The Friends of the Aiken County Historical Museum are excited to present “Opera & Broadway in Banksia,” a fundraiser for the museum on January 27. This intimate musical performance will feature Cristina Fontanelli & Friends.
Cristina Fontanelli is a well-known personality through her recordings, her appearances on TV, radio, in concert, nightclubs, and opera, and through her acting debut on network television. She has sung title roles with the Palm Beach Opera, the Cairo Opera, Opera of Hong Kong, the NY Grand Opera, NJ State Opera, and the Opera of the Hamptons.
Cristina is a guest artist with many prestigious orchestras, including the Boston Pops and the St. Louis Symphony, performing in major concert halls throughout the U.S. and the world, including the Lincoln and Kennedy Centers. She has completed three world tours with the Mantovani Orchestra. A listing of some of the popular “giants” she has appeared with include Tony Bennett and Joel Grey. Cristina’s beautiful soprano voice has taken her to the White House as part of President Clinton’s holiday celebration and Cristina was invited to open the ceremonies at the Stars and Stripes Inaugural Ball for President George W. Bush.
She has appeared as a PBS-TV/NY affiliate host for Andrea Bocelli’s “Live From Central Park” also starring Celine Dion and Tony Bennett; for the “Il Volo Takes Flight” special; Vienna Boys Choir and Qi Gong PBS-TV Specials. Please join Cristina plus world-class tenor and pianist friends for a night of dramatic singing in history.
Tickets can be purchased at achmfriends.org/events. There is a $75 General Admission ticket with a cocktail reception and a $100 VIP ticket with reserved seating, a champagne reception, and a meet & greet with the performers.
The Friends of the ACHM is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. All proceeds from this event will benefit the Museum’s educational programming, artifact preservation, and exhibits development. (Text taken from the Facebook event page)
2026 UPDATE: This year’s Aiken Camellia Show will be held on Saturday, January 17, 2026 at the First Presbyterian Church at 224 Barnwell Ave. NW from 1:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Want to attend or enter a bloom? See full details here.Now for a bit more about camellias, the Aiken Camellia Show, and why you should go. But first, this disclaimer.
Disclaimer: I am no expert on camellias or camellia shows, just an enthusiastic bystander and child of the South, where one picks up a few things. Please let me know if there are corrections to be made.
About Camellias
The two most commonly grown camellia species in our area are Camellia sasanqua (native to southern Japan) and Camellia japonica (native to China, Korea and Japan). Both are evergreens and faithful, cool-season bloomers. As a rule, sasanquas tend to have smaller leaves, and they bloom earlier, beginning in autumn. The japonica, which is generally more prized by camellia fanciers, tends to have larger leaves, and it blooms later, beginning in early winter. The japonica makes a fine cut flower, whereas many of the sasanquas tend to drop their petals faster than you get them into a vase. Depending on the variety, a camellia may bloom for one to three months or longer.
Above: Sasanqua ‘Setsugekka.’ A lovely, long-blooming shrub that scatters a festive confetti of petals onto the lawn.
Above: Japonicas hold their petals and will stay fresh-looking for days. This is a japonica ‘Lady Laura’ from my brother’s garden.
There are hundreds of camellia species and thousands of camellia varieties, or cultivars. We have three camellia species in our yard — sasanquas, japonicas, and a single sinensis, the latter of which is the source plant for green tea and matcha. Throughout autumn, the sinensis produces dozens upon dozens of small, cream-colored flowers utterly laden with pollen. A single blossom can occupy a bee for several minutes collecting bundles of pollen.
Between the three species, we have about two dozen cultivars in our yard. Some sound like they stepped off either the society page or a Clue game board — Marie Bracey, Professor Sargent, Marjorie Magnificent, Mrs. Charles Cobb, and Dr. Tinsley. Others have more descriptive names, such as Yuletide, Alba Plena, Debutante, White Empress, and Taylor’s Pink Perfection.
Above: An arrangement of my mother’s favorites. Dr. Tinsley is at the center, surrounded by (clockwise, starting at 1:00) Marjorie Magnificent, Herme, Marie Bracey, Mrs. Charles Cobb and Professor Sargent.
