I need to address a couple of issues first. The title of my campaign post yesterday “Where Does the Truth Lie?” was taken by Mr. Scoville as me calling him a liar. The title was meant to imply “the one who holds the purse strings is the one with the answers”, that was the intent of the title and I do apologize to him for taking that as a personal attack and to Debra Bivens if she found anything offensive. The word snarky was used to imply that our finance director should be addressing issues of budget. That our Mayor should not be inserting himself into a political campaign to affect the outcome. Mrs. Bivens, our finance director, told Council either directly or through the Administrator if we keep using our reserves to balance the budget we will not have any reserves left in 5 years (give or take), she spoke the truth while the Mayor was tip toeing around the question at hand, hence she wins the game of cat and mouse. Mrs. Bivens is highly qualified for her job and she is where the truth lies when it comes to our money and I may have inappropriately worded praise for her. I hate that Mr. Scoville took personal offense to that and I also am embarrassed for engaging in a back and forth with him on my campaign facebook page.
The intent of the post, in case it was lost on anyone else, is “are we in financially good condition”? Did we need the tax increase that was pushed on council and us? Are we really spending more than we take in and if so, where is it going? I can work with anyone to get the job done for you and for our businesses. My reasons for running for council are simple; to make life easier and better for the people of this town, to redirect the focus of our Government to each and every person in town–not to a political party or ideology, but just good common sense Government that puts the people and businesses of this town first. To put personality differences aside for the betterment of our beautiful community.
Now to the topic at hand. Our Waste Water Treatment Plant
Quick definition of a consent order: it is governed by federal and state laws, which vary by jurisdiction. It is generally a voluntary agreement worked out between two or more parties to a dispute. It generally has the same effect as a court order and can be enforced by the court if anyone does not comply with the orders.
According to a New York Times article dated May 22, 2012 the City of Georgetown had 67 Waste Water Treatment regulatory violations. The City has paid a total of $25,850 in fines to date. The amounts paid to attorneys and engineers and studies is not readily available at this time.
We are now in the year 2015 and this issue has not been resolved. How much longer do we string out a problem that has existed since at least 2003? How much money do we continue to pour into this via fines and analyses? How much of our citizens’ hard earned money has to be spent before a solution is found and agreed upon with all the parties involved?
The City leadership says this issue basically was forced upon us by Georgetown County Water and Sewer district as the least expensive option for dealing with our waste water, that DHEC keeps changing their requirements of what we need to do. I am tired of casting blame. It is time for a solution. If the City would have listened to Jack Grimes and had sold the water department to them when they were interested we would not be having this discussion today.
We need to stop paying fines and attorney fees, we need to stop spinning wheels. We need a clear and concise fix and we need that now. DHEC needs to put in writing exactly what they want, we need to comply and move forward. Each passing day sees an increase in costs of this or any of our other projects that get deleted or delayed.
I have followed the workings of the City since 2008. I have attended the majority of Council meetings over the past 7 years. I have read and reread the various codes and ordinances, I have combed through the budget to the point that I discovered a $90,000 accounting error this year and reported it to a couple of council members. I care about what happens in this City and the direct effects it has on the citizens and businesses here.
Vote November 3rd, 2015 