CITIZENS FOR SAFER ROADS
Who We Are
We are the Big Three, a consortium of special interest groups composed of out-of-state developers, large-scale homebuilders and roadbuilders.
We came together to fool Charleston County voters in the November election into thinking it is in their best interest to inadequately fund roads (except for our pet project), mass transit and land conservation. And that the destruction of the County's community, culture and environment is a good thing.
Here's Our Plan to Fool Voters
The Don'ts.
- Don't mention that we, the Big Three, are behind the effort to approve the November $5.4 billon tax referendum. We will make serious, big-time money from it. Voters won't like that.
- Don't mention the Mark Clark Extension (526ext), our big pet payday project. That project would take funds away from improving roads and providing adequate funding for mass transit and land conservation. Again, voters won't like that.
- Don't tell voters that we are against tax relief. They could reduce their taxes, up to $1,200 per household per year, if they voted against the tax. We don't want that.
- Don't tell voters we were the ones who brought them all the traffic congestion in the fist place. We overdeveloped the County and we want to open even more of it to overdevelopment. Voters don't need to be reminded of that.
The Do's
- Do tell voters the tax is about safety and mass transit and land conservation, even though it's not.
- Do get the tree huggers on board with the tax by waving the mass transit and land conservation flags, even though those efforts would be significantly underfunded.
- Do hide the truth about the need to approve a new tax in 2024. A new, lower dollar value tax could actually wait until 2026 without any interruption in funding for roads, mass transit and land conservation.
- Do find some citizens to front this effort for us.
- Do buy a new Gulfstream with all the money we will make off the backs of Charleston County residents.
Our Plan Started with Our Vision
Our Vision
Our vision is to bring overdevelopment to every corner of Charleston County. Think apartments, big box stores and high-density housing developments everywhere with the resulting traffic congestion.
We want every vestige of the Lowcountry removed so that folks feel more comfortable moving here. They certainly won't feel comfortable with the wetlands, marshes, farms, forests, roads with tree canopies and the diverse population that currently constitute the County.
Our Approach
To achieve our vision, we need to convince Charleston County voters to use their money to help us make money. And we have our chance in November. We have put a referendum on the ballot for ... wait for it ... $5.4 billion in taxes! Time for that new Gulfstream. Cha-ching.
It's Not A New Tax
That's going to be our mantra. But it is a new tax. That's why it's on the ballot, duh.
What we'll hang our hats on is that if approved, it won't raise taxes since it will replace an existing tax. What we won't tell voters is that the tax will cost the average household $1,200 per year.
We know that with inflation, residents need a break on their taxes, but who cares about them. We need all the money we are going to make on road construction contracts and housing developments to pay for our jet fuel.
Overdevelop Then Skedaddle
The holy grail for us is building out all of Johns Island. We are going to make so much money!
We've been salivating over those family farms for years. We'll upzone all that rural land outside the Urban Growth Boundary to build apartments, big box stores and high-density housing developments.
We'll use the same overdevelopment gameplan we used in Mount Pleasant, North Charleston, West Ashley and on James Island. Traffic will be hell. But who cares? We'll overdevelop then skedaddle, like we did in Atlanta and Charlotte.
Houston, We Have A Problem
To make that overbuilding possible, we need taxpayers to pay for our pet project, the Mark Clark Extension. The Mark Clark Extension (526ext) would run from the end of I-526 in West Ashley, across Johns Island and then to the James Island Connector.
It's estimated to cost $326 million per mile! That doesn't include cost overruns, which County residents are solely responsible to cover.
But it will be Charleston County residents who pay for all of this, not us. That's why we are "investing" so much in "voter education". You have to love how the system works (for us).
A Zombie Project
Despite a lack of support from County residents and the State government, we have been able to keep 526ext on life support for many years. Our actions have resulted in a huge increase in the cost of the project. But who cares? It's not our money.
526ext Will Solve The World's Problems
Well, at least that's the way we've been promoting it. We've convinced many County residents that 526ext will solve all the traffic congestion woes in the region and especially on Johns Island.
What we don't want voters to do is look at the SCDOT data that show the roads on Johns Island, especially River Road, will be so congested that they can't even get to the 526ext. And if they do get there, 526ext will also be gridlocked.
And we certainly don't want them to look at the SCDOT data for the end of the James Island Connector where it dumps onto Calhoun Street. The traffic there will increase by 200%.
Instead, we'll just tell them 526ext will solve all their traffic problems. It's worked well so far.
Houston, We Have Another Problem
The roads in Charleston County desperately need to be fixed to improve safety, reduce congestion and improve livability. But if we are going to get that new Gulfstream, we need county residents to spend almost half of the $5.4 billion tax on our one big pet project, 526ext.
We know it's more fiscally responsible and more effective to spend that money to improve our existing roads rather than spending it on our pet project. So how can we convince voters to fund that new plane?
When In Doubt, Hire Consultants
The consultants said the referendum will fail if we tell voters the truth ... that it's all about 526ext. They said voters are telling them they want their current roads fixed now.
So the consultants told us we need to hoodwink the voters. They said tell those fools (oops, we mean voters) it's all about safety. Damn, we love consultants!
It's Not Really About Safety
If the tax were really about safety, we would not have pressed to underfund safety projects. For example, because of this underfunding the County had to eliminate from their 2024 project list improving US-17 south of Main Road (in West Ashley and Hollywood). That stretch of road has been the site of horrific collisions.
It has never been about safety for us. The deadliest road segment on Johns Island, known locally as “deadman’s curve", is located in the middle section of Main Road. Yet this project, which was on the project list from the 2016 tax, was defunded because of our pet project, 526ext.
But we aren't going to bother voters with facts like that. We'll just tell them falsely that this tax is about safety. They will love that!
More From The Consultants
The consultants also told us voters are concerned about mass transit and land conservation. That's a tough one to finagle since the referendum actually decreases the percentage of funds for these efforts from previous referendums.
How can we tell voters the referendum is about mass transit and land conservation when much-needed fundings for these efforts is being diverted to the 526ext?
Our consultants came up with a brilliant idea. When it comes up, change the subject.
And We Can Scare People
Halloween is our favorite holiday. We love to scare little kids. It brings the best bully out in us.
Second best is to scare adults. The consultants said we can do that by telling voters that if they don't vote for the tax then funding for mass transit and land conservation will go away.
Now, we know that's not true. There would be no shortfall in tax revenue until 2027 or 2028. So a better tax could come back in 2026 with no impact on road projects, mass transit or land conservation.
But who wants a better tax? One that actually addresses the safety and congestion issues residents experience every day and that adequately funds mass transit and land conservation.
There's not enough money in that for us! Count us out. We'll just scare County residents into voting "yes" in 2024.
Tilting The Scales
Voters don't realize that we've been working at this for years. Horrendous congestion on Johns Island? We are proud to say we did that.
We both overdeveloped the island and slowed or stopped much-needed road improvements there. We made sure improvements that could help with safety and relieve traffic congestion issues were not implemented prior to this vote.
Main and US-17 flyover not done? That was us. Only one lane off-island on Maybank Highway? That was us. Can't make left turns onto Maybank Highway? That was us.
We gave the residents the congestion and then told them the only solution is our pet project, 526ext. We even amaze ourselves how good we are at this stuff.