Once you become acquainted with camellias, it’s impossible to have just one favorite among the many cultivars. Two of my longtime favorites are Dr. Tinsley (an intriguing beauty that exudes a mysterious, sweet nectar), and the perfectly decorated, pink, rose and white Herme, which was said to be the favorite of author Eudora Welty. There are always new favorites to discover, which is one of the many delights of attending a camellia show.
Life for a camellia in Aiken is about as close to heaven as it gets, between our warm and humid climate, our temperate winters, and the acidic soil. Plant camellias in an understory of pine trees, and they will reward you with a lifetime of relatively carefree growth and a long bloom season of colorful pink, coral, rose, red and/or white flowers ranging from delicate, graceful and ethereal, to showy and festive.
Above: In our yard, the sasanqua ‘Yuletide’ blooms from October to December. Unlike many sasanquas, a cut flower will last several days in a bud vase
About the Camellia Show
The earliest camellia show in our area may have been an Augusta show that was hosted by the Sand Hill Garden Club in 1932. Annual Augusta camellia shows commenced, which drew Aiken Garden Club members and other camellia fanciers across the region who vied for ribbons, silver bowls, and best bloom awards. Local camellia show attendees of that era included well-known Aiken names and garden club legends such as Phelps, Wilds, Henderson, Salley, McLean, Crosland, and Woolsey.
The very first Aiken Camellia Show may have been the one held by the Aiken Garden Club in 1934 at the home of Mrs. Robert H. Wilds on Hayne Avenue. Additional shows were sporadically held by various garden clubs over the next 20 years until 1954, when the shows became an annual Aiken tradition.
This year marks 70 years of the annual Aiken Camellia Show. During the 1950s, the show was held at the Aiken Municipal auditorium. A few of these shows were canceled due to cold-weather damage to the blooms and buds — a hazard for camellia shows. During the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s the shows were held in the Kennedy Junior High gymnasium. Since the mid-1980s, the shows have been held at various other venues, including USC-Aiken, the Aiken Mall, and area church gymnasiums.
While there have been a number of changes to the show over the years, two stand out as prominent in my mind. One is “gibbing,” the use of gibberellic acid to increase flower size and induce early blooming. The other is that, because increasing numbers of growers utilize greenhouses, a blast of winter freeze is no longer the death knell for a camellia show.
Above: A japonica ‘Herme’ with icicles and sleet.
Camellias under glass
I used to delight in visiting the greenhouse of a family friend and camellia grower in the 1970s-80s who kept camellias both outdoors and “under glass.” A camellia greenhouse is not a hothouse, but a cold greenhouse that protects from severe conditions. Attendees to the Aiken Camellia Show will notice that the blooms are categorized by numerous classes, most of which are further categorized according to whether the blooms were grown protected (under glass) or non-protected, which are defined as “those grown in natural surroundings without any man-made protection from the elements.”
My mother’s camellias
My mother, a hardworking, lifelong gardener of everything from kiwis to cabbages to calamondins — who, for decades kept a summer garden large enough to fill both the freezer and the canning pantry every year — also happens to love camellias. She’s entered a number of camellia shows over the past 50 years, but has also lost out to weather some years. Her most recent show was in 2019 at the age of ninety.
On the morning of the show, she went out into the yard at first light to select the best blooms. After labeling them and carefully packing them for transport, she took them to town to register them, then returned home to await the show later that day.
Above: My mother’s preparations for the Aiken Camellia Show.
Her odds of winning a ribbon would seem slim, given the caliber of competition and the fact that all of her blooms are grown outdoors and without the benefit of gibberellic acid. Much to her delight, four of her camellias won 1st place, and two won 3rd place. One of her camellias, a Herme, won a special award.
Even if she’d won nothing, attending the show was, as always, a special occasion. We oohed and ahhed over the lovely blooms and discussed which ones we might one day plant in our yard. We also enjoyed the flower arrangement part of the show, which featured contemplative and artful Japanese floral arrangements, called Ikebana.
