The new billboard erected by Lexington residents to bring attention to the $30 million dollar project of town council. Photo Michael Reed
Our Lexington community stands at the precipice of change, a critical moment of decision not faced since being formed as the township of Saxe Gotha in 1735. The township was established to encourage settlement and as a strategic buffer between the upper crust of Charleston’s low country, and the uncharted wilder west heading into James Oglethorpe’s debtor work-release penal colony of Georgia.
As one looks around the state and the country, Lexington remains a new kind of buffer and a true shelter in the storm of decaying towns and cities that have followed a top-down heavy-handed recipe to failure. In all cases those cities have been a part of the national effort to “fundamentally transform the United States” from within, dating back to Washington DC policy moves in 2009 town by town, county by county. The issues extend far beyond careless mismanagement of growth and a gross lack of financial stewardship. The root issue is an ever-widening gap between elected long-term politicians seeking their next springboard to higher office and the neglected desires of residents, whom they allegedly serve.
Since graduating from high school and USC in Columbia, I have worked and lived across the USA, witnessing firsthand how government policies help and hurt communities. Unfortunately, the latter dominates in a landslide.
The examples of towns and cities in deep decline abound and the common threads of failure are clear — all in the name of “progress” and limitless tax burdens. An afternoon drive around downtown Columbia from the Vista to Five Points, and surrounding old neighborhoods built in the early 1900s, is revealing.
Is Lexington destined to become a copycat and follow in the footsteps of dense concrete inner cities like Columbia? Or will it become more like a tourist trap such as today’s Myrtle Beach, drawing many that like to “party” from all over the US and Canada? Anyone visiting Myrtle Beach over the past decades sees a clear trend from quaint small town beach community to ‘Party Central’.
Speaking to many Lexington newcomers since my return three years ago, the vast majority share a common bond with those longer-term SC residents in seeking a stable and higher quality of life. Most have sought refuge from unaffordable and growing tax burdens in “progressively”, or should I say egressively, ruled states like NY, NJ, CA, PA, MA and more. All have experienced advanced stages of decline, government corruption or arrogant disregard for taxpaying citizens.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”—George Santayana, Life of Reason 1905
So, why has this unchecked control been allowed to happen?
While most were striving to survive and get past the tyrannical lockdowns and “mandates”, state and local politicians from government to education convinced themselves that they knew best — as they raise your property taxes and millage rates and spend the incremental revenues with little regard for you. As of May, both tax increases happened in Lexington. Fortunately, the resident taxpayers are beginning to awaken and push back on the establishment political class that has grown far too comfortable.
The latest effort to bring more urban density to Lexington is the single-minded and myopic focus of the Lexington mayor. No matter what and without any confirming resident survey of needs and preferences (despite the failures of Columbia), the mayor somehow concludes that we the taxpayers need to spend at least $30Million to build a convention/conference center on Lake Murray (near Beekeeper Court and Jake’s Landing off North Lake Drive).
“Control your own destiny, or someone else will.”—Jack Welch, GE Former CEO
Is that prioritized spend where Lexington Residents would have their hard-earned tax dollars applied? Do we need a 50,000 square foot convention center that can host 5000 or more tourists, multiplying the congestion and stress on our strained infrastructure? The plan also calls for roughly 1100 new residential dwellings to be crammed into Lexington's last remaining and unspoiled part of the Lake’s “Big Water”. This density is between four and eight times greater than current town and county ordinances.
With increased pushback from residents, the Lexington Planning Committee and the County Council has shown far more balance than town council in taking a stand to manage Lexington growth responsibly. The residents seek a majority of town council to vote NO on the proposed 93-acre development annex and honor the county and lake protections in place.
The more one looks at this proposal, the deeper the alarm grows. The current and new council elected this fall has a unique opportunity to do the right thing: honor their oath of office and serve the people.
Overreach by our mayoral Commercial Developer-in-Chief to annex a whopping 93-acres continues without regard to the consequences. This proposed annexation before the council will be the #1 issue on the ballot this fall for incumbents seeking reelection and those seeking to bring fresh perspective and diverse professional experiences to the council. The choice to create another Hwy 378 and Harbison-level grid lock on North Lake Drive stands before us.
The key question remains: What do residents—the taxpayers—want Lexington to become?
All resident taxpayers are encouraged to get involved in defining Lexington today. Today’s decisions will affect us and generations to come.
What are the essential characteristics of the community — where you wish to raise your children and grandchildren, without fear of rising crime associated with a dense tourist town? Lexington is changing. Yet, people still wave in traffic or stop to chat while out for a neighborhood stroll. Do we really want to change that dynamic?
We can strengthen our unique connection to Lexington’s past and the friendly southern hospitality that our newer neighbors from New York, New England, Pennsylvania and on to California embrace. Spread the word!
The future of Lexington rests in our hands, the tax-paying residents. Not just on the whims of some members of a detached town council. Will Lexington retain its own uniquely diverse and thriving culture, or just become a suburban extension of Columbia’s unending sprawl, mismanagement and corruption? Lexington’s citizens have a vested stake in the community and will be the ones that ultimately decide – not a few people that are not representing the majority of citizens.
We can exercise our collective free will, assuring Lexington remains not only a buffer zone between extremes, but also a tremendous place to live life. A place where all can enjoy our guaranteed liberties and pursue our own unique vision of happiness.
Lexington is home. Call your council members. Join the joint county/town council meeting July 12 at 6PM at 111 Maiden Lane, Downtown Lexington.
Follow our progress at @SaveLexingtonSC and www.DLCR.org.
Greg Brewer Graduated BS Degree in Mechanical Engineering from USC in Columbia and studied International Business at the University of California. Greg has held diverse technical, operational and business development roles in large corporations such as GE, Siemens and Philips to small technology start-ups serving industrial, utilities and government sectors from the east to west coasts of the USA, in Australia and Europe. After more than a decade in San Diego and Napa, California, Greg returned to SC seeking a better quality of life and now resides in the Lexington town center to be close to his family here.
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