Pickens County Delegation Meeting

December 20, 2013

Dear Editor,

Delegation Meeting:

There will be a Pickens County Legislative Delegation meeting on January 2nd at 5:30 at the Dacusville Community Center. This will be a great time for all citizens to look our delegation, Larry Martin, Phil Owens, BR Skelton, and Davey Hiott, in the eye and ask tough questions about why South Carolina's educational system, our ethics laws, and our roadways are consistently rated some of the worst in the nation.  These guys have been in Columbia for years, and we still see little to no improvement in these core functions of government.  

We can also ask why our delegation overwhelmingly voted against Governor Haley's common sense budget reductions. It seems odd that they would vote against common sense measures to reduce spending in June, and now there is talk of tax increases to fund road work. Why do they always look to grow government and spend more? We need less, more efficient government. Another example is the Hiott-Skelton at-large school board bill. Do we really need more politicians in education, or do we need to focus on teachers and students? I believe we need to listen to and support teachers, and reduce the number of politicians with their fingers in the pie.

And finally, we need to pin them down on Common Core educational standards. Our current educational standards are developed by South Carolinians and are rated some of the best in the nation. Yet, some in Columbia want to hand over education standards to out of state interests; many who do not reflect our values. Our children are too important to hand over to unaccountable out of state interests. We must stop nationalized educational standards. I hope to see you on January 2nd in Dacusville.

Michelle Wiles

Vice-chairman

Pickens County Republican Party