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AUGUST 25 - 31, 2016
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COVERING BEAUFORT COUNTY
Enjoying dog days of summer
Tax hike could face uphill climb Editor’s note: This is part of an ongoing series of stories on the Nov. 8 general election.
By Kat Williams
Cecilia and Hogan Wareham beat the heat in Beaufort with ice cream cones during one of the many beautiful sunsets in the Lowcountry. Photo by Ginger Wareham.
Conroy would have been proud of literary center By Kat Walsh
It is a simple, white-sided house in the heart of downtown Beaufort. The Spanish moss drips from the trees in front of the double porches. It is a quintessential Lowcountry home, one that could have come straight out of a Pat Conroy novel. This home, though, is slowly becoming a living memorial to honor the Prince of Words himself. When beloved Southern writer Conroy died earlier this year, ideas for memorials began flowing. Traditional memorials, such as statues and plaques, just didn’t feel right to honor Conroy, said his wife, Cassandra King. Conroy’s agent, Marly Rusoff, suggested another idea: a living legacy of sorts, a center that fosters the craft of writing, just as Conroy did. “Pat was so much about helping other writers and encouraging them. He was the best one I’ve ever seen at doing that,” said King. Rusoff and King decided to use Rusoff ’s own literary mecca, The Loft, in Minneapolis to model the center after. The idea is simple, a center that promotes and celebrates the art
of writing. “We really got excited about the prospect of doing something more meaningful,” King said of the memorial. A site was found and King said they fell in love with the old house. She notes it is not a grand home, but a very typical Lowcountry home. Conroy was as passionate about helping up-and-coming writers as he was about his own work. He knew how difficult it was to be published as a new author and aimed to help others get started. A few years back, he began working with Jonathan Haupt, director of the University of South Carolina Press. Together, they discovered and published new Southern writers through Story River Books. “He enjoyed discovering new writers. A lot of times, he would get so excited about the writer, he would call the writer up to talk about their book and ask them questions,” King said with a laugh. The call would often come as an unexpected shock to the new author. The plans for the center have been taking shape over the last several months. “We want to start out on a small scale and bring writers in, offer
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The Pat Conroy Literacy Center is housed in this building at 308 Cateret St. in Beaufort.
readings and workshops. It can be something that a community as a whole at all levels and ages can be involved in,” said King. The center will be used for everything from summer writing camps for kids to classes for senior citizens to learn to write their own memoir and everything in between. King is hopeful plans for a January opening will be possible. The center’s first event, however, will be during the inaugural Pat Conroy Literary Festival in October. The center is not affiliated with the festival this year, but King views the festival as an opportunity to raise awareness of the center.
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The Pat Conroy Literary Center, at 308 Charles St., will have an open house and include exhibits of Conroy’s manuscripts and photos, courtesy of the University of South Carolina, which owns all of Conroy’s papers. King stressed that the center will not be a museum, but a living legacy to promote writing. “I am most excited about honoring Pat this way, honoring his memory and his legacy in a way that would be meaningful to him,” she said, “and to be able to offer back to the Lowcountry, it would mean a lot to him.” For more information or to make a donation to the center, visit patconroyliterarycenter.org.
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On Tuesday, Nov. 8, voters will head to the polls to not only pick a new president, but also to cast their ballots on three local referendums. One of those is a tax hike to fund renovations at schools throughout Beaufort County and the construction of two new schools. The Beaufort County School District board of education voted in April to place the 1-percent sales tax question on the ballot. That sales tax increase would be in effect for 10 years. “This referendum will allow voters to determine the method of funding used by the district to meet its growing capital needs,” said board Chair Mary Cordray in a statement on behalf of the board. Where would the money go? State law prohibits any money raised from sales tax to be used for operation costs, such as salaries, instructional materials, supplies and other day-to-day costs. Funds must be used exclusively for capital projects specified on the ballot, such as land acquisition, new schools, roof replacements, building additions and HVAC upgrades. The list of projects for Beaufort County Schools include $112 million for the land and building of two new Bluffton-area schools; renovations and upgrades to nine buildings; roof replacements and water-proofing at 14 buildings; and HVAC updates to more than 15 buildings. Tax relief? According to the board, the 1 percent sales tax would provide property tax relief. Revenues from the tax would be used to provide a credit in existing property taxes against existing debt service millage. “We estimate that we could provide over a 42-percent decrease in all property owners’ existing property taxes on debt service,” reads a statement from the board. In addition to the sales tax question on the ballot, a separate question asks voters to authorize the BCSD to issue up to $217 million in bonds. Those bonds would be used to "jump-start" the amount of cash available to fund the construction and maintenance projects detailed in the sales tax referendum. Revenue collected from the sales See TAX, page A8