At their regular monthly meeting on September 22, the Saluda County Republican Party voted to present a proposal to County Council calling for same-day registration to speak before council. The current policy of Saluda County Council requires citizens to sign-up 10 days in advance to speak before their Council.
This proposal originated under our 2nd Vice-Chairman for Voter Education, Jay Dunbar, from Pleasant Grove Precinct. Jay works with a group of members who monitor developments at each level of government: County, State, National, and Global. Gail Meyer, from Sardis Precinct, works on county issues. She spent hours researching the other 45 counties in South Carolina. She found that the vast majority of them allowed same-day sign-up, and she thought Saluda County should consider a same-day policy as well. The Voter Education Committee agreed with Gail, and unanimously voted to recommend the proposal to the Saluda County Executive Committee.
When the proposal was discussed at the next Executive Committee meeting, Saluda County Council Chairman, Jim Moore, who is also the Committeeman from Saluda 2 Precinct, expressed his opinion that the change in policy was not needed in Saluda. He cast the lone dissenting vote at that time.
After winning majority support, however, the proposal was put into petition form, and the Saluda GOP began collecting signatures online. Additionally, most of the committeemen took clipboards with hard copies of the petition to collect signatures in person.
Unsure of what kind of reception the proposal might meet from County Council, the Saluda GOP set about collecting as many signatures as possible. The plan was to formally present the petition to the County Council at their October Meeting, and to continue collecting signatures until the “same-day” policy was codified as part of our county ordinances.
A happy surprise awaited the Saluda GOP when they saw that the October Meeting Agenda, released the Friday before the Monday meeting, included time for Public Comment. Saluda GOP Chair, Amy Potts, who was also on the agenda to present the proposal. Prior to the introduction of Ms. Potts’, Chairman Moore explained that, although he was not originally in favor of the proposal, he had given it more thought and come to believe it was a very good idea for Saluda County. Chairman Moore not only voluntarily included time on the agenda for public comment, but later announced that Council would be taking action to codify the new policy.
Chairwoman Potts, on behalf of the Saluda GOP, expressed her sincere thanks to Chairman Moore for his support of their proposal.
The Republican Party considers transparency as critical to building trust between citizens and their government. Open communication between elected officials and those they represent is a huge part of transparency. Unfortunately, because communication in Saluda County is difficult, comments from the public often end up largely on Facebook or other Social Media. Being able to communicate online has many benefits, but, too often, it can also be the source of unfounded rumors and unkind remarks.
If we are fortunate enough to see this policy become a part of our ordinances, our citizens will know they have a monthly opportunity to speak to their council. We hope this will result in more openness and more civility as citizens address their councilmen. The Saluda County Republican Party will continually encourage all Saluda Citizens to bring their comments, ideas, and criticisms to Council, in a respectful manner. We hope this policy will result in more participation and interest in council meetings and more knowledge about the issues that come before Council.
The Saluda County Republican party is proud to have begun this initiative, and is very appreciative of the support Chairman Moore has lent to this effort so early on. We are also grateful for each citizen – now approaching 200 – who have signed the petition so far.
We will continue to collect signatures until the process of codifying this proposal has been completed. Ultimately, we want this effort to be the culmination of a large, county-wide effort that includes County Council, the Saluda GOP, and each citizen who supported this effort by signing our petition.
If you have not signed it already, you can do so now:
