Covering All the Bases...A Moral Duty

Our February 17th COTU meeting was well attended. Chris Lollis led the meeting, Anselm Salins opened the meeting with a beautiful prayer. 

Going forward into this year of our Lord 2022, it is imperative we have someone present at all county government public meetings observing, listening, and reporting back to our group on what items should be brought to the attention of our group for action.

Thank you to the volunteers who are helping cover all the bases of these meetings so that we are better informed about what our elected and appointed officials are voting on. We so appreciate that you believe as our First President of the USA, George Washington said, "Human happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected."

Members Mark and Lori Osborn have agreed to make sure all County Council public meetings have at least one COTU member present watching and listening.

Member Deanna Kristofic  has agreed to make sure the Planning Commission meetings have at least one COTU member present watching and listening.

Members Debi Sole and Ross Whitley have agreed to make sure the Elections Board Meetings have at least one COTU member present and listening.

Members Kathleen Campbell and Anselm Salins have agreed to serve on the Bible Scripture/Prayer Committee.

We still need members to step up to the plate to make sure the School Board meetings are attended by at least one COTU member. The next School Board meeting is February 28 at 6 PM. If you will agree to fill this commitment, please contact Kathleen Campbell @ 864-586-0857

We are also planning on forming a committee with cooperation from the Pickens County GOP to develop a "grading system" for our local elected officials. More on this at the March 17th meeting.

Action item for all members this month is to email county council members and school board members questions you have. We will give them a week to respond to your email.  Their response...or lack of response will affect their "grade" we plan on assigning to our elected on whether or not they should be re-elected to their position. 

An example of a question for you to send to County Council this week is: 

 "I saw the agenda for the next meeting, it said you will be discussing alcohol sales on Sunday and a referendum on this issue. Are you going to vote for Sunday alcohol sales in Pickens County? Please explain why or why not."

An example of a question for you to send to the School Board members this week is:

" I saw where our county has decided to use ESSR funds to purchase NEWSELA which is arguably a left leaning curriculum resource according to my research, who's idea was that and exactly why was this curriculum resource chosen?"

Here is the link to find all your County Councilmen's email addresses: Welcome to Pickens County, SC

Here is the link to find all your School Board member's email addresses: School Board | School District of Pickens County

Folks, the greatest way to keep Pickens County the most Conservative Christian County in SC is through elections and through applying to serve on these appointed boards.

We have Republican Primaries coming up in June, and the deadline to file to run for office is the end of March. There are 2 seats on our County Council up for grabs... Ensley Feemster who represents Clemson area and Trey Whitehurst who represents Six Mile/Central area.  There are 3 School Board Seats that need challengers. Phillip Bowers who represents Six Mile/Central area, Brian Swords who represents Liberty/West Easley area, and Karla Kelley who represents Easley/Crosswell area.  Please give prayerful consideration to challenging these positions. Historically speaking, if you win the Republican nomination in June, you also are assured the win of that seat, due to the fact it's a rarity a declared Democrat gets elected in our county. However, Democrats do vote in our open Republican primaries and tend to vote for the RINO, thus the reason why we have so many elected at present in our county that are not truly representing their CONSERVATIVE constituents and following the Republican Platform. WE must change this!

WE need true Conservative Christian Constitution loving people to step up to the plate and challenge these RINO's!

Also, there are several appointed board positions that need to be filled. A list of these appointed boards and directions on how to apply can be found at this link: https://www.co.pickens.sc.us/government/county_council/boards___commissions.php

Many of these boards oversee taxpayer funds being used, so we need good decision makers serving on these boards!

Our next regularly scheduled meeting will be at Cafe' Connections, 319 E. Main Street downtown Pickens at 7pm on Thursday, March 17, 2022!

Our guest speaker will be the challenger to RINO Rep. Neal Collins' seat. His name is Clay Hamlett and we need to vet him with good questions that night! We also will have reports from the newly formed committees, so please attend, bring a friend, a neighbor, a fellow church member and a family member! The more the merrier and the more we can accomplish! There's strength in numbers!

Let's Pray this closing prayer for our group: 

Father God, we thank You for the opportunity to show our love for You by getting involved in our local government affairs. Lord, we pray Your blessing on our efforts as we as individuals seek Your guidance and direction in our lives, and as we daily seek Your Kingdom first and as we seek Your discernment in governmental affairs in Pickens County and in South Carolina as well as our One Nation Under God. Lord, we know we are powerless in our own strength and glorifying Your Son Jesus to the public square is a difficult task and feels stressful and intimidating to us at times. 

Thank You Jesus that You did not shy away from the public square, but You always glorified the Father in word and deed. Lord, burn in our hearts the love of Jesus for this misguided and lost county, state, country, and world. Lord, we pray for a preferred future, one of healthy, restored families, protected children, critical thinking youth, and virtue and morals in all aspects of our lives. 

In our Lord's name, we pray. Amen