FLORENCE -- More than a hundred people lined up in the parking lot of Agri-Supply in Florence for a chance to talk with Gov. Mark Sanford one on one Thursday afternoon.

Sanford's hour-long visit represented the first of his "Neighborhood Office Hours" stops. Neighborhood Office Hours is a variation of his "Open Door After 4" program during which he meets with citizens in his Columbia office to discuss any issues they may have.

Sanford decided to take the policy on the road by visiting various communities in the state.

One of the people who waited to speak with the governor was Tamra Floyd, a state employee who drove from Clarendon County to tell Sanford about her problems dealing with the state employee's health insurance program.

"I've been fighting the insurance system for two years," Floyd told Sanford as she handed him a packet of information on her insurance woes. "I'm going to put it in your hand now, and I want you to do something about it."

Many of the visitors just wanted to stop in and say hello or have a photo taken with the governor, but many had specific topics they wanted to discuss.

"I wanted to complain about the roads," said Joanna Wood of Florence, who spent about three minutes with Sanford. "When you hit the South Carolina state line, the roads immediately get worse. I want to know where the tax dollars go."

Most of the issues discussed dealt with problems people have with state agencies, which was fine with Sanford.

"It's a venue for me to hear what's on the minds of the people," Sanford said. "Someone who's just shopping here at Agri-South can come up to me and tell me what's on their mind. It's unencumbered and it's not filtered. They really tell me what's on their mind, and that's why I do it."

Sanford said he chose to hold the first of his Neighborhood Office Hours in Florence for a reason.

"The light-hearted answer would be that my chief of staff (Francis Marion University President Fred Carter) is from Florence," he said. "But the serious answer is that the Pee Dee in particular has some serious issues, and the area doesn't have the economic power to deal with some of those issues. That's why I needed to come here first."