Push school impact fees and industrial base in Beaufort County

I would like to thank Beaufort County Council for taking the lead in supporting impact fees for school construction, and the Beaufort County School District for its support of impact fees, at the Sept. 4 meeting by voting 9 to 1 to take the first step in implementing these fees.

As noted by the school board members present, impact fees are not a silver bullet for the needed tax increases to support school construction. However, as indicated in the meeting, other options need to be considered, and an increased effort made to make these options a reality.

At present, Beaufort County can’t boast about much of an industrial base — with the taxes it would produce, as well as needed jobs for graduates of our schools. In order to take advantage of this opportunity, those who fund and those who have taken on the obligation to attract environmentally-responsible industries to our county need to be more effective in their efforts instead of wasting time and taxpayer money suing each other over festivals and fighting over disclosure of the use of tax money.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any suggestions.

One in 10 zillion.

GOP nominees treated poorly

There have been dozens, maybe over a hundred, judges nominated to the Supreme Court, yet only three have been subjected to the treatment Judge Brett Kavanaugh has experienced.

Have any of the talking heads in the media ever pointed out that Robert Bork, Clarence Thomas and Kavanaugh have this distinction, and all were nominated by a Republican president?

And add to this that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, nominated by a Democrat, skated through with a 96-3 vote.

Shameful!

Chuck Schumer hits a new low

Within 60 minutes of President Donald Trump nominating Brett Kavanaugh to be on the Supreme Court, Sen. Chuck Schumer vowed to oppose the Kavanaugh nomination with “everything I’ve got.” We now know exactly what Schumer meant by “everything I’ve got.”

Bluffton GOP ad denigrates women

The basic job requirement as a member of the U.S. Senate is to listen to all information presented, including those of one’s constituents, and make the best decision based on that data.

By encouraging senators to vote on the Brett Kavanaugh nomination to the Supreme Court prior to the receipt of all information, as did the advertisement placed in your paper Sept. 26 by the Greater Bluffton Republican Club, suggests that the Senate should take short cuts on what is an extremely critical vote, based on partisan pandering.

Further, this advertisement denigrates all women by proposing to ignore the serious charges of sexual assault and sexual harassment. As a country and as humanity, we should understand the extreme pain that these women are facing as they come forward to discuss intimate details of a horrific experience. To suggest anything otherwise, as the Republicans have done in their ad, is horrifying and shameful.

Check your Sun City bill if you hit the gate

Sun City residents, be aware that if you hit any gate on your way into Sun City you will get a bill for $387 for replacement and a fine of $300. I know because it happened to me.

I then had to go through the same gate half an hour later and it worked just fine. About a week later, I got a bill for $687, which prompted me to investigate. I asked six front-gate guards if they knew about the gate replacement. They all said “no.” Two guards asked if it was raining when I hit it. I stated that it was pouring, and they both said that it happens all the time when it’s raining.

With this information, I spoke to the property owners’ group. It found that no gate replacement had occurred. Next I went to the covenants committee and told my story. They took the $387 off my bill but upheld the fine. Extremely unfair. If you ever paid for a gate replacement, ask to see the bill.