Above: From the 2019 Aiken Camellia Show, held in the gymnasium of the First Presbyterian Church.
While there have been many changes to the Aiken Camellia Show over the years, the experience of attending a camellia show today is much like I remember from my early childhood. Whether you’d like to enter your camellias in the show, or simply enjoy browsing the dazzling variety of blooms, the Aiken Camellia Show is a pleasure to attend. Chances are, you’ll leave with a list of favorites. As traditions go, this one’s a keeper.
In parting, a few words on the “Miss Aiken,” camellia. I don’t have a copyright free image of one, but you can see photos at the Brookgreen Gardens link, above, or visit one in person this February at the railroad depot at Union and Park this February. Or visit the one in Hopelands. I know of another ‘Miss Aiken’ in a southside yard, whose owners passed away about 20 year ago. This house has since seen two other owners. The latest owners likely don’t know about the treasure planted at the corner of their house. I breathe a sigh of relief whenever I drive by and see she’s there. One day I should stop by, introduce myself, and tell them the history of their ‘Miss Aiken.’
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Below: The newest addition to our camellia family, a sasanqua ‘October Magic Orchid’ which grows in a container beside the front door.
Twenty years have passed since the Aiken Corporation last took on a major project. If the City of Aiken is intent on awarding the Aiken Corporation a no-bid $20 million contract to develop the “mixed-use“ spec building, then City Council should, at the very least, hold discussions on the history of the Aiken Corporation’s Westinghouse/Washington/Amentum project from 1998-2002.
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As documented in the October 2023 “Amentum Model”1 series, the “boondoggle” moniker has been attached to several Aiken Corporation projects over the past 20 years: the train depot, the Willow Run spec building, and the 2002 Westinghouse/Washington/Amentum building. This afterword, which includes updated information from recent FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests, focuses on the 2002 Westinghouse/Washington/Amentum building.
Sticker shock
According to a local newspaper headline in February 2002, the Aiken City Council reacted with “shock”2 upon learning that an additional $1.5 million was being requested to complete the Aiken Community Playhouse (Performing Arts Center) side of the building. The $1.5 million request brought this Aiken Corporation project — which had started at a modest $0.5 million in November 1998, then crept to $2.5 million in March 1999, then evolved to $6.0 million by August 2000 — to a new high of $7.7 million in February 2002.
Requests for the independent audit that never took place
In March-April 2002, the local newspaper editorial pages and City Council meetings featured numerous citizen requests for an independent, third-party audit to better understand the enormous escalations and costs to ensure this never happened again. As one citizen wrote, “There should be an independent third-party audit of the project to determine what went wrong and what went right, that would be a public document so that all citizens could have access to the report.”3
Two of the most vocal requests for an independent audit came from City Council members. According to the minutes of a March 25, 2002 second reading and public hearing on an ordinance to loan Aiken Corporation $3.5 million, Councilman Richard Smith said there should be “both a financial audit and a management audit of the relationship between the Aiken Corporation, and the city of Aiken.” He made a motion to amend the ordinance, as a term of the City’s loan to Aiken Corporation, for “an independent management audit,” and said that he “did not feel this could be done objectively in-house.”
Councilman Smith’s motion was seconded by Councilwoman Jane Vaughters. Discussion ensued over the cost of an independent audit. Controversy was added by the concern that an independent audit constituted an “investigation” and that the Council’s critical discussion of the project was “insinuating” things. (See screenshot, below from meeting minutes).
In this same screenshot is a statement that carries sage perspective for the present: “Councilman Smith stated this is not aimed at people, but is talking about the institutions in which we work. He said this is to find out if there’s a better way for these institutions to interact. He said he felt it was worth an audit of how the Aiken Corporation and the city do business.”
Herein, Councilman Smith addressed a dynamic that still exists and has surfaced in recent projects, including Project Pascalis and the SRNL Lab project, where personal insult is perceived, or individual umbrage is taken, over critical discussions on institutions. This should raise a healthy degree of concern over whether the individuals involved have developed such a personal or psychological investment in the project or their relationships with their colleagues that they are blinded to seeing the institutions with objectivity.
