When Head Meets Wall

(Or ‘I tried to reason with Carroll Faile and now I need a Goody’s Powder’)



Some of you are expecting a “fire and brimstone” kind of column this week, especially those of you who attended last week’s Pageland Town Council meeting.
I don’t know that I can deliver, or that I can convey the sense of rage I saw in the audience at last week’s meeting. And it will be difficult to explain the damage done by town council to Pageland’s future without resorting to pornographic imagery. I will endeavor to keep this tasteful, but I won’t promise to be polite.
I said “town council,” but there are only a few people to blame, specifically Mayor Carroll Faile and his three accomplices. Martha Hamilton, Jimmie Baker and Cathy Smith have been unwilling to budge on this issue and have offered nothing resembling a coherent motive for their behavior.
Last week’s sticking point? They were concerned about the environmental impact the Alligator Rural Water spray field facility will have in McBee.
In case you were wondering: No, you did not miss a special election. Faile isn’t mayor of McBee.
During last week’s meeting, more than 300 people attended to pressure council into a direction that would enhance Pageland’s economy. In the past, Faile has managed to ramrod his proposals through council by the same methods, so it was interesting to see how he responded to similar tactics.
Many people discovered, though, that beating your head against the wall is more productive than trying to reason with Carroll Faile. The last time I saw a crowd that angry they were holding torches and chasing Boris Karloff through a forest.
I wasn’t surprised to hear Faile propose a referendum, because he probably feels confident he can bus enough misinformed people to the polls to support his cause, which seems to be preserving Pageland as it appeared 25 years ago.
Referendums are cowards’ politics. The mayor and members of council are elected by the people to make these decisions — not to shrug off decisions onto others. We elect our officials to deal with these problems so we don’t have to. And it was obvious to even a moron during last week’s meeting how the general public feels on the issue.
It’s important to note that one member of council in the mayor’s corner does not support the referendum. Martha Hamilton voted against it. While I adamantly disagree with her on this issue, she is at least willing to take responsibility for her vote. And I respect that.
I’ve written off Faile as a lost cause, though. My favorite moment from last week’s meeting? When Faile proudly laughed that he skipped all but one meeting of the committee appointed earlier this year to study this issue.
I didn’t hear anyone else laughing.
Faile continues to contradict himself by fighting to maintain “control” of the town’s sewer services while shrugging off the blame for rising rates on state and federal entities. As long as the state and federal government are calling the shots, the town isn’t in charge of anything.
The advantage to a contract with Alligator Rural Water is that Pageland would get to negotiate an agreement beneficial to the town that would establish fixed rates for customers for the duration of the contract. We get no such input into state and federal restrictions.
Speaking of expenses, representatives from Hayes, Seay, Mattern and Mattern were present at last week’s council meeting to conduct a Powerpoint presentation for the audience. I’m not sure what it’s purpose was, but you can bet it was expensive. The firm had two men present for the duration of the almost four-hour meeting, and I’m sure they didn’t volunteer there services for free. The next time you see Faile, ask him how much money the town spent to have those engineers there. (Speaking of questions for Faile, I also hear he’s trying to block council members Susan Breisch and Tommy Rivers from voting on next year’s town budget — because they volunteer for the fire department. I would love to hear his reasoning for his bit of foolishness.)

Wallace McBride,
editor