IT'S ALMOST HERE

GE&P would like to wish all our readers and contributers a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

THE END OF OUR TETHER

You all knew the day was coming. You knew GE&P would not be able to remain silent forever. We exercised all measure of control but there is a limit to how much can be tolerated without response.

Over the past months, we have read with interest, and some gritting of teeth, the accounts posted on Face Book about how unrealistic and unfair it is to our little Darlings of today to have the foreboding presence of uniformed policemen on our public school campuses. "The presence of these law enforcement officers only bring out aggression in the adolescent." GE&P has a one word reply, "BULL".

It would appear that the experts are constantly struggling to find a solution to the lack of discipline in our public school systems. Well, fear not. GE&P has come to the rescue. Here you go.

Let's rewind to the early 1950's. You are entering the main hallway of St. Patrick's elementary school which contains grades 1 through 8. On your right as you pass the front door is the office. In this doorway stands Sister Mary Thelma. She is an imposing woman dressed from head to toe in black. Her only adornment is an oversized rosary with wooden beads which drapes from her waistband almost to the floor. As you look down the hall, you see doors on either side which lead to classrooms. Each of these doorways contains another woman dressed exactly like Sister Thelma. There is only one BIG difference between these 8 other women and the one standing at the office door. Securely gripped in her right hand, Sister Thelma holds an 18 inch steel ruler. The other 8 have no need for this accessory. They have Sister Thelma.

Sister Thelma never smiles, as this action may lull some unfortunate soul into thinking, mistakenly, that she just might be human. She isn't. She is a discipline machine and she performs this function very well. Whistle in the hall?.....WHACK. Get caught chewing gum?....WHACK. Don't have your homework?.....WHACK. Find yourself accidentally standing in the wrong place at the wrong time?.....sorry 'bout that...WHACK.

In Sister Thelma's world, and St. Patrick School IS her world, it is extremely rare that a parent is called in to resolve a problem with a student. A situation is NEVER serious enough to require police presence. 99.9% of discipline problems are handled by Sister Thelma's tool of correction. God forbid you should create a problem large enough to warrant a visit from the priest at the church just across the corner. This action could earn you constant surveillance for months by Sister Thelma. You'll be watched in the lunchroom; you'll be watched on the playground; you'll have your bathroom visits timed; and you'll be escorted on and off the school grounds. Not good, but effective. And never once did it cross your mind to consult a lawyer.

Granted, accounts like this cause Liberal everywhere to cringe. But, if you will, look at the outcome. None of us suffered abuse. None of us ended up in the hospital. None of us carry any permanent scars. None of us ended up on drugs or in jail. The one thing that we DO have is a sincere respect for law and order. We possess an indelible awareness of what kind of behavior is acceptable in civilized society. When we compare what is being done now and the outcome, with what was done then and the outcome, was Sister Thelma's methods all that bad? We think not.

SO OBVIOUS IT'S NOT FUNNY

Unless you have been living in a cave for the last two weeks, you've probably heard of Supervisor, Dan Davis' latest brainstorm. He wants to implement major changes to County Council Rules. Allow us to explain how his wonderful new plan will work.

Mr. Davis wants to throw out Robert's Rules of Order Revised in favor of the Model Rules of Parliamentary Procedure for South Carolina (Model Rules). These Rules are much abbreviated and do not contain the complete guidance provided by Robert's Rules. Consequently, when a situation arises that is not addressed in the Model Rules, Robert's must be consulted. The Model Rules were developed by a committee appointed by the SC Association of Counties. When the product was completed, even the chairman of the committee and several of the committee members described the product (Model Rules) as confusing and unneeded. At the latest survey, only 7 of the 46 SC counties have adopted these Model Rules. Of these 7, only 2 actually use them. The other 39 counties have rejected the Model Rules out of hand. With his decision to adopt the Model Rules, Mr. Davis is , once again, swimming up stream against conventional logic. But, could there be a method to this madness?

Next, Mr. Davis wants to eliminate all committees and committee chairmen. He wants to replace this existing committee system with "workshops". Mr. Davis contends this move will encourage open discussion and provide a better forum for all members of Council to participate in all areas of government. He insists that this new process will not diminish any member of Council's individual powers of oversight. Mr. Davis says any member of Council can place any item on the agenda. Under the new plan, there would be one full Council meeting per month.

In the humble opinion of GE&P, these contention are no less than absurd. In the first place, no action can be taken in a workshop. The only thing a Councilman can do in that setting is voice an opinion. At the end of the meeting, nothing is official and, therefore, nothing has changed. Nothing has been adopted or rejected. To quote Councilman Fish, "A workshop is just a dog and pony show. It's schoolyard show and tell."

With the existing system, each Councilman heads a committee that is responsible for a different department of government. Citizens can contact the appropriate Councilman when there is a problem in that area. If this committee system is abolished, there would be no point of contact for citizens and no direct individual oversight of the various departments of government by any Councilman. This new system would relegate the job of each member of the County Council to an advisory capacity.

As to the contention that, under this new system, any member of Council will be allowed to add an item to the agenda, that might very well be true. BUT, it is equally true that Mr. Davis, as Supervisor, chairs the full Council meetings and, as chairman, he has the power to strike any item of his choosing from the agenda for any or no reason.

Shall we cease and desist with the polite amenities and describe this new plan for what it is?

As it stands right now, Council is comprised of 4 Conservative Republicans and 4 Liberal Democrats. At regular Council meetings, Mr. Davis provides the tie breaker when there is a 4/4 vote. (Remember this) Mr. Davis and the 4 Democrats ALWAYS VOTE TOGETHER. As it exists now, all spending issues not previously included in the budget must come through the Committees. For example: One of the 4 Democrats heads the Finance Committee. At committee meetings, the existing Rules disallow the Chairman of a committee a vote. Therefore, with the present system, when unreasonable spending issues arise, the Conservative Republicans on the Finance Committee enjoy a 4/3 majority vote. Consequently, the Conservatives on Council block many of Mr. Davis' big spending projects at the committee level. (Has the lightbulb come on yet?)

Also, under the existing Rules, all information on contracts, purchases, and transfers of funds must be disseminated to all members of Council through the W&S, Public Works and Purchasing, and Finance Committees. This is the method through which Council members stay informed as to what is going on with our tax dollars. If the new Rules abolish the Committees and do not include this oversight ability to the members of Council, how will any of us know what is being done by our County government and how our tax dollars are being spent? So far, Mr. Davis has not provided anyone, including members of Council, with a draft of his new and improved Rules.

As we recounted in yesterday's post, Mr. Davis has grabbed money from the property owners, W&S, the School System, the fund balance and any other source on which he could place his greedy little hands. Coupled with this, he has a massive new multi-million dollar building agenda waiting in the wings. Mr. Davis has already proven what he will do if no one is looking. He proceeded with the rebranding of W&S, took away the FILOT funds from the schools, took $10 million from W&S, installed political payoff water lines, depleted the fund balance, and virtually destroyed Cypress Gardens, all without a vote of Council.

The only people who he thinks are standing in the way of him having a completely free hand with BC government are the 4 Conservative Republican Committee Chairmen. His simple solution, get rid of the Committees and, in so doing, the Committeemen. Then, he would be left with only the full Council meetings on which he has a solid 4/4 vote. He breaks the tie and, presto, he gets his way on every issue. This would remove any obstacles from his goal of ONE MAN RULE.

But, Mr. Davis has made one serious mistake. He forgot about "WE THE PEOPLE"

HINT OF A TAX HIKE?

Supervisor, Dan Davis held his December "Community Meeting" on Thursday night. This installment of his current propaganda effort was held in Cainhoy for the 8th Council District. GE&P received several reports from those in attendance.

The meeting began with the usual 20+ minute monolog by Mr. Davis. Once again, Mr. Davis made the false statement that his administration presided over the first balanced budget in BC in 16 years. Note to Mr. Davis and his crack finance team: When the last number on your spread sheet is in the minus, you are running a deficit.

Mr. Davis stressed that the State had cut funding to BC. He explained how many County positions had been eliminated through attrition and that there had not been any layoffs. Then, he mentioned, in passing, that many Counties had adopted a process of rolling blackouts for the EMS in order to stay within budget. GE&P advises that you pay close attention to obscure little remarks like this one. It could be a precursor to the old "OMG, if we don't raise taxes, we'll have to close the Washington Monument" tactic. Stay alert.

Even though the number of folks in attendance was small, the questioning was active and to the point. This is by no means to imply that these questions were answered. The overall impression voiced to GE&P by attendees was that they ended up with more questions than answers.

One taxpayer indicated he was happy that the Carolina Nursery property deal had fallen through. He questioned Mr. Davis as to the value of even considering incurring more debt when the County was facing such an uncertain economic future. Mr. Davis stated the purchase would not have cost the taxpayers anything as he intended to pay the $14-$16 million cost with the FILOT (fee in lieu of taxes) from county businesses. We all need to remember, this FILOT is the same funding that was supposed to be paid to the School System. (Mr. Davis simply took these funds from the schools earlier in the year.)

As a followup, one person asked for a ballpark figure as to how much the State had cut funding in the last year. This person couldn't get an answer even though the Supervisor, the Chairman of the Finance Committee, and the Director of the Finance Department were all present. GE&P would think that such an important figure that was affecting the County's finances so negatively would be right on the tip of their collecting tongue. Not so, in this case.

As would be expected, GE&P has a few questions of our own.

Since Mr. Davis took office, he has appropriated 29% of our property tax relief from the LOST.

Mr. Davis has raised our water and sewer rates by 30%.

Mr. Davis has burdened us with another 1 cent LOST. (Local Option Sales Tax)

Mr. Davis has "borrowed" $10 Million from W&S's fund balance

Mr. Davis has "redirected" much of the FILOT (Fee In Lieu of Taxes) funds away from the School System and into the general fund.

