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Post by jimmy davis on Dec 14, 2012 21:40:06 GMT -5
LOL well billboard with everything i had going on it threw me into the holidays getting close and i will meet after the holidays are over for i don't want to be rushed its not like its a life and death situation ,but as far as the clerk i haven't spoke to her about a meeting it was the mayor i spoke to but feel as you do no problem i no it rocked on since i said id check but things came up out of my control and threw me behind just as if i haven't done it already and to your speed was out of your control,not trying to be rude but i am to the point no use beating around the bush but i assure you a meeting will and is going to take place and i also have another reason that i will not say for waiting till after the 1st of the year that way i can get all the facts i hope
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Post by angrybird on Dec 15, 2012 9:32:33 GMT -5
Jimmy, I hope this is not another lie Clark is telling you! My husband is a former deputy and we have a lot of friends still there and I know what they are going through right now. They all feel betrayed and many are wondering if they will even have a job after he takes office.
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Post by geraldgarrett on Jan 26, 2014 14:03:52 GMT -5
We have the jail at the LEC. We have the County Stockade. Several municipalities have their own jails. What has closed down in the past 30 years?
Maintaining an updated assessment of our detention facilities isn't a bad idea, even if costs money to have that assessment done by an outside firm. The choices eventually narrow down to: 1. We can update on our own timetable with our own plans, or, 2. We can update under orders from the Federal government, with them overseeing and challenging every decision.
I can assure you Option 1 would be cheaper than Option 2. Candidates and elected officials who are willing to discuss these things and possibly take steps to avert a crisis are the kinds of people we need in office, not more who hide their heads in the sand and pretend there are no problems because they don't see them. And pro-active is always cheaper and more efficient in the long run than re-active.
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Post by mountainhighway on Jan 26, 2014 18:01:17 GMT -5
The county prison is alive and well, I'm not familiar with any detention/correction facility that has closed in the last 15 years other than the town of Liberty assuming responsibility for housing juveniles only since they can't be held with adults. The county prison is most definitely needed to house sentenced inmates who receive less than 90 days (SCDC threshold), otherwise they would have to be held at the county jail. Imagine adding that number to the population already there awaiting trial or sentencing. I don't have an issue being preemptive in avoiding problems with items such as these. I consider myself fiscally conservative , but that doesn't mean I'm against government spending ANY tax money on ANYTHING. I feel that core functions should be funded first in a reasonable manner. Public safety, roads and bridges, schools, and the like I consider core functions. I think these should be funded before any other items are considered, even though I don't believe any of the above listed should be given a blank check. Sometimes you can pay on the front end or pay on the back end, you just need to know how much more painful the payment on the back end will be.
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Post by phillipbowers on Jan 26, 2014 22:06:57 GMT -5
I’m glad we agree planning is good for the county. So do we need a bigger jail? I hear it is over capacity and meth heads are running loose that should be incarcerated. So I guess that means we do need more capacity. There, that didn’t cost $15k. Now what do we do about it? When I have a problem in my business I look and see what I already have to fix it before buying something else.
So what do we already have? The taxpayers already own a huge building on Sparks Lane in Pickens. Why doesn’t the county buy the old school building from the school district (SDPC sure needs the money for maintenance) instead of spending money on studies?
Just put a razor wire fence around it and bars on the windows. If that’s not secure enough, put an electric fence on the perimeter- after all, it is on Sparks Lane! Stock the kitchen with bread and water, throw some cots in the old gym, and put all the meth heads in there. There, that didn’t cost $15k.
Obviously some sarcasm there, but I hope you get the point. Why do politicians always default to more spending, particularly on building plans? I bet the school board wishes it had all the money back that was spent on studies and benchmarking for the Greenville Plan.
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Post by mountainhighway on Jan 27, 2014 1:13:04 GMT -5
Perhaps my point was lost. I didn't advocate writing a 15k dollar check. I thought the "no blank check" disclaimer was sufficient. My point was that I don't overtly dismiss a request without having all of the information available in front if me in order to make an informed decision. I do agree that the default position now is "more money", we hear it everyday and expect it. I'm not in the pretrial detention business, so an informed decision based on my personal knowledge is not possible. I dont know the liabilities and obligations involved specifically in this scenario as I'm not in the actuarial science or risk management business either, however i do acknowledge that pretrial detention and housing if sentenced inmates is perhaps the area a sheriff's office faces its greatest liability. I would have to hear from the entity/official asking for a specific expenditure why that expenditure is needed and how specifically the amount was derived. When outsourced, I would like to know whether any person or persons already employed are qualified to make a determination in strategic planning. I don't advocate spending $100 today in order to stave off an unlikely $100 expenditure next week. I have no issue with spending $100 today in order to prevent a most likely $1000 expenditure next week. Maybe it can be done for $50? maybe it doesnt need to be done at all? My next order of business would be to find the area I could relocate the $100 from an existing designation with the least interruption in service provided. Maybe that's a little more clear. Basically, I'm not going to dismiss outright a request simply to quiet the noise we have all grown tired of, but I'm not going to "take their word for it" either and write a check without knowing the whole story and having facts in my hands and a way to pay for it.