At the end of the City Council’s March 25, 2002 discussion on the audit, Mayor Cavanaugh stated that he was “not ready to vote on an amendment on an evaluation at this point.” He wanted counsel to have a chance to review the proposed amendment in writing before making a decision. He stated the matter could be placed on the next work session for discussion, Councilman Smith withdrew his motion for the amendment for an independent, third-party audit, to which Councilwoman Vaughters agreed.
During the subsequent April 8, 2002 work session, an agreement was reached to conduct an in-house management audit. City Manager Roger LeDuc stated that, once the audit was completed, a work session would be scheduled to discuss the audit. In the meantime, a financial audit of the playhouse was to be completed.
This financial audit was not completed. With the independent, third-party audit now off the table, an in-house management audit was to be conducted by City Attorney, Richard Pearce. Integral to the audit was a list of points and questions that Councilman Smith had provided to Council and to all parties in the project. According to a May 1, 2002 newspaper article, “Smith said the questionnaire has the specific questions that he gave to council and wanted to use as the project assignment for an independent management audit.”4
According to this same newspaper article, “Pearce stated he will schedule a meeting to discuss the audit after all the questionnaires have been returned to his office.”4
The Pearce audit was completed on June 5, 2002. On June 10, City Manager, Roger LeDuc was quoted in the local newspaper stating that the Pearce audit revealed “no irregularities in the construction of the Washington government complex on Newberry Street” and that “communications breakdowns were responsible for much of the confusion in the project’s execution.” Mr. LeDuc said that a discussion on the audit would take place in that evening’s City Council meeting. 5
Requests for a discussion that never took place
The Pearce audit was not discussed in the June 10 City Council meeting, nor in the June 24 City Council meeting, despite several prior requests by Councilman Smith to have this discussion. The Pearce audit and a future financial audit were mentioned in brief, however, during a 7:00 a.m. City Council work session on June 18, 2002, as shown in the screenshot of the meeting minutes, below.
Requests for a financial audit that never took place
A FOIA filed on October 3, 2023 requested four items — the Pearce management audit, the financial audit(s), the list of questions that Councilman Smith submitted to Richard Pearce, and any records of Council discussions on the completed audits. The City responded on October 4 with one result — the PDF6 of the Pearce management audit:
Subsequent examination of the Pearce audit revealed a missing expert document, which prompted a second FOIA request on October 5.7 A response was received from the City on October 19, 2023:
“The City of Aiken has determined that it does not have a copy of ‘the statement opinion by Phillip H. Porter, Jr. regarding project management systems.’ The City also does not have any documents responsive to this request.”
Follow-up requests8 were made to the City on October 20 and November 1, 2023 for the other three items in the October 3 FOIA request. Responses from the City confirmed that the City is not “in possession” of the other three items. Two additional PDFs were provided, however, and were attached to the City’s October 19 Porter response.9 These PDFs contained two consolidated financial statements and accompanying information for 2001-2003 for the Aiken Corporation, and its newly-created, for-profit arm, LED of Aiken, Inc. Neither PDF contained a financial audit of the Washington Group (Amentum) project.
Requests for records
Twenty-one years down the road, the Pearce audit should have been posted online in the City of Aiken document repository, so that all citizens could have access to the report, but it was not. The filing of a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request was necessary to access the Pearce audit.
The situation today
Twenty years have passed since the Aiken Corporation last took on a major project. The Aiken Corporation is presently pursuing the $20 million spec building for SRNL. The Aiken Corporation board members have predicted a successful outcome for this project based on their expertise with the “Amentum Model,” as they have dubbed it.
If the City of Aiken is intent on awarding the Aiken Corporation a no-bid $20 million contract to develop the “mixed-use“ spec building, then City Council should, at the very least, hold discussions on the history of the Washington/Amentum project from 1998-2002 with particular focus on whatever audits were and were not conducted, so that the errors of the past are not repeated on an even grander scale.
