Obamacare in "Critical Condition"

The National Review Online carried an interesting article on Obamacare. The first few paragraphs appear below:

Obamacare’s Danger Signs

         [Grace-Marie Turner]

Not one of its major programs has gotten started, and already the wheels are starting to come off of Obamacare. The administration’s own actuary reported on Thursday that millions of people could lose their health insurance, that health-care costs will rise faster than they would have if the law hadn’t passed, and that the overhaul will mean that people will have a harder and harder time finding physicians to see them.

The White House is trying to spin the new  report from Medicare’s chief actuary Richard Foster as only half bad because it concludes that, while costs will increase, only 23 million people will remain uninsured (instead of 24 million previously estimated).

But looking at the details of Foster’s report shows the many, many danger signs for Obamacare and how many of its promises will be broken: To read the entire article go here

Senator McConnell thinks Transparency is a FAD!

The following video is a dramatic example of why we must elect new faces in South Carolina. The good old boys must be ousted. They favor the voice votes that allow their members to vote without a record. It is obvious that Glenn McConnell and his cohort fear the ascendancy of Nikki Haley who has championed transparency.

Nerve Gas

Gubernatorial Debate in Spartanburg April 22

For those who may have missed the Spartanburg debate it is all available at the Nikki Haley
website. I have posted the first segment below but to see the other segments go here. After watching I encourage you to take the poll that appears at the top of the left sidebar.Any comments you wish to make will also be appreciated.

City Council Update from Dick Dewar

BUSINESS LICENSE TAX PROGRAM: I have had discussions with several business owners regarding the City’s business license ordinance. Most would like to see the program eliminated reasoning that more businesses would move into the City. Many now locate in the County as close to the City as they can get to obtain the best of both worlds. They can service city residents, but not pay the city business tax. Currently the City of Aiken receives approximately $2.1M from businesses located within the City so replacing that revenue would be a challenge. Additionally there may be an issue of whether the City could eliminate the tax only from businesses located within the city without imperiling similar taxes collected from insurance companies and telephone companies. Additionally, business leaders point out that they pay property taxes and a furniture, fixture and equipment tax on an annual basis. At tonight’s meeting, Ashley Landess, President of the South Carolina Policy Council will brief the Council on the impact of business license fees to the business community.

APPROVAL OF LOCAL OPTIONS SALES TAX MEMORANDUMS OF UNDERSTANDINGS (MOU): At the last City Council meeting, City Council, on a 4-3 vote, approved four LOST projects for agencies not a part of the City. These included the SPCA, the African-American Arts, History and Culture Center, the Galaxi Teen Center, and the YMCA. The approval was contingent on each of the agencies signing a formal agreement with the City of Aiken which lays out the terms under which funds would be given to them. Ben Moore, Staff Attorney, has developed these MOUs which are presented for review and comment tonight. Each of them has a clause which stipulates how the City would be involved in these projects through a lease agreement. Once Council approves these agreements, they will be given to each of the boards for their approval. We are inviting each of them to be at tonight's meeting should you have any questions concerning the agreements.

FIRST READING OF AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE ZONING ORDINANCE REGARDING PORTABLE SIGNS IN THE DOWNTOWN BUSINESS ZONE: For the last couple of years the City has been discussing with the Downtown Development Association the portable signs (sandwich boards) used by many of the businesses. The current Zoning Ordinance prohibits these types of signs on sidewalks since they are in the street right of way and therefore considered as off site signage. Last fall the Aiken Downtown Development Association (ADDA) proposed standards to regulate signs on the sidewalk in the downtown area. Since that time several meetings have been held between the ADDA and the Planning Commission concerning this proposal. At the April Planning Commission meeting they voted unanimously to recommend amendments to the Zoning Ordinance regarding portable signs in the Downtown Business area as proposed in the attached amended Zoning Ordinance. The only additional changes that they recommended were that the sign would be no taller than 4 feet, including the legs and no wider than 2 feet and not more than 6 square feet in total area. They also added an item 4 under the same section that stated all signs must be brought inside when the business is closed. Based on the recommendation from ADDA and the Planning Commission, we recommend that City Council consider approval of the attached amendments for temporary signs

APPROVAL OF BUS SHELTERS: The City of Aiken since the 1990's has been supporting the Best Friend Express for citizens within our community. The Lower Savannah Council of Governments (LSCOG) has recently obtained a grant to purchase bus shelters within the community. They have received this grant from the Federal Transit Authority which will pay for two shelters, one at the hospital complex and the other near Hahn Village on SC 19. The only requirement of the City is to install concrete slabs and to erect the shelters. We feel these costs would be under $1,000 total for the two shelters. We have attached a map showing the approximate location of these shelters and a picture of the shelter for each of these locations.

