Episode Transcript
[00:00:11] Speaker A: Hi, I'm Jackie Broach, and this is first Friday with Georgetown county. Our first guest today is Dwight McEnville, our Georgetown County Library director. And Dwight is here to talk to us today a little about the renovations that are going on at the, the main branch in Georgetown. Dwight, tell us how that's going. I was in there the other day, and it looks like it's moving along really well.
[00:00:32] Speaker B: Well, Jackie, I'm so pleased to be here with you today. And I'm so glad to be able to tell the viewers about our exciting new project at our Georgetown Library on Cleveland street and near the historic district. Many of you have probably visited the library before, and you know that it has been very needful for a long time for a major overhaul. And thanks to a wonderful lady, Mrs. Jean Florida Moody, we are able to do this. Ms. Moody, she was a very unassuming lady, very smart, had a wicked sense of humor, and cared very deeply about the library staff. But we didn't know that she was quite wealthy. And when she died in December of 2017, she left us about $1.4 million. And, Jackie, that enabled us finally to deal with our need for more space. And we did this by actually building a new wing to the library and much larger auditorium than we had had before. And many of you probably were in our small auditorium, which could barely hold the large crowds that came to see our programming. So we're so excited, Jackie, to have this new auditorium.
[00:01:52] Speaker A: And the auditorium, if I'm not mistaken, is actually going to be named after Ms. Moody, is that correct?
[00:01:57] Speaker B: It will be named for Ms. Moody, and very deservedly so. County council, at its last meeting, they actually approved this, and the library board, prior to their approval, had unanimously said that this is what they wanted, and we intend to use her full name, Jean Flornoy Moody. And what a wonderful lady she know. We have been planning to renovate the Georgetown Library for some time through the capital improvement plan. In fact, some of you may have been involved with that. It was actually called visions at one time, and it started about 20 years ago, and we had anticipated having enough money to do this, and we had many needs.
So we built a new library in Carvers Bay in 2006. We followed up with an expansion of the Andrews library in 2010. Then we built a new Walkamon neck branch library in 2013 2014. Then we built one at southern Georgetown during the pandemic. And by the time we got to the Georgetown library, the money had run.
[00:03:11] Speaker A: Out, and those were all very needed. And they are beautiful facilities, but this is also very needed. Remind me, the last time that we had major renovations in Georgetown was after Hugo.
[00:03:23] Speaker B: Well, Hugo, of course, did a little bit of damage back in 1989. It had just opened, and we had new carpeting put in in 2007, and the roof was done over in 2007 as well. But it's been a long time coming. A long time coming. So when Ms. Moody provided her funds, that stimulated the county to find additional money, too. And they found about, I want to say, 568,000 from ARPA money, and then there was excess sales tax money left over, and that was somewhere between 800 and $900,000. And county council graciously gave that amount of money. So the entire project has come in somewhere between 2.8 and $2.9 million. And it's just so wonderful to go there, even in its unfinished state right now, to see the new vinyl floors, to see the refreshed know. No more old wallpaper, everything beautifully restored, new sheet rock, new ductwork. People would be able to breathe easier in the building, a lot more space.
Jackie, we were so frustrated. We were crammed into closets and into makeshift rooms that we had put together to have our very vibrant and innovative programs installed in. And so we're very, very glad to have this.
[00:05:01] Speaker A: Dwight, you were kind enough earlier this month to give me a tour, and it really is just completely emptied out. It's a shell right now, just completely empty. So it's going to be like, we have a new building, basically, on the inside.
[00:05:14] Speaker B: It's lovely. It's lovely. New ceilings, of course, and it's going.
[00:05:18] Speaker A: To be a lower ceiling, beautiful arch, but the lighting is going to be better.
[00:05:22] Speaker B: And led lighting, that's so important because we need to be able to see things.
It was a beautiful building before, but it's going to be even better now. Jackie, our services I mentioned were crammed into closets. Our editing suite for video production, which I know is something that you love as well.
[00:05:46] Speaker A: Hopefully, we'll be doing this in your editing.
[00:05:51] Speaker B: Yes, but it was in essentially a closed closet. It was amazing that we were able to produce such wonderful videos with the resources at hand. But now it's going to be in its own special room. We're going to have the rafters exposed in that room, although painted black. We'll be able to dangle cameras from the rafters, and we can really do some interesting interviews there, some interesting programming, and so it should be very nice. Some of the viewers may know about our library YouTube channel. We have hundreds of videos on that channel. We've been doing these videos since about 2002. And so it's a historical site. You can see World War II interviews, and, of course, so many of our servicemen from that period are no longer with us. You can see memories of the Great Depression, and, of course, many of those folks are gone, too. You can see memories of Hurricane Hugo and other hurricanes. And, of course, a lot of us remember that. So that's viewed by about over 50 to 60,000 people per year. So it's a very popular service. And now we'll have a space to really showcase it properly.