From here — rather than asking the citizens of Aiken to take any individual’s word for it that the Amentum Model has ultimately been a success — show us, in dollars and cents over the past 25 years, how this is so. To paraphrase Councilman Smith’s words from 2002, this is not aimed at people, but at the institutions in which we work.
Concerning the Aiken Corporation, local citizens have a right to a clear understanding of how, or even why, the Aiken Corporation and the City do business together. It’s 2023, and the members of both of these institutions are still struggling decades later to explain the relationship. Officials on the Monday-night City Council dais are confusing colleagues and business partners with family. We, of course, expect family members to side with one another through thick and thin, but is this a way to run a city?
FOIA Request 334-2028, filed on October 5, 2023 and the City’s response, sent October 19, 2023. (Click image to view full size)
The City’s October 19, 2023 response to FOIA #334-2023 (Click image to view full size).
Follow-up correspondence from October 20, 2023-November 7, 2023 regarding FOIA requests 328-2023 and 334-2023. (Click images to view full size).
During the course of the November correspondence, above, the City’s October 19 response to FOIA request #334-2023 was amended to add two PDFs to “the two financial audits of the Aiken Corporation” that were referenced in City Solicitor Laura Jordan’s letter of November 7, 2023..
The amended response to FOIA Request #334-2023. (Click image to view full size).
These two audits contain consolidated financial statements and accompanying information (see attachments below) for the numerous 2001-2003 Aiken Corporation-LED projects, including the Washington-Playhouse (Amentum) project, however, there is no dedicated audit of the Washington-Playhouse (Amentum) project.
My grandparents were snowbirds. Every year in late October, they departed from their home in New York, ahead of snow season, and drove south. During the earlier years, they stayed with us in our newly-purchased home, Whitehall, whose overgrown grounds kept my grandfather busy doing what he loved most — gardening. After we moved from Whitehall, my grandparents rented furnished cottages along South Boundary and Colleton Avenue and the streets in-between, which contained a number of seasonal rentals.
They stayed until April, which coincided with the end of polo season. My grandfather was an avid polo fan, and the Whitney polo field was about a block’s distance from home so, most Sundays, I walked over and visited with them during the game or, as was sometimes the case, amused myself while they visited with friends. My grandfather was a gregarious man with a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. Sometimes I got lucky and caught an out-of-bounds polo ball. These dented-up specimens were eagerly bought up by spectators, selling for fifty cents. Autographed balls commanded a higher price. Either way, there was usually enough to buy a hotdog, an orange Fanta, and a Reese’s cup from the concession stand. Two of my brothers also spent Sunday afternoons at the polo game. One walked the ponies to cool them down after chukkers; the other worked with setting up the ropes before the game and helping the scorekeeper.
During the week, my grandmother busied herself with her bridge club and garden tea room events. In between, she knitted sweaters for me and my brothers. My grandfather spent his days gardening, visiting with friends, going on long walks in Hitchcock Woods, and feeding the ducks at Aiken State Park. Some Saturdays, we all went to the woods. My grandfather was retired, but he worked as a gardener on a number of the winter estates. I never knew when I might happen upon him working in one of the yards while I was out walking with friends. He was ever amenable to setting aside his work and visiting with me for a while. In parting, he always gave me a lifesaver — either licorice or butter rum.
Autumn
Autumn in 1960s Aiken was a vividly-felt, sensory feast between the arrivals of the snowbirds, the horses, and “the horse people,” as we called the Winter Colony residents, and the sight of winter residences coming to life with their indescribably green rye-grass lawns; of neatly-raked sidewalks lined in purple and yellow pansies; of white doves, pink sasanquas and golden afternoons scented with tea olive. Stirred into the cooler nights and changing leaves was the the excitement over the annual Halloween Carnival at Eustis Park and entering the poster contest that preceded it. Among my favorite autumn memories was the precise moment my grandparents’ arrived from the north. My brothers and I, after hours of anticipation, would race to the driveway to greet them. My grandfather always brought bags upon bags of apples — Northern Spies, his favorite — and my grandmother always brought us a batch of her sugar and nutmeg tea cakes. When the car door was flung open, we were greeted by this wondrous bouquet of scents, backdropped by just a hint of mothballs — woolen clothes being, to us, a northern peculiarity.
