Sanford and the Upstate's relationship on ICE?

[GvilleSC]

There was lots of coverage in yesterday's Greenville News about the lack of help for the upstate during this past week's crippling ice storm. The worst in history. It caused power to go out for over 408,000 homes and businesses.

I, for one, had no telephone service for 4 days and no electricity for 6 days. There was a long while when roads were not passable due to trees, limbs, and even utility poles that were chopped in half lying in the streets. Intersections were out of order. Chaos is the best term for the situation on major roads. Two truckers were killed as a result of an intersection not having power and no one directing traffic.

Like the article asks... Why wasn't the Guard deployed? why wasn't the Highway Patrol sent this way? Not a single extra trooper hit upstate roadways.

The Governor has not even made a trip to the upstate to survey the damage. It's too late now. Power is back on; The roads, for the most part, are cleared... Why is the upstate being slighted? Or is it? Sanford put the Guard on alert for the ice storm that hit the midlands in 2004 and declared a state of emergency. Why not this time, for the Upstate? The midlands storms knocked out power to less than half of those who lost power this past week. Now, where's his help with the clean up? I read in a past article that debris could reach 8 tons?(or something like that if my memory serves me correctly).

What are yall's thoughts?

Here's a link to one of the articles: Greenville News Article

[upstate29650]

From what I understand, it was up to our local governmental bodies to ask the state for help..and they didn't.

Sanford hails from Beaufort, which gets little, if any, winter precipitation. He may have asked for the National Guard to be deployed in Cola because HE was worried about it...since he lives there (for now). Just a hunch.

As a side note, there's growing backlash against Duke Power for their repsonse, or lack thereof, to the storm. I'm not sure how good of a job Duke could have done, or was expected to have done, but it makes for good debate.

Thank God I have Greer CPW! They absolutely rock, in service & in price!

[GvilleSC]

From what I understand, it was up to our local governmental bodies to ask the state for help..and they didn't.

Sanford hails from Beaufort, which gets little, if any, winter precipitation. He may have asked for the National Guard to be deployed in Cola because HE was worried about it...since he lives there (for now). Just a hunch.

As a side note, there's growing backlash against Duke Power for their repsonse, or lack thereof, to the storm. I'm not sure how good of a job Duke could have done, or was expected to have done, but it makes for good debate.

Thank God I have Greer CPW! They absolutely rock, in service & in price!

Certain aspects were up to the local government to ask, but a call from Columbia? Is that too much to ask? The article mentioned:

"How aware state officials were of the scope of damage and suffering of Upstate families and small businesses isn't clear, although Greenville County and state Emergency Management officials said they were in contact early on. "

I think Sanford is burning a lot of important bridges politically. A new governor will soon sit in Columbia, that's for sure. I'm really intrigued to see if the Upstate and/or the Greenville News gets a response to this from the Governor. Why he did what he did and his side of the story.

[upstate29650]

Hmmmm.....maybe Columbia wasn't aware or "too concerned" about what was happening up here. Interesting.

Not to blow our collective horn too much, there is one truism, politically: As the Upstate goes, so goes the rest of SC. Seems that whichever way Upstate votes go, the rest of the state seems to fall in line. Sanford is a lame duck. I wonder about this Lovelace guy running....

[krazeeboi]

It was hard to believe that the Upstate got hit as hard as it did. In the Charlotte metro, we got a lot of ice as well, but most of it was to the north and west of Charlotte/Rock Hill. The power companies over this way seemed to have done a decent job getting things back up to speed, especially in Gaston County. I don't know exactly what the problem was in the Upstate, but the primary responsibility is definitely on Duke's lax response. As for the governor and lawmakers? Not sure, but I'm sure the article isn't telling the entire story. As many said during the aftermath of Katrina, "This teaches us one lesson: Don't rely on the government for anything."

[upstate29650]

NEVER rely on government for anything...from retirement to the safety of you & your family. In the end, it's up to the individual.

