Governor's veto of trail bill makes Leatherman angry

Associated Press,

FLORENCE -- State Sen. Hugh Leatherman and others in the Pee Dee are angry after Gov. Mark Sanford vetoed a bill to create a commission to study whether a trail should be established to honor Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion.

"I'm terribly disappointed the governor would see to pick on the Pee Dee area down here," said Leatherman, R-Florence. "It would appear that the governor relishes and enjoys doing things that are detrimental to the Pee Dee section of South Carolina, one of the poorer sections in the state."

The bill created a commission to collect private and public money to evaluate the trail. Sanford says such a commission would be unnecessary and create "a new avenue for regional political favoritism."

Other groups in the state, and specifically in the Pee Dee, have established tourism trails by seeking state and federal grants with the help of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, Sanford wrote in his veto message. "I believe that this is a worthy project and one which will likely fare well in the grants process," Sanford said.

Leatherman, who vowed to fight to get the veto overturned, said it isn't the first time Sanford has picked on the Pee Dee. He said the governor has also vetoed money for local colleges and downtown renovation projects. Those vetoes were overridden.

"I really hope that they will remember this in the general election in 2006. Here we are, trying to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, and it seems like we get kicked down by the governor every time we make a step forward," Leatherman said.

Florence Mayor Frank Willis entered the race for the Democratic nomination for governor earlier this week. State Sen. Tommy Moore, D-Clearwater, also is running to take on Sanford.

"We don't take slaps at any area of the state," Sanford said Thursday. "We operate from the standpoint that we have to look at the state as a whole, and it was irregular to do it this particular way."

Florence attorney Ben Zeigler, an early supporter of the trail, said it is a major economic development project that could bring tourism from travelers heading to or from the beach or passing through on I-95.

"I think we are missing a wonderful opportunity for this region and this state," Zeigler said. "I think this is a bad move, and if it's not overridden, the governor will have done a disservice to this region."

Frances Marion University president Fred Carter said the project is an important effort to preserve the legacy of the school's namesake.

"We've allowed a lot of these sites to become neglected over the past decades," Carter said. "The purpose of the commission is to really focus attention and effort on these preservation efforts."

Marion was known for his daring raids on British troops during the Revolutionary War. He got his nickname, the "Swamp Fox," because he and his men would attack then quickly retreat into the Pee Dee marshes.