No quick answers to our community problems
What is going on in our world? News of the assault on nearly retired Clerk to Clarendon County Council Betty Pritchard hit the Citizencommunity hard. How can this go on in our peaceful, friendly and “safe” community?
At the Citizen, we’ve grown to know Betty well over the years. She has been the gatekeeper for the County Administrator for nearly as long as I can remember. She has been fiercely loyal to the administrator and very diligent in her work.
A very upset County Administrator Bill Houser was struggling to conduct important and necessary County business Monday morning. He asks that we keep Betty and Pete Pritchard in our prayers.
What could she have done that would have deserved the beating she endured early Monday morning? I bet it was just being at the wrong place at the wrong time. This is just not right.
Saturday night our new marketing pro Donna Pack Krepps had just gotten off the phone talking to a friend as the clock approached midnight.
She heard the sound of a saw like it was coming through the wall of her new house just outside Manning. She called 911. Law enforcement responded quickly and the vandals who were attempting to steal her air conditioning unit ran off leaving a power saw, blood and fingerprints. I hope they get caught and quickly locked up.
There have been many other encounters lately that are very unsettling in our community.
I do not fault law enforcement for these problems. It’s much bigger than they can handle. For the most part, all they can do is respond. They can’t be everywhere at every moment of the day.
We’ve just gone through our local government budget process. I believe our money is often spent wastefully at the Federal level. But on the local level, our precious dollars are, more often than not, spent wisely and frugally. We could always spend more on law enforcement, but there seems to be a fair rationing of the resources at both the municipal and county level.
If this is true, then what is the answer? What do we need to do to stop this senseless crime on our citizenry?
Our community’s problems seem to be bigger than any of us can handle. So what do we do?
We need to change society as a whole. We need to jumpstart Todd Heldreth’s character education project. It’s a shame it didn’t start until it was too late. If people lived by the 12 principles that Todd dedicates his life to teaching, the world would be the safe, peaceful and friendly community we desire it to be. We need to spread Todd’s Character Education to all corners of the world.
We need Rev. George Windley’s Manhood/Womanhood training to be taught to all God’s children, black, white, rich, poor, etc.
We need Judge Bobbie Reaves Drug Court to get expanded. Prison is not the answer to all the drug problems in our society. Education, awareness, love, support and opportunity for a better life is the answer in many cases.
My gut tells me that a drug problem was related to the vicious attack on Betty Pritchard Monday morning.
I know there are other initiatives out there that will have a long-term positive effect on our society’s ills. In the meanwhile, we as a community have to become more proactive in combating these leaches who are sucking the life out of decent society.
If you see something wrong, call law enforcement. If you are working alone late at night in downtown Manning/Summerton/Turbeville/New York City, call law enforcement to check out your surroundings before you leave. I know they would rather check out a potential situation rather than respond to the aftermath of a crime.
It’s time for the good people to stand up and say, “Enough is enough” and really mean it.