Mr. Davis failed to make the customary adjustment to the millage rate after reassessment, which resulted in even higher property taxes.

Mr. Davis attempted to get BC into the real estate speculation business with his plan to purchase the Carolina Nursery property.

Now, we find that Mr. Davis has signed a purchase agreement for BC to buy 16 acres of land (old fairgrounds) to build his "Dan Davis Health and Human Services Campus" at a cost to the taxpayers of $20+ Million. This purposed facility won't even house County agencies. It will house DSS, Head Start, and DEHEC.

Also, part of his grand plan is to refurbish the old hospital building to house a new "Dan Davis Judicial Center".

When we add the cost for these "necessary" projects to the money needed for a new library for Hanahan, the purchase and renovation of the Food Lion Property, the Berkeley Senior's facility in Moncks Corner, a new and improved Emergency Operations building (to the tune of $9 Million), and a new Courthouse in St Stephens (to guarantee Steve Davis' future support on Council) to the numerous other projected "investments" envisioned by Mr. Davis, the price tag comes to over $54 Million. Even when we combine our LOST revenue through 2014 with yet another $10 Million bond that has already been floated in our names, completion of these projects still requires an additional $15 1/2 Million.

Question 1.

Where do you think Mr. Davis will "find" this shortfall?

Question 2.

When we add the additional revenues listed above to the existing sources of revenue the County already enjoys, Fines, Forfeitures, and Fees, Licenses and Permits, Interest income, State and Federal funding, Existing property taxes, Interfund Transfers, and the ever so popular Miscellaneous Income, where the hell is all the money going?

Question 3.

If the County is in such financial straights, why would we be involved in all this new unnecessary spending?

Question 4.

Could the fact that the 4 Conservative Republican members of Council are assured to oppose this reckless spending be the catalyst for Mr. Davis' desire to change Council Rules? (More on this topic tomorrow)

GE&P and countless other taxpayers of BC are totally confused by many of Mr. Davis' positions. Out of one side of his mouth he says how financially strapped the County is becoming. Then, at the same time, he proposes borrowing and spending clear to the horizon. In our humble opinion, the spending needs to stop so we can get our financial house in order in preparation for the leaner times yet to come.

YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE

GE&P would like to make one thing perfectly clear. The greatest majority of our posts are directly connected to political issues. We do not personally attack people, and this includes politicians. When we discover situations or "relationships" among the county leaders and controllers of our tax dollars which directly affect the taxpayers, we have no qualms about blowing the whistle. We only post statements and information for which we have irrefutable proof.

GE&P has long contended that our Berkeley County Council is equally divided by a vote of 4 Republicans and 4 Democrats, with a tie-breaker vote cast by yet another Democrat. Because of this, many tax and spend policies have been adopted. This brings us to several exchanges via email and Face Book to which GE&P has become privy. In these exchanges, GE&P is viciously criticized for circulating false rumors. One of the so called "false" rumors is that County Councilman, Bob Call is, in fact, a Democrat. Mr. Call has been quoted as saying, "I was a Republican before Timmy (Tim Callanan) was even born."

In support of our contention, GE&P would encourage our readers to go to SCVOTES.ORG.

Search for Berkeley County Votes Cast In General Election Held in South Carolina November 6, 1984. Scroll to the County Council, District 3 race results. There you will find the candidates who ran and the vote count. You will see that Mr. Cox, Republican ran against Mr. Robert Call, Democrat and the Democrat, Mr. Call, lost the race 2 to 1.

Mr. Call suffered this resounding defeat when he ran as a member of the party whose platform he truly supported because the voters of his district, even today, wouldn't elect a Democrat as dogcatcher. Consequently, the next election cycle, Mr. Call ran again for the same seat but, this time, simply substituted the "D" behind his name with an "R" and was successful. See how easy it is?

GE&P does not recognize a true Republican by the letter behind the name. We recognize them by their actions and that would not include following the Democrats with their tax and spend policies. Case closed.

LOST REVISITED

We are certain all of you remember the famous Local Option Sales Tax issue from years back. BC government tried for several years to get "We the Taxpayers" to agree to this new tax. Twice we rejected it out of hand. It wasn't until County Council gave its word, in writing, that 100% of this tax would be credited to property tax relief that the taxpayers agreed to the increase. This was done by way of a referendum.

Fast forward to Dan Davis' first term of office. In the 2008/2009 budget year, the taking of the 29% was skillfully hidden within the budget, supposedly for only that budget year, and most taxpayers were blissfully unaware of the theft. However, when time rolled around for the 2009/2010 budget process, the cat was out of the proverbial bag when Mr. Davis, again, included the taking of the tax relief money. Mr. Davis realized he would face major opposition to this move so his faithful surrogates jumped to his defense. For months we heard how cash strapped the county was and if we didn't relinquish 29% of our LOST tax relief, the county would literally go belly up. We heard this story repeated by all four of Mr. Davis' Democrat supporters on County Council. This budget was passed and 29% of our tax relief was taken, again.

In the 2010/2011 budget process, the taking of the 29% was, once more, included. We hadn't heard such poor-mouthing from elected officials in all our lives as we heard from Mr. Davis and his other 4 Democrats on Council. "If the money from our 29% wasn't included in the budget, employees would have to be laid off." "The county wouldn't be able to meet its obligations." "The county wouldn't be able to keep the lights turned on." "All the poor little children would starve and they would be forced to sleep outside in four feet of snow." The taxpayers and the 4 Conservative Republicans on Council (Fish, Callanan, Farley, and Mrs. Davis) weren't buying this story. Finally, when Mr. Davis realized he had overwhelming opposition, he and his four other Democrats resorted to breaking Council Rules to adopt the budget. In defense of their actions, Mr. Davis and his four Democrat supporters on Council (Pinckney, Schurlknight, S.Davis, and Call) painted a very grim picture as to what would have befallen the county had they not taken our 29%.

Well, guess what? GE&P knows in advance that this revelation is going to shock one and all but.......THEY LIED. The truth has a funny way of rearing its ugly head when you least expect it. They are not spending the 29% of our tax relief money on employee salaries. They are not spending it on the light bill. They are not using it to meet county obligations. And, they are not feeding and housing those poor little starving, freezing children with it either. Would you like to know where our tax relief money is really being spent?

SIDEBAR: Since GE&P doesn't want to tip our hand prematurely and allow Mr. Davis to realize exactly how much we do know, we will only give you a partial list of his planned uses for our tax relief money. Here goes.

THE DAN DAVIS HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES CAMPUS

$20+ Million. This complex is planned to sit on the 16 acres next to Ace Hardware in Moncks Corner. This is the land for which Mr. Davis has negotiated a purchase contract for $1.6 Million (that's $100,000 an acre based on the sellers assessment) without the knowledge of (the four Conservative Republican Councilmen) or approval of Council. This "campus" will not house county offices or agencies. It will house Head Start, DSS, and DEHEC. Last time we checked, these were all either State or Federal agencies. Isn't that sweet? There is much, much more to this story still to come.

THE STEVE DAVIS ST. STEPHEN COURTHOUSE/SENIOR CENTER/LIBRARY

This little project is cheap by comparison. It is projected to cost a mere $3 Million. But, this price doesn't include the cost of the land. Another $318,000 is budgeted for land purchase. Question: Even if you were to pay $10,000 an acre, wouldn't that be a purchase of almost 32 acres? Now, that's a parking lot. On a completely different subject, can anyone help us out and tell us how to correctly spell the word "kickback"?

At this time, we won't go into the projected purchase/renovations of the Food Lion ----$4.75 Million or the construction of a new Emergency Operations building------$9 Million.

All of these and many more of Mr. Davis' pie-in-the-sky ideas (not mentioned yet) would be wonderful, if we could afford them. But, in fact, we can't. When Mr. Davis first took our tax relief money, it was supposed to be for only one year. After three years, he still contended the county would go broke if he didn't keep taking it. Now, we learn exactly how he plans to spend our hard earned tax relief dollars.

Even when we combine the 29% of our tax relief derived from the Local Option Sales Tax with the $10 Million bond that has been issued, (that means more debt) the financing of all of Mr. Davis' new projects still falls short by multi Millions of dollars. Where do you think this additional shortfall will come from?

GE&P has a suggestion. If you think these plans reflect an acceptable expenditure of our tax relief money, sit at home and watch a sit-com next Monday night. If you disagree with Mr. Davis' plans, come to the County Council meeting and voice your disapproval. The Council meetings are held in the Council Chamber at the Administration building in Moncks Corner at 6:00PM on the second and fourth Mondays of each month.

NOTE: Tomorrow we will discuss the fact that Mr. Davis wants to strip County Council of its power of oversight by changing Council Rules. This maneuver you truly won't believe.

LOW DRAWER AND DISHONEST, AGAIN

On the off chance you haven't heard yet, a high level Berkeley County elected official has been caught in a rather embarrassing position. This official is being sued for divorce by a wronged spouse. It seems this official was caught "red handed ?" with a long time "friend". The confusing part is that almost every living soul in Berkeley County, with the possible exception of the spouse, knew about the affair for years.

Normally, GE&P would not waste one drop of ink on such disgusting, salacious behavior, but as usual, there's more to the story.

It seems this unfortunate revelation didn't just happen yesterday. The blow-up happened some months ago and the elected official paid off the offended spouse to keep quiet until after the Nov. 2nd election. Isn't that sweet?

GE&P has established a firm position on this issue: The original bad behavior falls far beneath the moral and ethical standards of the majority of Berkeley County voters. But more importantly, for this official to deliberately pull the wool over the eyes of these same voters by promising to 'sweeten the pot' with the divorce settlement if the spouse remained silent until after the election, goes beyond the pale. This level of manipulation and deceit has no place in Berkeley County.

