OPINION: Florence City Council's beach retreat a bad idea

The Florence City Council took a retreat to Myrtle Beach and spent more than $5,600 during a budget year in which the mayor is asking to raise taxes. Having the retreat out of town qualifies as poor judgment and a lack of common sense.

Why would city leaders push for an out-of-town bonding experience when the city needs every penny for more police officers and a new fire station? Mayor Stephen J. Wukela has proposed a tax increase to pay for the hiring and construction.

All Florence City Council members were in favor of the retreat they took Feb. 25-27. It cost $5,632, Florence City Manager David Williams said. Department heads also attended the retreat at the Marina Inn, which offered the city special off-season rates,Williams said.

Wukela said Councilman Billy D. Williams came up with the idea for the retreat at the beach. Williams said council members deserved to treat themselves to an out-of-town retreat because they are part-time employees who work full time serving Florence. But isn’t that something all other elected officials should consider before they seek office?

Wukela said the retreat was hardly relaxing, though.

“I will say that we worked frantically down there, and there was no down time,” he said. “We worked through lunches and everything else.”

Yet, council members only got through 11 of the more than 20 items on the retreat agenda during the retreat, necessitating marathon follow-up special meetings in Florence.

“No doubt it took money to go on the retreat, but I think you risk being penny-wise and pound foolish if you try to save money at the expense of not having everybody up to speed on important issues,” Wukela said. “Everybody on council agreed that we needed to do this and it was worth the time.”

While we don’t doubt the retreat itself was necessary and a valuable experience, we question city leaders’ decision to conduct it so far out of town, surely increasing the expenses incurred. Contrary to at least one council member’s beliefs, members of city council do answer to the people they represent and are expected to explain their actions.

Lake City City Council members have traveled out of town to hold budget retreats; this year, in light of the recession, they spent a weekend meeting at the city’s senior center.

The city has options that are closer and less costly. One site could have been the meeting rooms at Florence’s Drs. Bruce & Lee Foundation Library. Another option is the education center at the city’s Surface Water Treatment Facility, at Pee Dee Touchstone Energy Commerce City near S.C. 327 and Interstate 95. In fact, Florence City Council met at the site in May to discuss items they didn’t cover during the retreat.

“We come out here because we can get away from the constant interruptions at the (Florence) City-County Complex,” Williams told the Morning News last month. “This is just a good place for us.

“When we built the surface water plant out here, we built this education center in here for exactly this type of event. We open it to other groups, too. We feel we can be more productive in such a setting.”

If the education center is far enough from the everyday distractions in city offices why wouldn’t it be good enough for a retreat during such a tough economic time?

“We needed to get together and it was a little more difficult to do it here in town because of the interruptions,” Councilman William C. “Bill” Bradham Jr. said.

“The new members coming in and others wanted to get away so that there wouldn’t be any interruptions,” Councilman Steve Powers echoed.

We find Powers’ stance surprising with his reputation as a staunch proponent of Florence businesses. Why not support the city’s facilities and supporting businesses, such as Florence restaurants, by holding the retreat in town?

“I can’t justify to the taxpayers why we had a retreat at the beach,” Councilman Buddy Brand said. “I can justify what we got done, but we could have gotten the same amount done right here locally. I was one voice of concern who said we need to have it locally.”

“The bottom line is we wanted to establish positive communication on the front end,” Williams said.

It doesn’t speak well for the city or its leaders if they feel they can’t accomplish that in Florence.

— Unsigned editorials represent the views of this newspaper. Editorial board members are Mark Laskowski (regional publisher), James Bennett (regional editor), Sam Bundy (sports editor), Kimberly Ginfrida (news editor), David Johnson (regional circulation director), Charles Tomlinson (Lake City News & Post editor) and Jackie Torok (metro editor).