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Post by idontunderstand on Jun 2, 2014 17:46:40 GMT -5
I think the Sheriff should give the jail operation to County Council and see how they would act if it is under their control. Let them take the liability and the responsibility.
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Post by jimmy davis on Jun 2, 2014 18:19:58 GMT -5
The county jail is too small it was from day 1 when it was built and they couldn't have built it in a worse location no room to expand except up ,,they do need another jail but it would make more sense I think to put the jail at the old junior high with plenty of room to expand and if nothing else use the old jail for the sheriffs office itself along with the county judges offices,and records and id division move the jail itself only
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upset
New Member
Posts: 37
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Post by upset on Nov 11, 2014 20:49:36 GMT -5
These are two excellent choices.
PENDLETON — Two Pickens County residents have been appointed to Tri-County Technical College’s Commission, the nine-member governing board of the college. Gov. Nikki R. Haley appointed Dr. Valerie Ramsey of Easley and Tom Hendricks of Liberty to the Commission, effective April 2014. Their terms expire July 2017. Ramsey retired in 2009 as the chief business officer for the College of Health, Education, and Human Development at Clemson University. Since 2011 she has been an adjunct professor at Southern Wesleyan University teaching adult and graduate studies courses in the school of business and the school of education. She previously served on the Commission from 2005-2009. She was the first alumna in the history of the College to serve on its governing board and the first Tri-County Commissioner to serve on a national committee with the Association of Community College Trustees. Hendricks is a military veteran who after 20 years of service in the Army, retired and entered public service. He served as the Pickens County administrator from 1989-99 and later administrator for Oconee County from 2006 until his retirement in 2007. “While serving as administrator for Pickens County and later Oconee County, I worked closely with Tri County Technical College on annual budgets and building programs. The College prepares and equips individuals to make an immediate and positive impact with their employers,” said Hendricks.
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Post by alexsaitta on Jan 9, 2015 8:14:30 GMT -5
www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/pickens-county/2014/12/30/milliken-st-jude-plan-expansions-pickens-county-tax-breaks-extended/21067691/Someone put this article on my Facebook page and I responded to it with this. That is interesting, and a point Rus Smith made before, and here is some evidence to support his point. The group Manufacturers Caring for Pickens County (MCPC) has publicly urged the school board to raise property taxes. The group lists seven members (see below). Milliken is not listed, but St. Jude is. This comes from MCPC release that lists the members of the group: Tri-Tech USA, Inc., Palmetto Plating Company, Inc., Reliable Automatic Sprinkler Co., Inc., Cornell Dubilier, MST Concrete Products, Inc., Sealevel Systems, Inc., and St. Jude Medical.... EE you make a good point about St. Jude Medical, urging that school property taxes be raised, when they are not paying those property taxes themselves, and was in the midst of urging the county council to extent their agreement to avoid paying property taxes for another 5 years... It would be interesting to see which of the MCPC members fall into this category. www.sealevel.com/community/blog/manufacturers-caring-for-pickens-county/
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Post by alexsaitta on Mar 12, 2015 8:38:14 GMT -5
I heard Neil Smith speak the other night, and our friends at the Concerned Citizens of Pickens County attended, and the next day were critical on their Facebook page. The disagreement brought up a good point when it comes to economic development in our county, even our state and our country.
CCPC’s account was: With regard to the Doodle Trail, he asked for a show of hands of people who ride bicycles, saying that he just doesn't think a bike path is a good use of taxpayer's dollars. He also pointed out the fact that Greenville County Council has money to "burn" on things like bike trails because they have more growth than we do and much more revenue from "accommodations" than we do.
CCPC was critical of Mr. Smith’s assessment and objects to the county government’s lack of participation in the bike project.
