State Rep. Ralph
Norman, R-Rock Hill, thinks he did nothing wrong
in appealing to the Rock Hill City Council to
change a landscaping plan for the I-77/Dave Lyle
Boulevard interchange, which would adversely
affect value of land owned by his family's
company.
Norman made his case during the portion of
Monday's council meeting designated for
miscellaneous business. Apparently, the city,
which has been working with the S.C. Department of
Transportation for several years on how to
beautify the interchange as a "gateway" to South
Carolina, wants the intersection to have more
vegetation than Norman would prefer.
We are not particularly sympathetic to
businesses that think public rights of way should
be denuded of trees to make it easier for them to
profit from their real estate, but Norman doesn't
seem to grasp the notion that it's improper for
legislators to use political influence for
personal advantage.
If Norman doesn't understand that his threat to
lobby with DOT to kill the landscaping project
carries more clout because he's a state legislator
than it would if he were merely a developer, then
he needs a civics lesson.
This a blatant abuse of the public trust. We
hope that Norman's colleagues in the York County
delegation have the guts to say so.
IN SUMMARY
State lawmaker was out of line in threatening
to interfere with landscaping project.
We Apologize...
In an effort to provide our
readers with additional tools and features, our forums
will be temporarily unavailable while we perform
maintenance and upgrades. We apologize for this
inconvenience.
