Lately we have read about the schools,the sheriff and the back door. Talk is nice but it does nothing to solve the problems.

    The schools. Somebody always has somebody to blame. The teachers blame the parents,the parents blame the school board. What gets done-nothing. What you must have in a school setting is discipline. You have to have it. You might not have it at home,but you must have it at school. A kid talks back or curses a teacher. Oh,no,that kid has to go. I don't care where he goes but he has to go. The teacher must report it,the principal has to remove that student, the superintendent must back up the principal and the school board has to do the same. Now the school board is going to do a nationwide search for a superintendent. Save some of that money. Have a special place for students that will not behave. Hire a 6'4" 260 person to watch over them. You have to have discipline. I don't care what is done-you have to have discipline. Many on the school board need to go. They get a check and benefits but they need to go. They have been helping spread ignorance for decades. If allowed to stay-they will continue to do the same.

    The sheriff. No reason to argue this subject. The facts speak for themselves. For its size, Jasper County has one of the highest crime rates in the State of South Carolina. Jasper County also solves fewer cases than just about any other county in the State. This of course means nothing. Example: When on the last and next to last Sunday before the Sheriff's election- the reverends will tell their congregation they need to vote to re-elect the Sheriff because he is a good man and looks after them. If on the Monday before the Tuesday election,there were 700 murders,526 rapes,298 robberies and 800 other various crimes-the Sheriff would still win re-election. That is just a fact. The reverend vote and the absentees will win it no matter what. It is just that simple.

    The back door. Council should compromise. On good days,the public should have to use the front door. On rainy days,hurricanes,when a tornado is in the area,lighting strikes,hail storms and such days-anybody that gets a county check should have to use the front door and the public could use the back door. One reason cited for keeping it closed was for security reasons. Yes,I guess we have problems with terrorist in Jasper County. Or maybe they are just trying to keep people from stealing. Pal,you don't have enough locks in Jasper County to do that. I applaud Councilmembers Gregory and Ethridge for voting against a terrible budget and voting with the people concerning the back door. Councilmembers Hood,Blackshear and Tyler need to be replaced. I call Mr. Blackshear a friend and supported him the two times he ran but no more. If you work against the people and not for the people-I will support somebody else-anybody else. One thing I have never seen officially on the record. I am waiting for one Councilmember to ask this question in open chambers-"Where has the hundreds of thoudands of dollars in equipment,supplies and other products gone over the past several years" and get an answer. Nobody wants to ask that question because they really don't want to know.

    The only time you can have change is at election time. You can't do that by signing up to run,go home,listen to your friends tell you how you are going to win and then wake up the night of the election and find out you got beat. If you plan to run and win-you need to start now and do it right. I know the greatest people in the world live in Jasper County but sooner or later they are going to have to step up and take their government back. God Bless.

Don Woods