SECOND READING OF AN ORDINANCE TO ADJUST WATER AND SEWER RATES: Based on our preliminary projections this year's budgeted revenue will be the same or possibly worse than last years $1 million. In order to meet next year's budget we will need to increase our water and sewer rates by approximately 11.3% or hope for a major increase in water sales due to a dry summer. NOTE: I am not including all the exhibits mentioned in the comments below. They are available in the City Council Agenda on the web site for those who are interested in the details.

We have attached several exhibits showing why we are experiencing this short fall and the need for the increase. The first exhibit lists the charges from the Aiken County Public Service Authority (ACPSA) for the treatment of our waste. As you can see our rates have more than doubled in the last 10 years amounting to more than a 10% increase per year. Most of this is due to additional expenses which they are passing along and the loss of a major customer, Graniteville.

We recently received a letter from the ACPSA that stated, due to increased operating costs their rate will increase about 8% next year.

The second exhibit shows our water and sewer rates in comparison to other major cities in the state and some smaller cities in the surrounding area. As you can see our closest comparison is North Augusta and our water and sewer rates are approximately 20% below their rates. In comparison to other cities in the state we are over 50% below the state average.

The third exhibit charts the rate increases we have had over the last 10 years. As shown we have not kept up with the increasing rates in our state and have been relying on growth and dry periods for higher water revenues.

Exhibit 4 shows our projected capital expenses over the next 10 years versus depreciation, and the debt repayment plan for these expenditures. As shown we would be making smaller payments initially and increasing the payments once our bonds are paid off in approximately four years. Next year we will use all of our accumulated depreciation and will need to borrow funds sometime during 2011 to meet future utility expenses. Our goal is not to issue bonds, but to borrow the money internally to meet our future needs.

The water and sewer revenue over the last 10 years is shown in our fifth exhibit with the projection for this year based on the first 8 months of actual sales. Over the last two years our water and sewer revenue has decreased dramatically compared to the 2008 water revenue and 2009 sewer revenue.

Exhibit 6 gives examples of the different rates that other cities have for turn on, turn offs, and reconnections operations within their Utility Systems. As we discussed at Horizons, we need to increase these rates (Exhibit 7) to meet our operational expenses.
Exhibit 8 displays our proposed revenue needs for water and sewer in the 2011-2012 budget. The projected increase would be 11.3% over the current water and sewer revenue.
And, lastly, Exhibit 9 shows the cost for a customer using 800 C.F. of water/sewer monthly and what their average rate increase would entail. A 5% increase amounts to an additional $1.74 per month and an 11.3% increase would be $3.84 per month.

We recommend that City Council consider the 11.3% increase for water and sewer plus the increases displayed in Exhibit 7 for our services. At a minimum Council should increase the rates by 5% at this time with an automatic increase of 6.3% at the end of the summer if the revenue during the summer does not equal or exceed 48% of the budget by the October 1 billing. If our water sales are higher than projected, then we could forestall having another increase this fall.

Next year's budget includes funding to begin the engineering and construction of a new water treatment plant and storage tank located off Silver Bluff Road. In addition to the continual renewal of our equipment, we are also projecting the need to replace all of our water meters and to purchase additional sewer capacity within the next few years.

US CENSUS PARTICIPATION: The US Census form mail-in, (preliminary reports), show our city residents have listened to your message about the importance of participating in the decennial census by mailing in their Census forms. As of April 16, 2010, over 78% of our residents have responded. This rate compares to a 69% nationwide average response rate, and our final 2000 city resident response rate that was only 72%. The County response rate is 72%. Several city staffers and local volunteers have worked very hard to improve response rates by our city residents. These preliminary reports show good improvement in this area. In addition, the canvassers hired by the US Census to visit non-responders door-to-door will have an easier job in our city. Since fewer visits to residences will be necessary. If you have not yet mailed your Census forms, please do so now!