I just read a biography of Cornelius Vanderbilt. He is considered the father of the US railroad system. His was a pure capitalistic venture. His company bought the land, built the rails, built the stations, bought the cars, hired the employees and operated the system. It was amazing how little the government is mentioned in the growth of his and other railroad companies. In contrast, Amtrak is owned and operated by the government – a socialistic venture. Most couldn't decipher the difference or really wouldn't care.
The government leaders who are pushing for the Doodle Trail, for instance, don’t realize it is a pure socialistic venture – owned and operated by the government. I’m sure they don’t consider themselves to be socialists (and they are not) and they probably know little of Karl Marx, but what they are advocating is a socialistic venture. It doesn't matter if the people pushing for it are nice, they are friends of Robin Nelson Miller or truly believe they have good intentions. When government creates, owns and operates this or that, it is a socialistic venture plan and simple.
Economies that are dominated by socialistic ventures, enterprises and systems fail because they do not create enough income growth/ wealth expansion to support a sufficient or rising standard of living for its citizens. The world is littered with socialist economies that never approach full employment, are static or have collapsed under their own weight and the US is inching further in that direction.
Government ventures that directly enhance private sector production, distribution and the sale of goods and services should be the primary focus of our governmental leaders. The government has a role in some of these recreational ventures, but they should be limited and focused on ones used by a large section of the public and will spur private sector growth so in the end more wealth/ income will be created.
Continued below.
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Post by alexsaitta on Mar 12, 2015 8:38:28 GMT -5
Continued from above.
I wrote a letter about this before, about the Doodle Trail last year. It is costing $4.5 million and God knows how much it will cost to operate/ maintain each year. I have my doubts how much it will be used (few ride bikes). Plus, I can’t see it recouping that investment and covering its annual operating costs. So not only won’t it add a lot of utility to the citizenry, it will likely be another venture that drains much needed resources from the local economy. Like I asked at the time, is it wise to lay down millions of dollars of in asphalt for a bike trail that will be used by few, when we have potholes in are much traveled roads?
Government is famous for these types of “investments”, they are becoming more frequent and that is chipping away at our national growth rate. Government needs to be careful in what it invests in. It must be on guard to these social groups that are running around pushing for all these social projects that are very expensive in the long run and have a lasting economic toll.
It is amazing how so many of our leaders in both parties and community leaders aren’t connecting the marcoeconomic dots. The government (which is notorious for investing in ventures that generate low and negative returns/ income) is getting bigger and annual GDP or income growth is falling. There is a cause and effect there. If a country allows a sector of the economy that is generating negative or low returns (the government) to grow and grow, this will drag down overall growth rate of the economy. Last decade had the lowest average annual GDP rates since the 1930s. It is glaring what is going on and why it is happening, but yet few see it, and too many continue to push our county, state and nation in that direction.
This is one of the reasons I have seen the US economic glass as half empty for about 10 years now. Too many of the bigger government folks are rising to the ranks of political leaders, and they believe such government investments like the Doodle Trail or the Pickens Amphitheater are solutions to our economic problem, when in reality, such "investment" in growing volumes is the problem. Hence, my long-term view -- economic growth will continue to slide.
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Post by conservative on Mar 13, 2015 10:38:28 GMT -5
Alex, using Vanderbilt as an example of Capitalism vs. Socialism is a master stroke. His is a preeminent American success story. His public accomplishments are the epitome of the benefits of Capitalism's effect on lifting the poor and unconnected-to-power in incalculable ways. In his case, the single sailing skiff he used as a boy to ferry people and garden products to sell across the NY harbor evolved into his single-handed empire of steamships that allowed low cost access for rural areas to populated ones in the NY-NJ markets. He did it by defeating Government monopolies with lower cost and increasing supply. Capitalism defined. Untold numbers of lives were enhanced by his ferries providing low cost transportation. When's the last time Government made anything less expensive and more available? The other good example every American should read is how J.D. Rockefeller enabled the regular masses (now labeled poor) to be able to educate themselves and families after daylight work and chores by providing low cost, widely available lamp oil (the first use of evil crude oil). His story of constantly lower it's cost and availability against the pressures of those that sought to keep it expensive and limited is legendary but little told. And he really "saved-the-whales" as a byproduct. Later, after his fortune and reputation as a "monopolist, he privately financed the education and eradication of Hook-Worms in the South that affected the early learning ability of children that stigmatized them as lazy and "slow" (blacks and whites) for generations. Rockefeller's life is one of a miraculous ability to lift the Country into prosperity but scoriated as greedy.