"If your spouse cannot trust you, why should the taxpayers?"

REPUBLICANS? WE DON'T THINK SO

By now, we suppose all of you have received your invitation to the big event. On the slim chance you haven't heard about it, allow us to fill you in. Ambassador Robert Royall is throwing a big shindig at his Silk Hope plantation "honoring" our very own Supervisor, Dan Davis. The invitation contains, in small print, the fact that contributions between $250 and $1000 will be gratefully appreciated. Please make all checks out to the Dan Davis reelection campaign.

It is really amusing how the truth will always come out. You see, there is more to the story. Everyone in Berkeley County has seen the photo, released by Bob Call, of Dan Davis standing in Democrat Caldwell Pinckney's living room on election night, helping Mr. Pinckney celebrate his win over his Republican challenger in the Council District 7 race. Even the willing accomplice, the Berkeley Independent, tried to convince everyone, by implication, that the photo in question was taken at the Cross Community Center upon a different occasion. It wasn't.

Now Mr. Davis is receiving this great honor from none other than Ambassador Royall, appointee of both Gov. Beasley and President Bush. Good, strong Republican, right? Wrong. This is the same Ambassador Royall who supported and campaigned for none other than Vincent Sheheen during the last election.

Isn't it interesting how these "republicans" with a small "r" (we like to refer to them as RINOS) stick together? In fact, the only reason these people put an "R" behind their names on the ballot is that, otherwise, they could not be elected to any office of any consequence in Berkeley County. It would serve the voters well to remember this the next time they step into the voting booth. Unless, of course, some voters simply enjoy being played for fools.

AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE

We attended Dan Davis' 7th Council District meeting in Cross last night. The meeting hall was packed and, it seemed, everyone had a question. Mr. Davis was well prepared to face any eventuality since he brought with him every department head known to man. County vehicles filled an entire row of the parking lot.

On most fronts, there were no surprises. Davis was confronted about the Hwy. 311 water line and, of course, he dodged all questions. (It's still Jim Rozier's fault) He was asked about the expense of the number of county vehicles parked outside. He dodged that, too. He was asked about the portion of the Fee In Lieu of Tax funds he has stolen from the school system. He wouldn't talk about that either. We are all familiar with Davis' response to these important issues. He simply says the subjects are "old" and moves on to the next question that he has no intention of answering.

It is a bit redundant to recap this behavior from DD (Diminutive Dictator). His tactics of refusing to answer direct questions and/or obfuscating issues to his own benefit have become legendary in Berkeley County. There is no news in this area. But, there was one issue brought up last night that was truly shocking.

A very nice black lady who lives on Asazlee Dr. at the edge of Cross stood up and politely asked Mr. Davis for some help with a problem in her neighborhood. She explained that there was a rehab facility located a few doors from her home. Residing in this facility are numerous registered sex offenders. She said she was concerned for the safely of the children in the neighborhood as these residents from the facility are unsupervised and roam the neighborhood at all times of the day and night . She said they regularly gather on the cul-de-sac where she lives and remain there until the wee hours of the morning. She recounted one incident when she was walking along her street and one of these people jumped out of the woods at her. It was obvious that this lady was very upset and concerned about the whole situation.

It came as no surprise to anyone in the room who had any experience with DD that he did not personally address the concerns of this lady but passed the question off to one of his flunkies. Eric Greenway proceeded to explain the zoning laws to the degree that everyone's eyes began to glaze over. It was obvious to all in the room, except DD and his band of merry men, (sorry Nichole) that this lady didn't give two hoots in hell about the zoning laws. She was concerned about her personal safely and that of her children. But, as usual, this very serious issue was buried under a pile of DD's bureaucratic BS and the lady's legitimate concerns went unaddressed.

We, as with the majority of you, don't live anywhere near Asazlee Dr. and we are in no danger from this situation. But, in our humble opinion, when ANY citizen in Berkeley County is put into a situation of peril, it is the business of EVERY citizen of Berkeley County. The supervisor was remiss when he neglected to personally address the concerns of this lady. His offhanded remark at the end of the exchange was, "If you've got a problem, call the sheriff."

Once more, but certainly not for the last time, we would like to thank those 8000 idiots who put us in this position. If the last four years are any example, things will only get worse.

GUEST EDITORIAL

Guest Editorial: Haley is right choice for South Carolina

Published Tuesday, October 12, 2010 10:11 AM

By Tim Callanan
Berkeley Independent

In June of this year a true milestone was reached in South Carolina politics.

For the first time the voters defied the pundits and elitist Columbia powerbrokers and voted for someone who they thought would bring true reform to the tired Good Ole Boy system that has controlled South Carolina politics for generations. They voted overwhelmingly for Rep. Nikki Haley, a Republican from Lexington. They saw in her someone with whom they could identify.

Nikki is a first-generation daughter of immigrants who exemplifies the values and freedoms that this nation has afforded her. She is a working mother and a wife of a soldier who has learned to balance the family checkbook during tough times.

Nikki did not run for public office because she felt she was entitled; she ran because she saw a system that ceased being accountable to the citizens it was supposed to serve, a system badly in need of reform.

Nikki has been fighting for South Carolinians for years. When she won her seat in the statehouse she did so by defeating one of the longest serving and most powerful incumbents. Nikki hit the ground running and quickly acted to fulfill her campaign pledge to bring smaller, more accountable, more efficient and more transparent government to South Carolina.

Her first target was to make legislators accountable for their votes by mandating house votes be on the record rather than the traditional tactic of hiding behind unanimous consent and voice votes. To the average voter this may seem like a common sense proposal but it put her at odds with good ole boys in Columbia and ultimately resulted in her being stripped of her committee post. This action only strengthened her resolve and with her continued efforts on behalf of the taxpayers she was able to convince her House colleagues to join the fight for transparency and she prevailed.

When she announced her candidacy for governor, she promised to continue with her record of reform as the state’s first female chief executive. With better-funded and better-known candidates in the race, she was not given much of a chance. But as she crossed the state delivering her story and message of reform, it resonated with the voters.

I witnessed this first hand in April when she spoke in front of our county executive committee meeting. She turned a room of largely undecided voters into supporters. Three weeks later she won the Berkeley County GOP straw poll; two weeks after that Sarah Palin endorsed her and a 20-point poll deficit was eliminated.

It was about that time that the Columbia “Republican” elites went apoplectic. They took out their playbook of sleazy campaign smear tactics and began to unload on her. They questioned her fidelity, her faith and her finances. They proved time and time again their willingness to reach new lows in order to bring down Nikki’s surging candidacy.

Unfortunately (for them), they did not count on two factors. The first was that they were up against a candidate who has proven her mettle in battle and was not going to back down. And second and more importantly, they did not anticipate a newly energized and informed electorate that was intelligent enough to see through this pathetically transparent attempt to destroy the reform candidate.

Voters passionately joined her fight to reform Columbia. Moms, dads, military families, small business owners and working families know her as one of their own. Her message of more efficient and accountable government resonated. The voters answered the call and she won the primary with a historic plurality.

Now with one month until the general election, the “Republican” elites are at it again. Recently, a group of GOP “has beens” and “also rans” decided it would better serve their interests to back a liberal Democrat if that meant they could protect the status quo. They are not going to let a working mom from Lexington derail Columbia’s infamous Good Ole Boy money train without a fight.

So expect more arrows and mud to fly in the direction of Rep. Haley in the coming weeks. As always, I expect Nikki will prove her mettle and forge ahead, just as I expect the voters of South Carolina will reject these tired smear tactics and answer the call once more and elect Nikki Haley as the 116th Governor of South Carolina.

Mr. Callanan is the Berkeley County GOP Chairman and a Berkeley County Councilman.

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY........MISSED

Exhibiting proper manners is usually a very good thing. Demonstrating professional behavior and decorum is, also, admirable. Attempting to avoid embarrassing your adversaries and maintaining civility in the public forum should usually be pursued. BUT, there are exceptions to these rules of behavior. If one is walking down a street at night and a thug jumps out of the dark and falls upon you, all bets are off and you must fight for your very life. That is exactly the position in which the BC School System finds itself on the issue of funding.

The facts are simple. For many years there was an agreement between BC Government and the BC School System as to the division of the Fee In Lieu of Tax funds. Now, Supervisor Dan Davis has decided he wants, and fully intends to take, a larger share of these funds to finance his agenda items. There is a myriad of smaller periphery issues connected to the main issue but this is the crux of the disagreement.

GUEST POST

Hello Everyone,

Well, the initial firestorm about the Healthcare Bill has been extinguished. Now, the ashes must be cleared and a road forward constructed. In this debate, there was little, if any, substantive contributions from REAL practicing physicians as to the merits of this grand plan and how it would effect the day-to-day doctor/patient relationship that has been the bedrock of medical practice from ancient times (Hippocrates). These ten predictions are from me to help you understand where we will be once Mr. Obama leaves office in January 2017 (an eleventh prediction!!). These predictions are based on solid data and a 25 year practice experience.

1. Up to 200,000 physicians will quit or retire. The average age of the practicing physician in America is 49. Each one of these doctors will take four jobs with him. The New England Journal of Medicine (liberal as it comes in medicine) actually predicted 250,000 doctors leaving practice. Well, you do the numbers. I will be one of them.

2. The Federal government will continue to decrease reimbursement to physicians in the Medicare and Medicaid programs to unsustainable levels. Doctors will be forced to join the new National Physician Manpower Corps or face economic disaster. This will happen in primary care first and specialist physicians will follow.

3. Many states will be driven to the brink of bankruptcy as more and more individuals will now qualify for Medicaid. In South Carolina alone, the estimate is 480,000 more people on Medicaid. The state will be forced to make drastic cuts in education, transportation and other programs to support this. Taxes will soar here and elsewhere to support these programs. California is looking at 3.2 Million more residents on MEDI-CAL! Who would want to live there?

