GPATS likes to spend your money

On Monday, Greenville Occupiers attended the GPATS (Greenville-Pickens Area Transportation Study) meeting at County Square in Greenville, South Carolina. The only good thing I can say about it: they had donuts.




Ostensibly, we had come to support Joel Ann Chandler, the woman whose business (Mauldin Open Air Market) is currently under attack by the South Carolina Department of Transportation.

SC-DOT (under the auspices of the mysterious GPATS) is currently engaging in a naked land-grab scheme, attempting to steal a goodly section of her already-small parking lot, using Eminent Domain. The time and money spent on all these hearings (where Joel Ann always has supporters present) seems to be no object; they appear determined to go forward. And yet, they invariably table her specific concerns until the next meeting.

It seems they prefer to grab someone's property when the victim isn't sitting right there; it unnerves them to steal it while the public is looking.

Joel Ann has repeatedly attempted to find out what's going on and why they want her property so badly. Various movers and shakers are buying up the property around Mauldin High School (across from Joel Ann's market), and future subdivisions are in the works. Obviously, this whole land-grab scheme is crucial to these plans, and the sacred TURN LANE (which will shave off most of her parking lot) will be necessary for traffic management after the subdivisions are built. But right now, the extra lane is unnecessary. Thus, they are planning on taking significant areas of her property in PREPARATION for what the money-men have planned for the neighborhood. It is NOT about what's going on with the traffic-flow right now.

WHO, then, IN PARTICULAR, is agitating for the turn lane, and why won't they name themselves? And what connections might they have to the individuals sitting on the GPATS board?

In short, why is GPATS doing the dirty work of the real estate interests who expect to make money off the subdivisions? Do they serve the people, who love Joel Ann's market that has sold local produce to the community since forever (the land has been in her family since the 20s)... or do they serve the special interests (real estate, banks, lawyers, construction companies, property owners) that expect to make money off the future subdivisions?

Well, that is certainly an interesting question, in light of the meeting. I had never been to one of these, so it was educational.

GPATS has lots of projects going. LOTS. And some of them are fairly obvious to me. Fairforest Way, for instance, is the home of the local UPS hub. It is also the main road leading to Cavalier Drive, home of Christ Church Episcopal School, where the affluent kids of Greenville are educated. Thus, Fairforest Way rates a big road project. Our tax money is therefore paying to maintain a main thoroughfare for wealthy private-school kids and staggeringly-wealthy private-industry. How many of Greenville's citizens will this road actually serve? Is this ethical? And still another project will insure ICAR has good access roads, since of course we all know Clemson's partners in this endeavor, Microsoft and BMW, can't afford to build their own. (Link to GPATS pdf file detailing these projects)

At left: David Thomas, glad-handing the citizenry at the GPATS meeting.


Besides that, all of these roads-projects have hefty price-tags--millions of dollars earmarked--with little discussion. In fact, make that NO discussion. There was no itemized list of costs presented to this board, packed with Republicans and chaired by Head Teabagger, State Senator David Thomas, a shyster-politician who thoroughly believes in living off the beneficent state.

I thought Republicans didn't believe in squandering taxpayers' money? (No, I have never believed that either, but that is the okeydoke they put out.) So, how about an itemized list, detailing exactly where these millions of greenbacks are going, and an explanation of why THESE particular road-projects have been given precedent over others in poorer neighborhoods? Did they submit these projects to a public bidding process, to insure the cheapest bid? Who knows? GPATS works in secret... the board is composed of many elected officials, but how did they get appointed to GPATS? We counted about two dozen board-members, all white men, with one black woman and one white woman, period. (Now, who decided on THAT?) There are plenty of elected officials they could have asked to be on the GPATS who aren't white males, but perhaps they don't know any? How is one for selected for the GPATS board?

Who decided this board was the Alpha and Omega of the roads projects in Greenville County? How did this rather shadowy group of politicians get put in charge of millions of dollars, as well as the power to steal a private-business-owner's property? Most local citizens I have talked to, did not realize GPATS was calling the shots instead of the SC Department of Transportation.

Yes, this is the way politics in the South works, mysteriously and behind-the-scenes, by way of the Old Bubba Network.

And it sucks.

~*~

During the meeting, my Consigliere rose and made some rather forceful public comments about the demographics of the GPATS board not matching up with the demographics of Greenville County. He wasn't too popular.

We also listened to a rich woman's lawyer talk about saving her property from one such intrusive road-project, by installing a "modern roundabout," and we then watched a little video about the roundabouts, which keep traffic moving and save energy and so on. GPATS board member Jim Burns immediately said it was a good idea... and by my calculations (noting the map where this rich woman's property is), I figured out that Burns is her County Council representative, so he knows which side his bread is buttered on, as my grandmother used to say.

Can we trust this process, coming from a board with no electoral oversight? (Chaired by a man who famously says one thing and does another?)

I realized, this ongoing abuse of Joel Ann is merely the tip of the iceberg, and GPATS, responsible for allocating millions of dollars, has plenty to answer for.

Like, who are they? Who decides which projects get priority? How does one get on the GPATS board? Is there a bidding process? If not, how do they decide which companies get these plum contracts?

We can start there.

~*~

We will be discussing GPATS and other interesting local politics on my radio show Saturday morning, so stay tuned. WFIS radio, 9-10am, 1600AM and/or 94.9FM in upstate SC. To listen via your phone: 724-444-7444, Call ID: 112747#

We would especially like to hear from GPATS board members, as well as folks who have had dealings with them, up close and personal. TELL US ABOUT IT! Studio phone line: 864-228-WFIS which is also 864-228-9347.

And please support the Mauldin Open Air Market, where last year I met the legendary Country Earl! They have the very best, fresh, locally-grown peanuts in town.

Money war marks Eastside council race

Below--an article about my neighborhood. Which of these guys is the "good" guy? Consider first, it is a given that a Republican WILL win the seat, which Republican is telling the truth? (Or does that fact that both are Republicans mean that neither can possibly manage that?)

Money war marks Eastside council race

By Ben Szobody • STAFF WRITER • May 5, 2008 • GREENVILLE NEWS

A Republican money battle is taking shape in the bustling Eastside County Council district where political newcomer Brad Medcalf is challenging one-term incumbent Jim Burns on one of the county’s fundamental debates — how to handle growth.

Burns’ support of a tree conservation law, a countywide growth plan and traffic impact studies for new development has drawn both the ire of some developers and the praise of emerging resident groups formed to fight what they consider ill-suited construction projects.

Medcalf said Burns hasn’t adequately dealt with growth-related problems like traffic congestion, and that he’ll make personal property rights more prominent in the growth debate. He ran unsuccessfully for the county’s independent Planning Commission last year with the support of local homebuilders.

Included in Medcalf’s first-quarter fundraising report: 39 donors in development-related businesses, contributing a third of his $22,950 total haul, according to contribution forms filed with the state Ethics Commission.

Medcalf had more than 130 donors total, which he said is a sign of diverse support from people mostly within the district. He said he’s now at more than $30,000.

Burns’ contribution list for the same period totaled $2,000 from three donors — Rescom Construction, Erwin and Nancy Maddrey and Velda Hughes — though he said this week he was just getting started and now has more than $30,000 in total contributions.

Burns said he’s not surprised at Medcalf’s totals, because he said developers have told him that they intended to fund an opponent.

"I don’t think District 21 wants another politician who’s deep in the pockets of developers," Burns said.

Medcalf said he can’t help who contributes to his campaign out frustration with the incumbent, and that Burns’ own fundraising invitations have shown a preponderance of downtown Greenville supporters from outside the district.

Burns said more than half of his contributions as well as the people on his "host committee" come from inside District 21.

At stake is the relatively small council district straddling interstates 85 and 385 and including Woodruff, Pelham and Garlington roads — all sites of recent high-profile zoning disputes pitting major developers against highly organized citizen groups.

On Medcalf’s first-quarter donor list: developers Chris Hack and Ron Johnson, builders Rick Quin and Jeff Johnson and real estate professionals Keith Schemm, Paul C. Aughtry, Gordon Seay, Johnny Flynn, E.F. Dupree Jr., Al Hagood, David Dempsey, Greg Huff, C. Dan Joyner Jr., Matthew Carter, Philip Wilson, Reggie Bell, Gordon Gibson, Reba Bahan, Jon Good and Hunter Gibson.

Lobbyist Susan Hoag, project manager Greg Garvey, contractors Stewart Watson and Tom Henderson, engineers Larry Kendall, Robbie Compton and John Rollins, architects Ron Geyer, Ed Ziegler and Jack Rincon and several real estate, development or construction firms are also listed.

Also listed are 19 retirees, 16 in finance or insurance-related businesses, 10 in the medical industry, six attorneys and six in sales, according to his report.

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