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION PREMIUM REDUCTION: Our City wellness program and the focused efforts by our City Safety Committee members, coupled with our Risk Management staff efforts have resulted in significant savings in the amount of our annual workers compensation insurance premium. Our recent meeting, with Phil Cromer of the South Carolina Municipal Insurance Trust, has shown that our potential premium for workers’ insurance compensation of $647,797 has been reduced to $90,434. These reductions are due to fewer compensable injuries, smaller claim amounts in compensable claims, healthier workers, worker safety performance above the state average, quicker reporting times, higher deductable, and a host of other factors working in our favor to keep these premiums lower. We continue to pursue initiatives to keep our employees working safely.


2010-2011 Budget Meeting: City Council has scheduled a budget planning meeting for Monday, May 3. The public is invited to attend. The meeting will be in Room 204 of the Municipal Building.

Who Caused the Budget Deficits- Bush or Obama

Any budget experts out there that can refute the following quote? The Washington Post babbled again today about Obama inheriting a huge deficit from Bush, blah blah blah.  Amazingly enough, a lot of people swallow this nonsense.  So once more, I'll try a short civics lesson. Budgets do not come from the White House.   They come from Congress, and the party that controlled Congress since January 2007 is the Democratic Party.  They controlled the budget process for FY 2008 and FY 2009, as well as FY 2010 and FY 2011.  In that first year, they had to contend with George Bush, which caused them to compromise on spending, when Bush somewhat belatedly got tough on spending increases.  For FY 2009, though, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid bypassed George Bush entirely, passing continuing resolutions to keep government running until Barack Obama could take office.  At that time, they passed a massive omnibus spending bill to complete the FY 2009 budgets. And where was Barack Obama during this time?  He was a member of that very Congress that passed all of these massive spending bills, and he signed the omnibus bill as President to complete FY 2009.  Let's remember what the deficits looked like during that period: If the Democrats inherited any deficit, it was the FY 2007 deficit, the last of the Republican budgets.  That deficit was the lowest in five years, and the fourth straight decline in deficit spending.  After that, Democrats in Congress took control of spending, and that includes Barack Obama, who voted for the budgets.  If Obama inherited anything, he inherited it from himself. In a nutshell, what Obama is saying is I inherited a deficit that I voted for and then I voted to expand that deficit four-fold since January 20th. WAKE UP,  AMERICA, BEFORE ITS TO LATE   There is no way this will be widely publicized, unless each of us sends it on! This is your chance to make a difference.

Governor's Debate TOMORROW

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Please tune into WSPA-TV (News Channel 7) at 7 p.m. tomorrow night, April 23, to watch all 4 GOP primary candidates for SC Governor debate LIVE at the Chapman Cultural Center in Spartanburg.  The debate will last for one hour and will also be web streamed beginning at 6:55 p.m. (for those not living in the Upstate) at WSPA's web site http://www2.wspa.com/; their chat room will also be open.  Very limited seating is still available to be part of the studio audience. 

Gangster Government Becomes a Long-Running Series -- Michael Barone -- GOPUSA

Please take the time to read this article by Michael Barone. I normally avoid such strong language but the truth must be told. 


Gangster Government Becomes a Long-Running Series -- Michael Barone -- GOPUSA

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Tom Young Weekly Update

Tom Young has sent out his weekly update and it includes the following important comment on teenage school dropouts:

Driving and High School Dropouts:  This bill prohibits possession of a driver’s license until age 18 unless the young person is enrolled in, or has completed, high school.  The bill does have a hardship provision for some limited exceptions. The bill received a hearing in subcommittee this past Wednesday.  Both the Department of Education and Department of Motor Vehicles expressed concerns over the current draft.  At the committee’s request, I redrafted the bill and will present it again this Tuesday.  It is critical that the bill come out of committee this week in order to have a chance to pass the General Assembly this year.  Although this bill is not the “silver bullet” to the high school dropout problem, it is part of the solution in our effort to combat the high school dropout rate in the short term.

