Conservative Republican Tommy Pope came through with a strong showing in the annual legislative scorecard. This year, Rep. Pope received an “A+” rating of 100.
This latest report only confirms how dedicated Rep. Pope is to tackling the important issues facing our state and district. You can view the legislative scorecard online. Please visit his Facebook page now to leave a comment or question.
As the S.C. General Assembly redraws legislative district lines, more western York County communities will have a state senator in Columbia who doesn’t call York County home.
Using 2010 U.S. Census data, S.C. House and Senate leaders have been redrawing their districts and U.S. House district lines. York County, the second fastest growing county in the state, has grown 37 percent to 226,073 residents since the 2000 Census.
A purpose of redistricting is to ensure the districts have a similar number of residents. Other goals include respecting communities of interest and maintaining minority percentages in each district. Significant growth means several districts must shed residents to even out populations.
For eastern York County, growth has meant a new state House district largely made up of Fort Mill Township.
But in York County’s most prominent state Senate district – 15 – legislators moved about 22,000 residents into other districts, said the district’s senator, Wes Hayes, a Rock Hill Republican.
As a result, the district will shrink and shift east to cover a smaller, more compact geographical area, and a non-resident senator will gain more ground in York County.
District 15 currently covers much of the county. At its northernmost reaches, the district includes parts of Lake Wylie and Tega Cay. It spans south to the Chester County line and east past Interstate 77. It pushes toward Sharon in the west and includes McConnells, York, Filbert, Newport, and much of Rock Hill.
While the district’s northern border won’t change much, York, McConnells and rural areas in mid- and southern York County will join District 17, a rural senate district spanning Chester and Fairfield counties.
Represented by Sen. Creighton Coleman, a Winnsboro Democrat, the district already includes a narrow swath of York County from the Chester County line to the southern part of Rock Hill.
York County has two other non-resident senators: Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney, of District 14 and Chauncey “Greg” Gregory, R-Lancaster, of District 16. Both will still have a York County presence in the new plan.
But there’s a tradeoff for having non-resident leaders in Columbia – the new voices mean more “clout” for York County, members of the county’s legislative delegation say.
“Most people would prefer to have a resident senator, or a resident House member, or someone who lives in that particular county,” said Hayes who has served in the state Senate since 1991. “That’s human nature.”
But having a non-resident representative is “not necessarily always a bad thing,” he said, adding that more legislators with constituents in York County mean more influence in Columbia.
Hayes said the county’s legislative delegation works together to serve the county, regardless of district lines.
“When people call me for help, I don’t check the lines to see if they’re in my district,” he said. “I have a countywide responsibility anyway.”
State Rep. Tommy Pope, R-York, said he was at first concerned about the shifting lines.
“The strangest thing for me is living as close as I do to York, and the downtown part got cut out” of House District 47, which Pope represents.
But after talking with other county leaders, they decided it wasn’t a problem. It wouldn’t determine whom he helps, he said.
While there’s “potential” for non-resident leaders to overlook some of the county’s interest, any “diligent representative” could overcome that problem, Pope said.
Some York leaders aren’t worried about the changes for the city, which includes House districts that dissect the city.
The new district lines won’t change much about how constituents interact with their state leaders, said York Mayor Eddie Lee and Paul Boger, executive director of the Greater York Chamber of Commerce.
“We focus on those representatives that cover our county,” Boger said. “Whether one has a little bit more of the city of York, I don’t think it makes that much of a difference.”
“As a voter and as an elected official, I work with them all. I ask them all for things,” said Lee, citing frequent chats with state Rep. Ralph Norman, R-Rock Hill, as an example.
Courtesy of the Spartanburg Herald-Journal
Two weeks after a gay teen was brutally beaten by a group of men, several lawmakers are working to pass a hate crime bill in South Carolina, for the second time, including a representative from York County.
Joshua Esskew, 19, was beaten on Saturday, April 9, by a group of at least eight men at the Spot Convenience Store on South Cherry Road. Esskew believes the attack, which was caught on tape, happened because he is openly gay.
The York County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the crime and plans to seek second-degree felony charges of Assault and Battery by a Mob against the attackers once the suspects are identified. If convicted, the suspects could be sentenced up to 25 years in prison.
An agent with the FBI said his agency is looking into the case to determine if it meets the statutes for federal hate crime charges. The state of South Carolina doesn’t currently have an enhancement of penalties for what might be deemed a “hate crime,” said Lieutenant Mike Baker with the York County Sheriff’s Office.
Previous article: FBI to investigate after gay teen was beaten by group at gas station
York County representative John King, however, plans to reintroduce a bill next week that would change that.
Last year, King introduced House Bill 4224, but the proposal didn’t have a co-sponsor and never made it past a House Judiciary Committee. This year, the bill is getting a co-sponsor and a new chance at life.
Representative J. Todd Rutherford, a Democrat from Columbia who is a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said he plans to reintroduce the bill before the committee on Tuesday when legislators return from furlough leave.
“We’re gonna try and make sure this bill gets passed,” Rutherford said. ”So that hate in South Carolina is not a family value.”
While walking to the gas station, Esskew says someone yelled a derogatory homosexual comment at him.
