One on one with the candidates
Pinson vs. Boatwright
June 11, 2006
From
staff reports
Among the races to be decided in Tuesday’s primary
elections is the race to represent Greenwood County residents of
state House District 13.
That race pits incumbent state Rep. Gene Pinson against Greenwood
businessman Alan Boatwright.
In a continuing effort to help inform readers, The Index-Journal
conducted one-on-one interviews with the candidates at the
newspaper office Thursday, posing the same questions to each.
The questions are printed in bold and are followed by the
candidates’ answers. Responses are provided in alphabetical
order, based on candidates’ last names.
As a state representative for Greenwood County residents,
what do you think are Greenwood County’s most critical
issues that need Columbia’s attention?
Boatwright: The first critical issue is state
spending. When legislative spending growth far exceeds the
economic and population growth there is a problem, he said.
Economic development is a second critical issue, and Boatwright
said this issue ties in with education. “We’re 28th in
spending and 50th in achievement,” he said. “Industries
look for a setting for their business, blue collar or white
collar, and it ties in with your education.”
In education, strides can be made to improve the state,
Boatwright said, but education officials are not talking about
the dropout rate versus test scores. Boatwright said kids in the
eighth and ninth grades are not sure what they want to do with
their lives. “They need a plan to direct them to become a
viable member of society, going to a four-year college, a
two-year college or a trade.”
Pinson: The No. 1 Greenwood County problem is
jobs, he said, adding that the county needs more long-term
manufacturing, the basis of the local economy. “We need to
get our fair share of jobs,” Pinson said. “Columbia has
helped us with that. The Alliance and the Chamber have a good
working relationship there. We have the best of all worlds —
Lander, Piedmont Tech, a good school system, Uptown, good people,
and the lake — people are moving there in droves —
great utilities. We need to help anybody who wants to move here.
In Columbia, they can help us, they can see on a broader level.”
Education always needs improvement, Pinson said, with the goal of
reducing the high dropout rate and making people ready to work.
Pinson said Greenwood County has a good school system, and “good
young people.” A new 4-year-old program will be tested in
the lower part of the state, he said, and the Economic
Development & Education Act will target kids as early as the
sixth grade in career paths, as many as 16 different areas.
Charter schools can go through the Palmetto Charter School Board,
the state umbrella, or through the local school boards, he said.
“These are working well in some parts of the state, and
elsewhere some schools have had to close,” Pinson said.
“With the School of the Arts in Greenville and the School
for Math & Science in Hartsville, outside the structure of
the school curriculum, there are curriculum opportunities to move
on to higher levels. We’re doing a lot of things —
hopefully some of them will work.”
The health care industry, that provides 2,400 jobs in Greenwood
County, needs infrastructure and support. Piedmont Tech and
Lander programs provide access to faculty to support that
industry, Pinson said. Part of the governor’s vetoes that
Pinson said he voted to override provided funds to Lander and
Piedmont Tech nursing programs. “In the assisted living
business,” he said, “I see people retiring in their 50s
and 60s and bringing their parents with them moving to Greenwood.
Access to health care is something we could help with from
Columbia.”
In 2005, the state House voted against the “Put
Parents in Charge Act.” Do you support school choice for
South Carolina schools?
Boatwright: He said he does support school
choice, but with tax credits and not vouchers. “Government
money should not go directly to private schools,” Boatwright
said. “Families who earn less than $75,000 a year should get
a $1,500 per child credit. I do not support a voucher system, and
there is a difference between the two (tax credits and vouchers).”
Pinson: He said he has always supported school
choice and “we have always had it.” Prior bills have
been for tax credits and this year it was for tax credits and
vouchers, Pinson said. “The problem I have is turning loose
of state money with no accountability, no assessment (of student
performance) and no certification (for teachers),” he said.
“There would have to be those requirements before I could
condone saying of state money here, take it and go. I’ve
never been sold on it. This issue of vouchers is the number one
driving factor in the governor’s race on down.”
What do you say to parents who pay taxes toward
pre-college education and would like a tax credit so they can
afford to send their children to a school that they, the parents,
think provides the best educational values for their children,
whether parochial, private or public?
