Thanks, Willie. Why did Bill Sandifer back this bill?

Thanks, Willie. Why did Bill Sandifer back this bill?

Willie,

This is an open letter to Representative Sandifer, who has recently presented House Bill H5045 to committee. Everyone in our state needs to know what a terrible idea is presented in this bill and should write or call in a polite — but strong —way to let him know our energy needs should be looking toward a clean and affordable future. Please, Rep. Sandifer, do not continue to hold South Carolinians hostage to your idea of energy’s future. You were instrumental in bringing about the nuclear energy disaster the whole state will have to pay for. This was to promote a type of energy that is detrimental to the future of all living things in South Carolina and is an energy idea of the past. You and those involved with passing the Base Load Review Act should be doing everything in your power to help provide South Carolina with energy that will be clean and affordable. I know that does not suit many representatives and senators whose campaign war chests are padded with the money of gas and oil producers. We must look to the future. Solar and wind are very feasible in this state. If the solar and wind industry could provide as many lobbyists and campaign contributions, government officials would be helping them out in any way possible. In the future they will be, especially when coal, oil and natural gas are used up or not cost effective to exploit, and the atmosphere and climate are becoming unfit for living creatures. Thank you all for listening.

Willie says:

Thanks for bringing this horrible bill to my readers’ attention. In The State I found out that “H.5045 put forward by Rep. Bill Sandifer strips away the liberty of consumers in order to protect utility profits. Currently, consumers in every state have the right through net metering to install and use the power they generate on their own property to reduce the amount of electricity they have to purchase from the utility. Sandifer’s bill compels solar customers in South Carolina to either sell none of their self-generated power to the utility or else sell every bit of it, and at an unfairly low rate. Putting up new barriers against solar investment with H.5045 would be bad news for South Carolina’s consumers and its economy alike. Nearly 3,000 South Carolinians are already working in our growing solar sector. These hardworking men and women are harnessing local sunshine to provide for their families and building a safer, more secure energy future for all of us.” Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article206489924.html#storylink=cpy

The Journal, Seneca, SC

April 11, 2018

Teachers are trained to teach

In response to advocates, including our dear President Donald Trump and Sen. Lindsey Graham, wanting trained teachers to be armed, where are they coming from? Teachers are educated to teach. Where would anyone be without an education? It is so bad that we have come down to having to worry about the safety of our children?

Sen. Graham was quoted that he supported assault weapons, maybe this is part of the problem. Assault weapons are used against our enemies. Are our children enemies? The lawmakers better get off their high horse and support gun control, not arguing back and forth; for the safety of all of us.

Patricia Germanier ,

Salem

The Greenville News, Greenville, SC

Posted on April 5, 2018

Democrat Gaulin challenging for Sandifer’s SC House seat

SENECA — Billing herself as a future change agent in Columbia and representative for all Senecans, Democrat Jody Gaulin announced her candidacy for the South Carolina House of Representatives on Friday.

The Oconee County Democratic Party hosted the event at Seneca High School after Gaulin filed for candidacy Thursday to try to unseat District 2 Rep. Bill Sandifer (R-Seneca).

“I have a reputation for being practical, having common sense and being a bit of a butt-kicker if I have to be,” Gaulin told a crowd of 75 in the school cafeteria. “I speak truth to power. That skill will serve me well in Columbia.”

Gaulin told The Journal before the event she wants to give District 2 constituents a “real voice” of representation in Columbia. Gaulin said she believes people want change in state government.

“Somehow people get a little bit in a bubble when they’ve been in Columbia so long,” the Seneca High graduate said. “We need a fresh voice, a person like me with fresh ideas and a person who knows what the priorities are.”

Gaulin’s priorities are accountability in Columbia, infrastructure, public education, health care and the environment.

She said the failed V.C. Summer nuclear power project, state pension fund debt and rejection of Medicaid expansion are examples of what she sees as mistakes by the Republican Party in South Carolina.

Gaulin criticized Sandifer for supporting legislation that she said led to the V.C. Summer project’s failure.

Sandifer was a proponent of the Base Load Review Act, passed in 2007, which allows utilities building a nuclear facility to recoup interest costs during construction.

“My opponent was a key leader in the house to get the Base Load Review Act in the House and indeed push that on the floor,” Gaulin said. “That set in motion the entire disaster that later happened.”

With a 38-year career in industrial management, Gaulin said she brings skills learned in Corporate America to politics.

Gaulin was the first female plant manager at a local plant, supply chain director and quality control manager.

Oconee County Democratic Party chairwoman Paulette Keffas-Chassin said Gaulin is a great candidate because she is “appealing to all Oconeeans.”

