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October 30, 2008 If you are like me, you have been getting mail from my competitor telling you about all the millions of dollars that he has saved you. If that is true, all I have to say is, "where is my money?" Win or lose on Tuesday, I want people to know that Roland Smith has been hurting your wallet, not helping it. In his mail out, he says that he saved you money on your groceries, but he has done nothing to get a grocery store for his constituents in Jackson. People of Jackson have spent twice what they would save in taxes just for the gas to get to the grocery store. That’s not even the worst of it. For twenty-two years now, Smith has neglected the infrastructure of our towns. Things that should have been done years ago are in an emergency state of disrepair. For example, towns in our area are in need of a water and sewer overhaul. Graniteville urgently needs a new middle school. There are roads in our district that I can barely drive down in my truck. These things have not been done because Roland has been, “saving your money.” The truth is that the businesses that built up our area are leaving, and new businesses are hesitant to take their place, because we are falling apart at the seams. For those of you looking for work, he has been taking money out of your pocket. I don’t like taxes. I don’t know of anyone who does, but giving a portion of what we have back to our community is a way that everyone can show their citizenship. When you see a road being paved, or see that a local school has just won an award, you can say to yourself, “I helped make that happen.” Tax money is your money. This is one area I agree with my competitor completely, but I want to use your money in ways that will help you and your community prosper. My competitor wants to throw a few pennies your way and pretend that he is helping you pay bills. Please don’t be fooled by this. On November 4th, vote for me and I will work to make every dime you pay in taxes come back to you ten fold. God Bless you and the fine state of South Carolina, Russell Curry October 25th 2008 Over the last few months, I have been traveling and walking all over our area knocking on doors and trying to get a feeling of what changes you, the voters, want. While in Jackson, I heard the same thing over and over again, “we need a grocery store.” I want you to know that I have heard you. Today I want to make a promise that when I am elected, one of my first acts will be to introduce a bill that will encourage a grocery store to come into that area. I can not say right now exactly what that bill may look like, but I am working with the ideas of the state giving a small interest free loan and tax breaks to any grocery store that comes into the area. Now I can’t promise that it will pass, but I can promise that I will be working harder than anyone else in the state house to make that bill pass. So remember to vote for me on November 4th, and let’s start building the community we deserve. God bless you and the fine state of South Carolina, Russell Curry October 20th, 2008 An email just came across my desk, which gives me hope that our economic problems within the state are not going to hinder our children from getting a quality education. After reading what Jim Rex suggested, I contacted him to let him know how much I appreciate what he has been doing for our children. After hearing what he had to say, I believe that any representative that does not follow his recommendations is not concerned about the state of our public schools. The following are Jim Rex’s recommendations: · Grant maximum flexibility to local school districts and allow them to use state “line item” funds as they see fit. · Free districts from legislative mandates. · Give school districts the choice of cost-effective school calendars. · Limit statewide testing. · Suspend absolute and growth ratings from 2009 school report cards. I have spoken with Roland Smith and asked him to put politics aside and support this plan. I would ask all of my supporters to call or email Roland [(803) 734-3114,
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] and let him know that you want Jim Rex’s plan implemented. God bless you and the fine state of South Carolina Russell Curry October 9th 2008 Tonight was the fish fry for the Aiken County Democratic Party. I have to say that I was very excited to see so many people getting involved in the political process. For those of you that were there or have been involved with the Democratic Party for a while now, what I am about to write will not be anything new for you. For those of you that have pledged your support for me even though you are republican, independent, or libertarian I would like to tell you what I experienced. I saw a group of people that started the evening in prayer for our country, our state, and our community. I saw a group of people that expressed a real concern about the economic condition of our country, and what these hard times meant for their children or those ready to retire. I saw a group that of people that were willing to admit to their short comings and to praise the successes of their political rivals. In short, I saw people. Not Democrats, not political hot shots, just people that want the best for their families and their community. On November 4th, I would ask for every voter to try and do the same thing. Try not to look for Democrats or Republicans, but look at each person and vote for the one that will stand for that in which you believe. Because what we need now are people that will stand for principle over party. Thanks again for all your continued support. God