As for the 'Doodle Trail", this boondoggle starts with the fact that we (taxpayers) paid $500,000 for a property that no one else wanted after years of searching for a buyer. The eventually discovered total price to build, maintain and regulate it will dwarf any economic value we will enjoy for a generation. The "opportunity cost" (other use) for this tax money will never be appreciated. Government at it's worst. My opinion.
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Post by alexsaitta on Mar 16, 2015 11:28:34 GMT -5
Yours is a great comment, as usual. Vanderbilt got me searching for more and I recently stumbled on a History Channel series on Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie, JP Morgan and Ford. I'm just finishing up Carnegie and his steel empire. The direction we are moving in, more toward the socialist left is not a good one.
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Post by alexsaitta on Apr 17, 2015 19:22:23 GMT -5
www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/pickens-county/2015/04/17/political-chaos-ensues-around-pickens-gop-convention/25943801/I read two other stories on this. www.fitsnews.com/2015/04/17/pickens-county-sc-the-gop-battle-rages-on/www.pickenssentinel.com/news/home_top-news/152986218/Legislative-delegation-protests-local-GOP-action-asks-for-nullificationI had a couple of people call me on this today. The more I hear, the more I think both sides had an understandable point of view. I can see why they both think they are right. The county GOP party reorganizes the precincts every two years and that is done when interested voters sign up as precinct members on reorganization night. After that, there is a make-up date about a week later. From those precinct member rolls, delegates are elected and sent to the county GOP convention. Based on size, each precinct has a given number of member slots for delegates for the county convention. For instance, Pumpkintown has 13 slots, and Abel has 5. So there is a delegate limit for each precinct. At the convention, among other things, the delegates elect the new officers of the county GOP, namely the chairman of the county GOP, the new vice-chairman, Treasurer and Secretary. On reorganization night voters sign up to be members of their precinct and delegates are named. Others sign up with the county GOP on the make-up date as well. The officers of the GOP verify those people are registered voters in their precinct and delegate slots are available in the precinct as well. For instance, Abel has 5 members or delegate slots, it can’t have 8 people signed up as delegates. It takes days to process this master delegate list. Also, following the reorganization those who want to be candidates for the offices have to let the county GOP leaders know, because they have to create printed ballot for all the delegates signed up to attend the convention. It is my understanding all those who wanted to be delegates had to get their names into the county GOP no later than 5 days before the convention because it takes time to verify, process, and do all this before convention night. Ditto if you wanted your name on the ballot as a candidate for any office. There was a notice in the newspaper saying all this and an email was sent to delegates telling them of the deadlines too, with the deadlines. More below.
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Post by alexsaitta on Apr 17, 2015 19:46:46 GMT -5
Continued from above
The convention was last night at LHS, and delegates walked in. Immediately they went to the sign in table of local party officials, and they were confirmed as delegates against the official delegate list, and given an envelope with their name on it, which contained a ballot and a few other necessary docs for the convention.
Neal Collins evidently had about 40 people show up at the meeting whose names weren’t submitted to the county GOP via the process described above, and demanded they be added to the delegate list. He says he submitted the names with the state GOP. He pointed to some young woman who says she is working for the state GOP and she has the 40 names. The officers of the local GOP run the meeting and are responsible for the integrity of the list and who is a delegate. They didn’t get those names from the Neal or by the deadline, could verify any of them as voters, which precincts they lived in or if there were any slots in their precincts open. Or if they paid the $20 fee. The officials, of course, had no ballots ready for these 40 would-be delegates because the ballots were printed days before. The local GOP officials baulked and didn’t want to put their stamp of approval on them.
Once in the meeting, Neal turned to the body of delegates to vote to approval is 40 would-be delegates as delegates there and then. As a delegate, I asked where is your proof they are registered voters or there are any slots left in the precincts they are in? Did they pay their $20 fee. Neal pointed to this woman again, who none of the delegates knew. She provided no credentials. I thought, to sort through all these people and printing them ballots is going to take days. And I’m to vote for this here and now?
Matt Moore who was the head of the state GOP spoke at the convention. He knew there was an issue, and said nothing about it to the audience. You'd think he would have said, we looked at the 40 names, and yes they met all the requirements. Today he is making this strong statement he was against not adding them to the list at the last minute. Why didn't he say something last night?
They filed a protest with the state GOP. I don’t know what the outcome will be. I don't know the state rules. Maybe this can be done at the last minute, then I disagree with them. All should be able to inspect the final list of eligible voters days before if not weeks before.
