Think before you invest

Posted by hjordan on 01/25 at 01:31 PM

Hartsville is famous for starting something they cannot finish. Whether its Hartsville or contractors people in Hartsville love to leave things unfinished. I have seen quit a few examples of what I am talking about.

1. The turn around behind Lowes. Was something suppose to go there…no one knows. Why put Stop signs and turn around for nothing…because it pretty?

2. The grassy lot between Ace and Blockbuster. There are several drive way to NOWHERE. Guess were suppose to drive into the grassy lot…

3.  The Hampton Inn and Suites. I know this is not Hartsvilles Fault but a beautiful historic building was torn down for nothing to be built here.

I’m sure someone will have some discretion to this but to those who agree. What else can you think of? I’m sure there are more.

Your comments:

Audrey Childers says:

As I understand it, the area around Lowes and Blockbuster was paved and roads created so that commercial lots could be sold. You can’t sell a lot that doesn’t have access to it and a business is less likely to buy a lot that will eventually have a road built as compared to one with a spanking new road already there.

On: 01/25  at  06:03 PM

Mayor Pennington says:

Dear hjordan,

I appreciate your passion for making Hartsville better.  Although I differ in your position—I thank you for your honest thoughts.

Having a focus on what is wrong with this city is a great motivating force for me.  It’s an honest thought and could be shared by more people, so we must work even harder to educate our citizens on the facts involved.

I frequently find myself frustrated by HVTD.com because it has moved away from the original premise.  I’m certain that Doug Fischer will probably disagree with me on this point—but the intent was for community journalism.  Fresh news from the perspective of the citizen.  News worthy of the front page of our local papers, but made digital and current.

I find more often than not that we are killing our opportunity to showcase our city and recruit new businesses.  You see, if we continue to point out the dents, we’re going to have a tough time selling this vehicle.

I encourage each of the readership still left here to focus on more newsworthy items, less on the negative, and more on ideas for improving this place.

I find no fault with hjordan’s pointing out all that is wrong and broken—as long as there is a solution proposed.  We all live here together, and I expect for everyone to help out as we make this place a better place to work and live. Together we can make a difference.

Hjordan, you have a very valid point here.  We don’t agree on the manner in which it was delivered, but let me see if I can make this work:

What I heard you say was that you might not have a clear understanding of who owned these items mentioned—but that it doesn’t look right.  I can’t argue that fact. 

We should encourage our developers to keep these places more attractive for prospective buyers. In fact, that is exactly why we adopted the Nuisance Ordinance.

We agree that we can make Hartsville look better. hjordan, you my friend have just brought our attention to three great points we can focus on.

Respectfully,

Mel Pennington,
Mayor, City of Hartsville

On: 01/28  at  12:54 AM

Doug Fisher says:

No, Mel, I don’t disagree with you at all.

The site had three purposes:
- To let people post news of their neighborhoods, groups, etc., that the newspaper was unlikely to get to.
- To provide a forum for commenting on issues that was a bit more controlled than the wild and woolly message board that existed previously.
- To give the newspaper a place to post items outside its normal publishing cycle (Friday football was one particular item)

The newspaper and its owners have not really taken ownership of this site and made it what it could be. We’ve had several meetings - things sort of start and then fade away. Jim Faile has been a stalwart in posting, And Ardie from time to timem and for that I thank them.

Yes, the idea of people submitting news has fallen off. I remember the “glory” days when, for instance, city inspectors went around telling VBS’s they had to take their banners down. It was posted here and within a few hours, that changed. ... Or when the post office made some adjustments based on a story about the danger to people being forced to cross the road to their boxes.

Part of it is the content management system Media General wants to use on this site and the lack of approved modules to do many of the things we would do in Drupal (most notably the community calendar) that have required hacks by an already harried Web person in Florence. That’s made the site relatively unfriendly, but it is out of my control.

But while I understand your concern from a marketing point, Mel, the reality is that this still does provide a way for concerned people in town to raise newsworthy items and issues. That you have joined the conversation - because these days news is a conversation - speaks well of you and, I think, in the long run benefits Hartsville more.

You’ll find that in today’s world, credibility is transactional, not institutional - in plain speak “show me” - and transparency is key. So I’m glad you are here.

Doug
(I’ve done two extensive published studies of the site assessing the good and bad. Happy to share the last one with you, Mel. Just send me an e-mail.)

On: 01/28  at  04:04 AM

hjordan says:

Thanks for your response Mel. I know pointing out all the flaws in Hartsville is not good for business but I fell if I point out the flaws some may be fixed and because of this more people will bring business to Hartsville. Thanks again I do appreciate your response. I feel grateful out Mayor makes time to answer our questions and concerns. (:

On: 01/31  at  10:19 PM

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