Dewees Rentals I am writing to express my dismay with the Charleston County Planning Commission's Aug. 12 decision on short-term rentals on Dewees Island. The commission considered an amendment that changed the zoning on Dewees Island from no short-term renting to allowing 72 houses to rent 56 days a year. Documents submitted to the commission showed that our fragile infrastructure cannot support this change, and that short-term rentals will irreparably damage the island’s unique environment.
I and other homeowners spoke at the meeting against the amendment and additional information was handed out showing the adverse impacts of short-term renting. It appeared, however, that commission members had made up their minds before looking at one piece of paper or hearing our concerns. Within a few minutes, all commission members voted to recommend approval of the amendment without discussion. I, as well as my neighbors, expected to see a thorough and transparent discussion of the issues. What happened on Aug. 12 was anything but that.
I feel our pleas to maintain the current zoning on Dewees fell on deaf ears and believe their action undermines the integrity of the process for making meaningful recommendations to Charleston County Council. This recommendation is particularly insulting because more people have expressed opposition to the text amendment than support for it. County Council members can correct the Planning Commission’s error when they consider the text amendment. We are asking for better governing, as this drastic proposed zoning change moves forward. ESTHER P. DOYLE Dewees Island
DEI's Military History A Sept. 3 letter to the editor bemoaned diversity, equity and inclusion in today’s armed forces. As a veteran of the armed forces, the writer should be aware of the history of our military as an arbiter of DEI. On July 26, 1948, President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981 that created the President’s Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services. The order, in part, stated: 'It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin.'
W. Stuart Symington, who served as the first Secretary of the Air Force, favored Truman’s policy, which resulted in the Air Force becoming the first fully integrated military branch. Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal soon followed suit, and Wesley Brown became the first African American to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1949. The Army resisted Executive Order 9981; citing national security and morale concerns, tropes that the writer of the referenced letter used as well. Ultimately, the last segregated Army units were disbanded in 1954.
Prior to desegregation of the military, the Army’s 369th Infantry, an all-volunteer regiment also known as the Harlem Hellfighters, during World War I experienced the greatest time in combat (191 days) and was the most decorated of any Army unit. The Marine Corps began training black and white recruits together in 1949. In 1952, the Marine Corps gradually integrated units to offset losses in the Korean War. DEI in the military is nothing new, and, in fact, has a long history. One wonders what the state of civil rights and equal opportunity would be today had President Truman not signed that order in 1948.
JOHN COX Mount Pleasant
Mail-in Ballot Use When I called the Horry County Office of Voter Registration recently, I was asked a series of questions about mail-in ballots that I have never been asked before. After giving the required information, I was asked why I wanted to cast a mail-in ballot. I found this intrusive as I was not asked this the two previous times I had requested them. I was told my reasons for voting by mail had to fall within certain parameters.
It should be my constitutional right to use a mail-in ballot regardless of any reason. These absurd rules rob people of their independence and are overreach of the worst kind. Just as a citizen is protected from improper search and seizure, I should be protected from unreasonable rules that would prevent me from practicing my constitutional right, and sacred duty, which is the right to vote. I am baffled by attempts to make it hard for citizens to vote. It flies in the face of common sense, which should be to make the process uncomplicated so as to encourage as many registered voters as possible to cast their ballots. Instead, these rules probably have the opposite effect.
MARY MCCOLLOUGH Myrtle Beach
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