State lawmakers should let local officials make local decisions

Published February 3, 2006

Home rule just doesn't work for Phil Sinclair.

The Republican lawmaker isn't willing to let the Spartanburg County Council make decisions for the county, despite the fact that this is the body elected by the people of the county to do so.

Sinclair was not elected to make county decisions. He was elected to represent the views of his district as they pertain to state law.

But he and many other lawmakers see themselves as the overseers of local governments. They believe they should have the ability to veto any local moves they don't like.

So Sinclair has introduced two bills this week that would interfere with the county's negotiations with Waste Management Inc. in locating a new regional landfill on the southern edge of the county.

The council hasn't decided whether the landfill would be good for the county. It doesn't know whether the deal would be worthwhile for the county's people and economy. It is still negotiating to find out what kind of deal it could make.

But Sinclair knows. He has already decided. He declares that the landfill is only a method for Waste Management and Spartanburg County to make money in the trash business. Sinclair knows that the county doesn't need to make money. It can always just take it from county residents through higher taxes and fees.

Sinclair also declares that a landfill can't improve the competitiveness of Spartanburg County.

That's not true. If the landfill can reduce tax rates, and the county can guarantee waste disposal at a reasonable rate to businesses that locate in the county, a landfill certainly can increase the county's competitiveness.

But Sinclair has made up his mind, and he is determined to take this decision away from the authorities elected to make it.

He has introduced two bills that apply only to Spartanburg County. And he has introduced two bills that would apply to the way the entire state handles landfills.

He should withdraw the bills that apply only to the county. This kind of legislation shouldn't be considered by the General Assembly.

Let lawmakers debate the bills that apply to the whole state, the bills that would change the way South Carolina permits landfills.

If there is a problem in the state system, it is the job of state lawmakers to fix it. It is not their job to pre-empt and veto the actions of local officials.

User Comments

Add your comment now.

My beef
My beef is with the author, not Sinclair.
- COUNT Dracula

---

Re: Well I'm stumped
Count....Point well taken!!!
- enoreedad

---

Well I'm stumped
"(Sinclair) declares that the landfill is only a method for Waste Management and Spartanburg County to make money in the trash business."
I guess you think digging a big hole in the ground and dumping trash in it from all over our state, and others, is a beautification project? Of course it's about money, moron, and a lot of it. Why else would Waste Management a) be willing to offer the county millions; and b) be willing to fight so hard? And perhaps you can get someone to read your own newspaper to you, you know, the one in which David Britt said he wanted to use the MONEY to do away with the vehicle tax?
- COUNT Dracula

---

Phil Sinclair is "Honorable"....
I wish that the four trashmen who sit on Spartanburg County Council were worthy of that title as well. Mr. Editor, it grieves me to no end that this rag called the Herald-Journal is so biased when it comes to its opinion on the new proposed Waste Management landfill. To launch a diatribe such as this towards a man that is trying his best to prevent an economic and environmental blight from taking asylum in our fair county is pathetic and unneeded. WHAT YOU SHOULD BE DOING IS REPORTING THE NUMEROUS DOCUMENTED CASES OF ENVIRONMENTAL INFRACTIONS THAT WASTE MANAGEMENT HAS INCURRED ALL OVER THE UNITED STATES. Now there's a news story!
- enoreedad

---

State lawmakers should let local officials make local decisions
But... if his bill passes, that means most lawmakers thought his was a good idea. He and others probably wouldn't feel the need to get involved in county business if more people had confidence in the sitting county council. We don't need to kid ourselves. This new landfill proposal may in fact, be located geographically in one county, but it will affect the state in many ways.
- ~Jim

---

Don't get the Herald-Journal delivered to your home? Click here for a special offer

©2006 Spartanburg Herald-Journal | Staff directory