Tweet Mayor Bob came by the office this morning to try to sell us on his proposed ordinance to require security measures at apartment complexes. We talked for about 45 minutes. As you know, we have criticized the city in the past for trying to get the federal government to do the city’s job with […]
TweetMaking my way back through my public e-mail account, I just got to this one that Mayor Bob sent me Sunday: Brad, your editorial today about Dr. Harris Pastides was excellent. The City of Columbia and the University of South Carolina have one of the best, if not the best, town-gown relationships in […]
TweetMy latest Energy Party column has been well received, but a common complaint is that not EVERY plank of the platform was mentioned or elaborated upon. This from Mayor Bob Coble of Columbia: Brad you should add a plank in your Energy Party Platform calling for research and production of hydrogen energy including hydrogen fuel […]
TweetGoing through my e-mail from the weekend, I see this one came in from Mayor Bob Saturday: I wanted to update you on the water restrictions for Northeast Columbia. The restrictions will be the same as last year in terms of the even-odd address watering. Additionally we will limit the number of taps […]
TweetRecently, in a post headlined, "Now I know how Dr. Frankenstein felt," I mentioned that Bob Coble has enthusiastically embraced the new Saturday Opinion Extra venue. And as you probably noticed, we had a piece from Mayor Bob that Saturday. We had another one from him this past Saturday. And today, I get this message […]
TweetStill catching up on e-mail. Here’s another one that came in Wednesday, in which Mayor Bob Coble insists that while Belinda Gergel is his friend, so is Don Tomlin: Brad, I wanted to add two perspectives on the issues raised in The State this morning. First, while I supported Belinda in the […]
TweetForgot to mention this yesterday, but as one who has worked at the south end of Assembly for over 20 years, about three or four years of which (by my highly scientific estimate) have been spent waiting for trains to move — and mind you, I long ago learned every trick for getting around them, […]
TweetKeep meaning to write something about this, but haven’t had time to digest it. I’ll just go ahead and post this dialogue between Mayor Bob and our shy, mysterious brethren over at "The Pulse of Columbia." Actually, it starts out as a dialogue, but the last few messages are from Mayor Bob alone: THE PULSE: […]
TweetYou may have read this morning that Mayor Bob Coble said Columbia would not provide water service to Green Diamond, which "surprised" the developer and gratified Robert Adams and other opponents. However, Mayor Bob called this morning and left a phone message (click here for the audio) saying that "The city would provide sewer to […]
TweetMayor Bob Coble had the following perspective to add to the restructuring commission’s failure after three years to agree upon anything (this is from a Tuesday e-mail I’m just now getting to): I wanted to add a perspective on the Restructuring Commission report (I am attaching the motion City Council approved establishing the Commission for […]
TweetOur correspondent Bob Coble offers these observations on two hot city issues. First, I got this e-mail from him today about City Finances, which, as we know, have been quite a mess lately: Today at our City Council meeting, our auditor, Bud Addison of Webster Rogers, will present out 2005-06 audit. That will put us […]
TweetMayor Bob Coble paused en route to Deutschland to post these thoughts on my recent post on the flag issue: Brad, I am on a plane from Atlanta to Frankfurt for an economic development mission with S.C. Commerce. (This email address will reach me on my blackberry until Thursday). One focus of the trip is […]
Tweet “The great thing about democracy is, that in time the people get it where they want it to go, you know, and I think this movement is… we’re gonna see that happen…. The movement is HERE.” — Charleston Mayor Joe Riley,on rising public demandto address global warming By Brad WarthenEditorial Page EditorEveryone from South […]
TweetColumbia Mayor Bob Coble had sent me four e-mails (all of which I just read, since I just got back from vacation) responding to our lead editorial of July 30, which essentially said we’d love to see smoking eliminated from local bars and restaurants, but we didn’t think state law would allow a municipality to […]
TweetStill catching up on that e-mail. I got this one from Mayor Bob Sunday, regarding my column of that date. I guess Tony Blair showed it to him or something: To: <Bwarthen@thestate.com>Subject: No SmokingDate: Sunday, July 16, 2006 11:46 AM Brad, I am in the UK on an economic development mission but read […]
Tweet I won’t be, because for reasons that continue to elude me, my own long-established subdivision — which is clearly a part of West Columbia — isn’t within the city limits. So I have my bucolic existence out here in the county. Maybe that explains why we don’t have sidewalks. It definitely explains why we […]
Tweet As some of you may know I serve on the Greater Columbia Community Relations Council. We’re about fostering constructive, civil conversations about issues facing the community. As you also may know, we’ve sponsored some forums over the years on such issues as the Penny Tax and strong mayor referenda, as well as candidate forums. […]
Tweet Andy Smith came in second behind Howard Duvall in Tuesday’s voting, but “we had such enthusiastic voters” that he’s optimistic about his ability to come out on top on Nov. 17. The key, he said, is “keeping our base engaged,” and turning out people who maybe didn’t get out on Tuesday. I asked him […]
TweetAt the risk of seeming even more like a guy who thinks of himself as the Editorial Page Editor in Exile, allow me to call your attention to a second good piece on the opinion pages of The State today. You should read Rep. Nathan Ballentine’s piece promoting Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott as the […]
TweetLest you forget, Sypolt was the “Larry” in the “Larry, Moe and Steve” contest for mayor of Columbia. Here’s the news: Former deputy Larry Sypolt withdrew from Columbia’s mayoral campaign Monday and threw his support to Mayor Steve Benjamin. “I think it’s a disservice to the community for Steve and I to run against each […]