LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Rick Woodard changes Florence for better

By: Dear Editor: | SCNow
Published: June 05, 2008

In this election cycle we have been inundated with the catchphrase “change.”

Rick Woodard has been changing Florence for the better for the last 14 years.

Consider these accomplishments. Florence has balanced its budget for 14 consecutive years. The property owners of Florence have enjoyed over $62 million in property tax relief.

Downtown Florence has experienced steady revitalization with the construction of the Drs. Bruce & Lee Library, the nearly completed Florence Little Theater and the imminent groundbreaking for the Francis Marion University Performing Arts Center.

In addition to these educational and cultural improvements we will all enjoy the new Florence Trail System, which will touch nearly every corner of our city.

Rick was instrumental in the creation of the Florence Stockade Trail and Memorial Park. We will soon enjoy the opening of the Florence Veterans Park. The trail system will also expand on the fitness trails already in place and enjoyed by thousands.

Rick has worked to develop the city’s vision for a “green” Florence.

With the upcoming upgrades in our water and sewer services and the development of our trail system with an emphasis on green space Florence will become a model for progressive cities throughout the Southeast.

Florence has also prospered economically.

We continue to remain a retail and manufacturing hub. Economic development in the form of new manufacturing and distribution centers as well as expansion of our retail base doesn’t happen by accident. Economic development is attracted to communities which have a pro-business atmosphere and recognize the need for public amenities as described above.

Florence has changed for the better during the 14 years Rick Woodard has served as our at-large councilman.

And, most remarkably to me, this was all accomplished without a single general increase in real property taxes.

Mark Buyck III
Florence