‘Worst nightmare’

It was not the opposition to potential annexation that made last Wednesday’s anti-Tryon spectacle so ugly. It was the tone set by some of those leading the attack. Neighbors setting neighbors upon neighbors.

After all, until the rumor surfaced that the Town of Tryon might want to enlarge its borders, in and out all shopped, went to church, volunteered and visited on the sidewalks of a beloved hometown together. All mutually share the village of Tryon, and without it community life in this corner of the county would dry up.

Yet, at the first hint that Township neighbors might be asked to help support the village – with money! – in-towners are painted as the electors of an “evil regime trying to foist its outrageous debt load off on others.”

Tryon’s reasonable debt is simply the financing of longterm assets which all of us in the region enjoy. Few of us can buy a house, an asset we expect to enjoy for decades, in one lump payment. The Town of Tryon, almost bankrupted some years ago, has had its financial house put in order by the current administration.

No one likes to pay taxes, but reasonable people acknowledge the benefits of civilization. Why do you suppose the settlers incorporated towns? Some even donate to improve civic life. Thus the purely mercenary self-interest expressed by anti-Tryonites was disheartening, to say the least. No one even knows what might be the finances and benefits. Specifics have not been discussed.

Did even one anti-Tryonite ask what’s best for all of us and the town our forefathers founded? What would Township homes be worth if Tryon became a ghost town?

If specific annexation proposals are ever made, arguments against, and for, should be offered in a spirit of goodwill and neighborliness. Not like this: In a blazing glory of pettiness, one neighbor vowed to become “Tryon’s worst nightmare.” Welcome to our village! – JB

Columbus well-served by Rhodes

Polk County and the citizens of Columbus are losing a top notch government professional a week from Friday.

Since 2002, Glenn Rhodes has put his many years of solid government experience to work for the Town of Columbus. Rhodes had worked as a town manager before, and had served as a member of the Isothermal Planning and Development Commission staff, administering grants and advising regional governments.

Still, Rhodes was hired in Columbus as a town administrator. As such, his assignment was only to “oversee operations,” without any real authority over the town work force. A similar form of municipal government is still in place in Saluda, where each commissioner supervises a portion of town operations – water and sewer, police, streets. It can work, but can also be disastrous when politicians start manipulating simple business functions.

The Columbus Town Council in 2004 wisely opted to use Rhodes’ talents more fully and upgraded the position to town manager, the same form of government used in Tryon. Rhodes has improved Columbus’ financial standing, working with council to correct a deficient fund balance. Furthermore, his contacts and knowledge have enabled the town to take advantage of low-interest loans and grants for its water and sewer projects.
There are always some who think that government functions should cost next to nothing, and begrudge paying a professional’s salary. But a professional, like Rhodes, can actually save taxpayers money, many times over.

This is particularly true for Columbus today, a busy, fast-growing town, where new developers come knocking every week, it seems. Just keeping up with Columbus Commons, The Sanctuary and The Promontory is nearly full-time work. Here’s hoping Columbus can find another professional of the same calibre as Rhodes, whom we wish all the best in his new position with the state. — JB

Barriers at state border

Border counties, like Polk, Spartanburg and Greenville, need to foster cooperation to optimize their prosperity.

Leaders from border counties across a three-state region gathered in Asheville last week to discuss a UNC-Chapel Hill business school study that looked at the barriers to economic success caused by political borders: physical systems disjointed, regional leaders not interacting, chambers of commerce not collaborating, political leaders competing. Conferees discussed a strong business case in which collaboration can be better for all.

N.C. Sen. Walter Dalton (D-Rutherfordton) suggested N.C. and S.C. might develop interstate agreements. Ideas included reciprocal tuition agreements that might allow WNC students to attend USC- Spartanburg, or Clemson and Landrum students to seek out UNC-Asheville. Industrial properties – at least in certified parks, of which Polk has none – could be jointly marketed.

The Upstate S.C. Alliance board already says it wants to extend its industrial site marketing across the border “to better reflect the regional economy.”

Upstate S.C. and Western N.C. are one economic region. We share employment, commuter patterns, utilities, media markets. It was always thus. In the past, Spartanburg textile mills recruited mountain workers, and built Lake Adger to power their plants. Howard Gap Road, just at the base, once provided hospitality for hog drovers resting up before heading home, back up the mountain.

Excursion train proponents have already asked Clemson to study the corridor that connects Asheville to Greenville-Spartanburg, I-40 to I-85. After last Thursday’s conference, Polk economic development director Kipp McIntyre is also helping to form a Mid-Atlantic, Southern Regional Collaborative. It is a pioneering effort for the patient of temper, but one that can bear fruit over the next 50 years. — JB