Few things are more sacred in this country than individual property rights, and any time government endeavors to dictate what can and cannot be done with that property, they are walking a fine line. A man, after all, is still King of his Castle in America; which is a lovely ideal, until one man’s castle […]
Tax Attack
August 24, 2012 By
When our current County Administrator was hired, our millage rate was 279.8. The school system’s share was 204.3 and the County’s was 75.5 mils. In 2011, our millage rate was 397.9. The school’s got 264.6, the County got 133.3. In 2012, our Administrator went up to 400.9 millage for taxes. Here is the problem: Our […]
Defeat at All Costs
August 24, 2012 By
It is one thing to slay the dragons of the world. It is another matter entirely to joust at windmills. Knowing the difference between the two endeavors is what differentiates the responsible from the reckless, the rational from the unreasonable, the sound of mind from the insane. In their recent decision to continue to throw […]
Water Authority — All Wet or All Right?
August 17, 2012 By
Water may very well be the new crude oil – the strategic resource upon which the economy of nations may someday hinge, and over which wars may someday be waged. In this not-too-distant future landscape, a reliable source of potable water and the facilities to treat and transport it cannot be overestimated. Water, like oil, […]
County’s DRT misapplied Green Code standards at LongCreek
August 16, 2012 By
The Green Code is a great vehicle, if used properly, to provide compatibility within a community and to preserve the environmental characteristics of an area and its various special environmental features. The sketch plan submitted by Long Creek Associates and Sustainable Designs does not indicate a proper use of that code. It seeks 332 housing […]
Today’s Special: Meeting Merry-Go-Round
August 10, 2012 By
With an overall grade of B and three schools within the district earning A’s, the Fairfield County School District certainly has one or two things to crow about; and given the beatings this school district has taken in the media in recent years, crow they should. Still, with a B, a C, a D and […]
Enough to Go Around
August 3, 2012 By
The resurrection of a downtown is no magic trick, no cheap conjure. One doesn’t simply reach into a collapsible top hat and pull out something along the lines of, say, the Vista in downtown Columbia. It takes time, and vision, and planning and, perhaps most of all, it takes a community ready to snap out […]
The Fairfield County School Board of Un-Trustees
July 27, 2012 By
Leave it to the Fairfield County School Board to elevate something as trite as an overnight field trip gone wrong to the level of the Watergate break-in; but that is, remarkably, exactly what they did when, during their July 17 meeting, they chose to discuss the matter in an illegal executive session. And sadly, considering […]
The Price is ‘Might’
July 26, 2012 By
There’s nothing necessarily illegal or unethical about a company belonging to the father of a Town Councilman being awarded a contract with the Town of Blythewood. After all, the Councilman in question recused himself from voting on the matter, and the low bid is the low bid; the town government would certainly come under considerable […]
Don’t Blame Housing
July 20, 2012 By
Your County Council Chairman has once again stuck his foot in his mouth. Evidently, he only sees what the County Administrator instructs him to look at, and the Chairman has a ‘blind eye’ by not touring the county in places like South Winnsboro, the end of Loblolly Lane, Old Chester Road, the rest of the […]