bless you and the fine state of South Carolina Russell Curry October 7th 2008 Yesterday afternoon I was honored to speak along with many other candidates from around the area before Phi Delta Kappa, about my views on education. Being the father of two school age children, this is an issue that is very important to me. I am very disheartened to see our schools struggling so hard just to get by. After talking with many teachers from around the area, I have a plan to improve education in our fine state. Step 1: Increase community involvement in the elementary schools. Studies show that the more direct contact children have with educated adults, the more likely they are to succeed. By getting parents, business leaders, and retirees to volunteer in our schools, children can get the one on one time they need to be successful and the community gains a sense of ownership of our schools. Step 2: Invest in technology that will save us money in the long run. Through laptops and other modern technology, teachers can give students electronic assessments instead of making expensive copies, and students can have a CD-ROM version of their textbook, so schools will not have to worry about paying for lost or damaged traditional textbooks. There are other states that are using the internet to help those students that are homebound keep up with their class work instead of paying for teachers to go to these students homes. I could go on, but it will be this kind of investment in educational technologies that will make our children’s education more productive and cost effective. Step 3: Impose a strict tuition cap for state funded colleges. I don’t believe that there are many people in South Carolina that think investing in our institutions for higher education is waste of money. These community colleges and technical schools are a source of pride for our state. Unfortunately there are many South Carolinians that can’t afford to go to the college’s right in their own community. I understand that the cost of being a competitive college is going up, but our community colleges do not have to build multi-million dollar buildings and maintain a full athletic program to give our young people the education they need to succeed. Many tax payers get upset when it is cheaper to send their child out of state than to a state funded school. When elected I will make sure that our colleges and technical schools are making the same kinds of budget cuts our Kindergarten through twelfth grade are making. If they do not, I will keep them from passing the buck to the students. I know that my steps to improving education will upset some people, but changes need to be made. My opponent seems to thinks that our schools are doing just fine, but in the last eight years state funding for education has been cut back to unacceptable levels. Many teachers are told to try and not give worksheets so they can save paper, other schools can’t afford soap for the bathrooms. This is unacceptable. South Carolina has some of the finest teachers in the world, and I want to make sure they have the resources they need to do their job well. God Bless you and the fine state of South Carolina Russell Curry October 5th 2008 Yesterday was the Sassafras Festival. I don’t think there are many in the 84th district that don’t know what this festival is, but for those of you that don’t I’ll just say that you have to go to get it. The morning began with a parade going down a long stretch of Highway 421. Shaking hands, handing out flyers and candy was so much fun, but trying to keep up with the rest of the parade gives me a new understanding of the term “running for office.” I enjoyed seeing so many people come out to support this local event. I saw in their eyes the pride they felt for our community. In my opinion, the festival was just as good, if not better than any State fair or big city fair around. It is events like this that give me such strong faith that small towns like Burnettown, Graniteville, Jackson, and Beech Island can accomplish anything to which we set our minds. Just look at my campaign. I am just a small business owner running a small town campaign, but we have the chance to unseat a career Politician that many thought to be unbeatable. Now I have nothing against Roland personally, he has served honorably for twenty two years. During that time though, you would think that he would have gained a lot of local support. Yet, when you look at where his campaign funding is coming from you find most of it is from Columbia or even out of state. Now I’m not saying that my opponent is working for big business or anything seedy like that, but I do believe that his politics are outdated. My opponent believes that what is good for the larger parts of the state is good for everyone, and there may have been a time when that was true. Times have changed. Now, much of the legislatures’ agenda is focused on the biggest cities and they only address the problems of smaller towns like ours if they can fit it in. It’s time for someone to tell those legislators in Columbia that, “Small Towns Are Important Too!” When elected I am going to make sure that the legislator hears your voice. I believe because you work here, and go to school here, and pay taxes here your voice should be heard here as well. There will not be a day during the legislative session that I don’t remind those representatives in Columbia about the wonderful people and towns I represent. And when the state finally gives us the resources we need to succeed, we can be just as proud of our community every day as we were yesterday for that festival. God Bless you and the fine State of South Carolina Russell Curry |