Recently, I found myself recalling all of this, and more, while I was sitting on the back porch. I kept hearing this persistent chirping coming from the Rose of Sharon. It took me a minute, but I finally located the source — a single sparrow, visible only as a silhouette in the branches. “The first sparrow of the season!” I declared to my eldest brother, who was on the step visiting.
I explained how the white-throated sparrows arrive like clockwork every year on Halloween or November 1st. But this was November 2, a little later than usual. I watched the bird as it continued to chirp, its tone almost urgent. After a minute or so, it flew over to a bush near the stump of a maple tree that we’d been compelled to cut down this summer. More plaintive chirping. Then the bird flitted to another bush, its urgent chirping directed toward the empty space where the maple tree once stood.
The Maple Tree
The decision to cut down that tree was a difficult one. We struggled over it for years after the tree developed an enormous hollow in the center of its trunk. The rest of the tree was full and leafy — a veritable mother tree for resident birds and migrating passers-through, along with skinks, black racers, wrens and warblers that summered in the branches.
The last photos of the maple tree, taken the morning the tree was cut down. Top: The tallest tree is the maple. To its left is the Rose of Sharon in full bloom. The stump of the tulip poplar, taken a few years earlier, is visible in the lower right corner. Below: Two views of the tree hollow with pokeweed growing out of it.
While my brother and I mused over the lost maple and the chirping sparrow, a large flock of sparrows arrived to the Rose of Sharon, chattering and fluttering about. There must have been about three dozen of them. It was difficult to identify them among the leaves, but it looked to be a mix of several different species of sparrow. You could feel it in their chattering, this palpable sense of relief — something with which most long-distance travelers can probably relate. I expected the birds, hungry from their long journey, to mob the feeders but, oddly, they didn’t. Nor did they settle into the inner thickets of the pittosporum bush under the kitchen window, as is their custom every year. They just disappeared. I didn’t see them again for three days.
Among our many deliberations before taking down the maple tree, we had considered an elaborate cabling of the tree so that, if it failed, it wouldn’t crash onto the house. Ultimately, the idea was so impractical as to be impossible. The loss of that tree was made more painful arriving on the heels of another loss — a nearby giant tulip poplar a few years earlier — the first tree my father planted on this property nearly 50 years earlier. With these two trees fell entire constellations of habitat for birds, with the sudden disappearance of beetles, caterpillars, spiders and seeds for eating; leaves, sticks and webs for nest building; nooks and crevices filled with secret pools of water; leafy boughs for exploring, shelter, rest and safe haven.
The species and habits of birds in the backyard have noticeably changed since we lost the maple. For one, the Coopers Hawk spends a lot more time on the premises, his coming and goings marked by scatterings of feathers, usually from a dove. For another, the feeders, usually bustling with activity, are utterly still for much of the day. The former variety of birds at the feeders has been replaced primarily by cardinals, which live as a colony of 16 or more on our property. It hadn’t occurred to me, until the arrival of that chirping sparrow, the maple’s importance for the arrival of these migrating birds. For three days, I listened for the first strains of that plaintive song that white-throated sparrows bring to the autumn landscape — but there was just the silence.
Most of us keep busy enough that the arrivals and departures of migrating birds are not on our radar. Once we do notice, however, the arrivals of the hummingbirds, painted buntings, wood thrushes, and redstarts in the springtime and — in autumn — the arrivals of the sparrows, juncos, and other snowbirds become special occasions to look forward to every year.
White throated sparrow.
Grow or Die
Our “normal” white-throated sparrow population is about two dozen birds, most of them roosting in the pittosporum thicket. This, in addition to at least one song sparrow, a scattering of chipping sparrows, and the occasional fox sparrow that visit the feeders. I spent the three days from November 2nd through the 5th watching the backyard for the sparrows. Their absence made me wonder: Where do birds go when they arrive in spring or autumn and discover their home places have disappeared? How do they find food when they arrive to find only asphalt and rooftops where once stood canopies of trees, leafy thickets, and wild fields edged in autumn flowers, grasses, berries, and seeds?