[krazeeboi]

Hey, they said it, not me.

[vicupstate]

Not to blow our collective horn too much, there is one truism, politically: As the Upstate goes, so goes the rest of SC. Seems that whichever way Upstate votes go, the rest of the state seems to fall in line. Sanford is a lame duck.

^^ Actually, it was the Low Country that decided the last two governor's races. Hodges and Sanford both carried that area on their way to victory. The upstate always goes to the GOP, the Trident determines the winner in most elections.

As for Lovelace, he is seeking to embarass Sanford by getting a higher than expected vote total. If Sanford doesn't get his act together, that may well happen. That would allow an opening for the Democrat to pull an upset in the General election. If Lovelace can get 30%, it would expose Sanford as weak and potentially beatable. Lovelace doesn't have the backing or money for genuinely challenge Sanford for the nomination.

[motonenterprises]

There is absolutely no excuse for Sanford or any part of the state government to not check into this or at least offer help. Looks like there is favortism going on, but thats politics for you.

[goodbye]

Two things:

1. Duke Power and all the other companies who came to our aid in the Upstate should be thanked for restoring service to over one million people within a week. That was indeed a mamouth task for so few workers to accomplish. They were wonderful.

2. It is absolutely no surprise that Governor Sanford did little or nothing to help the crisis in the Upstate. He uses his political power to work on new deals for the midlands and lowcountry, even though he received more votes from the most populated region in the state, the Upstate.

[Greenville]

And he went to school in Greenville (at Furman), correct?

[GvilleSC]

And he went to school in Greenville (at Furman), correct?

YEA he did.

By the way, thanks for the reminder Skyliner- Just want to Thank all the utility crews for their hard work right before the holidays. I know they worked long hard days and have a dangerous job. Thank you!

I heard from a worker that someone had to cancel a trip to Vegas to stay here and work. They just had to eat their tickets because Duke called EVERYONE in. That was a tough week for everyone, indeed.

[krazeeboi]

It is absolutely no surprise that Governor Sanford did little or nothing to help the crisis in the Upstate. He uses his political power to work on new deals for the midlands and lowcountry, even though he received more votes from the most populated region in the state, the Upstate.

This is an interesting statement. Do you think that Gov. Sanford intentionally steers companies who may be looking to invest in the Upstate to look elsewhere? I don't think that the governor should steer companies who may be interested in one part of the state to another part. As a matter of fact, I don't think that this statement is entirely accurate: QVC just made a decision to invest in Florence, bringing 400 jobs to the Pee Dee, which is the most economically depressed region of the state (which is not the Midlands or the Lowcountry). Also, if Sanford had an ulterior motive to bringing jobs to the Lowcountry to the exclusion of the Upstate, did why didn't Charleston land the Airbus facility, losing out to Mobile? Also, didn't Michelin recently announce plans to expand TWO Anderson County plants? Union County recently landed a stamping plant in connection with the BMW facility. Anderson County received the Walgreens distribution center under Sanford's administration, which will employ 450 people when it opens in 2007. One of the recent deals that Greenville lost, 3D systems from California, said that it didn't feel welcome in Greenville and one of the county councilmen essentially stated that the company wasn't a good fit for Greenville; however, the company decided to locate to Rock Hill (which is technically in the Upstate, or rather the Upcountry). When the ICAR development was initally announced for Greenville, didn't Sanford's scrutiny of the plan lead to a better, less expensive decision and also opened the way for Millenium Campus to be developed as well? That's what I gathered from an article in the Greenville News. So I'm not really seeing how the Upstate is being slighted when it comes to economic development within the state.

As far as the ice situation goes, I think some investigation really needs to be done, because it really was a serious situation--way more serious than I initially thought. I wonder why power was restored rather quickly to the areas of NC that were affected when compared with the areas in SC. Was it because a greater number of people were without power in SC?

[GvilleSC]

I don't have the numbers, but I do know that SC was hit the hardest of NC, GA, and SC.