To read the entire update on line go here

Term Limits Blog

My views on term limits were published in the Aiken Standard several days ago and were also posted to this blog. I am pleased to announce that Bob Ruddy and I have started a new blog. To read more on term limits and contribute any comments go to: http://www.sctermlimits.org

Aiken Standard publishes Informative Article

Todays Aiken Standard carried a very informative article about Nikki Haley who is running for Governor of South Carolina. Nikki is a proven fiscal conservative and has lead the fight in the Statehouse for recording all votes. Transparency is desperately needed if we are ever to rein in the profligate spenders we have endured for far too long.

Haley distinguishes herself from other gubernatorial candidates

          By ROB NOVIT

          Senior writer
         4/14/2010 9:12 PM

Republican gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley said there are clear differences that separate her from her three opponents.

During a reception that drew more than 100 people at the Aiken County Historical Museum on Wednesday, Haley said she supports workers' compensation reform and tort reform, unlike Attorney General Henry McMaster.

Congressman Gresham Barrett supported the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), Haley said, and that program led to Wall Street bailouts, the automobile bailouts and increasing federal intrusion.

Regarding Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, "There are differences ... and I'm not going to say anything about that," Haley said.

She cited one of her main themes, how she has taken on the Republican leadership as a representative from Lexington County. Haley had quickly risen through the ranks since her upset victory over a veteran incumbent in 2004 but lost committees and leadership roles after insisting on pursuing transparency in voting in the House two years ago. To read the entire story follow the link:

Haley distinguishes herself from other gubernatorial candidates Aiken Standard Aiken, SC

If you have not yet seen or heard Nikki Haley there will be another opportunity tonight at the Tea Party rally in Augusta. It will be an exciting event. For more information go here

Interesting Takes on the SC Gubernatorial Race

Fitsnews makes valid comments on the SC Governors race and the facts about the three highest fundraisers. Polls bought and paid for by the candidates are typical of the tactics used by the old pols that are too often re-elected by an ill informed  or misled electorate.Money should not be the deciding factor in campaigns but it often is the case.If you haven't seen it look at the following post. The Garnet Spy also makes some good points that need to be considered. We must break the habit of voting for someone simply because we know him or her.

Aiken City Council Approved One Cent Sales Tax Projects

Last night City Council approved the final list of items for the One Cent Sales Tax Projects to be submitted to the County of Aiken for consideration and approval for the next phase of the program. Once the County approves, the list is expected to be on the November ballot for voter approval.

Steve Homoki, Reggie Ebner and I fought for a more fiscally responsible list of projects but were out-voted consistently by Councilmembers Clyburn, Price, Wells and Mayor Cavanaugh. We did not support funding for the YMCA indoor swimming pool, the Teen Center to be located at the YMCA complex or the African American Center. We did support funding for the SPCA facility since it fulfills a need and function of the City. Contributing $1,000,000 to build the SPCA facility is less cost than building a facility of our own. There are other non-infrastructure projects on the list that we did not support. On the positive side, we were able to add $795,000 to the Water/Sewer Infrastructure program. I am including a copy of the list for your information.

Dick Dewar

The first number is what was requested and the second number is what Council approved. I have great difficulty in putting tables on these posts.


ONE CENT SALES TAX PROJECTS

1 P.S. Mobile Vehicle Computers 500,000 500,000
2 GAP Playground 50,000 50,000
3 CPI Fencing/Canopy 600,000 500,000
4 Upgrade Burn Building 250,000 250,000
5 Library Park 155,000 155,000
6 Northside Renewal 1,750,000 1,750,000
7 Water/Sewer Infrastructure 6,300,000 7,095,000
8 Street Resurfacing 1,750,000 1,750,000
9 Streetscape 700,000 700,000
10 SPCA 1,000,000 1,000,000
11 Walking Track Phase II 200,000 100,000
12 Eustis Park Center 500,000 200,000
13 Expansion of Municipal Building 3,000,000 3,000,000
14 New Fire Headquarters Station 1,500,000 1,500,000
15 Hitchcock Woods Storm Drainage 4,000,000 4,000,000
16 Whiskey Road Improvements 700,000 700,000
17 Renovate Existing Public Safety HQ 900,000 600,000
18 Hitchcock Parkway Widening 4,000,000 4,000,000
19 University Parkway Widening 3,000,000 3,000,000
20 Northside District Park (Land Only) 500,000 500,000
21 New Sidewalks (Schools) 500,000 500,000
22 Open Space Acquisition 1,000,000 500,000
23 Powderhouse Road Extension 5,000,000 5,000,000
24 African –American Center 1,000,000 350,000
25 Teen Center - YMCA 1,000,000 500,000
26 Indoor Swimming Pool - YMCA 1,000,000 400,000

