Kirby, Dowling vie for Florence County Council District 4 seat

The race for Florence County Council’s District 4 seat is heating up as Republican Betty Dowling, a Florence School District 4 board member, is challenging incumbent Democrat Mitchell Kirby.

Dowling said she thinks the amount of frivolous items passed during the incumbent’s time on the council speaks volumes in a time of economic troubles.

“(To pass) a leisure tax to benefit the elite, to (be able to give them) a museum, when people are paying $4 for a gallon (of gasoline)?” she asked. “It is just wrong.”

Dowling said she thinks government should be run as the “people’s business.”

“It is the people’s business and we are the servants for the people,” she said. “It’s just high time for the good ol’ boys’ days to be gone. It’s a representative government. People need to select people who they know are going to represent them.”

Dowling said she thinks her experience on the school board will be an asset to the district’s constituents because she knows what they want.

“I think the people of our district deserve better representation than they have gotten,” she said. “(County council operates with) the people’s money and we need to never forget that.”

Kirby said he thinks the local government has done a great job of boosting Florence’s economy.

“We come up with a plan to enhance economic development and, through it, we got companies like Monster. com, Heinz, Honda, Johnson Control, QVC and many others,” he said. “Right now, we’re in the best shape we’ve ever been financially.”

Kirby said his 16 years on the council have been productive ones.

“We have a plan to start an industrial park in our district and that’s why I’d really like to, in the next four years, to see that come to fruition,” he said. “We’ll keep doing what we’re doing and go out searching for prospects, these companies will see that and want to come here.”

Kirby said that during his tenure, he voted to help fund the Timmonsville Rescue Squad.

“Timmonsville Rescue Squad won the No. 1 rescue squad in the state this year,” he said. “We’re getting a new library in Timmonsville that won’t cost the taxpayers a dime.”

Kirby said he thinks his time as a councilman has taught him how to work toward changes in the community.

“When (my constituents) call me, they know that we’ve got a trust base going on,” he said. “There has to be a relationship of trust between council members, senators, representatives, foundations and my constituents.”