Even I, a wingless being in this changing landscape, understand how it feels to watch your homeplace disappear plot by plot, leaf by leaf, ant by ant, year by year. The impact from the loss of a single tree is profound and impossible to fully calculate in terms of the affected moths, beetles, spiders, butterflies, bats, flying squirrels, owls, lizards, snakes, mice and birds, not to mention the larger animals, including us humans. Expand this equation to a small parcel of woods, or a forest, or an entire landscape reduced to a patchwork of subdivisions, urban sprawl, clear-cuts, and pine plantations.
Considering the impact from the destruction of single maple, it is not difficult to grasp the role of habitat loss and fragmentation in the decline of so many species. Here in South Carolina, where the rate of deforestation rivals that of the Amazon rainforest, we have front-row seats to the consequences of the runaway development and industry. Newcomers may not be cognizant of the losses, but those of us who spent our lives traveling the back roads by heart to the mountains and the coast increasingly find ourselves in terra incognita. Real estate developers have a sales pitch they use to justify transitioning a landscape from woods and fields to strip malls, high-density housing, and traffic gridlock: “We must keep growing or we’ll die.”
These words came to mind as I watched the sparrow hopping from bush to bush chirping at the empty space where the maple tree once stood. Were it possible to translate the persistent chirping of a single sparrow, we might better hear the folly of the developers’ mantra.
The white-throated sparrows reappeared after three days. The first one arrived to the jasmine thicket, then another to the grassy weeds near the feeders. Another joined, and then another. There are maybe five in all. They’ve since settled in. Even when out of sight, I can see their presence in the tips of the pittosporum branches, which stir and tremble as the birds hop about below. It’s now mid-November. The nights have grown cooler and the days shorter. The skies are bluer now, and leaves on the trees are turning color and falling. To borrow from Robert Browning, “All’s right with the world.”
Almost, anyway. I’m still left to wonder at the ongoing silence.
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Below: A small sampling of songs from our local migratory birds.
Aiken City Council candidates for Districts 1 and 3 were invited to take part in an online forum composed of twenty questions submitted by Aiken Chronicles readers. This is the third and final online forum published by the Aiken Chronicles this election season.
As stated to the candidates, the goal of the written, online forum is to provide time and opportunity for thorough and thoughtful consideration of issues of concern to area residents. The hope is to contribute toward a better-informed electorate, an enthusiastic voter turnout, and a healthier democracy.
Candidates Kay Brohl (unopposed District 3 incumbent) and DeMarcus Sullivan (District 1 candidate) did not respond to the questions. Below are the responses provided by District 1 incumbent Gail Diggs.
ESSENTIAL SERVICES: WATER, SEWER, ROADS
What more can be done to address potholes and conditions of roads?
Gail Diggs: The city is responsive & proactive on city owned roads. Most roads in the city are SCDOT’s responsibility.
Should City residents and business owners be told that there is nothing that can be done for mainline breaks, leaks, and sewer backups because those pipes are just too old? Should our norm be running the faucets until the water clears up, if ever?
Gail Diggs: They are not told this. Running faucets are not the norm.
Do you think it is sound policy for the Aiken’s leadership to invest in expanding the infrastructure to I-20 and beyond while the existing residents and the existing infrastructure are wanting for solutions to the longstanding deterioration and deficiencies that have long gone unaddressed?
Gail Diggs: We are addressing both. We will always have to balance growth and maintenance.
Much of the city’s spending on infrastructure derives from Capital Project Sales Taxes, which are approved by voter referendums. What backup plan do you propose if voters reject the next round of one-percent sales tax?
Gail Diggs: Funding sources change: however, our priorities are our priorities. We will adjust and make the most of the resources available.
GOVERNANCE AND CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT
Are you in favor of a process that would better enable citizens to request and receive public hearings? If so, when should a public hearing involving an independent committee, as allowed by city ordinance, be held?
Gail Diggs: We have not had this ever come up or had such a need.
