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Web posted Monday, August
30, 2004
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Herbkersman: DNR provides valuable service to
the Lowcountry
By Bill Herbkersman
Special to the Carolina Morning News
From the House
Last week, I
attended the monthly board meeting of the
Department of Natural Resources. It was at the
beautiful Waddell Mariculture Center off Sawmill
Creek Road in greater Bluffton.
It was good
to have the entire board down here to get a
first-hand look at the fine work that Al Stokes
and his crew do at this truly world-class
facility.
I always learn a lot when I visit
with Al, but this board meeting was particularly
productive. For instance, the DNR has an in-house
climatology group that predicted the course change
of the recent Hurricane Charley well before the
National Weather Service, thereby giving Governor
Sanford ample time to mobilize.
I also
found out that the DNR response time was about two
hours, making them available on the scene of any
storm-related disaster sites hours, or even days,
before other agencies might be
engaged.
When you and I are headed away
from an approaching storm, these folks are getting
their gear together and preparing to meet the
oncoming disaster.
They are leaving their
families at those times of high stress and anxiety
and getting to the damaged sites to help others.
It is something to remember when you see these
folks going about their different
jobs.
Congressman Joe Wilson was in
Bluffton on Thursday. You might have seen his
campaign bus parked in front of my office on
Calhoun Street.
There were a good many
Bluffton folks there for a little "walk and talk"
tour of our arts and history district. The
congressman got an up-close and personal look at
what so many people are discovering: that downtown
Bluffton is one of the most interesting and quirky
cultural and shopping areas around.
If
there was any doubt about that in the
congressman's mind, his first visit to Nancy
Golson's "Eggs 'n' tricities" got him sorted out.
Nancy had a shop full of folks, but she still had
time to share a few minutes and conduct a tour of
her free-form experiment in Bluffton
economics.
The walk and talk then proceeded
up the street to Amos Hummell's indoor/outdoor
workshop/gallery.
Time constraints allowed
the tour to make it only as far as Babbie Guscio's
Store and the new furniture outfit, Coastal Chic,
across from Babbie's.
Congressman Wilson
and his entourage, which included my friend
Councilwoman Starletta Hairston, were expected at
another event.
In a little over an hour and
a half, we had a pleasant social time, during
which we managed to discuss some of the issues
which are of interest to all of us - roads,
infrastructure, and affordable
housing.
What may have looked like a simple
and superficial campaign event was, in fact, a
chance for representatives from local, county,
state and the federal governments to walk and talk
without a set agenda or too many preconceptions or
expectations.
We made progress in the area
that, in my view, needs the most work, and that is
communication. An hour and a half is not a lot of
time, but it was productive time, with all of us
learning some things we needed to
know.
What I want each of you to know is
that I am here for you. My office is a conduit,
not only to the state level of government, but to
the federal level as well. When you need us, we
are here. Another reason it's called the House of
Representatives.
Bill Herbkersman
represents District 118 in the South Carolina
House of Representatives. He can be reached
through his Web site at www.herbkersman.com or by
telephone at 757-7900. He is assigned to the
agriculture, natural resources and environmental
affairs committees.
Other state
lawmakers are:
Sen. Scott
Richardson, R
District 46
52
North Calibogue Cay
Hilton Head Island,
S.C. 29928
610 Gressette
Bldg.
Columbia, SC 29202-0142
(803)
212-6040
SR1@scsenate.org
Committee
assignments: banking and insurance, general,
judiciary, rules and
transportation.
Sen. Clementa C.
Pinckney, D
District 45
P.O. Box
300
Ridgeland, S.C. 29936
613
Gressette Bldg.
Columbia, S.C.
29202
(803)
212-6056
CCP@scsenate.org
Committee
assignments: agriculture and natural resources,
corrections and penology, finance, medical affairs
and transportation.
Rep. R. Thayer
Rivers Jr., D
District 122
P.O.
Box 104
Ridgeland, S.C. 29936
532D
Blatt Bldg.
Columbia, S.C.
29211
(803) 734-3073
Committee
assignment: judiciary.
Rep. JoAnne
Gilham, R
District 123
21 Dune
Lane
Hilton Head Island, S.C.
29928
326C Blatt Bldg.
Columbia,
S.C. 29211-1867
(803)
734-2977
JG@scstatehouse.net
Committee
assignment: education and public works and
rules.
Rep. Catherine Ceips,
R
District 124
1207 Bay
St.
Beaufort, S.C. 29902
326A Blatt
Bldg.
Columbia, S.C. 29211
(803)
734-3261
ceipsc@scstatehouse.net
Committee
assignments: medical, military, public and
municipal affairs.
Rep. Walter P. Lloyd,
D
District 121
102 Rearden
Lane
Walterboro, S.C. 29488
(home)
549-5026
(fax) 549-1281
(office)
549-7586
434C Blatt Bldg.
Columbia,
S.C. 29211
(803)
549-5026
WPL@scstatehouse.net
Committee
assignments: education and public
works.
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