4. Hospitals across the USA will close because of unsustainable cuts in funding and increased lawsuits. The border states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California will be especially hard hit as more undocumented people from Latin America come to the USA for health benefits. More jobs lost.

5. Pharmaceutical companies will have massive layoffs. They have already started as they are forced to pay higher taxes and receive less for their products through government programs, especially Medicare. Drug R&D will essentially be non-existent in the USA due to lack of revenue and liability.

6. Healthcare rationing will be implemented in small steps. The first programs to be restricted will be dialysis, organ transplants, oncology care, and neonatal services. (KIDS DO NOT VOTE) Vaccines will be in chronic short supply, if available at all, as the reimbursement will not cover costs. Ultimately, the FEDS will take over almost all vaccination programs.

7. The additional taxes to support the massive expansion in Medicaid, pharmacy coverage in Medicare, and coverage of illegal persons in the USA will accelerate unemployment. A permanent unemployment rate of 12-14% here will be a reality.

8. Abortions and other progressive initiatives will be covered by the new plans.

9. The government currently covers 55% of all lives in the USA by Medicare, Medicaid, and the military programs. Once that number exceeds 85%, a single payer system will take it all just like England and France. Think of what that will really mean for you and your family who have been perhaps accustomed to on-demand medical care with excellence.

10. Finally, as 10,000 baby boomers go on Medicare daily starting in January 2011, the Federal deficit will explode and likely top $22 TRILLION by January 2017. And do not forget Social Security, pension bailouts, and the California bailout will be looming. OUCH!

I do not know one doctor who would turn a patient away. This is not part of our "culture". However, the current administration has a general distain for physicians and their generally conservative values. Despite what many in the progressive movement think, physicians are small businessmen who provide jobs, pay taxes, provide uncompensated care, and support their communities at many levels. The NEW doctor who is left will likely have all of the compassion of their predecessors, but in the final analysis, will expect the same entitlements generally provided to most Federal employees, i.e. time and a half over 40 hours, paid health, dental and disability insurance, six weeks paid vacation plus CME and, of course, retirement with COLA!! (cost of living adjustment) I am glad that I was able to practice medicine at a time when the doctor/patient relationship really had value. This will not be the case in a single-payor Federal system as the system design does not allow that type of special relationship. Please share with me your thoughts but please base any criticism on sound facts not emotion.

Bless you all,

Dr. Salvatore Moscatello

Elms Digestive/Endoscopy Center

GOOD IDEA..... BUT.

Supervisor Davis planned and chaired a "Citizens' Meeting" on Daniel Island last Thursday night. According to Mr. Davis, in his opening remarks, he formulated this plan before the primary but waited until after the fact to put the plan into action, as he didn't want the plan to appear self serving. He stated that he realized a great number of voters are interested in the workings of County government and have many concerns and questions. He went on to say he understood that many of these folks couldn't make it to the Council meetings and he wanted to create a forum where people in each District could participate in the process. He noted that he planned to have one of these "open" meeting each month until he had included every Council District. The next meeting has been announced and is to be held in District 7.

Up to this point, everything was wine and roses. Then Mr. Davis inadvertently opened the flood gates by asking, "Does anyone have any concerns or questions?"

"What effort is being made by the County to work more closely with the School District concerning economic development and its impact on the School District?"

"What effort is being made to assure that the School District gets its fair share of the FILOT funds from the Mount Holly Park?"

"Why was the existing ordinance allotting the FILOT over-ridden?"

"Why is the County pursuing a "no bid" process for the purchase of heavy equipment?"

"Why is the County so reluctant to provide information to concerned individuals and groups concerning these issues?"

"Why does the County expect the School District to blindly enter into an agreement with the County on the Jedberg project without having the Mount Holly dispute settled?"

"Why are there no plans to install a bike/walking path from St. Thomas Island to Daniel Island so the school children can safely walk to school?"

GE&P could go blow by blow with the attempted answers to these questions but that would be redundant for regular attendees of the Council meetings. We will just hit the high points.

Mr. Davis assured everyone that the County has always worked very closely with the School District concerning the impact economic development has on the School District. But, when Mr. Davis called upon the District to confirm this fact, he didn't receive an affirmative answer.

Mr. Davis connected the School District's effort to secure the FILOT funds to the story of the Little Red Hen. He indicated that the School District hadn't really done anything to secure the funds so had no right to expect to receive them.

Two people in the audience pointed out that the Roads and Bridges spokesman was disingenuous when he said the County followed an open bid process for heavy equipment because of the specifications required for bidding. One equipment supplier stated the specifications published on several contracts excluded all bidders save one supplier.

One attendee was told that all requests for information from the County were answered in a timely manner. When this person pointed out that his request was made in May of 2010 and still remained unanswered, an administration spokesperson said the County had to research the request back 20 years because the County didn't want to give out incomplete or inaccurate information. When asked if he had been sent a letter to this effect by the County, the spokesperson said he had not.

The meeting was scheduled and advertised to last from 6-8 PM. At 7:05 PM, Mr. Davis announced that he thought all issues had been addressed so he would call the meeting to a close. He did so and beat a hasty retreat to the parking lot, leaving most of the attendees gathered in small groups to continue the dialog. Most of the crowd didn't disperse until the 8 o'clock hour.

A thoughtful person would have assessed this meeting as a rousing success. Everyone was polite and respectful. Issues were addressed. No one was refused the opportunity to speak. Judging from the questions and comments, it was obvious the attendees were well informed and had done their homework on the issues. It appeared the only ones displeased with the outcome were members of the County administration.

GE&P has never claimed to be clairvoyant BUT we have a prediction. "The citizens of Berkeley have seen the first and the last of the new 'Citizens' Meetings'."

ANSWER THIS ONE

At last Monday night's County Council meeting, several of the county volunteer fire departments submitted a request for some additional funding. The amounts of money for each station were not exorbitant. The largest amount was $22,000. These funds were earmarked for such things as hoses and helmets, as the existing hoses leak and the helmets the firefighters are using now are of last century's vintage.

Well, "some" of the Councilmen sprang into action. They wanted an itemized list of the expenditures. According to one Councilman, "We have to insist on transparency on this request". That started an extensive discussion among "some" of the Council. These Councilmen grilled a volunteer fireman who was in attendance and happened to have an itemized list of the materials needed. These few Councilmen wanted "justification" for the request.

GE&P sat there listening to this dog and pony show. We couldn't help but be amazed at the hypocrisy. In 2008, when Mr. Pinckney introduced the contract for his $2.24 MILLION water line to his front door, there was virtually NO discussion, let alone dissension. When the subject of Mr. Steve Davis' "courthouse and library in St. Stephen that he can be proud of", (this will cost the taxpayers over $3.5 MILLION) there were no protests about this budget item.

BUT, when the people who protect our very lives ask for some little piddly amount of money to purchase vital equipment for their jobs, these same Councilmen want to be assured as to the use of every single penny of the request. Has anyone ever heard the story about the man who strained at a gnat and then swallowed a camel?

UPDATE ON YOUR KISS

GE&P did some more investigation on the nursing school issue and stumbled onto something very interesting if not confusing. According to a source close to the Supervisor, Mr. Davis had instructed Mr. Schurlknight to bring up the issue of funding the nursing school during his Finance Committee meeting. This would have had to have been done "without objection" as the issue was not on the agenda. At some point during that dog and pony show of a Council meeting, Mr. Davis changed his mind (?) and told JS to forget his original instructions as he would not have the money to fund the school this year.

It was obvious to all present that the nursing school delegation was left scratching its collective head at the end of the meeting. Now, it is clear that it was deliberately left spinning in the wind. Had Mr. Fish's budget been considered, including the cuts in wasteful spending, BC could have comfortably included funding for this worthwhile project. Embarrassment piled upon embarrassment. Thanks, again, to "The 8000".

AND, YOU DID'T EVEN GET A KISS

GE&P would like to take this opportunity to thank the 8000+ Dan Davis supporters (hereafter referred to as "THE 8000" ) for the fact that a County budget was adopted that, for the third year, takes 29% of our property tax relief, resulting in higher taxes for all BC citizens. To showcase just how unbelievably gullible "THE 8000" really were, let's look at another bit of history.

As the primary began to gear up, the Supervisor's race developed a few key issues. Among these, two were obviously developing 'legs', the taking of 29% of the property tax relief to fund BC government spending and the fact that Davis got a huge pay increase while forcing BC employees to take unpaid furlough days. Judging from public opinion at the time, these two issues possessed the power to scuttle the Davis reelection campaign. Common sense indicated the taking of the 29% would mean higher taxes. And, the records clearly indicated Davis had received a huge pay increase and the BC employees had been forced to take unpaid furlough days. It became obvious that no amount of lies could change these facts.

Most politicians would have hesitated to make any obvious reversals on their established policies so close to an election, realizing that the voters would see through any such efforts. But, Mr. Davis knew something that GE&P didn't know. Somehow he knew just how gullible and uninformed "THE 8000" really were. So, he went to work.

On 4/26/10, at a regular Council meeting, Mr. Davis' crack finance person announced some unbelievably good news. (The key word here is "unbelievably") It was announced that the county had "found" some money they didn't even know they had. Coincidentally, the amount of the extra money was exactly enough to cover the cost of the furlough days, $581,000. Glory Alleluia! How serendipitous was that? Just weeks before the election, Mr. Davis' uncanny leadership abilities had restored this lost income to the county employees. Mr. Davis and his supporters wasted no time in spreading the great news. Of course, this maneuver had absolutely nothing to do with removing a major negative campaign issue from the landscape. Good job but there was more work to be done.