How would you improve the lines of information and communication to ensure that the voices of citizens and experts will be given as much, if not more, weight as the voices of the developers and real estate speculators?
Gail Diggs: I will always strive to do what’s best for Aiken. What’s best may come from both citizens and developers.
To avoid future conflicts of interest, should the city hire an attorney on staff, (as is the case with the Aiken County Government), whose only client would be the City of Aiken?
Gail Diggs: Both approaches can be successful. Both have pros and cons.
Can you explain the relationship between the city and the Aiken Corporation? Are you willing to look at ending the City’s partnership with the Aiken Corporation and cease being its primary source of funds?
Gail Diggs: Aiken Corporation is a tool, and we want to use the best tool for any given job. I am willing to consider our options.
HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS
Do you think it would be reasonable for the city to amend the square footage requirements in existing zoning to accommodate the Aiken County Homeless Coalition building a tiny village?
Gail Diggs: This will require more study. I am in favor of a tiny village that includes resource programs to assist the occupants and help them come out of homelessness. We need to make sure our citizens are housed in a safe structure in compliance with building codes.
Do you know the difference between affordable housing and low- income housing, and do you think the City of Aiken housing market is hostile or hospitable to low- income seniors, single parent families, veterans, and disabled persons?
Gail Diggs: The government defines affordable housing “as any home, rented or owned, in which costs comprise less than 30 percent of the household monthly income. Public (low income) housing is owned/managed by the government which evaluates your expenses and income.” The City of Aiken continues to partner with community development corporations, local banks, and agencies that offer affordable homeownership programs, as well as develop creative ways to strengthen and enhance the quality of life for all citizens in Aiken.
What, specifically, do you think needs to be done to address the needs of Aiken’s homeless population, and do you see support of the Salvation Army emergency shelter and soup kitchen on Park Avenue as part of this?
Gail Diggs: Yes. I do. Agency partnerships should be formed and work together to acquire funding sources.
Given the definition of a slumlord as “an unscrupulous landlord who extracts profit by renting properties in ill repair without regard for codes, tenants and neighborhoods, while exploiting poor people with limited choices,” do you think the City of Aiken could or should take a proactive approach to slum lording by enacting a rental registry ordinance, as many cities across America have done, to provide checks and balances in the landlord-tenant relationship and to, in the bigger picture, help prevent deterioration and blight in residential areas, Crosland Park being a prime example of this?
Gail Diggs: The City of Aiken already has an ordinance in place for Rental Registration in which landlords that own one or more rental properties within the City limits must register with the city. This program is intended to be used as a contact list in case of an of an emergency or if substandard conditions and city code violations have been discovered.
DOWNTOWN AND HISTORIC DISTRICT
What lessons have you learned from the failed Pascalis project?
Gail Diggs: Because some will jump to the worst conclusions when all information is not presented, it is extremely important to share as much information reasonably possible in a timely manner.
How should the city manage the balance between preserving historic character and structures vs. the demands by economic development to demolish historic structures?
Gail Diggs: Carefully and reasonably! A cost/benefit analysis is always a good idea.
How can City leadership best support our small business owners, who feel they are being pushed out of the downtown by rapidly rising rents?
Gail Diggs: The Free Market determines rents. Not Aiken City Council.
GROWTH
What should be done to prevent Aiken’s northside, east side and west side repeat the mistakes that created the Whiskey Road corridor?
Gail Diggs: It’s already been done! It’s called a bypass.
What would you propose to protect the interests of owners of residential and business properties which are threatened by inappropriate, and often non-conforming construction proposals?
Gail Diggs: Work within the existing system.
THE EQUINE INDUSTRY
Do you think horses are important to your District? If so, why?
Gail Diggs: Of course. They are a huge economic contributor.
Do you think horses are important to Aiken’s economy and its culture? If so, what do you plan to do to protect and promote the industry?
Gail Diggs: We need to keep the zoning in place. This industry is thriving as things are now.
Should Aiken’s horseman be represented in City government?
Gail Diggs: All voters should be represented. The City of Aiken has an Equine Commission. Each council member appoints members from the horse community to the commission.