Total 42,100,000 $38,600,000

Estimate $38,600,000 from Sales Tax III

City Council Update from Dick Dewar

WORK SESSION: Before our regular meeting which begins at 7:00 PM, Council will have a Work Session to discuss the Newberry Street fountain. In the fall of 2008 after the fountain collapsed, Council asked the Arts Commission to recommend corrective action. At this meeting we will hear specific actions wich include the following:

1. Remove the pavers in the immediate area around the fountain to provide more green space.
2. Enhance plantings around the fountain and arbors and add irrigation to these plantings.
3. Stain the exterior of the fountain darker.
4. Add an inner bowl so there is an open space between it and the outer rim which would be used for a planter and as a buffer.
5. Add four benches around the fountain, one for the William Aiken statue and the others for patrons to rest upon.

The estimated cost for these renovations would be around $10,000. The cost of the William Aiken sculptor would be provided by a local corporation up to $25,000. The corporation does not want to be recognized at this time and at the proper time a plaque would be placed near the statue recognizing their contribution

AIKEN’S TOMORROW ON-LINE SURVEY: In addition to our public meetings for the strategic plan update, Aiken’s Tomorrow, we also have an 18 question [16 multiple choice and 2 commentary blocks] online survey now available at www.cityofaikensc.gov.

LOCAL OPTIONS SALES TAX: At Monday’s meeting, Council will finalize the list which will be submitted to Aiken County for inclusion in the ballot measure going to the voters in November (tentative schedule). Please understand that the City share of the One Cent Sales Tax is approximately $38 million. The decision to hold an election on this program is made by Aiken County Council. The ONE CENT SALES TAX PROJECTS list can be found on the City Web Site in the Council Agenda for the Monday meeting.

There are six projects which requested finding including SPCA, YMCA indoor swimming pool, Aiken County Youth Center Galaxy project also co-located with the YMCA, USCA Pedestrian Bridge (subsequently withdrawn by USCA ), The Center for African-American History, Arts, and Culture, and the Cumbee Center.

Council will be briefed by our City Solicitor on whether and under what conditions these projects can qualify for inclusion into the Local Sales Tax Option Program.

FIRST READING OF AN ORDINANCE TO ADJUST WATER AND SEWER RATES: Based on our preliminary projections this year's budgeted revenue will be the same or possibly worse than last years $1 million. In order to meet next year's budget we will need to increase our water and sewer rates by approximately 11.3% or hope for a major increase in water sales due to a dry summer. NOTE: I am not including all the exhibits mentioned in the comments below. They are available in the City Council Agenda on the web site for those who are interested in the details. We have attached several exhibits showing why we are experiencing this short fall and the need for the increase.

The first exhibit lists the charges from the Aiken County Public Service Authority (ACPSA) for the treatment of our waste. As you can see our rates have more than doubled in the last 10 years amounting to more than a 10% increase per year. Most of this is due to additional expenses which they are passing along and the loss of a major customer, Graniteville. We recently received a letter from the ACPSA that stated, due to increased operating costs their rate will increase about 8% next year.

The second exhibit shows our water and sewer rates in comparison to other major cities in the state and some smaller cities in the surrounding area. As you can see our closest comparison is North Augusta and our water and sewer rates are approximately 20% below their rates. In comparison to other cities in the state we are over 50% below the state average.

The third exhibit charts the rate increases we have had over the last 10 years. As shown we have not kept up with the increasing rates in our state and have been relying on growth and dry periods for higher water revenues.