I'd personally like to see the governor send or hire someone to clean up. It's least that can be done now. The Greenville News is reporting that the debris, which could add up to some 28,000 tons, could take 4 months to clean up. Is Columbia ASLEEP!? I've still heard nothing as of yet.

[krazeeboi]

Wow. Have any of you guys contacted your state representatives? Certainly the rest of the state cannot just simply ignore the plight of the Upstate.

[GvilleSC]

Wow. Have any of you guys contacted your state representatives? Certainly the rest of the state cannot just simply ignore the plight of the Upstate.

I just e-mailed Mark Sanford to ask what's going on. I was nice and just curious, so hopefully I'll get a response.

[Spartan]

I watched the maps proved by Duke Power, and I wish I had saved them. The power was turned back on at a fairly consistent rate in the effected areas. Duke Power, along with power assistance from Louisiana to Maryland (I saw the trucks myself) did the best they could at getting the power back on. I don't see it as the Governor's job to do anything else regarding that. I do agree that there was a definate lack of action on the governor's part in responding to this event.

[GvilleSC]

I watched the maps proved by Duke Power, and I wish I had saved them. The power was turned back on at a fairly consistent rate in the effected areas. Duke Power, along with power assistance from Louisiana to Maryland (I saw the trucks myself) did the best they could at getting the power back on. I don't see it as the Governor's job to do anything else regarding that. I do agree that there was a definate lack of action on the governor's part in responding to this event.

I don't think that the governor could do anything to get power back on, but i do think there was other actions that could've been taken in other aspects.

[GvilleSC]

The Greenville News reports that Sanford has finally done something.

[GvilleSC]

Here's the link to a Greenville News article about the lack of Upstate residents on a new board that will attract new businesses. There's apparently 7 members to be on the board and 6 have been appointed and not one hails from the upstate. A Charleston politician has yet to appoint someone, so there is still a chance... but Sanford had the chance and did not... What do yall think? Is the Upstate totally losing all of its power and representativeness (haha) in Columbia?

Upstate not on board to attract new businesses

Mack Whittle, chairman and CEO of The South Financial Group, Greenville-based holding company for Carolina First Bank and Mercantile Bank, said he hopes the new board is "not a regional thing. This is going to be a South Carolina thing."

But Whittle noted that many of the publicly traded companies based in South Carolina have originated in the Upstate.

"Of the IPOs (initial public offerings) that have occurred in the last 20 years, probably 75 percent of them have occurred in the Upstate," Whittle said.

Irv Welling, chairman emeritus of Elliott Davis LLC, the Greenville-based accounting firm, said he thinks the board should include at least one Upstate resident.

"Quite frankly, it should probably be more than one out of seven for that matter," said Welling, co-chairman of InnoVenture.

[goodbye]

That really sucks!!! Adding to what I've been saying.

[krazeeboi]

I read the article. I think it said that one very qualified person from the Upstate became a candidate for appointment from a Greenvillian only after someone else was appointed. I would hope that at least ONE person from the Upstate gets appointed, for diversity within the state if nothing else (although there are more reasons). I don't think it's an attempt to give the Upstate the finger, however.

[GvilleSC]

I read the article. I think it said that one very qualified person from the Upstate became a candidate for appointment from a Greenvillian only after someone else was appointed. I would hope that at least ONE person from the Upstate gets appointed, for diversity within the state if nothing else (although there are more reasons). I don't think it's an attempt to give the Upstate the finger, however.

I don't think I'd go as far to say that it's absolutely on purpose, but you know, I wouldn't hesitate to say that it certainly looks like a lack of thought of the region. It just doesn't come to their minds.

[krazeeboi]

I do agree that it is cause for concern. Personally, I would like to see one of the Charlotte region counties represented on that board.

[goodbye]

I find it very rediculous that Sanford showed up in person immediately after the tornado went through a county in the lowcountry, but never even gave the slightest look of concern over the devastating ice storm in the Upstate.