[00:07:15] Speaker A: There really are some historical treasures on your YouTube channel, and we'll put the link right here on the bottom of this production so people can find it. But your digital library is also a real asset for our community.
[00:07:28] Speaker B: Well, thank you. The digital library has about 70,000 items. We were one of the first libraries in the state to actually have a digital library. Clemson was there before us, but we helped to brainstorm to establish the South Carolina Digital Library at USC. And then we also provided a grant framework for the College of Charleston when they did the low country digital library. There are four digital pillars to the digital effort in our state, and we're one of the four. And of our 70,000 items, some are newspapers, a lot of photo, lot of photographs, some are manuscript materials. And it's amazing. 7000 people a month access our digital library, our Georgetown County Digital Library. And we have people from all over the globe watching it. And in particular, we have a village in Japan, which is a real fan base for our digital work, both our YouTube channel and our Georgetown digital Library. So we're very pleased about that.
[00:08:45] Speaker A: How interesting. I wonder what makes us so interesting to them.
[00:08:48] Speaker B: I'm not sure. I guess they're learning about a. I'm so glad you mentioned that, because in the newly renovated space, we will have much more room to actually digitize materials. And I'm hoping that we can get a grant to digitize our founding documents because, Jackie, our library has been in existence since January the 31st, 1799. But we need to digitize our historical founding documents. We have the charter that established the library. We have the minutes from the people who came together, the 50 rice planners and merchants, and we have records of how they went to Europe to buy books, because at that time, America didn't print many books. And we're so proud of that because we are one year older than the Library of Congress.
[00:09:44] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:09:44] Speaker B: One year.
[00:09:45] Speaker A: Interesting history.
[00:09:46] Speaker B: Yes. And this entire year, 2024, will be focusing on our beautiful, our history. And we will have a series of programs, and we like to think of it as a time machine through the history of Georgetown county. So we've applied for a humanities grant, which I believe we'll get to have eleven speakers throughout the year who will be joined by local scholars, and together they will explore different themes. And we'll do that, of course, in our new Jean Flornoi Moody auditorium. We hope everybody will come.
[00:10:23] Speaker A: So, speaking again of the Georgetown library renovations, we're on track to open in spring.
[00:10:29] Speaker B: Yes, we believe that. Well, contractually, RC building Company, which is a general contractor, is obligated to turn over the library to us by the end of February or the beginning of March. Once we have that in hand, then the work really begins, because we moved all of the books out of the building in order for them to do all of the work, and now we have to move all of the books back into the building.
[00:10:58] Speaker A: So I know that you had some volunteers to help with moving the books out. Are we going to need more volunteers to help move them back in?
[00:11:04] Speaker B: We will need people with a lot of energy and muscles that could be you.
[00:11:11] Speaker A: So if somebody is interested in helping to move all these books, what should they do? How should they go about signing up?
[00:11:17] Speaker B: Just call me and my phone number is available online and I will certainly be glad to take your name and number. And yes, it'll be great. Just so you know, my business phone is 843-545-3304 so I am looking forward to hearing from you. But Jackie, we're not done with telling everybody about all of the. Absolutely. We're not at the know. We also have a wonderful expanded space for teens. I'm very excited about know a teen technology center. We've had that in the past, but we actually had to put together a ramshackle room. Well, now we'll have something that's appropriate for the programming and we're looking forward to doing more maker space activities, such things as using laser cutters to build things, 3d printers.
[00:12:22] Speaker A: These are things we do extensively at the Walkamall library.
Now we'll be able to do them in Georgetown.
[00:12:28] Speaker B: That's right. And we're so delighted by that prospect. We'll also be teaching children coding. We have all kinds of things to teach them how to do with that.
We have had a drone in the past. We did loan it out to the emergency operations center, I believe, or maybe it was to facility services. So we're going to have to borrow it back and show people how to use a drone and then help the kids to build little drones that they can fly, perhaps within our new auditorium. We don't release them to the outside. Don't worry. Don't worry.
But it will be exciting. It will be exciting. And then, of course, I haven't even touched on the children's area, which, speaking.
[00:13:14] Speaker A: Of the children's area, we are fundraising for a sculpture, a special sculpture that's.
[00:13:19] Speaker B: Going to go in. That is true. It's Harriet Tudman and her nephew. It's a beautiful little sculpture. It's not inexpensive.
