Sunday Alcohol Sales in Seneca; it is time for a vote.

What is something the City of Seneca could do that has the potential to accomplish the following?

• Increase Hopsitality Tax revenues
• Attract new businesses to the City
• Increase business license fee revenues
• Increase the 'quality of life' for its citizens
• Help revitalize the City's downtown
• Provide employment opportunities for its citizens

Allowing restaurants the option to sell alcohol on Sunday's has the potential of accomplishing all of the above!

There is a provision in South Carolina law that allows registered voters in a community to vote on a referendum on whether or not to allow licensed establishments the option to sell alcohol on Sunday's.  In order to get this referendum on the ballot you must have ten-percent of the registered voters sign a petition or have City Council approve an ordinance to put the referendum on the ballot.  Either of those things would put the question to the voters in the next general election (November 2nd, 2010).

Petitions allow its citizens to over-ride their elected officials.  However, trying to get ten-percent of the registered voters to request a single referendum is very difficult, especially when you consider that we barely can get twenty-percent of the voters to vote for seven candidates for City Council.

The second option to get the referendum on the ballot is to have City council vote to put it on the ballot. That would seem simple enough. City Council could allow the citizens to vote on whether restaurants should have the option to sell alcohol on Sunday's or not.

When I inquired to several City Councilmen why they haven't considered voting to put the referendum on the ballot in November, I was met with replies like 'we are too busy with other matters right now' or 'I have received phone calls on this matter...' or 'it would never pass'.  When I hear those remarks it makes me think of the Wizard The Wizard of Oz.

It seems there is a Wizard somewhere in Seneca hiding behind a curtain, pulling a lever that causes lightning to appear and thunder to roar.  Smoke billows out of nowhere and a loud voice is heard over speakers that cannot be seen by the naked eye.  Well, it is time we pull the curtain back and expose the Wizard.  I suspect we will find a small, balding, meek person who fears anything and everything.  It is time to have a dialogue with the Wizard and to invite him or her into the discussion of 'why not' give restaurants the option to sell alcohol on Sunday's.  Why not let the citizen’s vote on it!

And yes, I would gain financially from this Sunday Option.  So would my family and so would my employees and so would the City of Seneca and its residents.

The selling of alcohol on Sunday's has the potential to bring tens-of-thousands of dollars into the City's treasury and increasing the quality of life of its citizens.  We compete with other cities every day for peoples discretionary spending dollars.  This Sunday option would be one more tool in our tool box to help us get those discretionary spending dollars spent in our city and not down the road somewhere.

It's time to pull the curtain back. It is time for a vote!

Why I lost the election

Why

What motivated me to write this entry was a patron of The Spot asked me a few weeks ago why I did not get elected to City Council in the March election.  He had been drinking. And so had I.  The answer to his questioned seemed so obvious to me.  I told him, being a serious as I could, "the other folks running against me received more votes than I did".

He laughed and so did I. 
Then he said 'really, why didn't you win'.


Really

About twenty percent of the eligible voters voted in that March 2010 election, that worked out to about eight hundred voters showing up at the polls.  Of the eight hundred, or so, folks that showed up, twenty-five percent of them voted for me.  Not bad.  But to win I needed fifty percent to vote for me.The biggest problem was name recognition.  Sure I had signs out, stickers stuck on a few cars, signs in a few downtown businesses, but other than customers of the Spot, no-one who was eligible to vote knew who I was.

In this election there was no televised debate (not that anyone would have watched it).  As a matter of fact there was no debate at all.  There was a twenty minute radio interview and the newspaper printed  answers to some questions that the paper asked all the candidates. And of course, nobody listened to the radio show, or read the newspaper article. There was no effective way for a newcomer to get their name recognized.  And that is true of any newcomer.

The best way to have a shot at being elected to City Council is to hang your hat on someone who has name recognition.  If I would have sat down and focused on getting other council members, who already have name recognition, to support me I would of had a chance.

We were electing four council members in this election.  So as a voter, each one of us could cast four votes.  Well, most voters, generally speaking, personally knows one person that is running for one of the open positions.  The other three candidates that the voter votes on are recommendations from the candidate they already know!  In other words, people who did know me would come up to me and say 'I am voting for you, but who else should I vote for?'

BINGO!

That is the trick...to get more votes that the other guy.

Thanks for your support, see you in about twenty months!

Radio Interview with Chad Dorsett on WSNW

You can download and audio file of my interview with Chad Dorsett that aired March 4th. The interview is about 30 minutes long and will help to give you an idea where I stand on several issues. Thanks for listening!

https://www.yousendit.com/download/RmNBZUNwMHdTSUFLSkE9PQ

Seneca Journal asks the candidates questions.

