South Carolina Upstate where he was a member of the school’s debate team.
“Except for the first six months of my life, when we were waiting for my grandfather, dad, and uncle to finish building our house and with the exception of the first couple of years Addy and I were married, I’ve lived in the same house on the same street in the same neighborhood,” Taft says with a smile.
Married to Addy, an involved community volunteer and board member of the Greenville Transit Authority, they have a son in public school who was active in Mauldin Recreation sports before aging in to the high school system.
They are members of Mauldin United Methodist Church where Taft is the usher coordinator for the church’s 11:00 traditional service. Addy and Taft are members of the “Pathfinders” Sunday School class.
If you attend a sporting event at Mauldin High School’s Freeman Field, you’ll hear him over the public address system where he is the PA announcer for varsity football and varsity boys’ lacrosse.
Taft is a member of the School Improvement Councils (SIC) of Mauldin High School and Mauldin Middle School. He serves as the 2021-2022 chair of the Mauldin High School Athletic Booster Club and also serves on the board of the Knollwood Foundation, a non-profit organization he started with some childhood friends to provide food to our community’s youth in need.
Previously, he was a board member of the YMCA of Greenville, a past chair of its Youth In Government (YIG) / Teen Services branch, and a board member of the Prisma Health Family YMCA branch. He volunteered as an assistant coach for Mauldin High School’s debate team, as a board member of Easter Seals of Greenville, and served on several additional committees at Mauldin Methodist including the History Committee and as a co-chair of the church’s Preschool & Kindergarten.
He was a member of the Advisory Council of Prisma Health (formerly the Greenville Health System) and Memorial Medical Campus and the Government Task Force of Greenville Forward.
Taft was asked to serve on the City Center, Economic Development, and Cultural Resources subcommittee for the City of Mauldin’s Comprehensive Plan in June 2008 and on the city’s Main Street Steering Committee in early July of that year.
Taft Matney ran for Mauldin City Council Seat 1 and was elected on November 5, 2013 thanks to YOUR work and support. He was reelected in 2017 and 2021. As a member of Mauldin City Council, Taft chairs the Economic Planning and Development Committee and is a member of the Business and Development Services and Recreation Committees. He served on the Public Safety Committee from 2014-2019.
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