L
E T T E R S T
O T
H E E
D I T O R
APRIL
17, 2008
Courthouse
Relocation to Harry Byrd Highway Could Help the Square
In the last edition of the paper, the editor of the News and Press
wrote a very informative article on the Courthouse proposals and
feasibility study. It was accurate and unbiased. The question
that is being debated is quite interesting, to say the least,
but the ultimate decision must be based on possible funding and
“common sense” location of departments.
The present Darlington County Courthouse is out of space and in
need of renovations, which can be done for much less than totally
new construction.
The Courthouse will remain on the Public Square. The over crowded
conditions can be eliminated by moving some departments to a Courthouse
Annex. The City of Darlington will remain the county seat.
The most feasible solution will be to move the court system to
the Darlington County Detention Center area and it will be the
Courthouse Annex.
The logic of this idea is appealing as it will eliminate deputies
and fuel in transporting prisoners from the Detention Center to
the Courthouse in downtown. Confining prisoners from the Detention
Center and Courtroom in one location will solve the safety issue
of moving prisoners and exposing these inmates to our general
public area on the Square.
This will allow the county to install the necessary and mandated
safety requirements and regulations for the Judges, Attorneys,
and Court Staff at a more reasonable cost.
If the court system locates at the Detention Center area the parking
problems will be eliminated. There will be no conflict of interest
on land purchases for the facility, as the county owns the land
around the detention center area. This will save the taxpayers
of Darlington County from purchasing additional property that
we really do not need.
It has been stated that we do not want a Federal Prison in Darlington
County, therefore, why would we want inmates in the downtown area?
If the above plan is chosen, the other county departments will
continue to occupy the present courthouse, with renovations. The
need to rent or lease space for departments will disappear.
Courthouse employees will continue to shop downtown; nice little
ladies will no longer be afraid of getting on an elevator with
someone in chains; and spending on the square will increase and
new shops will locate.
Families of inmates and inmates do not shop downtown while in
court.
The report from Carter, Goble and Lee quoted exorbitant figures
for land purchase, construction and renovations.
With realistic construction plans and the use of our own resources
and abilities in Darlington County, we can save the taxpayers
a bundle of money, yet accomplish our goals.
We must look beyond personal preferences, financial or political
gain and strive to meet the needs of the county, giving much consideration
to the debt obligation we will be placing on Darlington County
taxpayers.
Please let us hear from you, our citizens of the whole county.
What do you think?
Anne Warr, Darlington County Council
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Poor
Sportsmanship Shown on Ballfield
On Friday April the fourth Darlington teams went to Bishopville
for a game in which improper balls, improper officiating , andunsportsman
like conducts were used in the games.
Other town teams had made the comments that they would not play
at Bishopville because of the tactics used by the coaches and
the officials. On the night specified bad calls were made by the
umpire which were seen by all who were in attendance, of which
certain coaches of certain teams gladly agreed with.
The coaches of the teams would use unsportsmanlike practices in
the game of which they would tell 7, 8, and 9 year old girls
to use, in so teaching these young minds how to be unprofessional
and inconsiderate in all practices of life not only the field.
As a parent of one of these children I and my wife as well as
many others have determined that we will not subject our children
to this type of atmosphere again. As far as I am concerned
the Bishopville ball games are no more!
Louis Tadlock
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The
Irony of Education in South Carolina
Since September 2007, I have been participating in Leadership
South Carolina, a program developed to teach tomorrow’s
leaders about the South Carolina of today.
Our group of students has traveled the pristine shores of Edisto
Island, walked the halls of government in Columbia, and experienced
the dynamic and booming Upstate.
While traveling, we have witnessed the state’s best assets
and have been brought to near tears at the challenges and hardships
faced by so many fellow South Carolinians.
We have been awe-inspired by the shiny and futuristic International
Center for Automotive Research near Greenville, and amazed at
the work at the Greenwood Genetics Center, but left utterly speechless
and bewildered by the “Corridor of Shame” and its
nearly century old schools that resemble a third world country.
Where are we as a state today? A generation of reliance on manufacturing
(especially textiles) and low skill jobs (i.e. education was not
a necessity) has left our state at a competitive disadvantage
as the world shifts to a knowledge-based economy relying more
on brains than machines.
Twenty plus years ago we competed effectively against other states
for manufacturing jobs and “won” many of those jobs
because of the low cost of labor in South Carolina. But today
we compete against a world that can produce the same low-tech
product with people who are happy to work for a dollar per hour,
which for them is a vast improvement over their former subsistence
life style. South Carolina no longer has an advantage.
Unfortunately, we are not prepared to compete in the new knowledge-based
economy of the 21st century. With our state’s graduation
rate hovering around 50 percent, how can we compete against countries
which graduate nearly 100 percent of their students and ingrain
the importance of education into the culture of their populations?
Do we have the tools to turn the state around? I think we do –
we have the best technical college system in the United States,
great liberal arts universities, while Clemson and USC are quickly
becoming research universities, which serve as catalysts for industry
(think Research Triangle and how Tobacco Road has been transformed
into High-Tech Road).
Take a look at the Southeastern Institute of Manufacturing &
Technology at Florence-Darlington Tech – it is a one-of-a-kind
facility that partners academia with economic development. I believe
it will become the model for other areas of the country to emulate.
Whether it is the nation-leading number of neural-tube birth defects
in South Carolina, that are being fought at the Greenwood Genetics
Center (most can be prevented by educating to-be-mothers on the
importance of folic acid) or the shameful drop-out rate, one element
is recurring: education is the primary source of our current problems.
As long as SC competed for low-tech jobs against high cost states
such as New York or California, education was not critical for
the state’s survival or success. But since this world has
become flat, South Carolina now finds itself competing against
very low cost places such as Shanghai or un-named villages in
Vietnam.
We must find new areas in which to compete and they must be knowledge-based.
Will this be easy? No. Unfortunately rural school districts without
an industrial base face inadequate tax revenues to fund the top
flight education programs we need, which in turn places those
areas and its students at a disadvantage and locks them out of
many economic opportunities they so desperately need to raise
their standard of living and fund the very programs necessary
to end this cycle.
Educational improvement must and will be the answer to our competitive
disadvantage. It is our last, great hope to find success.
Do I have the complete answer? No, but I do know each one of us
must make education a top priority for our young people. It must
become the fundamental goal of our society.
From the moment children wake to the moment they leave for school
to the discussion of the day’s activities around the dinner
table, we must emphasize the importance of education. If we don’t
succeed, our children and their children will suffer through a
lower standard of living than we enjoy today or our parents enjoyed
a generation ago.
Make an effort today to do something to emphasize education. Do
something simple, like helping with homework, visiting your local
public school or encouraging children you know to strive for a
higher level of education. This may be the greatest investment
you make in your child’s future and in our state’s
future.
Mac Josey, Darlington, SC
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