I don't have the greatest memory for figures, folks, but I believe it's somewhere around $30,000. And our friends of the Georgetown library have been raising the money, and I think they're already two thirds of the way there. But they do need your help. So if you would like to contribute to something worthy at the Georgetown library, please contribute to this beautiful sculpture. And again, if you're interested, give me a call. 843-545-3304 another project the Georgetown Friends is working on is our landscaping. And again, they're a great group, and they have raised, I think their goal is 15 or $20,000 to improve our landscaping. And they've almost reached that goal as well. But there's still time. Still time. And again, anything that you all can do would be so much appreciated. But now back to the kids. Yes, we're going to have a new story time room. It's going to be painted in blue. If you take a look at my shirt color and lighten it up a bit, you'll get an idea of what the children's room's color will be. But it will be a beautiful space. And as you enter it, there'll be a new space for the Caldecott and Newbury award winning books, which are the special books for children. One of the awards deals with illustrations and the other award deals with the actual words in the books. And so there'll be a special chamber for that. And we know that the children love computers. Who doesn't these days? And so we'll have a special area, a special alcove for them to engage in computer research. But having said that, Jackie, so many of our children are coming in with their parents, and they're checking out real books. And so I'm so excited to let you know that if you take a look at our circulation for the last year, the circulation of adult materials and children's materials were neck on neck. And I hope that next year the kids will outpace the adults in their reading. It's very exciting.
We circulate over 200,000 items per year. And we're so pleased about that. 66% of our population has library cards, which is double the national average of 33%.
[00:15:54] Speaker A: Wonderful.
[00:15:54] Speaker B: And our families circulate, come into the library about every three to five years. Everybody does. And so we have a lot of usage of the collection. And you think that in these times, who's going to read an old book? An old book with pages and all of that? But only 10% of our books circulation is electronic. Ebooks, of course, are very popular, but printed materials are much more popular than ebooks in our community. So just want to let you know.
[00:16:35] Speaker A: I utilize the ebooks and the audiobooks from the Libby app, but there's nothing like having a printed book in your hand. I still love that.
[00:16:42] Speaker B: That's true. Yeah, it's always very wonderful. Now, the Wacoma friends have just provided us with a service and I cannot remember.
[00:16:54] Speaker A: Canopy.
[00:16:55] Speaker B: Canopy. Thank you, Jackie, for saving me canopy. But that's going to be a new service. If you're a lover of videos, then you can actually check out, I believe, about seven videos per month. And through this service, paid for by the Friends of the Walkamall library. And the films are of a higher caliber.
They focus on culture, they focus on history, they focus on science. And of course, they do focus on entertainment, too. But I don't want to say highbrow, but they're special films. They're wonderful films. So I do encourage you to come to the library to learn how to access that new service.
[00:17:42] Speaker A: You can also find information on Canopy and how to sign up at our website, gtcounty.org. It's on the homepage right now, I believe.
[00:17:51] Speaker B: And thank you for putting that up. Jack, you're the website maestro, as it were.
[00:17:56] Speaker A: I'm one of them. One of them.
[00:17:58] Speaker B: Okay. All right.
[00:17:59] Speaker A: So you have so much always going on at the library. Is there anything else that we need to touch on?
[00:18:07] Speaker B: Well, we have an advocacy campaign going on. In fact, I will be in Columbia with some wonderful library supporters, some members, citizens from our community, and we're going to be asking the legislature to increase per capita support for public libraries from $2.25 per capita to $3.
The first and last time that we had $2.25 per capita was in 2007, just before the onset of the great Recession. And then it went south. It went all the way down to Capita and it's only gradually climbed back up to 225. And if you factored in inflation, and we all know about inflation, don't we? Then if the funding had been consistent from 2007 to the present, then we should be getting $3.27 per capita. So I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for $3 per capita, do you? In any case, please let your legislators know that we need $3 per capita in state aid for public libraries. That would mean an additional $40,000 annually for books and technology for Georgetown county. Very much needed, Jackie.
[00:19:30] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:19:30] Speaker B: Very much needed.
[00:19:31] Speaker A: So inflation is just another reason that you should all be utilizing our library. Books, movies, audiobooks, ebooks. The Southern Georgetown Library even has a library of things where you can check out metal detectors, board games, any number.
[00:19:46] Speaker B: Of items, cutlery items.
[00:19:48] Speaker A: Yep. Cake pans, all sorts of things they have over there.
[00:19:51] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:19:51] Speaker A: So there's so much that you can utilize your local library for. Dwight, thank you so much for coming on and talking with us about this, and we cannot wait to talk to you again when the new renovated Georgetown library is open.
[00:20:04] Speaker B: Well, thank you, Jackie, and thank you to all of the viewers for listening. And please share this information with your fellow citizens. And please use us. We want to serve you.
[00:20:18] Speaker A: Thank you, Dwight.
[00:20:19] Speaker B: You're welcome.
[00:20:20] Speaker A: Our next guest is Aphra McCrea. She is the director of elections and voter registration for Georgetown county, and she is going to talk with us a little about several things. But starting with the presidential primaries, we have early voting for the democratic presidential primary going on.