Boatwright: “This is a position I support,”
he said. “Say a person pays county taxes to schools and
wants to send a child to Greenwood Christian, that family under
$75,000 would get a tax credit. That figure was in an original
plan, there have been three variations since then.”
Pinson: “I would have no trouble supporting
something that has accountability. What I get hit with is
grandparents saying why they have to continue to pay for
education when they don’t have kids (in school). No one
likes to pay for something they see no benefit from, but
education is in the public good. We pay for an awful lot of
things we don’t directly participate in.”
The property tax relief bill currently on the governor’s
desk includes a property tax reassessment cap. Do you support the
cap? Why or why not? Should the tax assessment cap also be
applied to businesses?
Boatwright: He said he does support the cap on
owner-occupied residential property — 15 percent over five
years — and supports a cap on commercial, also. “What I
do not like about this bill is that in 1999 under Gov. Beasley we
had property tax reduction, and now seven years later we’re
right back where we were with a 1-cent sales tax (increase),”
Boatwright said. “There is no relief from school bonds and
counties and municipalities have no limits on millage. These are
election year antics, that’s what it boils down to.”
Boatwright said legislators need to take tax relief across the
board. He said he has talked to numerous rental home owners and
they say this will shift the burden from residential to
commercial and non-owner occupied residences. “This is a
temporary fix,” he said.
Boatwright said the State Chamber of Commerce does not endorse
the property tax reform bill because, he said, “it is not
pro-business, it is negative business.” Boatwright said he
is more in favor of a useage tax than a property tax. “Like
my dad said, someone has to pay the bills. I support tax swaps,
not tax increases.”
“We want to be different from the 49 other states and we do
some things so backward,” he said. “We need to look at
Florida and Tennessee; they do not have property tax. We have
blinders on and we do not want to look at what other states have
done successfully. We pay too much for what the government
returns to us.”
Pinson: He said he supports the current
legislation because it takes property taxes for school operations
off and a portion of county taxes off local tax bills. He said it
will stimulate ownership of property in municipalities. “We
heard from a lot of real estate folks that it will be a great
boost to selling real estate in the city (of Greenwood) and
helping folks in rental situations move to home ownership,”
he said.
“I support the reassessment cap at 15 percent over five
years; it keeps things from skyrocketing. When reassessment
skyrockets so do property taxes. There is a break so that local
governments do not take advantage of businesses, and to keep them
from getting a windfall off other folks. Business taxes cannot
exceed population growth and the consumer price index.”
As a follow-up, do you think the property tax relief
measure, which applies to owner-occupied homes, is fair to
businesses, especially small businesses, which provide the
largest percentage of jobs in our state? If yes, why? If no, how
would you go about changing it?
Boatwright: “It’s not fair to
business,” he said, “and Gov. Sanford is touting small
business. Small business is the backbone of our economy. For for
last five years, Greenwood County has been in a funk. The tax
relief last year that Mr. Pinson was touting was so minimal it
did not affect our bottom line. The effects of these taxes are
business owners have to pass it along to customers.”
Pinson: “Surveys I have seen say tax breaks
should center around owner-occupied residences,” he said.
“I have rental property myself. There are a lot of factors
in rental and when your costs go up you can’t collect much
rent.”
For a number of years, political aspirants have employed
the mantra of running the government “like a business.”
Given that a fairly large number of businesses in the U.S. fail,
what experience or background does your candidacy bring to the
voters of District 13?
Boatwright: He said his dad started the business
65 years ago, and what he has learned is to treat employees with
fairness. “The state should treat the taxpayers with
fairness,” Boatwright said. “The current legislature
does not treat taxpayers with fairness.” In lean times, he
said, business people try not to lay off people and try to meet
payroll. But, he said, businesses do not have blank checks.
“The legislature is starting this (fiscal) year with $1
billion plus. They need to reinvest it — the state is not
reinvesting it in the taxpayers.”