Words were exchanged and when he turned around, someone hit him in the head with a 40-ounce malt liquor bottle. He was then beaten by at least eight men for nearly 15 seconds.
He was also kicked and punched by members of the group.
Images of the attack, which were caught on the store’s video surveillance system, have been released to the public in hopes of identifying the suspects.
But former prosecutor, and current Republican Representative from York County, Tommy Pope says what’s on the books goes far enough.
“It is an assault case that’s gonna require an additional element,” he said.
The attack has angered many in the community, including professors and student advisorsat nearby Winthrop University.
“My first thought was that, I’ve got to let my students know so that when they are out and about in Rock hill that they, you know, act straight, And that’s a sad lesson in 2011 to be teaching young people. I mean, it’s been off the books as a mental illness since 1973,” said Kelly James who teaches sociology and criminology at Winthrop University.
James is also the advisor for the university’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender ally league known as GLoBAL. She says the attack has her worried about students’ safety in Rock Hill and she welcomes federal involvement in the investigation.
She feels South Carolina’s laws don’t go far enough in protecting those who are the victims of targeted violence like this.
“The legislators aren’t interested in it,” James said. “There’s been grassroots activism, but there’s been no change in the system.”
Representative Rutherford, who expects there to be a fight to get the bill passed, says he wants to change some of the language to make it less ambiguous and give it a better chance at passage.
The original proposal calls for prison time of a least two years, but not more than 15, for anyone convicted of assaulting, intimidating or threatening a person because of their “race, religion or sexual orientation.”
The lack of a ‘hate crime’ charge in South Carolina is one thing the Gay American Heroes Foundation, a group that advocates for gay rights, hopes to change in the wake of this attack.
“It’s been 18 months since the Matthew Shepard Law was passed and there have been hundreds of gay beatings and murders, but not once has been prosecuted under the new law,” said the group’s founder and president, Scott Hall. “It’s time to make our voices heard and make this a landmark case. These are horrendous crimes and while driven by hate, [they] are not always prosecuted as such.”
Representative Rutherford says he believes the fact that South Carolina does not have a hate crime law could be a deterrent for bringing new companies to the state in the future and could hurt the state’s economic development.
“This poor young man up in Rock Hill was assaulted by a mob,” Rutherford said. “What are you all gonna do as a reaction to that, to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. And if our answer is ‘nothing’, then we can’t bring businesses here.”
Meanwhile, Special Agent Earl Burns with the FBI said his agency is coordinating with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Justice to determine if the case can be moved up to the federal level with a hate crime charge
If you know who the suspects are, call the York County Sheriff’s Office at 803-628-3059 or Crime Stoppers at 1-877-409-4321. Tips may also be emailed by accessing the sheriff’s office website at www.yorkcrimestoppers.com.
Courtesy of WBTV.com
Eight state legislators are asking leaders of York County’s museums to open up about an abandoned deal to build a new county museum along the Catawba River in Fort Mill.
A signed statement urges the museums’ leadership to release any documents related to the organizations formed, partnerships made and money spent on a planned development whose proceeds would have paid for the new museum.
Members of York County Council, some museum commissioners, and state Rep. Ralph Norman, R-Rock Hill, have already publicly requested more information.
Now state leaders are pledging their support for the York County Council in its effort to find out more, said Norman and state Rep. Gary Simrill, R-Rock Hill.
“The residents of York County and those who support the museum need to know answers,” Simrill said. “Every time someone asks a question, instead of leading to answers, it leads to more questions.”
“All of that needs to be brought into the sunshine,” he said.
With Norman and Simrill, state lawmakers who signed the statement were Sens. Wes Hayes, R-Rock Hill, and Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney, and Reps. Tommy Pope, R-York, Dennis Moss, R-Gaffney, Deborah Long, R-Indian Land, and Greg Delleney, R-Chester.
The statement urges museum leadership to fulfill the request “to maintain the public trust and confidence of the organization.”
The museums’ long-term success depends solely on “the taxpayers, volunteers and donors who have steadfastly given on their time, talent, and financial resources in hopes of securing the future viability of the museum,” it reads.
In 1998, 400 acres along the Catawba River and bordered by Interstate 77 and Sutton Road in Fort Mill were donated to the foundation.
In 2006, the Culture and Heritage Foundation struck a deal with a developer to build a mixed-use community along the river in Fort Mill on 330 acres, saving the remaining land for the new museum site.
The project collapsed because of the economy, museum and foundation leaders claim. Now the foundation and a subsidiary it created to manage the deal owe $3.78 million to a partner who exited the project.
Pope has noticed a “general concern” in the community about what happened in the deal. The issue has had a divisive effect, he said.
He’s ready to see the issue addressed.
“If there is not an issue, then let’s just have full disclosure,” he said. “If it ends up being a bad business deal and that’s all, let’s recognize it for what it is and move on.”
The Culture and Heritage Foundation has a meeting scheduled later this month to discuss how to proceed, said Carol Maroska, president of the foundation.
“As stated before, I will take direction from the full Trustee board at our meeting on April 26th; however, my sense is that we are all very motivated to providing additional information,” Maroska wrote in an email to The Herald.
Courtesy of The Herald
