To The Editor:
Like most small communities in the south, we enjoy Friday night football, coffee at the local diner, and politics in the church yard after Sunday morning service. As a community, Dillon has much to be thankful for. It is the perfect spot to live, work, worship and raise a family. Sometimes we take these things for granted because we just expect our local government to provide services and protection to make all this possible. Our local government excels in creating and maintaining a thriving community. But let’s not forget who is behind our local government. It’s our government employees and elected officials. Almost always our local officials serve selflessly while sacrificing their time and energy to make sure out community continues to prosper. Most of them don’t serve for power, fame or monetary gain. They simply serve to make sure our community is the best it can be. Dillon has been blessed in the past and present with many officials who give everything expecting nothing in return. As any well-functioning government, our officials often debate, disagree, and even argue. At the end of these discussions or debates they always come together with a solution that benefits our community.
In the last couple of years Dillon has been placed in the spotlight because of the Inland Port located in our community. We get a lot of publicity statewide. Some good, some not so good. The not so good publicity is what really bothers me. As a citizen of this community, I take offense when an outside publication targets one of our officials and writes a one-sided article. Like any small community in the south, if you want to know a person’s character you simply ask. If an outside publication truly wants to be a watchdog over local government, they will need to do a better job researching all the good these officials do before they print such tabloid-like articles. The citizens of Dillon refuse to let respected leaders in our community be disparaged because of opinion pieces targeting broader issues. Dillon is strong, Dillon is proud, and our reputations still mean something here. We will not let unfounded character attacks sway our trust in our local leaders. As a citizen, I would like to thank all our local officials for their continued service. Our faith in their leadership has not waivered.
Tally McColl
1305 North 24th Avenue
Dillon, S.C. 29536