On 5/19/10, Davis held a special Council meeting. At this meeting, the proposed budget was the main topic of discussion. The Conservatives on Council wanted to remove the taking of 29% of the property tax relief from the budget and find other ways (such as reducing the size of government) to fund county government spending. Mr. Davis was oh so cooperative and agreeable with this idea. As a result, the ordinance was written to exclude all of the 29% with the exception of $500,000 for matching funds for the Jedburg project. "THE 8000" were jubilant. Presto! Another negative campaign issue was removed from the table. However, GE&P, the Conservatives on Council, and 7000 informed voters saw through this ruse. All of us knew the final vote on the budget could be postponed until AFTER the election and the wording of the ordinance could be changed back to its original form at that time.

GE&P feels obliged to mention yet another fraudulent maneuver that was very carefully timed around the election. We assume you are all aware of the effort to establish an expanded nursing school at Trident Tech. Well, prior to the election, Mr. Davis was one of this effort's staunchest supporters. At least this appeared to be the case. His position on the issue secured a large number of Davis votes in the primary. Now that we have given the history of this fairy tale, we will spring forward to the present and focus on the way things really are.

COUNTY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING 7/26/10: As demonstrated by The Dark Side on Council, Robert's Rules of Order, County Council Rules, and Protocol are no longer applicable. (We should include common courtesy in this list) Dan Davis and his willing accomplices on Council literally butchered Parliamentary Procedure to accomplish their goals. The Dark Side amended the budget ordinance to reincorporate the 29% of our tax relief. (As we and others had predicted) To the amazement of many in attendance, the questionable tactic were

supported by the county's legal advisors. The procedural contortions demonstrated by The Dark Side during this process would have given any kangaroo court in history cause for envy. The end result of this embarrassing display of creative process was that Davis achieved his original goal of stealing 29% of the Property Tax relief from the citizens of BC. He didn't stop there.

The large group of organizers for the new Trident nursing school were at this Council meeting. It would be assumed they were there for a reason. GE&P learned from some members of this group that Mrs. Thornley expected to be called upon to make a speech. It is documented by his own words before the election, Mr. Davis supported funding the new school. Unfortunately, for the supporters of the school, this meeting and the passage of the budget took place after the election that secured Mr. Davis' position for another four years. Mr. Davis no longer requires the support of this voting block. GE&P has it on good authority that Mr. Davis now contends there is no money in the budget to fund the school.

The end result is there for everyone to see. Mr. Davis stole our Property Tax Relief just as he intended from the start. Mr. Davis has left the new Nursing School hanging out to dry. GE&P has two cautionary words for all County employees: FURLOUGH DAYS.

WANT TO HEAR MORE?

Louis Walker

CHAPTER ONE

There are people you meet during your life's journey that you forget the day after you meet them. Then there are people you meet that you remember till your dying day. If you have a minute, I'd like to tell you about a person I met who fits very securely into the latter category. His name was Louis Walker. Louis was already old when we met. At least he seemed old to me at first. But, after I listened to him speak and got to know him better, I wasn't really sure. I have a perfect picture of him in my mind, but, when it comes to putting Louis into words, that's difficult. Describing what he looked like is easy. Describing who he was is a different story. He wasn't a physically imposing man. He was actually rather slight and nondescript, standing less than 5' 10” tall and weighing maybe 140 lbs soaking wet. His head was crowned with thick, unruly, snow white hair. His features were average with maybe a slightly larger than normal nose. You could have encountered him on the street and never noticed him except for two things, his laugh and his eyes. Louis's laugh could make a dead man split his sides and Louis's eyes...oh, those eyes. If you've ever been to the Caribbean and noticed the blue of the deep water under the noon sun, you've seen the color of Louis's eyes. And, the color was liquid. There was an actual sparkle to them when he was happy or in a teasing mood. There was an endless depth to them when he was angry or very serious. His eyes were a force to be reckoned with. No one could help trusting and believing those eyes. No one could ever lie to those eyes.

So far as Louis the person was concerned, he was a walking contradiction. He was capably but unaccomplished. He was intelligent but uneducated. He was kind and caring yet totally uninvolved with the world around him. He had been married and had several children but acknowledged no family. He was perfectly satisfied to sit alone in his small house and entertain himself. He didn't ask anyone for anything and didn't appreciate it when someone asked something of him. He took a side job now and then when he needed money for food or cigarettes. He didn't worry about what tomorrow would bring. He would say, “I'll burn that bridge when I come to it.” Under the right circumstances, I do believe Louis would have given you the shirt off his back. He was basically a nice person. The main problem with him was he just wasn't much worth a damn. Don't misunderstand. He wasn't mean or hateful or anything like that. I don't think he would have done you wrong if it would have done him good. It's just I guess he didn't put a lot of stock in the part of the Bible that talks about talents. You see, Louis had talent up to his eyeballs. He just didn't make use of many of them. I heard it said you could bring a building or repair problem to Louis in the morning and by mid afternoon he'd have your problem solved. Though he had the skill to implement the solution to your problem, he would never volunteer to help with the work. Louis could sink a well, build a house, fix a car, or cook a meal if he had wanted. He knew a lot about a lot of things. He just chose to do very little. I always thought had God injected into Louis just a small measure of ambition on top of all those talents, this old man could have been a millionaire several times over. But, here we have one of those “If” things that Louis always talked about saying, ”If frogs had wings they wouldn't keep bumping their butts on the ground.”

I think I forgot to tell you just how I met Louis. I have always been the kind of person who loves to explore. One of my favorite pastimes is checking out stores that sell a lot of old, discarded items. Now, I'm not talking about stores with names like “Lowcountry Antiques”. I'm talking about stores with names like “Joe's Junk”. I've learned you can find some of the most interesting things in such establishments. That's what I was doing the day I first met Louis. I had heard of such a store over in Ravenell which is about 20 miles from where I lived. I was told the store was down a dirt road about a mile or so off the main road, Hwy 17. That sounded like fun to me so off I went in search of new rummaging grounds. I had been driving around the area for more than an hour, having arrived about noon. I had driven down every dirt road I could find. Being as Ravnell is very close to the coast, it is honeycombed with marshes and small streams. All of the dirt roads in the area have several small bridges along their course. I suppose there must have been a nail or something in one of the small wooden bridges I drove across because, as I came off that particular bridge, my right rear tire blew out. A flat tire never makes your day but I wasn't too upset being as I knew very well how to change it. It was the early afternoon so I didn't worry about dark catching me out there in the middle of nowhere.

I wasn't on what could exactly be described as a well traveled thoroughfare so I just stopped the car right where it was, in the middle of the road. All went well as I got the jack and the spare out of the trunk. As I started to set up the jack, I realized there was a potential problem. I said I was driving on a 'dirt' road when I had the flat, well, that's not exactly accurate. The road was covered with deep sand as are many unpaved lowcountry roads. When I started jacking the car, the jack just sank into the sand. Trying to appear not quite so stupid, I decided I'd better look around for something rigid like a board to put under the base of the jack to prevent it from sinking. Because I was so focused on the flat tire, the jack, and the sand problem, I must have had tunnel vision because I didn't notice I had company until I turned around to look for the board. I was more than a little bit startled when I realized an old man was standing in the gravel driveway behind me watching my every move. I decided I would be polite and say “Good Afternoon” because I'd always heard that most ax murderers react positively to good manners. He replied, “Good Afternoon”, as he walked into the shade of the tree line on that side of the road and sat down on a stump. I felt a bit more comfortable with him sitting there as I still had a white knuckled grip on the jack handle. I said something about the jack sinking into the sand and my need for something solid to put under it. He nodded his head affirmatively and told me someone had dumped some pieces of concrete from a driveway down by the wooden bridge. He suggested I might find something useful there. I thought to myself, “Well, thank God, chivalry is not dead yet. This old fool is still stomping it.”

I walked the short distance back to the bridge and peered down the ditch bank. Even though the area looked like an ideal environment for really big snakes, I climbed down to see what I could find to solve my problem with the jack. I found a piece of concrete slab somewhat smaller in circumference than a #2 washtub and about 4 inches thick. It was flat on one side and would serve my purpose well. The only problem I faced was getting the heavy bastard back to where the car was. After the initial strain of pulling the heavy weight up the ditch bank, the going got surprisingly easier. As it turned out, that deep sand was good for something. It acted like a skid. Leaning over at the waist, I got behind the load and pushed. With the smooth side down, the concrete rock mostly glided over the sand. Every so often, though, the front of the rock bogged down and the sudden stop would send me to my knees. The thought crossed my mind, “So this is how the Egyptians moved those heavy stones to build the pyramids.” Of course, there were thousands them doing the pushing.

As I was straining with the slab, I saw, out of the corner of my eye, the old man still sitting, contentedly, in the shade. He didn't make one move or offer to help. Finally, I reached the car with my heavy load. I scooped out the loose sand from the area under the axle so the slab would sit level and low enough that the jack would fit between it and the axle. Did I happen to mention that this story took place in late July? Well, it did. And as everyone knows, July in the Lowcountry usually brings temperatures in the upper 90s to low 100s with humidity levels somewhere around 4000% . This particular July was no exception. By the time I got the flat off and the spare ready to go on, there wasn't a dry thread on me. At each point in the process, placing the jack, loosening the lugs, raising the car, taking off the flat, I stole a glance at the old man sitting on the stump in the shade. That old man was really beginning to get on my last nerve. After I managed to strain the spare up and on and finger tighten the lugs, I looked over my shoulder to find the old man had quite silently disappeared.