Exhibit 4 shows our projected capital expenses over the next 10 years versus depreciation, and the debt repayment plan for these expenditures. As shown we would be making smaller payments initially and increasing the payments once our bonds are paid off in approximately four years. Next year we will use all of our accumulated depreciation and will need to borrow funds sometime during 2011 to meet future utility expenses. Our goal is not to issue bonds, but to borrow the money internally to meet our future needs.

The water and sewer revenue over the last 10 years is shown in our fifth exhibit with the projection for this year based on the first 8 months of actual sales. Over the last two years our water and sewer revenue has decreased dramatically compared to the 2008 water revenue and 2009 sewer revenue.

Exhibit 6 gives examples of the different rates that other cities have for turn on, turn offs,and reconnections operations within their Utility Systems. As we discussed at Horizons, we need to increase these rates (Exhibit 7) to meet our operational expenses.

Exhibit 8 displays our proposed revenue needs for water and sewer in the 2011-2012 budget. The projected increase would be 11.3% over the current water and sewer revenue.
And, lastly, Exhibit 9 shows the cost for a customer using 800 C.F. of water/sewer monthly and what their average rate increase would entail. A 5% increase amounts to an additional $1.74 per month and a 11.3% increase would be $3.84 per month.

We recommend that City Council consider the 11.3% increase for water and sewer plus the increases displayed in Exhibit 7 for our services. At a minimum Council should increase the rates by 5% at this time with an automatic increase of 6.3% at the end of the summer if the revenue during the summer does not equal or exceed 48% of the budget by the October 1 billing. If our water sales are higher than projected, then we could forestall having another increase this fall.

Next year's budget includes funding to begin the engineering and construction of a new water treatment plant and storage tank located off Silver Bluff Road. In addition to the continual renewal of our equipment, we are also projecting the need to replace all of our water meters and to purchase additional sewer capacity within the next few years.

ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE NAME CHANGE: The City’s Environmental Committee has been tasked with the unique mission of reviewing many different environmental issues. They feel there is a unique relationship between energy and its impact on our environment, especially with our support of the DOE/SRS programs. They feel their efforts towards energy resource development greatly impacts our protection of the air and water resources in our region. The Environmental Committee views energy conservation as part of the City's goal of sustainability for the City of Aiken. At their January 21, 2010, meeting they concluded that the Environmental Committee should include in their purview issues concerning energy and energy conservation. Therefore, they would like to change their name from Environmental Committee to the Environmental and Energy Committee.

APPROVAL OF STATE STREET PAVING LIST: Every year the City of Aiken receives funding from the State to pave approximately three miles of state streets each year. The Engineering Division surveys each of these streets and ranks them according to the need for repaving. The funding comes from the State out of their "C" Funds Account as part of their road maintenance. Attached is a list of streets in priority order for this coming year. We have listed 6.56 miles of streets in case the State receives additional funding from the Federal government and needs to immediately commit this money. Any streets that are not paved this year will be continued on the list for next year. The list is available in the City Council Agenda for the April 9 meeting. Please consult the City web site (www.aiken.net).

ELIMINATION OF TEAM PASSES AT THE TENNIS CENTER: At the March Recreation Commission meeting, they voted to eliminate the practice of purchasing team passes versus tennis user passes at the Tennis Center. Mark Calvert, Tennis Supervisor, gave the history of originally allowing a team pass when the facility was initially opened three years ago. This allowed residents and non-residents, including those from Georgia to play on the Weeks Tennis Center USTA team. Since the Tennis Center has opened we now have 282 tennis user pass members, whereas we sold 40 resident team passes and 30 non­resident passes. Those who were on these teams paid a much lower rate than the tennis user member and is the major reason to abort the practice of selling these team passes. The Recreation Commission agreed the current practice of selling team passes has outgrown its purpose and recommends that City Council eliminate the current practice of selling seasonal team passes and to require all individuals to purchase a tennis user pass to play on the United States Tennis Association (USTA) teams affiliated with the Weeks Tennis Center.

