Lady’s Island needs ‘yes’ vote on 1 percent sales tax

For Lady’s Island, the penny sales tax referendum on the Nov. 6 ballot represents the most significant county investment in the island in 30 years.

Passage will mean we’re able to get to work on fixing the traffic issues that making getting around this smallish island so difficult. Nine key projects have been identified, and it is crucial that we fund them.

Rejection means a worsening traffic situation, and probably 20-plus years before these same nine projects can be completed — not to mention the additional taxes that will ultimately be required to make them happen.

There is a high level of misunderstanding about the application of the local sales tax option. Under state law, the tax must expire in four years, or when $120 million has been raised, whichever comes first.

Additionally, the revenue from the penny increase can be spent only on the projects identified and detailed on the ballot. Nobody can grab it for some other pet project.

And lastly, tourism in Beaufort County means that visitors will pay half of the taxes raised.

These are all good reasons to say “yes” on Local Question No. 1 on Nov. 6. Nobody likes taxes, but they are the price we pay for a civilized society — and good roads and bridges.

Beaufort County school board can now change

Voters have a significant opportunity to change the climate, direction and governance of the Beaufort County Board of Education.

Several of the “Moss Majority Bloc” have chosen not to seek reelection. However, two others wish to continue. We have an opportunity to move forward the governance and stewardship of our school district. Let’s not forget how this majority posse governed.

These loyalists demonstrated incompetence by rubber stamping whatever former superintendent Jeff Moss brought forward. They asked no questions, demanded no verification, and simply demonstrated blind loyalty while disregarding empirical data on both educational and medical research. They violated professional decorum, and ignored performance evaluation metrics while financially rewarding a state ethics violator.

The last four years clearly dictated a need for new stewardship, a new vision, critical thinkers, individuals with courage willing to ask challenging questions.

Many new candidates are seeking election. Before pulling the lever consider each one’s skill set, background, core values and experience. Visit their web sites, speak with them, inquire about their backgrounds, but please vote and send a message that our public schools, our students, staff and residents desire strong and effective board governance, management and oversight.

Vote for candidates you believe will serve as independent thinkers, who embrace facts, practice collaboration, support transparency, and reject nepotism and conflicts of interest. Elect individuals who mandate clarity, fiscal responsibility, and demand academic success for all children.

Our future depends on it, our children require it, and our community deserves it. Please, vote in our school board elections.

‘Yes’ vote on 1 percent sales tax helps Lowcountry people in everyday lives

After several public meetings about the 1 percent transportation sales tax, I have learned the following:

This sales tax affects all of Beaufort County. It’s equitable and transparent. Tourists and commuters will pay 51 percent of revenues. Beaufort County can receive $4 from federal and state funds for every dollar we raise. It expires in four years, or until our share is raised, whichever comes first. It only applies to specified roads, bridges and community pathways … new infrastructure lasting 30 to 50 years into the future.

Why so urgent? If this doesn’t pass, we forfeit substantial federal and state funds and we can’t repeat this referendum until 2022, pushing improvements another 10 to 12 years ahead. We won’t alleviate congestion, accident rates, commute times, or improve daily functionality. Results could be lower property values, higher taxes, and loss of reputation as a destination … while construction costs increase 5 percent to 7 percent annually.

This not for tourism. Exploding Lowcountry populations and deteriorating infrastructure require solutions now, just to maintain what we already have. This is primarily about improving everyday lives.

This referendum allows us input about final outcomes: what the Hilton Head Island bridge and corridor look like; pedestrian-bike access; number of lanes; Gullah rights; park-and-ride; HOV lanes; and more. If it fails, we’re not in the process, period.

Consider workers, commuters, beach-goers, plumbers, electricians, landscapers, teachers, grandkids … you get the idea.

The future is now, not 12 years from now.

Selective memory from Gorbachev

I noticed you ran an op-ed from The New York Times written by Mikhail Gorbachev.

For those who did not read it, it basically said we are in a new nuclear arms race in the world and it is America’s fault.

I also noticed that Gorbachev conveniently omitted the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Georgia and the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. Just small issues, but rest assured the New York Times will point out those omissions.

Oh, yes, one more thing. If he had written that somehow the Soviets were to blame, or even partially responsible for a world that may be rebuilding nuclear arsenals, his life may have been cut short.