Pinson: He said he knows what it takes to bring
money in and what it takes to pay it out, and he said he is very
attuned to who pays the bills. “In state government we have
not raised taxes in five years,” Pinson said, “but we
have had to make mid-year adjustments that were disastrous. We
have to operate within a budget; we don’t have a printing
press.” Government is like a family, he said, in that if the
family budget is built on $30,000 and if they don’t get that
amount, they make adjustments. “You save for a rainy day,
and rainy days do come.”
Eminent domain has been a hot news topic lately. What, if
anything, will you do as a legislator to protect your
constituents’ property rights?
Boatwright: He said he doesn’t agree with
taking private property for government use, such as economic
development. “I went to the Legislature while amendments to
this bill were being discussed and it was painfully boring,”
Boatwright said. “The U.S. Supreme Court ruling (that
property can be seized for public purposes such as development of
business projects) was wrong. I support endeavors of our state to
keep eminent domain from being aggressive.” He said he doesn’t
think the government is in the business to take land, and local
control over eminent domain decisions is best for communities.
Pinson: He said the House legislation redefined
public use and, basically, if it’s not a road or a bridge
project it can’t use eminent domain; it is not for private
development. “We’ve tightened up the definition,”
Pinson said, “and I favor it 100 percent.”
How would you rate Gov. Mark Sanford’s performance?
As a follow-up, who do you plan to vote for for governor and
lieutenant governor in the upcoming primary election?
Boatwright: He said he does support Gov. Sanford
and “I will vote for him. I am undecided on the lieutenant
governor. Gov. Sanford has strong people skills and I will
support his endeavors to bring to the table fiscal stewardship to
bring a voice for the taxpayers.”
Pinson: “All I can say is, he’s
(Sanford) an interesting guy,” Pinson said. “He does a
lot of things I don’t understand. He’s not the best
communicator in the world.” Pinson said the governor vetoed
the child restraint law because Sanford said people should have
the choice on restraining their child in a car seat. Pinson said
the governor vetoed the seat-belt law because Sanford said it was
up to the individual to decide whether to wear a seat belt.
“We passed funeral legislation. It was designed for soldiers
back from Iraq because pickets were showing up at military
funerals — to keep them back 1,000 feet. The feds enacted it
at national cemeteries so we passed it for all funerals,”
Pinson said. “(Sanford) vetoed that, saying a homeless guy
might get put in jail.”
“He makes it a habit of warring with the Legislature,”
Pinson said of Sanford. “The senators and House members can’t
be wrong all the time. He has his own path. He determines what
the budgets should be and anything above that is wasteful
spending. That is a good question. I’m open-minded about it.
I’m torn between the two (Sanford, the incumbent, and Dr.
Oscar Lovelace, the challenger).
In the lieutenant governor’s race, Pinson said he doesn’t
know a lot about Henry Jordan. “Mike Campbell is a good
fellow and Andre (Bauer) is good people,” he said. “I’m
open about all of them.”
Area players turn scouts’ heads
Pellin, a state champ at Greenwood High, shares her wisdom
June 11, 2006
By
JIM JOYCE
Special projects editor
Greenwood has another girls basketball team that has qualified
for a national tournament, but another route will be taken for
the next level.
The Carolina Sprinters, coached by Jennifer Pellin and her
father, Clemson Pellin, of Greenwood, qualified for the June
24-29 nationals in Columbus, Ga., but have chosen to attend the
July 6-8 Reebok Showcase Tournament in Greensboro, N.C.
The Lakelands Sparks 14-and-under team also qualified for the
nationals in Orlando, Fla. Made up of players from Greenwood,
Laurens and Clinton, the 16-and-under Sprinters, 16-6, are in
their first year under an all-star team concept.
Even though the game is basketball, Jennifer said the purpose of
the program is to keep people on the right track.
“My dad was always there for me and wanted me to do
something to help young people,” Jennifer said. “We’re
doing it for the young people.”
Jennifer is a former standout from the Greenwood High girls
basketball team and won two state championships in the
mid-1990s.The AAU team was originally organized about 12 years
ago, and Jennifer said she was a member of the team coached by
her father.
“I later played in high school and college, and came back in
2002,” she said. “We have been together since that
time.
