google-site-verification: google320267205630bfda.html
 
First of all, I apologize for the title pun, but the race is almost over, and somebody had to do it.

Secondly, I know we are all election-weary.  So I admit, I attended the Tempel - McCoy Forum last night thankful that it was putting us all one step closer to that #!@&! election.

I've been writing about SC House 115 incumbent Peter McCoy for a few weeks now, but have never seen the man; after all, he was unable to drive all the way to Johns Island to attend the first Forum.  Let me admit that I had a bad attitude going in, but then let me add about the following, as Dave Barry would say, "I am not making this up."

Peter McCoy began his introductory statement by striding around the podium and to the front of the room, where he paced back and forth, much like a young Perry Mason, the better to impress the jury with his opening arguments.  Because he is a very young man, and since his idol, Newt Gingrich, lost the bid for the Republican nomination, he has shorn his whiskers, he lacked the presence that he seemed to so desire.

And when he addressed a particular friend in the audience to indicate to all that he knows that Joe or Ted or whoever he was wants to be able to choose where his children go to school, he was trying way to hard to mimic the now popular use by candidates of real people to seem to be in touch.

That said, I'd like to talk about a couple of the issues.

Peter McCoy stated that he is a proud recipient of the Peas and Carrots Award for both years that he was a legislator.  Hrmph.  Call me a cynic, but I am not impressed by a cute name.  So I did a little research and was taken aback to learn that The Citizens for Sound Conservation, who sponsor the award, is actually a pro-business, pro-drilling, anti-environmental organization!  Imagine that.  Along the way, I found a great website called Barbecue & Politics, which sadly exists no longer, but their take on this fake environmental group is well worth the read.

Let's talk a little about roads, bridges, traffic and 526.

You might wonder, as did I, why in two years the only contribution McCoy has made to the traffic situation on James Island is to add those big, ugly and no doubt expensive street signs -- you know, the ones that tell you what street you're approaching before you get there, and those humungous stop signs and the like -- to nearly every intersection.  Because, for example, you may be driving up Camp Road approaching Folly, like you do every day, and forget that it's Folly Road, or that there is a light ahead.

Well, this is just my opinion, but I believe that the reason all those simple solutions to traffic congestion, like adding a right-turn lane at a traffic light, didn't get done on Peter's watch is because they would improve traffic.

Confused?  Hear me out.

If traffic improves, then the residents will be less likely to accept the need for the 526 extension.  After all, why destroy part of James Island County Park if a new street light or a turn lane eases traffic congestion?  It wasn't discussed last night, but let me guess that Peter McCoy has also not supported improved public transportation, no doubt because of the cost and despite the fact that it would ease traffic and help those who cannot afford the cost of a car or the high price of gas.

Peter McCoy, also a proud friend of big business as well as peas and carrots (am I being redundant here?) totally supports Route 526, coming to your town soon if McCoy is re-elected.

Speaking of big business, McCoy last night brought up his support for the new Michelin Tire plant that would bring hundreds of new jobs upstate.  Mm-hm.  What he failed to mention, besides the fact that these would be lower-paying manufacturing jobs and that they would be upstate, is that once again he and fellow legislators have given away the store, or, to be precise, $9.1 million worth of incentives.  That's our tax dollars at work, folks, going to those big guys at Michelin so that they can get cheap labor in South Carolina.

By the way, Peter was insulted when Tempel questioned his part in the bizarre redistricting lines that have cut out parts of James Island and added the way-far-away lands of Kiawah and Seabrook to SC House 115.  How could she imply that he had anything to do with that?  After all, there were forums, and committees, and he is just one person.

The first absurd thing about the protestation is this:

Try to imagine the folks at Kiawah and Seabrook insisting that the best way they could be represented would be to be grouped with two towns that are 40 minutes away.

And if that sounds ridiculous, ask yourself why your representative would not have fought for lines that brought together a community, instead of isolating groups of constituents.

I hate to say it, because I like all y'all from Kiawah and Seabrook, but it occurs to me that cutting out a couple of African-American neighborhoods and adding in a couple of well-to-do areas, no matter where they are, might have seemed like good business to Peter McCoy.

Not that he was able to take on this bizarre redistricting  scheme all by himself.  I am sure he had help from others in his corrupt House of Representatives.

No, not his House of Representatives.  These guys may think it belongs to them, but it is our House of Representatives.

That's why we need to get out and vote for Carol Tempel on November 6.  We need a candidate who will not be controlled by big business.  $9.1 million to Michelin while teachers have been furloughed?  Cut a highway through our County Park?  It may be peas and carrots to Peter McCoy, but for the rest of us it's the quality of our life.

That's why you don't need to get out and vote for Carol Tempel on November 6.  

You need to get yourself and a friend and a neighbor and a co-worker out to vote.  And I know you know someone who is planning on voting up until November 6 when they decide it's probably not that important so they'll just skip it.

It is that important.  Our children, our parks, our roads, and yes, our jobs, are at stake.  So let's get out and support Carol Tempel on November 6.

Carol Tempel
Petition Candidate
SC House 115




Leave a Reply.