The job was on the downhill run now. I let the jack down, finished tightening the lugs, replaced the hubcap, and removed the concrete slab from under the car. I must have been a sight to behold. Wet with sweat, sand was stuck all over me from grubbing under the car. My hair was stringing down on my face. I was not in a good mood. As I pushed the slab to the edge of the road and sat back, exhausted, against the newly installed wheel, I became aware that the old man was back. I looked up to see his hand outstretched toward me offering a six ounce bottled Coke. Without any hint of a smile he said, “You look like you could use a cold drink.” That was the first time I had been close enough to the old man to notice his eyes. I reached up for the Coke and said, “Thank you. I do hope this hasn't caused you to exert yourself too much.” Then came that laugh. It was deep, genuine, spontaneous, and infectious. I couldn't help but join in. My mood ascended from just below crappy to the most joyous laugh I had had in years. The sparkle in the old man's blue eyes virtually danced. By the time our laughter was brought under some control, we were both sitting in the middle of that sandy road wiping away the laugh tears that were running down our faces. He reached out his hand to shake mine and said, “Hello, I'm Louis Walker.”

LOOKS LIKE THEY'LL NEVER LEARN

With the SC Supreme Court's ruling against them still ringing in their ears, for printing a known lie that defamed an innocent person, the Post & Courier just may have stepped into it, again. Note from GE&P: If you happen to hold any stock in the insurance company that carries the P&C's liability coverage, we would advise selling short ASAP.

On 7/19/10, the P&C ran a front page story titled "Months pass as minutes stand still". Accompanying this headline was a picture of Councilman Dennis Fish and Councilman Bob Call. Alongside the photos was a quote from Councilman Call, repeating a false accusation against Mr. Fish. Prior to the release of the article, Mr. Fish informed the P&C that the accusation was false and reminded the reporter that the official recording of the meeting in question does not contain the alleged statement in Call's accusation. According to Mr. Fish (and GE&P) the reporter admitted he had listened to the recording and didn't hear any such statement. Mr. Fish explained to the reporter and to GE&P exactly what he had said. Mr. Fish insists he was speaking to Mr. Call and not to Mr. Schurlknight. But, the alleged statement was repeated in the article all the same.

As usual, GE&P thinks it beneficial to provide you with some history. This issue finds its roots in late 2009. At that time, several members of Council (the Conservatives) sought information as to how hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars, realized from the Accommodations Tax, were being spent by the Chamber of Commerce. Their inquiries were met with a solid brick wall. These Councilmen decided to meet the problem head-on. In January, 2010, they nominated five new members for the Accommodations Tax Board. Please realize these nominations were to fill vacant seats.

The nomination process was followed and five new members were successfully appointed. Then, the popcorn hit the fan. These new members scheduled a meeting and they voiced their intention of ordering an audit of the Accommodations Tax accounts . (It is normal operating procedure for a new board to call for an audit of accounts before they take responsibility for the funds as they are legally responsible after they take control.) Mr. Davis, Mr. Call, Mr. Schurlknight, and Mr. Pinckney (the Dark Side) did not appear happy with this prospect.

We move on to the February 22nd Regular Council meeting. In a process that broke all the rules and ignored the fact that all the positions on the Accommodations Tax Board were legally filled and there were no vacancies, the Dark Side decided to appoint a new slate of members. (The only ways to legally replace a member is either 'for cause', if the member resigns, or their term has ended) None of these situations applied in this case. The legal process was not followed. The Dark Side just decided to replace the five new members so they did.

The Conservatives on County Council, including Mr. Fish and Mr. Callanan, protested strongly. They pointed out that replacing their slate of board members without due process was illegal. The Dark side ignored these protests. Being as Mr. Davis has the support of four of the eight members of Council, the issue received a tie vote. Then, of course, Mr. Davis broke the tie and his effort to restructure the board was successful.

GE&P interviewed Mr. Fish concerning this matter. Mr. Fish said he did address Mr. Call about the illegal appointment of the new slate of board members. Mr. Fish admitted his patience was running thin. He said, in exasperation, he told Mr. Call (not Mr. Schurlknight) that he would make every effort to get the original board members reinstated, hold an audit of the accounts, and, if any of the money was missing, he "would burn all their asses".

Being as this effort on the part of the Dark Side was blatantly against the Rules and obviously illegal, something had to be done to divert the public's attention. After what must have been a lengthy planning session, the "I'll burn your house down" plan was initiated. This plan would require that the minutes be held from approval being as a brief review by a five year old could tell the accusation was false. Also, the details concerning the Accommodation Tax Board could not under any circumstances be released to the public.

So, there we have it in a nut shell. Prior to 2010, we had an Accommodations Tax Board (having responsibility of oversight)with no records of having met in two years, (until last month when minutes of two meetings [which just happen to be carbon copies of each other] just happened to materialize) hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars not accounted for, a supreme effort on the part of the Dark Side which resulted in assuring there would be no oversight and certainly no audit, and a sensational false accusation against Mr. Fish that the ever accommodating P&C was happy to put on their front page to keep the attention off the real issue.

GE&P would like to take this opportunity to tip our collective hat to the Dark Side. You really know how to git 'er done. And, as long as you can depend upon the P&C to continue to be your willing accomplice, you'll probably get away with this one, too. Congratulations to those very thoughtful 8000+ voters who put us where we are. We hope you're proud.

PERSONAL NOTE

GE&P would like to extend our deep and sincere sympathy to the Capps family. During this time of terrible loss, please know that our thoughts and prayers are with you all.

UPDATE ON JUNE 17, 2010 POST "THE MAN HAS NO SHAME"

More than a few of you were upset and appalled when you learned that Supervisor Davis had, yet again, made a contradictory statement that went unchallenged by the media. The incident to which we refer is Mr. Davis' two different and distinct explanations as to why he missed the June 14th County Council meeting.

At the meeting itself and in a P&C article the next day, it was stated Mr. Davis had missed the meeting "due to a death in the family". However, during an interview on WTMA a few days later, Mr. Davis said he missed the meeting because he went to a campaign strategy meeting. Amazingly, after being repeatedly informed of this contradiction, several members of the media did follow up with Mr. Davis for a clarification.

Hold onto your seats because this one is going right out of the park.

Mr. Davis had a perfectly understandable and acceptable explanation as to why some people perceived his statements as contradictory. This is the way it happened. Mr. Davis had this long time friend at the flea market who had been very ill and this friend and Mr. Davis were so close that he/she seemed like family and this friend was supposed to die on Monday so, of course, Mr. Davis knew he would be unable to go to the Council meeting BUT the person didn't die as scheduled after all so, being as he had already planned not to go to the Council meeting, Mr. Davis just decided to go to the campaign strategy meeting instead.

Well now, that clears everything up. GE&P has no problem with that explanation and we believe this account completely as we are certain do you. We are confident that the fact that Mr. Schurlknight was out of town that night and would not be at the meeting to provide Mr. Davis with his critical "fourth vote" to tie up any controversial issues that might arise, had nothing to do with Mr. Davis' absence.

It is so reassuring to know that we taxpayers can always depend on our leadership to illuminate any misgivings or misunderstandings we may have with our County government. We don't know about you but after this clarification, we will sleep much better tonight.

WHO WANTS TO BET

Who wants to bet the "lawmaker" who didn't pay his/her taxes was NOT a Republican? If it was, now THAT would make a headline.

WHAT A CRYING SHAME

We are certain that most of the old timers out there remember when shark fishing from the Folly Beach pier wasn't against the law. The process was pretty simple. The fisherman dumped "chum", a mixture of blood and guts, into the water and waited for the sharks to arrive. It didn't take very long before the water was alive with the large tooth monsters. Then, the fisherman would bait his large hook with half of a mullet and go to work.

In case no one has noticed, we have a similar feeding frenzy going on in the local media right now. The only difference is, sharks are not the target. This frenzy is aimed at Congressman Henry Brown. Channel 5 News and WTMA radio have aired stories concerning remarks allegedly made by the Congressman on the night of the Republican Primary run-off election. According to these TV news stories and topics of discussion on WTMA talk radio, Henry Brown called the voters of Berkeley County "fools" for reelecting Dan Davis, Supervisor. These stories have been edited for effect and have spread through the county like wildfire. The big problem is THE BASIC STORY IS NOT TRUE.

On the night of June 22nd, we were at the Musicman where Mr. Brown was holding his election night party. When the news came in that Mr. Davis had won the election, the TV news crew approached Mr. Brown for his comments. We were standing directly behind the interviewer and listened to every word that was exchanged. At no time did Mr. Brown refer to the voters of BC as fools. During the lengthy interview, he did say he thought the voters of BC "HAD BEEN FOOLED" by Mr. Davis' false statements during the campaign. As any thinking person knows, there is a wide canyon between saying someone has been fooled and calling someone a fool. But, we have to assume certain members of the media are not numbered among the thinking people. They created a firestorm over something that was never said.

Mr. Brown attempted to correct the misstatements made on WTMA by calling in to set the record straight. It was embarrassing to listen to the disrespect heaped upon Mr. Brown as he tried to correct the false reporting. The host would ask a question of Mr. Brown and, before Mr. Brown had any chance to answer, the host would pepper him with yet another accusatory question. The host of the show even went so far as to allow callers to join the pile-on.

The most egregious misleading report came from Channel 5 news. After the WTMA hatchet job, a reporter from Channel 5 called the Congressman for an interview. Realizing he had been placed in an untenable position, the Congressman refused the interview by saying, "I said what I said and I stick by it". Even after the Congressman said he refused to go on the record, the Channel 5 reporter recorded this remark and included it in the report, giving the false impression that Mr. Brown had admitted saying what he was accused of saying. As we all know, "cut and paste" can create anything you want. This was not the best example of honest reporting.

GE&P has received numerous calls from BC voters who saw the Channel 5 report and are" very angry that the Congressman could say such a thing about them". They believe this story simply because it was on TV news. We tried to correct their wrong impression but failed. The damage is done. People are convinced the story is true. The Congressman will carry this black mark to his grave. No one will ever see the raw footage from the original interview. Why would Channel 4 run this footage? That would prove a really hot story to be a crock and what would that do to viewership?

