It was a fairly eventful night at the Walterboro-Colleton Chamber of Commerce local candidates debate Monday. You'll have to read the entire story tomorrow, which I'm sorry to say includes very little about the three men above (District 120 Rep. Bill Bowers, his opponent Dr. Joe Flowers and District 121 Rep. Kenneth Hodges, whose opponent was not in attendance.
My reason for the virtual omission is pretty simple: lack of space and time. The School Board and the County Council races had more disagreement on issues that were a little closer to home, making it easier to give readers an idea of their position in a shorter amount of space.
The good news is we will have more on the representative races in the coming days.
Dr. Flowers being elected would be the best thing to happen to this county since I-95. opened. We have been in a stagnant slump ever since we were gerrymandered out of a resident legislator. By all accounts, growth is on its way....now would be a good time to put one of OUR own into the state house and Dr. Joe is certainly a fine choice.
Posted by: ConcernedColletonian | Tuesday, October 17, 2006 at 06:16 AM
Bill Bowers being re-elected would be for the best interest of House District 120. He holds a wealth of knowledge about Colleton & Hampton Counties and cares about the views and opinions of his constituents.If you care about our county, you will re-elect Bill Bowers. VOTE BILL BOWERS - November 7th. Thank you in advance!
Concerned Colleton County Resident.
Posted by: MM | Friday, October 20, 2006 at 03:13 PM
I believe that both men are very fine and upstanding individuals; however, it seems that the times are chaotic, and while I have the utmost faith in Dr. Flowers doing what is in the best interest of the citizens of Colleton County, I have to say the I believe we need to keep Bill in office. Not only does he have some seniority there but he already has an understanding and familiarity of all processes.
Posted by: ASBCooper | Wednesday, October 25, 2006 at 04:24 PM
I'm curious as to just what you people think Bill Bowers has done for the people of Colleton County. The only thing I remember him doing was standing in the way of having the wetlands filled in the new industrial park. There was an article in the P&C about him agreeing with DHEC that the site was a poor one and the low areas should not be filled. I'll try to dig it up so that I can quote exactly what he said in an internal memo (that only came out during the discovery process of the lawsuit the county had with the state). I remember at the time wondering why he would try to deep 6 something that was clearly in the best interests of his Colleton constituents.
The bottom line here is that Dr. Joe is one of us....and Bill Bowers is NOT.
Posted by: ConcernedColletonian | Wednesday, November 01, 2006 at 07:21 AM
Concerned: This is exactly what the folks who leaked that memo were hoping for. Discovery is generally not made part of the public record until an actual trial/hearing takes place. Someone made that memo public in the hopes of making Bill look bad and throwing public attention off of the issue at hand.
Futher, you may recall at one time that the Governor was attempting to shut down USC Salkehatchie. Bill Bowers was on of the, if not the most, vocal supporters in keeping it open. USC Salk is one of our biggest draws to the county. (I'll add here that it was once said that this building was too dilapidated to house highschool students...ironic isn't it that it now houses students for higher education)
He also voted against the "Put Parents in Charge" plan. I was for the Plan until he explained to me the other options, why it would negatively impact Colleton County and why he voted against it.
Bill is absolutely right that seniority matters. No matter where Bill's main address is listed, he lives here in Colleton as well. I've seen him in his yard on Hampton Street many times. He often drives out to my home and those in the local community and will come in, sit down, drink a glass of tea and ask me what my concerns or questions may be. He always addresses my questions and concerns and has utilized my feedback. I get questionnaires ever couple of months about certain prevalent issues from him.
The point is that Bill Bowers does care about Colleton County. He's finally in a position where others in legislature will listen to him because of his seniority.
What you've got to realize is that there are more counties in South Carolina than Colleton. There are lots of folks in Columbia all pushing for more beneficial legislature for their particular county. We need someone who already knows how the system works. Unfortunately, we still have the good ole boy system, so if you can't beat it, at least use what you do have in place to your advantage.
Posted by: ASBCooper | Wednesday, November 01, 2006 at 11:33 AM
Well, you have your opinion and I, mine, but one thing's for sure....leaking that email sure made him look bad. At the time his explanation seemed ridiculous and I can't believe anyone was gullible enough to fall for it. The "issue at hand" was a logging road full of potholes in flat pine woods in a county that desperately needs industry....NOT filling in 100 acres of a pristine cypress pond or Carolina Bay. I could be wrong (and the memo false) but it looks to me like he was taking sides with a bureacratic agency and casting his Colleton constitutents to the wolves. Inexcusable, in my opinion. I'm sure the voters here will remember it on election day.....I just hope there are enough of us to again put one of our own in the state house.
Posted by: ConcernedColletonian | Wednesday, November 01, 2006 at 04:22 PM
If Dr. Flowers is one of us, then why did he accept all that money from those rich people in New York City? Did you read the story that was in last week's paper?
http://www.charleston.net/assets/webPages/departmental/news/OldStories.aspx?section=stateregion&NEWSID=115463&pubDate=10/27/2006
Why would those people from way off care about Walterboro and Colleton County that they would give Dr. Flowers over $9,000? What are they going to want from him in return? That scares me.
Posted by: Account Deleted | Wednesday, November 01, 2006 at 11:41 PM
You're absolutely correct. Everyone has and is entitled to their own opinion, and I stand firm in mine that perhaps (if in fact that memo is not false and we did receive it in it's entirety) Bill was attempting to do what so many of our great forefathers have done...compromise. In the midst of two sides fiercely contending for their own viewpoints to prevail, someone said enough...let's try to appease everyone if only in a small measure.
Posted by: ASBCooper | Thursday, November 02, 2006 at 09:30 AM
How can someone who is one of "us" accept contributions from people who are not even from South Carolina. Again, If you care for our County, KEEP BOWERS & FORGET ABOUT FLOWERS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Concerned Colleton County Resident
Posted by: MM | Friday, November 03, 2006 at 04:53 PM
Henry Clay, Bill Bowers is not. He wasn't compromising or appeasing, he was butting in and clearly not for our benefit.
The answer to your question is pretty simple, MM. You accept PAC money like most other people running for office. It comes from all over the country and is perfectly legal. I don't care if Dr. Flowers is getting campaign contributions from Zimbabwe, he is an honorable man and would be a better representative for Colleton than the man presently serving us.
Posted by: ConcernedColletonian | Friday, November 03, 2006 at 06:00 PM
I agree that Dr. Flowers is an honorable man, but Bill Bowers is the best choice for District 120. You and I differ on this matter, but that's ok. VOTE BOWERS..... :-)
Posted by: MM | Saturday, November 04, 2006 at 09:56 AM
MM, I know most everyone in this county and dozens in Hampton and I have yet to talk to a single person who agrees with you. I really had no idea how many people disliked Bowers until they started telling me about their personal experiences with him. His backstabbing of Colleton aside, he just doesn't seem to be very popular with the people that know him. That is very telling...
Posted by: ConcernedColletonian | Sunday, November 05, 2006 at 06:44 PM
Thanks to all who voted for Bowers. As the election results say, he is a very well respected and liked individual. The margin of winning was not even close. My sympathy goes out to the ConcernedColletonian for his candidate not winning, but the public expressed their trust in Rep. Bowers at the Polls. We WIN!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: MM | Thursday, November 09, 2006 at 02:03 PM
Not very popular? Bill Bowers got 2667 votes in Colleton County & 2591 votes in Hampton County. Well I am no rocket scientist, but 5258 votes is "Popular" in my opinion!!!! We win by over 1500 votes. Thanks again to all Bowers supporters!!
Posted by: MM | Thursday, November 09, 2006 at 02:08 PM