Below are the questions that the Journal posed to all the candidates and my unedited answers.

1.       What qualifications make you the best candidate to represent the citizens of Seneca?

With over thirty year’s professional experience as a Certified Public Accountant, Chief Financial Officer, business consultant and business owner, I am used to dealing with diversity successfully. I believe I possess a unique skill set that sets me apart from the other candidates.   I have a unique perspective and unique skills that would help the balancing of wants and needs with reality.

2.       What do you feel are the most important issues facing Seneca?  How would you tackle those issues?

In this economic climate, we are facing the same problems as municipalities across our state and across our nation.  Businesses are closing, people are losing their homes, their jobs, and most of us don’t have the money to spend like we used to.  These realities will have a negative impact on the city’s tax base and on the city’s revenue in the foreseeable future.  Knowing that revenues will decrease, we need to be proactive with our budgeting, cutting away any unnecessary spending, and staying ahead of the downturn in revenues.  I know from years of experience, if we are proactive, keeping our gun powder dry, we will emerge from this a stronger, more competitive municipality with a great future.

3.       In the last two years, the city has raised millage once and kept millage the same once.  In this financial climate, how important is it to you to keep taxes low?  How is your opinion affected by the state cap on millage?

It is imperative that there be no new taxes or any tax increases in the city.  If you join council with the mindset that ‘well, we can always raise taxes to increase revenues and balance the budget’, then that is exactly what you will do, raise taxes to increase revenues and balance the budget.  If you go into council with the mindset that there will be no new or increased taxes, you will find innovative ways to save money, be more efficient with the resources you have and you will focus on raising revenues by enticing new businesses and residents into the city.

4.       What would you do to help Seneca experience positive growth while maintaining budget stability?

Positive growth will come by creating demand for our city. We need to maintain our exceptional police and fire departments. Continue improving the parks and recreational opportunities in the city.  We need to continue, and increase the promotion of the city through family friendly events.  We need to increase parking, make the city more pedestrian friendly.  One of the most important things we need to do is improve our city’s web site, which is the gateway to the city.   Many of these projects can be paid for through the hospitality and accommodations tax.

Doing these types of things will have a positive impact on growth and produce an increase in revenues to the city and help provide budget stability.  People will want to relocate here; business will want to open here.

5.       What would be your spending priorities?

I would like to put this question of ‘spending priorities’ aside for now and rather ask what my ‘saving priorities’ are.  I believe in zero based budgeting which means every year we start with a clean sheet of paper when budgeting spending for a department, rather than working off of the prior year budget and merely adjusting spending for inflation. The budgeting process should preserve or improve the current level of services the city provides to its citizens. Now that we have saved taxpayers’ money, what do we do with the savings?

There will always be multiple projects on the table that are vying for the limited dollars available.  Each project needs to be rated with the question; how is this expenditure going to help the city grow and improve the quality of life for its citizens.  The project that scores the highest mark gets funded.

6.       What role, if any, should the city play in planning and development beyond its current boundaries?

The city should be involved in what is going on around it.  We are not an island.  There is no doubt that the area around us will see increases in population, manufacturing and service jobs, tourism and in commerce.  And we need to continue to position ourselves to take advantage of that growth by offering a great downtown area, a beautiful historic residential area, the finest police and fire departments with the area’s best offerings in parks and recreation.  We have great neighborhood schools, we have it all!

So yes, it is in the City of Seneca’s best interest to be involved in planning and development beyond our boundaries.

7.        What is the biggest challenge the city faces going into the next decade?

We need to quit living in the past.  Preserve the historic past, but we need to focus on the future of our city, now!   Ask yourself “what has changed in the city in the last decade”?  Are you going to be happy with another decade of the same?  I am not.  We need to have a sense of urgency about everything we do. And we need to realize that people have choices where they set up their households, or where they set up their business, or where they relocate.  Our mind set has to change.  No new taxes, become business friendly, respect current property owners and business owners by making sure their neighbors respect their rights!

The biggest challenge we face in the next decade is ourselves.  We have too much going for us in this city to let this great opportunity slip away.

8.       What can be done to fill more vacant storefronts in downtown Seneca?

Get the government and the bureaucracy out of the way of the investors, the entrepreneurs and the risk takers!  It takes over thirty days to replace a broken storefront window because you have to get permission from a committee.  This kind of bureaucracy is not conducive to attracting new business.

Make it easy for developers to develop. Keep neighborhoods and commercial areas clean with stricter ordinances; especially in regards to condemned or abandoned houses and buildings.

