Wednesday, June 6, 2012

GUEST POST


As chairman of the Goose Creek 9-12 project, I have been trying to invite all candidates, (Republican and Democrat) up for election in Berkeley County, to our June 7 meeting. We have offered them 2 minutes at the start of the meeting to tell us who they are and why we should vote for them. I tell them there will be no time for Q & A, and they are free to either leave after they speak or to stay for the entire meeting. I also make it absolutely clear all candidates will be treated with the utmost respect.

Last week I attempted to invite Berkeley County District # 3 Councilman, Mr. Robert O. Call Jr. to our meeting as he is up for re-election. I used his email address posted on the County web page. The invitation came back. He is the only candidate I was not able to contact. I arrived early for the County Council meeting on May 29 for the purpose of inviting Mr. Call personally. He did not show up until a couple minutes after the meeting was called to order. Thinking he may be in a hurry to leave after the meeting before I had a chance to speak with him, I scribbled out an invitation during council's executive session.

After the meeting adjourned I ask a member of the Clerk's office to make me a copy of my hand written invitation for my records. I then approached Mr. Call and attempted to invite him to our meeting. He would not even let me finish speaking and turned his back when I tried to hand him the invitation, refusing to take it. Councilman Jack Schurlknight was standing near Mr. Call and ask me if we ran our meetings like the Berkeley County GOP Breakfast Club. Not fully understanding what he was asking, I told him we used Roberts Rules of Order. I ask Mr. Call once more if he would take the invitation and read it. He refused. At that point, I placed it on his seat at council and left the room.

Before I left the building, I realized what Councilman Schurlknight had really meant by his question. I found him leaving the assembly room and attempted to answer his question. I tried to tell him about all candidates being treated with the utmost respect. He completely and intentionally ignored me, nearly running into me as he barged past .

Neither Mr. Call nor Mr. Schurlknight serve in my district but they are accountable ( or at least they should be) to all the Berkeley County citizens. What gives them the right to be rude and disrespectful to me . Although I disagree with them on most issues, I have never treated them with such disrespect. I am especially upset with Mr. Schurlknight. He injected himself into a conservation that had nothing to do with him and was, then, very rude to me.

I can only imagine how Mr. Call expects to win reelection! He refuses invitations to speak to the citizens of Berkeley County at public forums. He even denies citizens the opportunity to speak with him at County Council meetings. As a "Republican Reformer", one would think he would at least occasionally attend a GOP event. He must be very confident of his reelection probabilities. His signs say "a name you can trust". Well, I suppose we will have to "Trust" Mr. Call because he has certainly shown he is not interested in meeting with or even speaking to us. What exactly is a " Republican Reformer" anyway, Mr. Call ? Guess we are expected to reelect you first and then we will find out ?!

Jeff Reuer, Chairman, Goose Creek 9-12 Project

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mr. Reuer, I am a little surprised that Supervisor Dan Davis didn't attack you for attempting to talk with his political children, Mr. Schurlknight and Mr. Call!! Maybe Mr. Call is right! We need to "Reform" our political laws, rules, and regulation to allow a political party (Executive Committee) to REMOVE candidates who REFUSE to participate in party sponsored PUBLIC gatherings/meetings!! The reason is "simple", they are are FRAUDING, including FALSE ADVERTISEMENT, the voting citizens for personal political gain!! Maybe one of our County delegation to Columbia would have the "courage" to pursue this claim!! Well, on second thought, they may lack that trait!! Still think it's good idea!

Anonymous said...

When you consistently vote against the wishes of your party's constituents you lose their support and have a very difficult time facing them to defend your record. Even a bald faced liar like Bob Call find it difficult.

I pray Ken Gunn gets elected and we regain fiscal sanity for the hard working people of this county.

Anonymous said...

I've said it before and will say it again, this BLOG needs legs. The information available here does not reach the general public.

Nosy Woman from Cross said...

If anyone knows where to find these "legs", let us know. Last month we had over 1700 hits. Yesterday we had 70 hits and so far today we have had 54 hits. We are doing the best we can.

Anonymous said...

By legs I mean the print media. The independent does nothing to dig deeper into the issues. Believe me I know you are doing the best you can and I appreciate your efforts to keep those of us who care about BC informed.

Thank you!