The Issues
First and foremost, we must DEMAND EXCELLENCE from our County government. It is critical for the Georgetown County Government to assume leadership for the issues of growth in ways that are responsible, coordinated, environmentally sensitive, and citizen driven. We must have our County government manage the growth that is coming to Georgetown County and the Waccamaw Neck in order to preserve the quality of life that is so important to us all. We need to focus on getting good value for our tax dollars. The
empha- sis should be on achieving results and eliminating waste
- not raising taxes.
PLAN for the Neck of 2025
*Developers need to pay their share of the infrastructure costs make no mistake continued growth is coming to our area. We need to assure that County Government does a smart job of managing this growth and financing the required infrastructure without punishing the existing taxpayers. Growth must be self-financing.
*Stop the erosion of our quality of life we all live here for a reason. For most of us natives and newcomers alike the reason is the Quality of Life. Examples of how to enhance our quality of life include the Dont Box the Neck campaign to stop the Lowe's big box store and the efforts underway to develop youth sports programs, senior activities, and arts and cultural facilities. We need to stay focused and not kill the golden goose.
*Complete the Comprehensive Plan the key to effective land use planning is to have a sound and executable plan that reflects the desires of the citizens. The Comprehensive Plan update is way overdue a situation that needs to be rectified.
*Follow the plan & update the zoning the Comprehensive Plan needs to be accurate, current, and taken seriously. The actual zoning needs to be kept synchronized to the plan.
As a member of the Waccamaw Neck Civic Association for three years and President for 2005 Im well versed in land use issues.
CONNECT the Neck to the Main Roads
*Get control of our ability to move around, on and off the Waccamaw Neck we need an integrated road network that allows backside access and that allows local traffic to avoid using Highway 17. We also need reasonable access on and off the Waccamaw Neck to get to the Interstates to our west particularly important for Hurricane evacuation.
*Complete the work on Highway 17, 701 connector, and 521 to Interstate 95 getting these highways started and/or completed are critical to the infrastructure needed to support our Economic Development efforts and to provide minimally acceptable hurricane evacuation routes.
*Provide county leadership to work with state & federal governments Georgetown County has not provided any investment in new highway construction or major highway improvements. Without local money as matching funds it is nearly certain that our highway needs will never receive state or federal highway monies.
As a member of the County Transportation Commission I am intimately familiar with road and transportation issues in Georgetown County.
PUSH Economic Development
*Create jobs jobs are the ultimate measure of success of our Economic Development efforts and the most critical need of our citizens.
*Equalize the tax base across the county we on the Waccamaw Neck pay 70+% of the property taxes in Georgetown County. The coming reassessment will likely make this worse. The silver bullet for reducing our share of these taxes is to increase the tax base elsewhere in the county allowing our share of the taxes to be more consistent with our share of the population and geographic area of the County.
*Implement the new economic development plan earlier this year a special study group, appointed by County Council, completed a strategic plan for Economic Development in Georgetown County. This study concluded that we needed to expand our emphasis on larger industry to include tourism, in-migration, and small business. The study also concluded that the county needed to implement countywide zoning, support the port and both airports, and coordinate our investments in infrastructure and services. This plan needs to be fully implemented.
As a member of the Economic Development Commission for two years, a member of the special study committee appointed by County Council,
and as a participant in the economic miracle that has transformed Ireland I am well qualified to provide leadership in the economic development of Georgetown County.
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