“At first, we got players from Greenwood, but this year we
wanted to be more of an all-star team and got the top players
from high school teams in Greenwood, Laurens and Clinton. “We
wanted to have players who had a dream to go somewhere and be
somebody, stay out of trouble and do something positive. We
always had young people in mind.”
The idea is to keep them busy — the reason for starting the
season in April and continuing through the end of July.
The Sprinters have won tournaments at Erskine and Wren High
School, and placed third in events in Augusta and Greenville.
“This is the first year we actually can say, they have
always had fun,” Jennifer said. “They came together. If
one makes a mistake, all of us make a mistake. They love to be
around each other.” Coaching the Youth Basketball of America
(YBOA) team “is a way for me to help young people achieve
their dreams of life,” Jennifer said.
“Our No. 1 goal, right now, is to get them in school
(college), help them get a scholarship. That is one of the main
reasons for doing this.”
The choice to make the Greensboro trip instead of going to
Columbus, Jennifer said, “was because of the exposure the
players can get.
“I was told the top 50 college recruiters from North
Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia will be there. This will
give them a chance to see how our girls play.”
Team members are Cera Adams, Enka Clarke, Brittany Connor, Vijya
Corbett, Ariel Moton, Sytena Robinson, Melekia Simpson, Maranda
Stockman and Tina Wright, all of Greenwood, Mary Shealy, of
Clinton, and Jalissa Burnside, Shonda Burnside and Jelain
McArthur, of Laurens.
Anyone wishing to help the Sprinters with expenses can do so by
contacting Jennifer at 379-6516.
Success
just natural for pair
of boys teams headed to nationals
June 11, 2006
By
JIM JOYCE
Special projects editor
McCORMICK — James Byers is a mortgage
broker in Anderson, but one of his biggest loves remains in the
field of sports.
He played baseball at Spartanburg Methodist and Newberry College.
He has coached baseball, football and basketball in Abbeville,
Due West and Greenwood — his latest being an AAU/YBOA (Youth
Basketball of America) program in the area.
“We have 13-and-under, 14-and-under, and a 16-and-under boys
basketball teams,” he said. “We also have an
18-and-under girls team called the Carolina Heat.”
There are also boys teams that have played in Birmingham, Ala.,
Atlanta, Due West, Augusta, North Augusta, Charlotte, Greenville,
Columbia, Lexington, Greenwood and Abbeville.
Success has been natural for at least two of the teams.
“The 13-and-under boys team has accomplished a lot
throughout the year,” he said. “They finished third in
the Charlotte Fire Away Classic, first in the Carolina Shooting
Stars Invitational and placed fourth in the YBOA State
Championship after being the top seed after pool play.”
The fourth-place finish earned the area team a bid to the
national championship later this month in Orlando, Fla.
The 14-and-under boys team also earned a bid to the national
tournament next month in Orlando.
“They finished third in the Greenwood tournament, fourth in
a Birmingham tournament, and sixth in the AAU state championship,”
Byers said. “They also placed fifth in the YBOA state
championship.”
Byers added, “The 16-and-under boys team played well at
times, but it was difficult getting the whole team together for
tournaments.”
At this age, Byers said, “you have to be prepared to play
because you will face all-star teams (sponsored by Nike, Adidas,
Reebok) that are flown throughout the country to play in showcase
tournaments.”
Byers added that Nike has inquired about two about the
possibility of traveling with that showcase team next year.
“Yavario Smith, from Dixie High School, was personally
approached by one of the coaches at the state championship,”
Byers said.
“The same coach also approached me about Joseph Bailey, from
Greenwood Christian School. These two kids will definitely play
on the next level.”
Byers said the cost to send one team to Orlando is about $8,500,
and the players helped with fundraisers throughout the year to
help fund the program.
The players are from McCormick, Abbeville and Greenwood counties,
and anyone wishing to help with the cost for the trips can get
information by calling Byers at 391-6339.
Members of the 13-and-under team ready for the national
tournament are Quintavia Brown, Jordan Ford, Jericho Jackson,
Nichelous Killingsworth, Roderick Marshall, Chris Miller,
Lekeithe Norman, Aubrey Enwright, Thyron Simmons, La-Quavas Watt,
Alfonso Tucker Jr., Hakeem Power and Ervin Bryson.
