Why vote for Alex Saitta?

Dear Editor,

Why vote for Alex Saitta? I have known Alex since he moved to Pickens. He has a genuine love and concern for the welfare of the people of Pickens County.

Alex fought to keep our small schools open and voted against their closing. Anyone who says any different is a liar.

He has the financial expertise required for this job. The other candidates do not.

Alex is a Christian and a kind, caring man with good moral character, which is very important as well.

Alex regularly attends and speaks at county council meetings and has been heavily involved in the issues and standing up for us. The Hagood Mill issue is a good example. I also attended that county council meeting, where more than 100 citizens gathered to protest county council’s actions regarding Hagood Mill. I, along with other Hagood Mill volunteers, was highly offended by Wes Hendricks’ remark that night when he said that we are all volunteers there. NO! The volunteers give their time and energy month after month, year after year, with nothing to show for it except the satisfaction of doing what they love!

I urge you to consider the candidates. Do they have the financial expertise required? Do they have good moral character? Do they have the knowledge and wisdom required? Alex Saitta definitely does!!

Jo Ann Gilstrap Brewer

Pickens

 

Gravely up for challenge on council

Dear Editor,

Pickens has been my home for more than 45 years. I graduated from Pickens High School in 1974 and left the area days after graduation; I had come to realize that working at the local plants here in the community would not provide me a permanent place of employment.

My mother, Jessie Lee, and aunts, Shirley Mae and Nancy, all worked for more than 30 years and retired from Mayfair, Fairhaven and Ryobi. I knew I wanted to try something different.

Following my husband (Fletcher Perry) to different military bases for more than 20 years gave me the opportunity to visit many places and meet people that I would have never imagined.

But coming home to the people of Pickens was never in question.

In the years since my return, I’ve had the opportunity to meet and work with a diverse group of women who have shown their friendship to me and their love of Pickens through service and volunteerism.

Debbie Gravley is among these ladies. I am proud to know her and — having worked with her personally for years — I’m excited to support her run for election to Pickens County Council District 3.

Past writers to this page, who do not know Debbie, have suggested that an absence of opinions on social media somehow make her non-present in Pickens. Nothing could be further from the truth. Her ability to build relationships and her in-person energy for the tasks that require doing in our community are exactly the kind of leadership we need on a county level.

We face many challenges in Pickens County, and Debbie Gravely — a woman of exceptional character — is up for that challenge. Respectfully, I request your vote support for Debbie Gravely on Tuesday, June 9.

Lynn Perry

Pickens

In support of Saitta

Dear Editor,

I met Alex Saitta at a Pickens County School Board meeting.

I was very impressed with his knowledge and ideas. We developed a friendship right away.

He is a family man who is against wasteful spending and is exactly the kind of God-fearing conservative we need on the county council.

Joseph Nealey

Pickens

Gravely vote a vote for the future

Dear Editor,

I don’t know about you, but I’ve spent as much, if not more, time in front of my computer in the past six weeks than I think I ever did before I retired from Cannon Memorial Hospital.

It seems that FaceTiming with our grandkids and connecting with friends over email and social media is the only way to “see” those we love in the age of coronavirus.

As a career professional in medicine, I recognize the importance of social distancing. We owe it to our health care workers, our vulnerable populations and our vital first responders to stay safe by limiting contact as much as possible until we can get this virus under control.

A smaller frustration that has come out of this crisis has been seeing how underperforming our technology connections are in Pickens. I can’t tell you how often my wife, Kay, and I have remarked what a shame it is that simple phone and computer communications with our loved ones are cut short because of a poor internet connection.

Then, when we think about local teachers and SDPC students, their parents and really anyone who lives in Pickens and is trying to work remotely, it’s obvious that a lack of reliable internet is more than a frustration for many. It’s a liability that puts learning and working and economic prosperity at risk.

District 3 Pickens County Council candidate Debbie Gravely’s campaign to expand our fiberoptic networks and improve internet access in Pickens comes at just the right time, and that is why I will be voting for her on June 9 in the Republican primary election. It’s past time we correct the internet inadequacies in Pickens County, and Debbie Gravely is the only candidate we hear talking about a solution. A vote for her is a vote for the future.

Norm and Kay Rentz

Pickens

Gravely understands Pickens

Dear Editor,

I’m writing to encourage everyone who loves Pickens and is proud to call this incredible place “home” to vote for my good friend Debbie Gravely in the Republican primary election on Tuesday, June 9.

My business puts me in contact with people from all over North America, and I’ve traveled extensively in the western hemisphere. I’ve found our area of Pickens County to be really quite special.

Debbie understands Pickens and what it takes to make Pickens the best it can be. As a former board member of Alliance Pickens, I recognize that if people are looking to invest in Pickens’ future, Debbie Gravely is the candidate they should support.

Debbie has been a friend and contributor to our community for two decades, and the Gravely name is highly respected in Pickens. Things that are important to Debbie are things that are important to most of us: protecting our abundant natural resources, growing our small businesses and making the right changes with and for the times, keeping our community competitive, looking ahead and planning for the future so that our children can also be successful and raise their families here.

Debbie is energetic, resourceful, creative, personable, hardworking and successful.

She has my vote!

Justin Winter

Pickens