Who's minding the store?

What on earth are our city officials thinking about when they arrange for buses to go through neighborhoods, horse or otherwise, to show off the sights to the tourists as if we were in some kind of zoo for alien beings?

What blinders do they wear when they fail to see that their greed for dollars is destroying the very quality of life they are advertising to others? Why does the Department of Parks and Recreation hustle tourists to the city, when instead they should be protecting the city from the invasion of literally hordes of tourists, newcomers, etc., who have descended on Aiken?

Yes, we have a lovely city. Yes, it has gracious residents. Yes, it is nice not to have to drive 20 miles to get a good dinner. But my heavens, how many times a week must I eat out? How often do I need to shop for anything in the mall?

Surely, there has to be a limit to the gross sprawl that is killing the very beauty of our city. (I think I can fairly call it 'our city'. Although not a native, I have lived here 42 years.) The traffic lines on Whiskey Road frequently extend from the Odell Weeks Center all the way to Lowe's. It often takes three changes of a traffic light before a car in line can get through that light to the next light.

I have heard city officials, after they returned from travel to large cities such as Pittsburgh, say that traffic here is not bad compared to there.

Well, duh! I don't want to live 'there'! And I surely don't want 'here' turned into 'there'!

Part of the problem is that we have people supposedly serving the city or county, but instead, they are serving their own interests. We have developers on County Council and City and County Commissions who do not have the interests of Aiken citizens first and foremost. Instead, their pocketbooks and commercial customers are the major influence on their decisions.

Now, this last is fine for their businesses, but it is a severe conflict of interest and should be grounds for dismissal. At the very least, however honorable the individuals are, they should recognize and admit that they are serving two or more masters and that the citizens of Aiken are coming in a far last in that regard.

So here are a few proposals:

(1) Change the name of the Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce to the 'Greater Aiken Chamber for Community Life'. The present 'Mission' of the Chamber does include the phrase, "enhance the quality of life," but it seems that focus is solely on the business community instead of all aspects of living in the community.

Delete "vibrant" from the Chamber's current 'Vision', which now reads, "People living and working together in a vibrant and prosperous community." A dictionary defines 'vibrant' as "pulsing or throbbing with energy or activity." Living in Aiken should not be like attending a rock concert. Please take the 'pulsing and throbbing' elsewhere.

Change the first priority of the Chamber from its present, "Advocate business interests in public policy ..." to instead "Advocate community interests in public policy ... ." Advocating business interests without simultaneously considering all interests of the community is fundamentally wrong.

Eliminate the Chamber's priority that now focuses on marketing Aiken. Step back and start to think seriously about how that marketing is changing this community.

(3) Do not renew any business license for a company that has a restrictive clause in their lease that could prevent anyone from subsequently using the building;

(4) Prohibit anyone from serving in a city or county public office in any capacity for which they have a conflict of interest; and finally,

(5) Adopt a constitution for the City of Aiken that establishes some principles of operation that protect Aiken as it is now. We can't go back, but we surely don't have to continue on this self-destructive path.

John Church
Aiken