“This is not about party,” Keffas-Chassin said. “This is about helping the people of Seneca and District 2 who are in such need of so many things. Jodi was born and raised here and has a business background. She has waited her entire life to represent the people in Columbia.”

Keffas-Chassin echoed Gaulin’s own words on the question of party politics Friday. Gaulin said she is a candidate who will put South Carolina and Oconee County above party.

“I am a Democrat,” Gaulin said. “I’m not ashamed of being a Democrat. I represent Democratic values, but I’m going to represent the people the right way, too.”

justin@upstatetoday.com | (864) 973-6685

Follow on Twitter @jlcampbell90

Posted on April 4, 2018

By Justin Lee Campbell

The Journal

SC Candidate Statement from OCDP

At 12:00 P.M. today, filing for the 2018 elections closed in South Carolina and the fight against the culture of corruption in Republican-controlled Columbia and Washington began.

More than 350 Democrats across the state are challenging Republicans in every single Congressional district and for control of almost every statewide office and legislative seat.

Our candidates are preparing to do everything they can to win these races and bring sanity, integrity and accountability back to government as we take our country back from a Republican Party that has traded in its ethics, patriotism and Christian values for failed nuclear projects and shuttered hospitals.

As of 12:01 P.M. today, our job of preparing these 353 Democrats to win in November began in earnest. From mail to volunteer recruitment, your South Carolina Democratic Party is preparing for the battle ahead and we will need a strong war chest to make sure we’re ready.

Will you help us support these brave candidates who will be standing on the front lines by making an investment in the future of our state and country today?  The Mercers, the Koch brothers and the Quinns are not going to give up control of the government that made them rich. Only by going to work TODAY will we be able to withstand the onslaught and we can’t do it without you.

The money you donate today will stay in South Carolina and go to work winning South Carolina elections, so please take a moment and make a one-time donation of $35.30 or $353.00 to help us support these candidates fighting for all of us.

Better still, become one of our Yellow Dog monthly donors and make sure we can help our candidates fight and win the crucial small victories we will fight every single day in the eight months ahead.

We did it in Alabama with Doug Jones. We did it in Pennsylvania with Connor Lamb. Starting at 12:01 the hard work of winning back our state and our country begins, and we at the SCDP look forward to standing shoulder-to-shoulder with you and all our candidates as we do it in South Carolina!

Wrap-Up Precinct Reorganization Meeting

We came....We saw...We started a Blue Tsunami!

About 135 people crowded into the Gignilliat Community Center in Seneca on Saturday morning, January 27, for the Oconee County Democratic Party Precinct Reorganization meeting. Attendees consisted of long-standing members of the Democratic party, along with many new faces and everyone in between! Ages ranged from 10-94. What a diverse group! 

To comply with state election laws, all political parties must hold open meetings by March 31 of every general election year. The precinct groups meet to elect officers and to choose delegates to the County Convention (Tuesday, March 6). Oconee County has 31 precincts; 20 were represented at the meeting. The precinct officers, together with the county executive committee members, are the backbone of the party and are key to registering voters and encouraging voters to go to the polls on election day. 

In addition to electing officers and delegates, each precinct was encouraged to draft resolutions expressing local concerns that will be debated and voted on at the County Convention. Our precincts submitted 44 resolutions, a record number! These resolutions will be sorted and compiled and submitted to the Oconee County Convention on Tuesday, March 6. Those that are passed will be sent to the State Convention in April and then on to the National Convention. The tremendous energy and excitement in the room make us all truly believe a Blue Tsunami will hit in November! 

Several candidates for local office addressed the group. Mary Geren is running against Jeff Duncan in Congressional District #3, and WC Honeycutt, is running in the Seneca municipal election on March 13. Those who live in the Seneca city limits need to vote on March 13.

A lot of energy flowed through the room. Everyone left encouraged and excited by the prospect of the year ahead, not only in Oconee County and Congressional District 3, but across the state where more Democrats will be on the ballots. We encourage you to join in the Blue Tsunami of 2018.

Would you like to see more picture from the precinct meeting?

View them on our facebook page: Precinct Pictures

Jody Gaulin Running for SC State House.2

Big Wins in SC

We live for Tuesdays. Usually we have to wait until November for an all-nighter following results, but every once in a while a day like yesterday sneaks onto the calendar. 

You know all about the special election in Pennsylvania, I'm sure. Headlines across the country this morning read a lot like this one from the New York Times: Strong Performance by Democrat Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania Shakes Trump and G.O.P. We'll take that any day of the week. His district voted for Trump by 20 points! 20! Trump only won South Carolina by 15. Many of our Republican-held Congressional districts are more competitive than the seat Lamb now represents in Washington. And the Republicans out-spent Lamb by a ridiculous margin throughout his race. If this race tells us anything about November, it is that we can win in the South.  