Most importantly keep the cost of doing business lower than other municipalities.  You can’t force a business to locate here; however, you can entice them.

Can you say bureaucracy?

Do realize that the property owner of this building had to have permission to replace a broken window?

No kidding. 

The window was broken during a wind storm and it was prohibitive to replace the broken window as one single pane of glass like the original. (The original window was the same as the window on the right side of the picture shown here, the new windows are on the left side of the same photograph.) So, pictures were taken, reports were filed in triplicate, signs were posted letting the citizens know that a window needed to be replaced, legal notices were served with the appropriate agencies with more reports filed in triplicate.  The committee was notified in writing that someone wanted to replace a broken window.  First class postage was affixed to the committee reports and mailed to the appropriate members of the committee assigned to protect the integrity of the 'hisoric district'.

The meeting time was set.  The committee took their seats towering above the citizens.  It was now time for the decision of the committee.  "Could the building owner replace a large broken window with two smaller windows?"   After some discussion, questions were asked of the clerk by the committee members (the owner of the building was not present, I believe he had more important things to attend to, therefore the clerk answered the questions that would have been addressed to the owner). The questions of the clerk were answered.  The decision was made.  Yes, you may replace your broken window.

This goes on all too often.  What a waste of time, money and human resources!

I have a couple ideas to end this insanity.  Force members of City Council to attend all committee meetings, Council then might appreciate the bureaucracy they are creating. Secondly, it is obvious everybody on City Council has way too much time on their hands when they have nothing better to do than create this kind of bureaucracy, so let's reduce council to six members from the current eight, thus eliminating some of their dangerous free time. (That would also save over $10,000 a year, take those savings and on an annual basis reward our most productive and effective employees with a bonus.)

Your comments are appreciated!

"The road to ruin can often be paved with the best of intentions. "

One of the quickest and most efficient ways of improving our city is by encouraging the private sector to invest in our community.  Often times government inadvertently, and with the best of intentions, does things that discourages the private sector from investing in our community. Private sector investors are looking for a community with stability, good infrastructure, low taxes and a government that welcomes investment and appreciates the risks that these entrepreneurs take.

Several years ago, with the best of intentions, the city began the process of preserving certain historical sites and structures in the community.  The simple notion of protecting certain historical sites and structures grew into a claim that 'all' structures in a certain area needed to be preserved in a fashion determined by the city government.

The pictures above depicts a house before and after a private investor invested time, money and energy into restoring a neighborhood eyesore.  An eyesore that surely was dragging down real estate values in the neighborhood.  You would have thought that a responsive government would have awarded the investor with a plaque commending the investor for helping improve the neighborhood.  No, that was not the case.  The investor that took that eyesore and turned it into a beautiful residence was rewarded with a 'stop work' order issued by the city.  Do you know why he was ordered to stop work on the project?  Because the siding he was putting on the house was not approved to be used by the rules contained in the documents protecting the 'historic district'.  

Lawsuits were filed, a jury pool was selected, time and money wasted.

In the end the investor was able to finish the home with the siding he had chose.  The silly rules which tell you what kind of windows you can put in your home or business are still in effect.  The rules that tell you what kind of siding you can cover your residence with are still in effect.  The silly rules are in effect in areas of the city that are about as historic as me!  Yet houses are boarded up, with windows broken, trees growing through wooden porches.  But dam the investor who tries to reclaim those structures!

Let us encourage private investment in our community!  Get the government the hell out of our way!

Like the quote says 'The road to ruin can often be paved with the best intentions...'

T. M. I. (Too much information)

Have you ever visited the City of Seneca’s web site?

If you haven’t check it out at www.Seneca.SC.US

Now that you have seen it, what do you think?

Well, let me tell you what I think.

First, the web site is the door to the City for people that haven’t been here before. It should tell people what we are about and why the visitor to the web site wants to come here to live or visit. It is the least expensive marketing tool the City has to promote tourism. It is an effective and inexpensive way to promote events, local businesses, and promote the area in general.
Secondly, it should be a place where the citizens of the City can keep up to date with City government. A place where you can review budgets, review the income and expenditures of the City. It is a great place to let the citizens learn what their government is doing.
I suspect that one reason the web site is so un-informational, is because of the adage ‘too much information (tmi) can be dangerous’ to the citizens. The web site is important, much like town squares used to be a century ago. It should be a place where people can get useful information about the community they live in. A place where strangers can learn about us and the community we live in. A place where people could register to receive e-mail or text alerts to general information or to information about emergencies. Updating the web-site should on the top of someone’s to-do list.
I suggest this is one place we need to spend money, possibly from the Hospitality and Accommodations tax the city is collecting.

What do you think?