Congressman Brown, our numbers here at GE&P are, admittedly, small but we would like to offer you our sincere apology for the treatment you have received from the media and some citizens of BC over the last few days. We appreciate your years of service to Berkeley County. It breaks our hearts and shames us that these citizens choose to reward your years of faithful service with this verbal lynching. What a crying shame.

BORING, BORING, BORING

Received yet another Dan Davis mailing. Since it only contained the same old lies, we will refer you to the posts of June 18th and 19th.

WHAT WOULD THE FOUNDERS SAY?

During the birth process of this great nation, the Founders realized early on that a "free press" would be essential if this new form of government was to survive. They considered this element so vital to our nation's success that they equaled it in import to "freedom of speech" and "freedom of religion". In the Federalist Papers, the Founders explained that the "press" carried a huge responsibility along with its freedoms. The "press" would be responsible for keeping the masses informed as to the conduct of the government. That was the original plan.

Jump forward to 2010. Today, it seems our newspapers have only one goal in mind, sell large volumes of advertising. Reporting the truth and keeping the public informed has been relegated to a secondary or even non existing goal. Point in fact: The P&C editorial supporting the reelection of Dan Davis, Supervisor of Berkeley County.

Being as no name was attached to this endorsement, we don't know to whom to address our comments. We would assume you know who you are, unless the P&C simplified this effort and just let Dan Davis write it himself.

The first reason given for this endorsement was all the road improvements BC has experienced due to the new one cent sales tax initiated by Mr. Davis. So far, the only activity we've seen is the decimation of a few score ancient oak trees along Hwy. 17A. The majority of the roads we travel are still in the same deplorable condition as they have been in for years. Several people, including GE&P attempted to get the P&C to report on the $4 MILLION spent on the debacle of a new intersection at Hwy. 6 and Hwy. 311. This wasted money could have been used to pave Hwy. 6 from the old Cross fire tower all the way to Moncks Corner. The P&C reported little to nothing on this subject.

The next justification for reelecting Mr. Davis, according to the P&C, is all the economic development attributable to Mr. Davis' efforts. The article includes Moulton Logistics and Gildan, as examples. They don't mention that neither Mr. Davis nor his crack economic development team knew anything of either of these additions to BC's job market until after both concerns had already established themselves. Since the FILOT agreements were already in place for these locations, there was no need for negotiations with BC government. Neither does this article include the fact that BC, under Mr. Davis' leadership, has lost ten times as many jobs as it has gained. The "industrial park planned near Jedburg" was not the brain child of Mr. Davis. Credit for this project has to go to its creator, John S., whom Mr. Davis fired soon after the plan was underway. And, for the P&C to include the pie in the sky "likely spinoff development from the Boeing expansion" as an accomplishment of Mr. Davis, strains credibility.

The "green energy" bragging point should have included the fact that both these projects are costing the taxpayers money, not saving it.

The P&C is correct in saying Mr. Davis served as city administrator of Hanahan. What they neglected to say is, when Mr. Davis was hired for this position, the city of Hanahan had a surplus of $2 MILLION. When he "left" the job, the city had a $3 MILLION deficit.

Finally, the article says Mr. Davis "provided a steadying hand" on County Council and "dealt capably with budget difficulties". In fact, Mr. Davis formed a coalition of 2 Democrats and 2 RINOs to offset the votes of the 4 Conservatives on Council. This resulted in him casting the tie-breaking vote on many items of wasteful spending during the last 2 years. Several of these votes involved suspicious infrastructure projects that benefitted his supporters. The P&C was made aware of these questionable activities but refused to investigate or report on them. When citizens investigated the issues independently and provided the P&C with documentation of irregularities, the P&C still refused to report on them.

When it comes to financial issues connected to Mr. Davis, the P&C neglected to report on the problems with the FILOT situation with the school system. They didn't think it was important to report that the schools had been short changed over $4 MILLION by Mr. Davis' attempt to "balance" his budget. They didn't think it was important to report that Mr. Davis took $1 MILLION from the BC Economic Development Fund for the same reason. They didn't think it was important to report that Mr. Davis approved, without the knowledge of Council, a $2.24 MILLION water line to the front door of one of Mr. Davis' supporters on Council. They didn't think it was important to report that, for the third year, Mr. Davis is arranging events so he can take 29% of the property tax relief from the citizens of BC. P&C has written several scathing articles about Charleston County Council trying to take a mere 10% from their citizens. The P&C didn't think it was important to mention that Mr. Davis has depleted the fund balance by $5 MILLION. The P&C didn't think it was important to investigate where the $10 MILLION taken from BCW&SA was spent or for that matter, whether the "taking" was even legal. All they said was he "dealt capably with budget difficulties".

The issues included here are only covering those mentioned in the P&C endorsement of Mr. Davis. Credible, documented information on all these issues, and countless others, has been provided to the P&C from several sources over the last two years. Routinely and repeatedly, the P&C has refused to report on them. It has become increasingly apparent that the P&C will not touch a story derogatory of Mr. Davis, with a ten foot ink pen. Now, without even the slightest consideration of any facts, the P&C has chosen to endorse the behavior of Mr. Davis.

We have always thought the goal of journalism was to answer the "who, what, when, where, and why" and to maintain at least a shadow of their original civic responsibility. Isn't it sad that the Tri-County area doesn't have a real newspaper?

NOTE TO THE P&C: Our puppies thank you.

HOW MUCH MORE???

Now, Dan Davis is claiming he had the Hwy. 311 water line installed to support industry. We all know just how much industry is located on Hwy. 311. There's Grooms' deer processing, which employs......................uh....................Mr. Grooms. And then, there's the sweet shop just on the other side of Pinckneyville. Oh wait, the Sheriff closed that down because of drug activity. And, of course there's .......uh........uh........uh....... There's nothing else. There's not even large enough tracks of land to support industry, even if someone would agree to part with any of the land, which no one will.

Mr. Davis' lies aren't even any fun any more. Folks are getting very angry.

THIS IS OUR SHOCKED LOOK

We realize this is getting a bit monotonous but we must report and let you decide. We just received yet another Dan Davis mailer literally dripping with endorsements. WHERE DOES HE FIND THESE PEOPLE?????? We spent two hours on the phone this afternoon asking old time residents of BC if they knew any of these folks. The results were astounding: One retired school board member, one fire chief, and one would be stalker. The identity of the others was a complete mystery to everyone we spoke with. Even if these folks are from BC, how can they be so uninformed?

One stated he was very impressed with the number of jobs Davis had brought to the County. Really? We gained 80 jobs and lost 800. Now, that's something to aspire to.

One said Davis had run a totally positive campaign. Why doesn't she mention the puppets Davis has engaged to go around spreading unfounded rumors about his opponent?

One said Davis "never does favors for friends" and "stands up for the taxpayers". Why didn't she mention the $2.24 Million water line to secure Pinckney's support on Council or Davis stealing 29% of our property tax relief while raising the water rates by 30%?

One mentioned that Davis "dedicated 24 hours a day to keeping BC strong". Does this include the hours spent at the flea market and at Geranimo's?

One brought Washington into the conversation, AGAIN.

One said he admired the fact that Mr. Davis "built his own business from scratch". We wonder if this gentleman has ever looked at the incident reports concerning activity at the flea market? PSA: If your lawnmower turns up missing, give us a call and we will be happy to make a suggestion as to where to go look for it. Remember, always record your serial numbers.

One man said he couldn't vote for someone who slings mud. Sir, there is a huge difference between "slinging mud" and itemizing a person's official record of behavior.

Finally, one person claimed Mr. Davis had achieved a budget surplus this year. Mr. Davis took $10 MILLION from the BCW&SA fund balance. He took $1 MILLION from the Economic Development fund. He took $4 MILLION from the FILOT fund that rightly belongs to the School System. He enacted another one cent sales tax. He depleted the BC fund balance by over $5 MILLION. And, he has failed to contribute more than $1 MILLION to the County retirement fund. Even when you include all these ill-gotten gains, this year's proposed budget does NOT contain a surplus.

We would encourage everyone to look at the long list of prominent people who have either endorsed or are supporting Henry Brown for Supervisor. Then look at the list of those who endorse and support Mr. Davis. This alone should send a message.

A LEOPARD DOESN'T CHANGE HIS SPOTS

For the benefit of those of you who weren't around this area for the Republican Primary in 2006, you need to be aware of Dan Davis' campaign style in that election. A flyer from Mr. Davis arrived in the mailboxes of many voter the day before the election. This flyer detailed an accusation that Jim Rozier, the incumbent, had spent taxpayers' money to purchase a stadium box for himself at Clemson. The big problem with this accusation was that it was totally false. The issue had been put to rest by an extensive investigation weeks prior to the mailing. The local newspapers had run articles disproving all the charges. Mr. Rozier had provided a cancelled, personal check with which he had purchased the box. Clemson had provided a certified letter saying the BC check upon which the allegations were based was payment for a legitimate venture between BC and Clemson. These small facts did not deter Mr. Davis. He sent out the flyer anyway. When he was confronted with his actions after he won the election, he said, "The mailing was already in the pipeline and couldn't be stopped". Everyone believed he couldn't stop the mailer with a full three week notice. SURE.

Well, Mr. Davis seems to have decided to repeat his successful activities of 2006 in his reelection campaign against Henry Brown. He is hoping that just enough voters are gullible enough not to look beyond the misleading headlines of the P&C. We would like to start with the issue of Mr. Brown's stock purchases in 2009 as reported in the WSJ. GE&P has read the entire article and, to begin with, we are baffled as to why the Journal would have published this piece of questionable journalism in the first place. After reading the piece in its entirety, we could find no there there. The article admits that Congressmen are allowed by law to buy and sell stock. The Journal said there were no violations found, either legal or ethical. So, exactly what was the point of this article? Mr. Brown and others legally bought and sold some stock. ???????????WHATS YOUR POINT?