APPROVAL OF VICTIMS MEMORIAL GARDEN: At a recent meeting, the Recreation Commission received a request from Krisit Bodie, Director of Community Programs with the Aiken County DJJ Office, about creating a Victim's Memorial Garden in one of our city parks.
This project would be created and planted by DJJ youth at Eustis Park in remembrance of crime victims. The materials for this garden would be donated and maintained through routine DJJ community service work days. It would be a small area designed with the assistance of PRT staff and located near the walking track. The City of Columbia has partnered with the South Carolina Crime Victims Council and built a garden which is a much larger size and Chester County also has one at their County Court House. There are many more memorial gardens constructed around the United States that this garden would be modeled after them.
The Aiken DJJ would allow youth offenders the opportunity to work in this garden as community service time related to DJJ cases. The main idea is to get youthful offenders to invest and gain pride in the community and to understand their actions have more impact than they realize. The DJJ would ask the youth to cultivate the area, plant the shrubs and flowers and then maintain it on designated work days. They would solicit local businesses for donations to pay for the landscape material. Eventually they would like the area to include some benches or plaques that could be donated in memory of the victims.

CITY OF AIKEN WINS THE MUNICIPAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD AGAIN: City Council determined that the Crosland Park initiative would be submitted for the 2010 Municipal Achievement Award competition. The task of writing the application and developing the presentation was given to the Neighborhood and Development Services Division. NDS worked with our Parks, Recreation and Tourism, Public Safety, and Public Works Department staff members to collect information for the application. NDS also involved leaders in the Crosland Park Neighborhood Association which held a visioning session over a year ago and developed the image of a healthy tree and a withering, dying tree. The unhealthy tree represented Crosland Park as it had been. The healthy tree represented Crosland Park after the City and the Neighborhood Association joined forces to reenergize their neighborhood. Using the healthy tree as a backdrop, staff gathered photos of the summer program for Crosland Park teens, renovations of homes, LifeSkills for Women classes, and crime watch trainings. A crime watch member, a Crosland Park Board member, a WIA worker, and a new resident traveled with City staff to the MASC offices in Columbia to make their presentation. We believe we made an impact on the judges as to how this project can get done statewide. It is humbling that the City is again receiving this recognition.

YOUTH SOCCER FEES: Aiken Parks Recreation & Tourism (APRT) Director Glenn Parker has provided this year’s soccer fee structure along with a recommendation from the Recreation Commission to increase the fee $5, from $40 to $45. We have not increased fees since Spring, 2003.

FUN FUNDS APPLICATION: APRT maintains Fun Funds, which allow financially challenged youth, opportunities to participate in our APRT athletic programs. It now appears that certain families may not be eligible for the South Carolina EBT Food Stamp Program, yet should still qualify for Fun Funds. Our Recreation Commission has recommended a change to the eligibility requirements for Fun Funds to eliminate the requirement that Fun Funds only be given to families which also are eligible for EBT funds. We intend to proceed with their recommendation.

COMMENDATIONS: Six Aiken Public Safety Department Officers: Aaron Dobbs, B. J. Clark, Chris Walker, George Gymer, and Josh Faulkner, have been awarded the Bronze DUI Enforcement Hero Award. ADPS Corporal Chris Carter received the Silver DUI Enforcement Hero Award. The awards are given annually by the South Carolina Department of Public Safety at their annual DUI Enforcement Recognition Ceremony in Columbia. Bronze award recipients have made 10 or more arrests during calendar year 2009. The Silver award is given to officers with 25 or more arrests in the same period. In addition to the increased number of DUI arrests, we are also noticing a dramatic rise in the fines being collected in Aiken City Court due to these concentrated enforcement efforts.

CITY WEB SITE: Our City Website Administrator, Wes Funderberg, also received a very kind email from a person handling her concerns about our city website. We continue to utilize our website to maintain transparency in our daily city operations and post information about city events, projects, and initiatives. Our website also provides – in several places – dialog boxes for citizens to share their comments with the website administrator about the website design or with appropriate city staff members on other concerns.

SECOND READING OF AN ORDINANCE TO ANNEX PROPERTY AT 1551 REDD STREET NW – The owner of a .4 acre lot at 1551 Redd Street NW is requesting annexation under the RS-10 zone. The applicant is interested in receiving sanitary sewer and the other benefits of being in the City of Aiken. The Planning Commission at their March 9, 2010, meeting voted unanimously to recommend approval of this annexation.

