UN-representative government
A thanks to Gordon Fritz for encouraging citizen dialogue with County Council. His remarks flowed from Council’s Facilities Committee’s absurdly unrealistic proposal to widen a stretch of the Sea Island Parkway to four lanes. If any one of those folks had walked that length of road with a competent engineer, they would see that space simply does not exist under state road construction standards.
The plan would destroy much but add nothing to solving our traffic issues, which are related to Lady’s Island development. They would create a road with massive funnels at either end and merge nightmares.
No one outside of Lady’s Island should have had any say in fomenting any such thinking. Council: rescind this and if you want, just call on local leadership of the Lady’s Island Plan for more logical and cogent recommendations.
– Timothy Dodds, Lady’s Island
Lady’s Island bait and switch?
A little history first. In 2018 the voters of Beaufort County approved a multi-million dollar referendum question for capital Improvements, with the lion’s share of the money to go to the new bridge to Hilton Head and more than $71 million slated for traffic improvements on Lady’s Island, with the primary objective being to provide citizens an alternate route to reach their destination without traveling on U.S. Hwy. 21.
“We the People” publicly tried to get those projects moving back in Jan./Feb. of this year, since all the monies for the work had been collected over a three-year period. At that time, only one (1) of those 10 proposed projects had been completed – the turn lane beside Walgreens. Here we are nine months later and I’ve seen no update on the status of those remaining projects.
In the meantime, the County Administrator springs a surprise on the Public Facilities Committee at a meeting last month by proposing that a big stretch of Hwy. 21 be four-laned, with lovely flowers and shrubs in the middle. The Committee then gives the community a big surprise by voting for such an unacceptable solution for Lady’s Island.
Everybody needs to give some thought to the idea of dumping four lanes of traffic onto a two-lane swing bridge and into the streets of Historic Beaufort. It’s really disturbing to me that any member of County Council would vote for such an ill-conceived proposal when the projects we voted to implement back in Nov. 2018 haven’t even made it out of the design phase and have had no chance to alleviate the congestion.
Someone suggested that it smells like a “bait and switch” operation. I personally believe the code which authorized the option to tax yourselves for infrastructure improvements does not allow those monies to be used for a different project. Somebody needs to tell me if I’m wrong, but in the meantime “We the People” had better make our voices heard publicly!
– Edie Rodgers, Beaufort
We need more reporting, less interpretation
Scott Graber’s (Sept. 1) analysis of today’s news media and the public’s reaction is right on target. Mr. Graber is absolutely correct in stating, “Sometimes a train wreck is just a train wreck.” No more, no less. We need more reporting and less interpretation because news should not be entertainment or propaganda.
– Bill Warren, Lady’s Island
It’s time for a change in SC
This letter is in response to the article titled, “State legislature to debate abortion ban” in the Sept 1 edition of The Island News. While the article noted that Shannon Erickson did not cast a vote on H.5399, her past voting record has been very clear. She has consistently voted against reproductive choice, against health care for women and children, and against public education.
Erickson opposes abortion with no exceptions. She was one of only three S.C. legislators who signed on to an Amicus Brief to the Supreme Court arguing that Roe must be overturned. She has voted to allow health care providers to deny care for any reason. And she has consistently voted to defund public school education.
Meanwhile among the 50 states, South Carolina ranks 44th in educational quality, 38th in public health, 41st in child poverty, and not surprisingly 43rd in median household income. We cannot expect any improvements if we keep electing Shannon Erickson and others like her to our state legislature.
In November voters in Beaufort County will have a very clear choice. Erickson’s opponent for S.C. House District 124 is Barb Nash. Nash is a strong proponent of reproductive choice, public education, and health care. Her entire life has been dedicated to helping others, as a nurse, as an educator, and as a leader. Barb Nash will be a strong advocate for families in the Beaufort County and South Carolina. It is time for a much-needed change in Beaufort County.
– Peter Birschbach, Port Royal