Making up the 14-and-under team are Travis Bolden, O’Bryan
Fair, Jamaine Thackson, Justin Gilchrist, Martavis Aiken,
Martavius Bryant, Jamaal Byers, Sammy Head, Alvin Wells, Michael
Jackson, Jericho Jackson, Hakeem Power and Zytravious Smith.
Derrick Young assists with the coaching duties.
Opinion
Consider
the candidates, judge the words, actions
June 11, 2006
Politics
in South Carolina isn’t much different than politics
elsewhere. Everybody wants something ..... it’s just a
matter of focusing on what everybody wants. One thing you can
pretty much count on, regardless. What everyone wants is usually
self-serving ..... whether running for office or simply casting
ballots.
Some want power. Some want fame. Others want connections. There
are some politicians, and others, of course, who have egos so big
they overwhelm everthing else. They are easy to spot. It’s
not always that easy, though, to identify those who are in it for
themselves first and foremost; constituents come second. The
glad-handing and grinning can often conceal an assortment of
character questions.
VARIOUS PEOPLE HAVE THEIR various issues, to be
sure. When they are broken down, though, it’s not all that
difficult to determine whose ox is being gored.
For example, some people will vote for a candidate because he
went to the College of Charleston, or USC or Clemson. That
determines everything. That’s all that matters. Other
substantive issues often disappear in the face of such
overwhelming logic.
Others will vote for the candidate who will, or they think will,
help them feather their nests. While they are at it, they will go
out of their way to engage in charactor assassination of those
they oppose ..... because they fear that opponent will work
against their personal interests.
PAY ATTENTION TO THE VARIOUS commentaries during
the campaigns. Look at what the speakers and writers are after
and who they support. In most cases they are clear outlines of
who wants whom and what. And, certainly, look at who takes the
high road in campaigns.
Too many elections have been won by shallow and/or self-centered
opportunists who are motivated by less than altruistic concerns.
Make no mistake, though. That’s not the majority of the
conscientious people who go the extra mile to serve the public
and work for the benefit of all. However, as they say, a few bad
apples can spoil the barrel.
So, consider all candidates. Try to determine their motivations.
It shouldn’t be too hard to see the big picture. In fact, it’s
easy. They paint that picture by their very words and actions.
Obituaries
Louise R. Bloodworth
LAURENS
— Louise R. Bloodworth, 88, widow of Curtis Bloodworth, died
Saturday, June 10, 2006 at Hospice House, Greenwood.
Services will be announced by Kennedy Mortuary.
Helen Coleman
Helen
Coleman, 80, of 115 Morningside, widow of Abney Coleman II, died
Saturday, June 10, 2006 at her son’s home.
Services will be announced by Blyth Funeral Home & Cremation
Services.
Shatica Marie Fuller
Services
for Shatica Marie Fuller are 2 p.m. Tuesday at Friendship Baptist
Church, conducted by Pastor Anthony Sims, assisted by the Rev.’s
Roderick Cummings and Annette Edwards. Burial is in the church
cemetery.
Pallbearers and flower bearers are friends of the family.
Visitation is 6-8 p.m., Monday, at the home,122 Wheatfield Drive.
Robinson & Son Mortuary, Inc. is in charge.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at robson@nctv.com
Ulysess Pearson Sr.
Services
for Ulysess “Red” Pearson Sr. are 2 p.m. Monday at
Mount Zion Baptist Church, Coronaca, conducted by the Rev.
Bernard White, assisted by the Revs. Jonathan Greene, Eric
Morton, Daisy Floyd and Laurin Young. The body will be placed in
the church at 1. Burial is in the church cemetery.
Pallbearers are Jack Williams Sr. and deacons of the church;
honorary pallbearers are Trustees Ernest Nunn and Ervin Aulls.
Flower bearers are the deaconess of the church.
The family is at the home, 127 Auld Road.
Percival-Tompkins Funeral Home is in charge.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at pertompfh1@earthlink.net