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Web posted
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
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Guest column: Gilham: I'm keeping promise
By JoAnne Gilham
Special to the Carolina Morning News
Voices of Carolina
Today, I am notifying my supporters, colleagues and friends that I will not be seeking re-election to the South Carolina House of Representatives in the fall elections.
This decision will disappoint some and even anger others, but I do so with a clear conscience even as I understand their reactions.
When I ran for the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1998, I believed I could make a difference in state government by representing my constituents from a citizen's point of view rather than a politician's point of view.
Together with those who have supported me, I believe we have done that.
Also in 1998, a term-limits advocate asked me to sign a voluntary term-limit public pledge promising to limit my service to a six-year term. Believing in term limits, I readily did so.
In hindsight, I now realize that was a naïve but well-intended decision made on an inexperienced perception rather than with an understanding of the operation of the state Legislature.
State government is quite different from Congress, where elected representatives are full-time public servants. At the state level, districts are represented by citizen-legislators, most of whom have full-time jobs and many of whom commute from their districts to Columbia daily during legislative sessions.
This fact alone tends to reduce the negative issues about which term-limit advocates in Washington have rightly expressed concern.
In state government, as in Congress, elected officials work within a system based on seniority. The reality is that it takes several years to establish oneself, become educated with both the system and the issues and gain an ear to be heard by other representatives.
In this regard, term limits are counterproductive to the electorate and I personally would not now support a candidate running for the House on a term-limits platform.
Over the past five years I have worked hard building relationships on both sides of the aisle, attending many committee meetings and hearings to better understand all sides of the issue at hand.
I've always tried to stand for what was best for all people in this state and to do what was right, rather than what might be politically expedient.
In 2002 I was asked to serve on the House study committee as well as the governor's task force for the Department of Motor Vehicles reform. In 2003, I was appointed chairwoman of the Subcommittee for Motor Vehicles with the Education and Public Works Committee.
The DMV Reform Act was our first piece of legislation. That piece of legislation, as well as the .08 DUI legislation that I sponsored, was signed into law last year.
There is still much work to be done and increasing seniority would enhance my effectiveness not only for Beaufort County but also for the state.
This past session I was gratified to see results from all the hard work. Now I have to come to grips with the fact that I gave my word that I would not serve more than six years. For those distressed by my decision not to run, I have gone back to the term-limits advocate to whom I made the pledge, explained my present views on the subject and asked to be released from my 1998 commitment. Not unpredictably, the request was considered and declined.
The overwhelming advice from those who knew about this was to publicly admit that I had made a mistake in 1998 and let the voters decide. That made sense on the face of it, but in my heart there was no peace. Could I now go back on my commitment that I made years ago because I now considered it unsound? I also had to ask if this would best serve a public already highly skeptical about the commitments of those serving in public office.
As I searched for an answer, Proverbs 3:5-6 came to mind: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 11:3 reminded me, "The integrity of the upright guides them ..." and I Thessalonians 2:4 also came to mind: " ... not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts."
In my heart, I knew that as much as I desired to continue to serve, as much as I love my job as the representative of the people of Hilton Head Island in Columbia, and as much as I would like to follow the advice of those who support me, my sense of what the word of God says must prevail. Without a release from my commitment, I could not offer for re-election to the House of Representative in 2004. Though with regrets, I am at peace with my decision and ask for understanding on the part of those who have supported me.
I truly have been touched by the many expressions of support in Columbia and on Hilton Head Island. I count it a great honor to have served my district and my state. I trust in the future there will be other avenues of service in which to give back to my community a portion of what it has given me.
The author, state Rep. JoAnne Gilham, is a Republican from Hilton Head Island who represents District 123. She submitted this statement on Tuesday.
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