More below
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Post by alexsaitta on Apr 17, 2015 19:49:29 GMT -5
Continued from above
My basic point is this could have all been avoided and went smoothly if the 40 names were submitted directly to the county GOP officials at least 5 days before like the other 155 were. 155 delegates were seated with no problems. Can you imagine if you walk in on election day with 40 people and say, make them all registered voters and the want to vote now? It would be chaos. And that is what was created last night.
If they were unhappy going through the county GOP and the state rules say they can go through the state GOP, the 40 people could have been submitted to the state GOP and also cc'ed to the county GOP. Once the state said all those people were verified, at least the county GOP (the keepers of the master delegate list) would have known days before who to add and people wouldn't have been turned away last night.
Another thing I found odd. When I looked at the ballot, I only saw one slate of names. So the slate of other candidates wasn’t even submitted to the county GOP either and put on the ballot. I was sent an email like the other delegates that said anyone who wants to have their name on the ballot, has to send them in by a given date. I later learned Neal Collins wanted to be a candidate for chairman. Why didn’t he send his name in then so it would be printed on the ballot?
It seemed to me someone was trying to use this last-second method to grow their delegates which no one else was familiar with or heard of. Then someone recited some obscure passage on page 300 something of the state party rulebook to support their point. Like that was going to persuade anyone. I thought, this is a $3,000 a year organization, it doesn’t have some $300 an hour lawyer sitting there at the ready to immediately investigate and confirm or strike down what is being asked, taken from some obscure page in state party rulebook.
When the delegates were asked to approve letting these delegates in that night, I thought I'm not comfortable doing that. It just didn't seem right to add delegates so late.
I can't see how anyone can say walking into the convention the day of, handing a list of 40 people to the county GOP, and telling them to put them on the delegate list is a good way to do this. Or would support something like that, regardless of the rules. With regular elections, voter registration closes 30 days before. It sounds like the deadline is 5 days before for these delegates. That day, the local GOP is told to add 40 names? We could be missing some information, but I'd like to see how the complaint addresses that issue.
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Post by alexsaitta on Apr 17, 2015 21:09:37 GMT -5
I just read the complaint. It is very clear in answering my question. Collins says the 52 names (not 40) were submitted to the state GOP the week of April 6-11. The state GOP then sent them to the local GOP the day of the convention, April 16. In the protest, the judges will have to determine if that is adding delegates to the list 5 day before or the last day.
Honestly Collins and Bowers could both be right. Collins would be right if the rules say he could send the names to the state GOP instead, and he got the 52 names to the state GOP by April 11, or 5 days before the April 16 convention.
The state GOP held the names for 5 days and sent them to the local GOP the day of the convention. Bowers could also be right in saying he didn't receive them 5 days before, as required, so he was right in rejecting them that night.
There are procedural complaints too, but that is the main complaint I see.
If the state party had the names April 6-11, why did they wait until the last day -- April 16 to send them to the local GOP? How disruptive is that going to be to hand the local GOP 52 new names at the start of the convention? How is that going to look to those looking on?
If the state GOP gets the names April 6-11, and then sends them to the local GOP April 11, all is well on both ends. But the state GOP did not do that and that created one of the problems.
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Post by alexsaitta on Apr 18, 2015 7:33:29 GMT -5
What's the solution? A protest ruled on by the state party down in Columbia that half the people will see as unfair? I suggest both slates sit down and compromise. Collins and Bowers should split the term. Year one Collins be the Chairman and Bowers the second Vice Chair. Year two they reverse it. Maybe they'll learn to work together. Ditto for the other officers who truly still care at this point. When you get beyond the officers, most don't care that much, and when you get beyond that, all this does is turn off the masses to the entire party process. Hopefully the elder statesmen in the county party will see this and step in. It may even bring both sides together by working together. Going through a protest ruled on in Columbia, and a do-over that half the people will probably boycott will hurt the party and the players involved more than it will help anyone or anything.
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Post by geraldgarrett on Aug 14, 2015 20:51:35 GMT -5
Rut-roh!
www.foxcarolina.com/story/29791563/sled-investigating-pickens-co-gop-chairman
Fighting wingnuts, one party chairman at a time.
I sure hope it wasn't one of my fellow so-called "RINOs" - you know, those REPUBLICANS among us who are occasionally willing to compromise to advance the overall conservative cause in the long run - who lodged a complaint. Taliban Phil and his merry band of reactionaries already hate us enough as it is.
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