Let governor choose officers
A recent letter from Tom LaRocque questioned why S.C. legislators were conspiring to take away the right of voters to select constitutional officers, including the superintendent of education, commissioner of agriculture, comptroller general and treasurer. It should be noted that doing so requires a change to the S.C. Constitution. That can only be brought about by the voters in a general election. What is being proposed is to put these questions on the ballot in 2018.
South Carolina has nine constitutional officers, at least four more than most states. That results in our governor’s office being one of the weakest in the land. If you can remember the names of the occupants you elected to the above offices, perhaps you want to preserve the right to continue to elect them. If you can’t, then perhaps you agree that it’s time to modernize S.C.’s agrarian-era government and grant our executive branch the responsibility and authority necessary to govern our state.
State Sen. Greg Gregory
Lancaster
More study needed on bus system
Thank you, York County Council, for having the foresight that the City of Rock Hill is not ready for a bus transit system. It was voted down 6-1 by the County Council.
The city is not ready, the downtown is not complete, and you can’t count on Winthrop students to support the system when they have friends to drive them. The biggest question is whether this is a want or a need. How many people will ride the bus? What surveys and studies did the city use?
Mayor Doug Echols’ dream to have free bus service is just dream, not reality. There is no such thing as a free ride.
The cost of $400,000 plus to the citizens of the city plus $2.5 million in federal grants is not free money but tax dollars. Total cost might be $6.6 million dollars, according to The Herald. There is no doubt the real cost of running a bus system will cost the taxpayers millions of dollars. Once you start this, there is no going back.
Starting a bus service is expensive with a lot of hidden costs, like maintenance and salaries. Who is going to fix and repair the buses? At what cost?
In Chicago riders pay 50 percent of the cost of their system, and riders in Indianapolis pay 20 percent. The gas tax and city revenues make up the difference.
What happens if the federal grant disappears? The citizens will be paying for this monster. The City Council has much more homework to do.
Paul Anderko
Rock Hill
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