One of Mr. Davis' unfortunate puppets, however, opted to edit the article and make it appear that the Congressman had done something wrong. The redacted email points to the passage of the Stimulus Bill as proof there was misconduct on the part of Henry Brown. HELLO, Mr. Brown voted AGAINST the Stimulus Bill. And, as no small point of interest, has anyone asked exactly WHO was the puppet who disseminated this contrived story? We would suggest everyone focus their attention on the Berkeley County Chamber of Commerce. Does anyone know of any "special" friend Mr. Davis might have over at the Chamber? Does anyone care that this deliberately misleading story was sent out from the Chamber's email list? Were there any taxpayers' dollars involved in this activity? Follow the lead of the P&C and don't bother to ask Mr. Davis any of these questions. We are positive he had nothing to do with this. We would even go so far as to imagine he wasn't even aware this was happening. Just ask his and see.

Now, GE&P would like to give you a heads up on, possibly, the next fabricated issue. We aren't sure Mr. Davis will have the time to pull this one off, but there is a chance. We wouldn't put anything past him. We digress, on to the issue. Through third parties, GE&P has learned that Congressman Brown's staff members have received a few casual calls from the press inquiring as to how they separate their time between staff work and campaign work. Being veterans of Mr. Davis' campaign style, GE&P smells a rat. Could it be that we will all receive a mailer on Monday accusing Mr. Brown of using his Congressional staff for campaign reasons? No, not even Mr. Davis could be THAT obvious.

THE MAN HAS NO SHAME

GE&P, along with countless others in attendance, felt sympathy for Supervisor Dan Davis last Monday at the Council meeting, when it was announced that Mr. Davis would not attend the meeting because of a death in his family.

This morning on the Kelly Golden radio talk show on 94.3, WSC, Mr. Davis stated that he, for the first time, had missed the Council meeting Monday night. In way of explanation, he went on to say, that night he was "PREPARING FOR A CAMPAIGN MEETING."

WE ARE SPEECHLESS.

FREE BUBBLE UP AND RAINBOW STEW

GE&P is happy to announce that no one in BC will be expected to go to work next week. Your full paycheck will be in the mail. All the grocery stores will be giving away free food and drinks for the next month. All the gas stations in Moncks Corner will have their pumps open 24 hours a day with no payment expected.

Please pardon us but we just got our "Dan Davis for Supervisor" mailer and we decided to continue in the same vane. If Mr. Davis' claims were not so absolutely outrageous they would have become boring by now. How many times do we have to prove his rhetoric to be completely fabricated before he will no longer have the unadulterated gall to repeat it?

LOW TAXES: Dan Davis has stolen 29% of our property tax relief for the third year in a row, increasing our tax burden. Dan Davis has raised our water rates by 30%. Dan Davis has initiated a second one cent sales tax. Dan Davis has stolen $4 MILLION from the school system, leaving us to make up the difference. Then Dan Davis has the nerve to try to connect Henry Brown to the Obama administration.

ECONOMY: How can Dan Davis brag about a 12% unemployment rate? At least he had the good sense to edit his "Supervisor's Blog" and remove the claim that he created 1500+ new jobs in 2009. That lie was too easy to debunk. On this issue, again he foolishly tries to tie Henry Brown to the Obama administration.

BALANCED BUDGET: We imagine the whopper about the first balanced budget in 14, uhh 16, uhh 18 years must have drawn Mr. Davis too much flack to repeat so it's not included in this mailer. In fact, during the 3 1/2 years that Mr. Davis has been in office, he has depleted the BC fund balance by $5 MILLION. He has added another one cent sales tax. He has taken $1 MILLION from the Economic Development Fund. He has raided $10 MILLION from BCW&S's fund balance. He has cheated the BC school system out of $4 MILLION from the FILOT from Google. With all these ill gotten gains, what fool couldn't balance a budget? Once again, according to Dan Davis, Henry is responsible for Obama.

TRANSPARENCY: How can Dan Davis allow the word "transparency" to escape his lips? Has anyone heard about the "rebranding" issue? Has anyone heard about the Hwy. 311 water line debacle? Has anyone heard about Mr. Davis' $20,000 raise while BC employees were facing unpaid furlough days? And just this week, has anyone heard that even members of County Council can't gain access to a contract for the (in progress without Council approval) Wassamassaw water project? Now, Mr. Davis is blaming Henry Brown for the Obama healthcare bill that Mr. Brown actively opposed.

BAILOUTS: Mr. Dan Davis "pulled together to lower spending" by furloughing BC employees while giving himself a hefty raise. He "built up our reserves" by squandering the fund balance to a level low enough to endanger our credit rating. He "helped small businesses" by witnessing the closure of numerous businesses in BC, resulting in almost 800 lost jobs. Here we go again, Mr. Davis blames Henry Brown for the actions of the Democrat majority in Washington.

PROFESSIONALISM VS. POLITICS: Here Dan Davis accidentally tells part of the truth. He is indeed a professional, a professional flea market operator and he has brought all the talents associated with that calling to the Supervisor's office. He knows all there is to know about shady, back door deals, operating with a total lack of integrity, conjuring fabricated accomplishments out of whole cloth and, quite frankly, dealing in junk. His only criticism of Henry Brown's accomplishments is that the people of SC expressed their confidence in Henry's ethics, professionalism, talents,and integrity by repeatedly reelecting him to office. And, Mr. Davis faults Henry for offering to, once again, serve the people of BC.

For any misguided individual out there who intends to vote for Dan Davis next Tuesday, might we suggest that you remember to go by the Pig and pick up your free groceries afterwards but, whatever you do, don't quit your day job.

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT

GE&P ENCOURAGES EVERYONE TO COME TO THE POLLS NEXT TUESDAY AND SUPPORT HONEST, OPEN, AND PROFESSIONAL GOVERNMENT IN BERKELEY COUNTY. IF YOU STAY HOME AND DON'T VOTE, DON'Y COMPLAIN ABOUT HIGH TAXES AND CORRUPTION IN COUNTY GOVERNMENT.

VOTE HENRY BROWN, SUPERVISOR

VOTE SHARON SHULER, CORONER

DAVIS DOES IT AGAIN

BC taxpayers were very upset when they learned that Dan Davis had approved a $2.24 MILLION water line to Caldwell Pinckney's house on Hwy. 311. Being as this pipe was already in the ground, there was nothing that could be done to get our taxpayers' money back. With this Hwy. 311 water line in place, Davis had secured Pinckney's support on Council. With 2 Democrats and 2 RINOs voting in unison with Davis, our 4 Conservatives' hands were tied. Remember, Davis gets to cast the tie breaking vote.

Well, this unholy alliance has struck again. On June 14th, there was supposed to be a Council meeting. The committees were supposed to meet, also. By breaking all the rules of Council and parliamentary procedure, Dan Davis had placed the budget on the agenda. As it turned out, one of Mr. Davis' fellow RINOs, Jack Schurlknight, was unable to attend the meeting that night. Without his coalition intact, Mr. Davis knew he would not have the votes to pass his budget so he cancelled the meeting. The committee meetings remained on the schedule.

All went well until it came to the Committee on Public Works And Purchasing, Item C. (2.). Mr. Micah Miley very casually presented the Wassamassaw CDBG Water Project for approval. This approval of Council is a MAJOR step in getting any project done. As it turned out, Mr. Miley wasn't seeking approval for the project itself. He was seeking approval of the contract to commence work on the project. Unbeknownst to Mr. Miley, or anyone else at BCW&SA, the four Conservatives on Council had been informed of a few facts concerning this project.

Mr. Callanan, the Chairman of the Water and Sanitation Committee, asked Mr. Miley a list questions about the procedure in getting any project approved. After about the fourth question, Mr. Miley looked concerned. Then Mr. Callanan asked the "killer" question, "Mr. Miley, if all these steps are legally necessary to get a project approved, could you please tell me why this project is already almost 40% completed?" We could see the blood drain from Mr. Miley's face. He began to stammer.

As Mr. Callanan asked for dates and particulars about the project, the story became more and more convoluted. Finally, Mr. Colin Martin came forward to save the day and began to apologize for the "oversight" on the part of W&S. He said they had realized only last week that they had "neglected" to get the approval of Council so they came forward immediately to correct the error. GE&P couldn't help but notice that Mr. Miley hadn't said a word about this "mistake" before Mr. Callanan pointed it out.

Mr. Miley said twice that BC was at no risk because he had only given verbal permission for Green Construction to begin the work. He said no contract had been signed. Mr. Martin repeated this statement. Anyone who believes that any company is going to buy materials and begin work on a MILLION DOLLAR PLUS project without a signed contract, we have some prime swampland we would like to sell you.

During Mr. Martin's apology, he said, "Something like this has never happened since I have been at W&S". He must have forgotten about the Hwy. 311 Project. And the Alvin Project. And the Miracle Academy (Gants Road) Project. Not one of these water projects followed the established track for approval by County Council required by law.

The Wassamassaw Water Project is being partially funded by a CDBG Grant of $500,000. This grant money cannot be awarded until a contract is signed and a construction conference is held by COG. By law, all contracts MUST be approved by the County Supervisor. It would be virtually impossible for the project to have gotten to this point without BCW&SA and the Supervisor noticing that County Council had not given its approval. Our four Conservative members of Council are investigating this situation as we speak.

There is one more small wrinkle to this story. The Queenie Road area, where this water line is being installed, just happens to be in Mr. Caldwell Pinckney's District. The work commenced three weeks before the Primary, without the knowledge or consent of Council. Since it is a given that Supervisor Davis MUST approve all contracts, are we dealing with yet another POLITICALLY based expenditure?