4/13/2024
On Thursday, April 11, the United States Department of Transportation announced that South Carolina was stated to receive one billion dollars in infrastructure funding to address road, highway, flooding, and other public safety transportation needs. Shortly after this announcement with respect to the 997-million-dollar allotment, it was also announced, by transportation Secretary Buttigieg that 850 million dollars had been specifically awarded to all 52 States to address transportation infra structure needs. Today I learned that the Lowcountry Council of Governments had received a grant from the Biden Harris administration for 350 thousand dollars to address needed road and safety improvements that have been highlighted by recent weather-related climate change activities. Those of us who live in Hampton County should be reminded that the Lowcountry Council of Governments has jurisdictional responsibility for the four counties comprising the South Carolina Lowcountry. What this means on a practical political level, is that Hampton County will be in competition with Beaufort, Colleton, and Jasper Counties to share whatever resources are allotted for infra structure development in the Lowcountry of South Carolina.
These facts pose a significant challenge to the residents of Hampton County and a particularly significant challenge to the residents of the unincorporated areas of Hampton County. At this very moment, our neighboring Lowcountry Counties, as a consequence of their foresight and strategic planning, have existing plans for infrastructure development projects that are far in advance of anything that Hampton County Government is even publicly discussing.
In my opinion, at least for the last two decades, Hampton County had been waiting and hoping to catch the brass ring on the economic development merry-go-round as the primary portal to its twenty-first century future. The folly of this thinking can be affirmed by a trip to sites that once housed the factories that were the “economic lifeline” for Hampton County. It is hard to find a Poster Child who speaks more clearly to the failures of that approach than the old Neva Mar site within the Town of Hampton.
Community Development and Economic development are not twins. In many instances they are not even siblings or friends. We need only travel to Allendale County to see an example of what federal highway construction dollars have meant to non-visionary towns and local economies across this country.
Existing evidence, at the moment, suggests that Hampton County Government is unprepared to address the myriad challenges that stand between “this moment” and “our tomorrow.” This conclusion is not to disparage those who try. As an old academic, I just evaluate results. The most obvious results seem to suggest that we need to abandon our “at large” representative and dysfunctional system of government; and adopt a “district system of representation,” like the school Board has adopted. If government is going to work for the people, government must be configured to hear the voices of all of the people and also be willing to account to those voices. At the moment in Hampton County, this fundamental requirement for the efficient operation of government is both physically and practically impossible to identify.
The last few Spring rains in Hampton County have highlighted the long-standing neglect of our County government as a consequence of the “at large system” of selecting County Council Members. The condition of some of our unpaved roads in unincorporated areas of the County have posed a clear and present danger to the life and safety of some residents in these areas. In the Barkerville community US mail deliveries, UPS package deliveries and families have gotten stuck on poorly maintained roads, and had to rely on neighbors, with tractors, to deliver relief. This is not just an inconvenience; it is a health and public safety issue as well. Not too long ago, after an extensive delay, Barkerville residents had to organize and argue with State officials and others in order to have the lower portion of Pocatalico Rd reopened, due to the the dispute, involving a small bridge repair, between the Sate, the County, and the Buck field ownership group? Limited road access can be a matter of life and death for the citizens affected.
Since the County cannot seem to launch a responsible strategic planning initiative, I urge the citizens to start a campaign to change the form of County Government to bring their voice into the governance and planning conversation. In addition, Hampton County Government leadership needs to proceed with all deliberate speed to conduct, complete and report on a forensic audit in order to publicly account, for the fiscal conditions that are preventing the County from moving forward. This direct and mature management action by Hampton County could also support a direct appeal to the State for immediate assistance to ensure the health of the entire Lowcountry of South Carolina. Finally, I call upon the Hampton County Municipal Governing Association and Lowcountry Council of Governments use their “resources and good offices” to secure federal/State supported planning grants to address the developmental equities of lowcountry Counties and to ensure the comprehensive health and development of Hampton County and the Lowcountry region. Perhaps if we could accomplish just one of these things, we would place Hampton County on a real road to recovery.
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Dr. William Small, Jr.