There's been a whole lot of talk about a Blue Wave, as if it's some magical force that will sweep across the country and elect Democrats to every office. We also know that it's not quite that simple. It requires hard work, day after day, by dedicated candidates, staff, and Party volunteers to eke out the tough wins like the ones from yesterday.

I want to put a face on the start of that Blue Wave in South Carolina: Rev. WC Honeycutt Jr from Seneca — South Carolina's newest City Councilman. He won a seat on the Seneca City Council yesterday by a margin of 6 votes! In an election with a small turnout on a cold Tuesday in March, he flipped a seat in an area that has long been dominated by Republicans. He did it the old fashioned way and we couldn't be prouder of all the work that he and his team put in.

Both of these candidates, who are now elected officials, did something very straightforward: they got up off the bench, put their name on the ballot, and met the voters where they are. They didn't win by huge margins, but they got the job done. We want you to join them in office. If you're Ready to Run for the school board, Congress, or anything in between, now is your time. Fill out this form to let us know, and we'll be there with you every step of the way. 

Speaking of the bench, today students across the country are walking out of their classrooms to demand safer schools, to call on Congress to pass gun control measures, and to memorialize the victims of the Parkland, FL shooting. This is not the end of their activism, either. On March 24th, there will be a nationwide March for our Lives, including local South Carolina marches. We're completely behind these students and are so proud of everything they're doing to change the country and South Carolina for the better — they are our future and we can't wait for them to run for office!

Trav Robertson

SCDP

Honeycutt Edges out Pohl

SENECA — Political newcomer and pastor W.C. Honeycutt Jr. edged out incumbent Stuart Pohl in Tuesday’s municipal election to earn a seat on Seneca City Council, joining the three incumbents who retained their spots.

The votes still have to be certified by the Oconee County Board of Voter Registration and Elections during a meeting at 11 a.m. Thursday at the county administration offices located at 415 South Pine Street in Walhalla.

Seneca City Councilman-elect W.C. Honeycutt Jr. and Seneca City Councilman Scott Durham laugh with each other outside the Shaver Recreational Complex on Tuesday. Honeycutt Jr. edged out an incumbent in the municipal election, while Durham retained his seat as the top vote-getter. Rex Brown | The Journal

Joy Scharich, executive director of the elections board, said the board has five provisional ballots to consider at that meeting before certifying the results.

Honeycutt Jr. won fourth place with 354 votes and was ahead of councilman Stuart Pohl’s 348 votes by six votes Tuesday night.

When Honeycutt Jr. was told he had a six-vote lead with only five provisional ballots to consider on Thursday, he responded, “Oh wow.”

He said Tuesday night he was grateful to the people of Seneca who voted to entrust him with leadership and serve them in the city.

“I think of myself as a servant leader and that means that even though I am in leadership, I want to serve the people of the community and do all I can to represent them in the best way possible,” he said.

Councilmen Scott Durham and Joel Ward and councilwoman Denise Rozman retained their seats on Tuesday.

Durham was elected to a third four-year term as the top vote-getter with 487 votes, while Ward received 460 votes for second place and Rozman won 394 votes for third ahead of Honeycutt Jr.

Durham said he was “humbled” by the win and was glad the people of Seneca have confidence in him.

“I feel I do what I say I’m going to do,” Durham said. “I keep my word. I don’t go back on my word. I want to work hard for the city, and I have worked hard for the city.”

Durham said he is excited for Honeycutt Jr. as the new member of council.

“People vote for whom they want,” Durham said. “I’m excited to work with him. Whomever the people want, that’s who we work with.”

After securing a fifth term on council, Ward said he was “excited about getting back to work” and honored to be a part of the city.

“I think the experience I brought to council helped a lot,” Ward said. “I think the issues at hand that we’re up against over the next few years will help me make decisions that will make Seneca a place that everyone wants to live.”

Rozman won a second term and said she was “thankful” for every person who voted in the election and “appreciated” the people who voted for her.

“I think they were able to see through some of the negative things that were said about me, and they realized that I did do a good job,” Rozman said. “I think people want to see Seneca progress and be the best it can be. I want to help carry that vision forward.”

Rozman said she was “very sad” that Pohl lost. Rozman said Pohl is a good man and has done good things for the city over the last four years.

“I can’t change the fact that (Pohl) didn’t win, so I welcome Mr. Honeycutt Jr. to the council,” Rozman said.

Pohl said he appreciated the four years the voters gave him to represent the city and enjoyed his tenure.

“To say the least, I’m very disappointed, but it’s up to the voters,” Pohl said. “It’s not up to me.”

Only 713 voters cast ballots out of a total of 5,433 total registered voters a voter turnout of just 13.12 percent — down a little more than 1 percent from 2014.