SECOND READING OF AN ORDINANCE TO ANNEX PROPERTY AT 1045 PINECREST AVENUE – The owner of a .78 acre lot at 1045 Pinecrest Avenue is requesting annexation under the RS-10 zone. The applicant is interested in receiving sanitary sewer and the other benefits of being in the City of Aiken. The Planning Commission at their March 9, 2010, meeting voted unanimously to recommend approval of this annexation.

SECOND READING OF AN ORDINANCE TO ANNEX PROPERTY AT 815 CUSMAN DRIVE – The owner of a .14 acre lot at 815 Cushman Drive is requesting annexation of a mobile home under RS-6 zone. Under an emergency request in December, 2009, the City connected this mobile home to our sanitary sewer requiring the owner to immediately apply for annexation. The property is in a neighborhood which currently consists of mobile homes, manufactured homes, stick built homes and vacant lots. The RS-6 zoning is compatible with other property within this area. However, the 50 foot width lot does not meet the minimum 60 foot requirement for RS-6. The current mobile home on this lot is in poor condition. The City does not allow under the current ordinances mobile homes to be moved into the city limits; though land with a mobile home on it could be annexed by City Council as a legal non-conforming use. As the City Attorney states in his attached memo Council will need to weigh whether it is appropriate to annex property with a mobile home occupying the lot.
The Planning Commission recommended approval of the annexation of 815 Cushman Drive with the following conditions:

1. that the manufactured unit is removed from the site;
2. that no other manufactured or mobile home is allowed;
3. that the conditions be recorded at the County RMC Office;
4. that conditions 1 and 3 be met within 120 days of City Council approval.
If the owner decides not to remove the mobile home and therefore not to be annexed, the emergency service should be discontinued within the next 60 days.

2010-2011 BUDGET PLANNING MEETING: City Council has scheduled a budget planning meeting for Monday, May 3. The public is invited to attend. The meeting will be in Room 204 of the Municipal Building.

Letter about Term Limits

The following letter was published in the Aiken Standard yesterday:

All the candidates have filed for their respective primary elections and now we the voters must choose which of them will best represent us in the governments of the County, State and Nation.

My personal opinion is that professional politicians do not always make the best public servants. Too many of them go along to get along with their leaders in order to get and retain good committee assignments. They become more concerned with their careers instead of doing what’s right for their constituents. Over the years their egos grow ever larger and they believe they have all the answers. They also become cynical and earmarks and cronyism are the accepted way of staying in power. As the saying goes” power corrupts.” There are way too many examples of this on both sides of the aisle.

My preference is for term limits but unfortunately they are not the law of the land. Fifteen states do have term limits and 6 others have tried to implement them. Several other states are still trying to have them. I hope South Carolina will try again.

A few years ago an attempt was made in the SC Assembly to establish term limits. Under the bills placed in the House and Senate House members could serve up to eight 2 year terms in the house and then switch to the Senate for three more 4 year terms for a total of 28 years.

The proposed bills contained a “grandfather clause” exempting currently serving members from the limits. Even these very broad limits would have resulted in term limiting almost one quarter of the house members and half of the Senators. Despite the grandfather clause the bills went nowhere. Obviously the only way we will ever get term limits is to insist on a referendum and let the people decide.

In the meantime the only recourse we have is the ballot box. I urge everyone to look very hard at all the candidates in the races and closely examine the records of those who have already served several terms in one position or another. Have they consistently done a good job or have we simply become accustomed to them? Do we tend to view them as a friend and are we not as critical of them as we should be of all elected officials?

Also look hard at the challengers and their reasons for running. Don’t be afraid to vote out the good old guys and gals. According to recent polls a sizable majority of voters want new leaders with fresh ideas at all levels of government.

This is an extremely important election year. Please exercise your right to vote and choose your preferred candidates as though the fate of our great country depends on your decision. IT DOES!

Dick Smith 

Power Line is a must read today

Power Line has several important comments today and I recommend it to one and all. The article on racial slurs is very illuminating.

Power Line