Copying
Costs —
Oppose any legislation that would limit the definition of actual
cost of copies to the prevailing commercial rate for such copies in
the locality where copying is performed. H.3895 ignores staff costs
for researching materi-als, ignores that county resources that may
be dedicated elsewhere are utilized in FOIA requests, and ignores
several obvious differences between the cost of responding to an
FOIA request and the cost of running a commercial copying
enterprise.
Internet
Communications
— Oppose legislation that restricts county officials’ use of
internet communications.
Non-Exempt
Public Records
— Support an amend-ment to § 30-4-50 of the Freedom of
Information Act to provide that non-exempt public records are
available for inspection by the public. However, a public body is
not required to create or provide non-exempt records when there is
a reasonable belief by the public official that the public records
will be used for commercial solici-tation.
Recording
of Public Meetings
— Oppose legisla-tion that would require any meeting of a public
body closed to the public be recorded on continu-ous audio or
video tape and maintained by the public body for a period of two
years after the meeting. Support open meetings and public access
to information. H.3896 would undermine the concept of executive
session.
General
County
Veterans’ Affairs Offices Funding — Support legislation
that would direct state funds appropriated by the General Assembly
for the benefit of County Veterans’ Affairs offices be sent to
the county treasurer for distribution to the County Veterans’
Affairs office.
Countywide
Local Telephone Calls — Support countywide local calling.
Such a change would allow residents anywhere in the county to call
their county seat -without receiving a long-distance charge.
Home
Rule Issues
Autonomy
of Elected Officials — Oppose any legislation that would
make county elected offices autonomous from county council.
Financing
County Services County-wide — Oppose any legislative
attempts to undermine the ruling in Davis v. Greenville County
in which the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld the
constitutionality of uniform tax levies on all county residents,
including those county residents living in municipalities-.
Counties have maintained that all county residents, regardless of
location, should share in the funding of county services.
Internet
Access — Support the right of each county library board to
decide which internet policy is best for its own county public
library system.
Regulation
of Fireworks — Support legislation to allow counties to
regulate the use of fireworks in dense-ly populated unincorporated
areas.
Intergovernmental
Relations
Annexation
– Minimum Services/Adhesion Contracts — Support more
stringent requirements for annexation and legislation that would
prohibit "shoe-string" or "strip" annexations
and " freeze" the accommodations and local-option sales
tax formulas in place prior to an annexation. Oppose adhesion
contracts for annexation in the provision of municipal water,
sewer and other services.
Consolidation
Act Amendments — Enabling legislation concerning the
consolidation of local governments should be amended to delete
provisions allowing municipalities and special purpose districts
to opt-out of the consolidation process.
Donut
Annexation — SCAC has no position on donut annexation.
Minimum
Services Package for Municipal Incorporation — To avoid
cities that exist on paper, but that do not provide customary and
traditional local government services, state law should be amended
to require certain minimum services that a proposed municipality
must be prepared to provide should it incorporate.
Office
Space for State Agencies — Strongly support legislation that
relieves counties of the obligation to provide office space for
state agencies over which the county governing body has no
oversight or control. To this end, SCAC encourages regionalizing
-state agencies with the state funding all office space necessary
for its employees, or in the alternative, the reimbursement of
county expenses should the state continue to use county office
space.
Special
Purpose Districts — -Support an amendment to the SPD
dissolution act to change the number of signatures needed on a
petition to 15% and require simple majority approval in an
election to approve a dissolution.
2001-2002
County Government and
Intergovernmental Relations Steering Committee
James A. Coleman, Chairman
Laurens County Council
County
Representatives/SCAC Board:
James Glover, Orangeburg County Council
Alonzo Harrison, McCormick County Council Chairman
Colin Martin, Dorchester County Administrator
Clarence McRae, Dillon County Council Chairman
E. Timothy Moore, Jr., Barnwell County Council
Chairman
Steven D. Murdaugh, Colleton County Council
Chairman
Thomas E. Smith, Jr., Florence County Council Chairman
Ernest G. Trammell, Laurens County Council
Frank E. Williams, Jr., Sumter County Council
Chairman
Thomas Woodham, Lee County Council Vice
Chairman
Ronnie Young, Aiken County Council Chairman
SCAC
Board Members
Bob Cook,
Greenville County Council
Polly C. Jackson, Lancaster County Council
Chairman
William L. McBride, Beaufort County Council
Alzena Robinson, Bamberg County Election
Commission and
Economic Development Commission
Robert c. Weaver, Jr., Calhoun County Veterans'
Affairs Director
Roland H. Windham, Charleston County Administrator
President's
Appointees:
Anne Ayer,
Dorchester County Personnel Director
Curtis E. Baggett, McCormick County Veterans’
Affairs Director
Stuart Bedenbaugh, Aiken County Registration and
Elections Director
Hoyt Campbell, Darlington County Registration
and Elections Director
Beverly T. Craven, Charleston Clerk to Council
Sally Davidson, Marion County Library Director
William A. Frick, Chesterfield County
Administrator
Linda N. Gilstrap, Anderson County Clerk to
Council
Hubbard W. (Donnie) McDonald, Jr., Marlboro County
Attorney
Dwight McInvaill, Georgetown
County Library Director
SCAC Staff Contact: Tim Winslow
The
responsibilities of the County Government and
Intergovernmental Relations Steering Committee include
issues involving the structure of county government and all
matters dealing with intergovernmental relations between
counties and county officials and the federal, state and
municipal governments. Also included in the responsibilities
of this committee are issues related to health and human
service delivery and financing. Specific areas of concern
include home rule authority, consolidation of political
subdivisions, elections, ethics, personnel, indigent health
care, indigent legal services, veterans' affairs, libraries,
local DSS and health boards.
|