It’s about truth, not free speech

The mayoral candidate author of the recently published letter directed toward Rabbi Brad Bloom’s columns in the paper does not seem to have his facts straight about the reality and the extent of the Holocaust or the rabbi’s right to speak out on behalf of those families, Jewish or not, that suffered losses of family and friends at the hands of the Nazis throughout Europe before and during World War II.

Rabbi Bloom was simply discussing the truth of documented facts of the totality of the Holocaust and the candidate’s direct insinuation of anti-Semitism and hatred. Unfortunately, free speech did not preclude the American Nazi Party from marching through predominately-Jewish Skokie, Illinois, but it also did not prevent the residents from protesting that march. The rabbi was addressing the truth and accuracy of the candidate’s inflammatory statements, not his right to say them.

Our soldiers of all faiths fought in North Africa and Europe, not just to preserve our rights, including free speech. They fought and many died to destroy the tyranny of Hitler so that those countries that were occupied or under siege would be liberated and free.

My father-in-law was a medic in Patton’s 3rd Army and among the first troops to begin the liberation of the concentration camps. His eye-witness accounts in just those camps validated all that has been said and exhibited in the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

The candidate should visit the museum to see with his own eyes. Or visit Auschwitz.

Democrats feel, but Republicans think

A recent letter to the editor was advocating that we vote with our hearts, not our heads. That was about as clear a difference between Republicans and Democrats as I have ever seen.

I have observed over the years that Democrats often express how they “feel” about an issue while Republicans will say what they “think” about an issue.

I believe it was Winston Churchill who is credited with saying, “Anyone who is not a liberal at age 20 has no heart, while anyone who is still a liberal at age 40 has no head.”

It would be a wonderful world if we could make it into a place where we all feel good about everything, but then all the sudden reality always kicks in to derail many of the good intentions. This is not to say that acting on your feelings is always a bad thing. The world would be far worse place without people who follow their heart. Most of the finer things in life come from that group, and if we are lucky, there are enough thinking people around to pick up the bill.

So neither is either good or bad. Both have contributions to make to society. It’s too bad that we seem to have lost the art of talking to each other about how we feel, and then thinking about ways of getting the good things paid for without bankrupting the nation.

Beware GOP on Medicare

Many of us in the Lowcountry are relying on Medicare for our health insurance coverage. Medicare currently covers those of us with pre-existing conditions. An estimated 51 percent of us under 65 having a pre-existing condition, and a whopping 75 percent to 85 percent of us have a pre-existing condition by the time we reach 65 .

Currently, House Speaker Paul Ryan wants to replace our current Medicare with a voucher program.

Consider the implications for those of us on Medicare, or soon to be on Medicare:

Our current Medicare system has pre-existing condition protections built into it. What does the Republican future for Medicare look like? A voucher (“premium support”) system for us to buy insurance on the private market. Unfortunately, none of these “policies“ will offer protection for pre-existing conditions.

The voucher as proposed has a built-in inflation adjustment rate of about 2 percent. The general health care inflation rate is currently about 6 percent. If your voucher covers only one-third of health care inflation, the voucher will quickly decline in value.

Compare that to what you have today: fewer hassles, including claims denials; no problem with pre-existing conditions; and a network of physicians who get paid for their services in a couple of weeks. It is not in the Republican politicians’ interest to inform you of these potentially life-altering aspects of their health care plans.

Please be mindful not be taken in by Republican candidates who profess support for health care, while planning down the road to gut Medicare.

Has America lost its way?

Democracy? Socialism? Fascism?

Which one do we have now? If you listen to the fringes on the left and the right, they are both accusing the other of tearing apart our democracy to bring in socialism (claimed by the right against the left) and to bring in fascism (claimed by the left against the right).

As an independent, I can see some value in both sides to the argument and feel hopeful that our long-standing “moral majority” will actually vote with much larger numbers of voters than either or both of the fringe right and left.

We all listen or watch or read the many sensational claims made and reported on by the ever-increasing number of media outlets. Did you ever want to watch media news that is boring? No way! We like to watch bad news because that is how we humans are wired. If it bleeds then it leads. The problem with this is that the whole picture of the world gets distorted by the extreme fringes who are the ones getting their stories reported.

Here’s a message to those of you who can’t imagine being friends with or even talking to someone on the “other” side. You have more in common than you are being led to believe. The differences we may have with one another’s political views should be addressed at the voting booth, not in social settings for arguments.

Don’t allow the TV or the internet to run your life. You are better than that.