Opinion: Lack of Civility at Council Meeting Exposes Inhospitable Attitudes

By Greg Wilson/Publisher Anderson Observer

On Tuesday night, an unusually large crowd showed up at the Anderson County Council meeting, largely to speak out on the proposed hospitality tax.  

Proponents and opponents of the measure were equally divided in the opening citizens’ comments. During the public hearing several more spoke, with slightly more speaking against the tax. 

Council ultimately killed the hospitality tax for now. In full disclosure, I think this was a mistake, but respect those duly elected officials who made their decision. 

What concerns me is the level of incivility on display at Tuesday night’s meeting, particularly from the anti-hospitality tax camp.  

The actual issue of the hospitality tax was nearly lost in accusations and allusions to things which had less than nothing to do with the issue at hand.

There was ridicule and venom in the words and tone of many who chided council members, the same council members who had held multiple town halls, delayed the vote, and sought more public input on the tax than they did on the actual fiscal year budget for the county. Interesting that attendance and comment on the hospitality tax dwarfed citizen comments on the budget, which actually determines how the county will spend every single dime for the coming year. 

Many of the council members were attacked personally, or spoken to with great disrespect, and accused of collusive self-interest and worse. Many members looked a bit shell shocked, even those who opposed the hospitality tax, by the unsettling level of vitriol and accusation. They deserve better. 

Multiple times council was accused of attempting to “sneak” the hospitality tax by the public. This is patently untrue. The ordinance was placed on the public agenda, released the Friday before the meeting in which the first reading was held. This is exactly how every single proposal is put forth, and exactly what the law requires. The sad fact that most citizens neither attend county council meetings nor read the agenda, in no way suggests anything underhanded concerning the hospitality tax. 

During comments, there were repeated references to former Anderson County Administrator Joey Preston, who has been gone since 2008, references to violations of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (something the Patriot Act and NSA have essentially voided, but something that had nothing to do with the issue at hand), rehashing of other past events in county council history and a myriad of ramblings which had absolutely nothing to do with the hospitality tax. These folks owe council and our county leaders an apology. 

There were also a lot of financial figures put forth in these angry comments that were completely erroneous, again insinuating it was council members, not them, who were behind a campaign of misinformation. 

Is this where we have landed in Anderson County, a place where we cannot disagree on issues without resorting to playground-like attempts at bullying and catcalling? 

Council had already publicly shifted on the issue enough votes to kill the bill had already made that fact know before the meeting. 

In spite of this, someone or some group hired a company to make robocalls to many citizens received, mostly targeting older citizens with landlines, spreading misinformation and propaganda about the hospitality tax. It was so bad for Anderson County Councilman Tom Allen threaten to get an attorney in the matter. Councilman Francis Crowder, who is ill, was also targeted and finally recorded a message on his machine indicating he no longer supported the bill. 

Both Allen and Crowder voted in favor on first reading.

I am not going to get into the role of a council representative as steward, not proxy, here. I have made that clear in past columns. But clearly at least two councilmen heard enough loud opposition to change their votes without the need for the aggressive robocalls, which it is still unclear who exactly paid for last week. 

But I am going to ponder what happened to civility in public discourse. 

My family has been a part of Anderson County for at least seven generations. I was raised here, and manners were a huge part of my upbringing. “Sir” and “Ma’am” were the only way I was ever to address anyone adult. This is something still a part of my life. I was also taught to respect others, even those whom did not share my family’s worldview or opinions. I was taught that asking questions is fine, disagreeing is fine, but looking down on others, ridiculing others, is not. Name calling and high handed catcalling was surely not tolerated. 

My dad, who passed earlier this year, was well known for responding to those who put others down in his presence, including close friends, with the phrase: “Does that make you feel better?”

Such words of wisdom are in short supply these days, and obviously not just in our hometown. 

Just look at television shows, especially the cable news channels. Whether you are watching CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, or one of the networks, superficial pettiness and gossip have supplanted real news. They all put forth “experts” whose credentials are often as shaky as their opinions are uniformed. No former print journalists like Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley or David Brinkley types on the air any more. We now have pundits and scattered former politicians looking for a way to feed their need for attention and make a few extra dollars post real careers.

Bullying chefs, rude and disrespectful contest judges, attack-first talk show hosts, glib preachers, news program hosts and politicians, all seek to be among the ratings winners with their uncivil put downs of those who may not agree with their particular position.

In there better moments, most Americans are voicing concern over the erosion of civility in government, media and social media. One recent poll suggested that nearly 70 percent of Americans believe lack of civility is a major problem that has worsened during the the recent financial crisis and recession. More distressing is that nearly 50 percent of those surveyed said they were withdrawing from the basic tenants of democracy—government and politics—because of incivility and bullying. Giving up because of incivility is a sad indictment on our culture as well, and something that will not bring change.

Another survey found most Americans report they have been victims of incivility (86 precent). Their most common encounters with rude or disrespectful behavior come while driving (72 precent) or shopping (65 precent). Americans also admit to perpetrating incivility—approximately six in 10 (59 percent) Americans acknowledge that they themselves have been uncivil.

Approximately seven in 10 Americans have either stopped buying from a company or have re-evaluated their opinions of a company because someone from that company was uncivil in their interaction. Further, nearly six in 10 have advised friends, family or co-workers not to buy certain products because of uncivil, rude or disrespectful behavior from the company or its representatives. All of these reported buying behaviors are significantly on the rise. 

Nowhere is the problem of incivility more prominent than in politics with political discourse between candidates degenerating into attack ads and worse. On the eve of a presidential election, a casual look an how the two presidential candidates for 2016 are spending attacking each other than setting forth a detailed vision for America is one more sign of where we’ve come.

Which brings us back to county council. Despite all of the data, I still believe we are better than that in Anderson County. There are too many indicators that the this community to conclude that some of the venomous language of Tuesday night’s meeting reflects who we are 

But our duly elected representatives chose to vote down the measure for now. Those who disagree can privately meet with there council member with hopes of reviving the issue at a later time. Those who agree should thank them for voting in the way they preferred. This is how government should work. 

There were glimmers of hope. West Pelter Mayor Blake Sanders exhibited the kind of grace and civility and even humor. I was hoping for on both sides. Sanders explained why a hospitality tax had been good for West Pelzer and why the thought it would also be good for unincorporated areas of Anderson County. The result: the attackers turned on him and his town with snide and critical remarks.

This has always been a community that is looks out for one another. Look around any given day, AIM is helping single moms finish college and break the cycle of poverty; Meals on Wheels is serving nearly 500 seniors a hot meal; Clean Start is giving the working poor and homeless a place to wash their close, take a shower, write a resume and find clothes for job interviews; the Anderson Emergency Soup Kitchen is providing a hot meat and three to those who would otherwise go hungry; the Haven of Rest and Salvation Army are reaching out to those in desperate need; plus dozens of others including the United Way, Red Cross, Good Neighbor Cupboard, Lot Project, and numerous churches and individuals who as part of their daily life work hard to make Anderson better for their friends and neighbors. 

People are moving here from all over the world to be a part of this great community, and many of them are jumping right in to help make it a better place. 

We should all join them and these great local organizations as elements of positive change.  

Working together is one of the best ways to create more civility and understanding.

But this does not negate the truth that it is important for all to find ways to tone down the divisive rhetoric in our areas of disagreement. Such progress could lead to a new pool of qualified leaders in the years ahead who might want to serve in public office, and allow for legitimate discussion on debated issues. 

Issues which will impact our county deserve respectful, reasoned discussion from each side. That is not what happened Tuesday night, and we are all better than that.