BY GREG HAMBRICK
Reprinted from Charleston City Paper

Serving as either an ugly indicator of voter apathy or a ringing endorsement of the status quo, only three of the 13 races for the state House of Representatives will be contested in this November’s election. The winners will have a few months to rest, but work in January no doubt will center on weeding through the financial mire left in the last-minute approval of the 1-cent sales tax hike to pull school district operations off local property tax bills in 2007.

The one good thing about the confusing tax “solutions” is that we can actually move on to something else. Other themes candidates are highlighting include recent upswings in violence in the area and the ever-present question of controlling growth. Eminent domain, healthcare funding and the money for roads, including the lion’s share of the bill for the extension of U.S. 526 from Savannah Highway to the James Island Connector, will continue to be issues for the legislature. Regardless of who’s in the governor’s mansion, there likely will be legislative efforts to get more public school kids in private schools and a restructuring of the governor’s cabinet.

Platt vs. Scarborough – District 115

A self-professed environmental radical, Democrat Eugene Platt supports tourism and the revenues it brings with it, but says transplants are cramping his Lowcountry style. As everyone starts huddling around the coast, the challenger for the House District 115 seat says he sees a bleak future.

“It’s almost as if many elected officials and business leaders are doing their best to emulate Atlanta,” he says of continued development in the region. “By doing so, they’re destroying the qualities that have made the Lowcountry such a wonderful place to live.”

Companies granted incentives should be forced to hire more than 75 percent of their crew locally and not transplant workers here, Platt says, and individuals hankering for the benefits of coastal living should consider a change of heart about landlocked America.

“There are places inland that are nice places to live, too,” he says. “Nashville. Omaha. Des Moines. Nice places. People should be encouraged to stay there.”

He supports plans to fund school operating costs from Columbia as opposed to using local property taxes, but he takes issue with state plans to hike the sales tax a penny to pay for it, preferring an increase in the income tax instead.

“There seems to be a misconception by the legislature that the sales tax can be a panacea for all of the state’s needs,” he says. “It’s regressive, impacted heaviest upon those that can least afford to pay it to begin with.”

A supporter of charter schools, Platt opposes the voucher and tax credit programs that have been proposed by Republicans that would benefit private schools.

“Until all public schools are brought up to a minimum level, it would be inappropriate to syphon off public money,” he says.

On the proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot in November to ban gay marriage and the benefits of marriage to same-sex couples, Platt takes the conservative point of view that marriage is threatened. Considering himself a progressive kind of guy with friends that have a different sexual “preference,” Platt says that his religious beliefs and those of his district support limiting marriage to heterosexuals.

Republican incumbent Wallace Scarborough refused to comment for this article. The three-term incumbent has faced accusations recently by his wife in divorce filings that he had an affair with a fellow legislator.

Platt refuses to comment on the allegations, but questions a reference to Scarborough denying the affair in The State newspaper in early September. The accusations by Scarborough’s wife come with photos, phone records, and testimony from a private investigator.

“My opponent has a problem with honesty,” Platt says. “I challenge him to either admit that he lied about the affair or, alternatively, to give his constituents some convincing evidence that the allegations are untrue.”

Eugene Platt (D, working families)

Age: 67 Residence: James Island Family: Two children, a grandchild Education: Bachelor’s from the University of South Carolina, graduate study at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. Job: Retired from U.S. government Political Experience: James Island Public Service District Commission since 1993 Website: www.voteplatt.com

Wallace Scarborough (R-Incumbent)

Age: 47 Residence: James Island Family: Two children Education: Bachelor’s from The Citadel Job: Atlantic Coast Life Insurance Co. Political Experience: State House member since 2001

Article continues at Charleston City Paper