[00:20:37] Speaker C: Yes. So. Right. First, let me say thank you for having me. I'm delighted to be with you.
The early voting for the democratic primary is taking place now. However, it's Friday and today is the last day. So for anyone who isn't looking to show up to the polls on Saturday because you'll be absent from your county or you have to work, whatever the reason is, please report to any of our early vote locations today to cast your vote before 06:00 p.m. We have four early vote locations, the Andrews Recreational center, the choppy recreational center, the Waccamaw Rec center, and the local county office.
[00:21:18] Speaker A: And the county office is at 303.
[00:21:21] Speaker C: North Hazard street here in Georgetown, right over near McDonald's. Yes. Should be easy to find. Should be easy to find. So, election day is February 3. That's the democratic primary for anybody looking to vote on that day. All of our polling locations will be open. However, if you are a Blaine voter, Merles Inlet two, you will report to the fire station headquarters to cast your vote. So if you show up on Saturday and that polling place is closed, give us a call and we will be able to tell you exactly where you go vote. The address can be found on our website or on our facebook page. So again, if you're looking to vote on election day, make sure you show up to the polls with any of the five acceptable forms of id, and just make sure that that id is unexpired. That way you have a smooth voting process. If there are any issues with your forms of id that's going to slow you down a little bit. So just be prepared to show your photo id and make sure that it's unexpired. That way you don't run into any issues on election day.
[00:22:35] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:22:35] Speaker C: And election day is February 3, which is this set tomorrow.
[00:22:40] Speaker A: Okay, perfect. And we have the republican primaries that are also coming up in February, correct?
[00:22:46] Speaker C: Yes. So the actual election day for the republican presidential primary is Saturday, February 24. The early vote period for that primary starts on Monday, February twelfth, and will end on February 22, which is on a Thursday. There is no early voting on February 18, 19th or the 23rd. Again, all four of our early vote locations will be open from 830 to six. So if you're interested in participating in early vote, make sure you cast your vote between that timeline. Again, show up with your id. Make sure that it's unexpired. If you're unsure about your voter registration, you want to ensure that it's up to date, it's current, it's valid. Give our office a call. We'll be able to assist you. That number is 843-545-3339 we are open and available and ready to assist you as best as we can. So give us a call for any question, big or small.
So I do want to add, because our most frequently asked question this month is, can I vote in both primaries?
[00:24:06] Speaker A: No.
[00:24:06] Speaker C: So you can't. I'm glad that you know that.
[00:24:10] Speaker A: However, this is not a state where you have to register for a party, right. So you can pick which know if you normally vote democratic, you can vote in the republican primary and vice versa.
[00:24:20] Speaker C: Correct. So that's one of the great things about voting in South Carolina, is that you don't have to declare a political party when you register to vote. So if you're interested in voting for a democratic candidate and in your heart you are a republican voter, you can take part in the democratic primary and vice versa. If you don't participate in either primary. If you want to participate in the runoff, you have more flexibility there. So you can vote in either primary.
I will add that that is one of the questions on the republican primary ballot, is if voters should declare a political party when they register to vote. So if you want to take a look at any of the sample ballots, whether it be democratic or republican, you can view those on our website, ttcouny.org vote. Yes.
[00:25:17] Speaker A: And we always put the sample ballots up leading up to all the elections. So we do have other elections coming up this year. There will, of course, be a primary for non presidential elections and we'll have the November election. Let's talk about some of the roles, not just for the presidential primaries, but that will also serve you all for these other elections going forward. Now, you can't wear your vote for ex candidate shirt into the polling place or your hat or any of that stuff, right?
[00:25:45] Speaker C: You cannot, and this has been a big question in our poll worker training sessions.
So if, let's say it's February 3, which is tomorrow, and a voter comes in wearing a Trump t shirt or.
[00:26:04] Speaker A: A riding with Biden shirt for the, whichever can't do either of these.
[00:26:09] Speaker C: Actually, according to South Carolina state law, as long as the name on your shirt is not on the ballot, that is not considered campaign material.
[00:26:22] Speaker A: Okay. So you could wear your MAGA hat to the democratic primary.
[00:26:26] Speaker C: Correct.
[00:26:26] Speaker A: But not the republican primary.
[00:26:28] Speaker C: Correct.
[00:26:28] Speaker A: I did not know that. I learned something new today. Yes.
[00:26:31] Speaker C: And a lot of our poll workers are very uneasy about it. However, we only administer the process that is something to take up with your local legislation.
It's permissible if you are in violation.
[00:26:47] Speaker A: And they ask you to cover up your shirt. It's not the poll worker's fault. Please don't take it out on them.
[00:26:52] Speaker C: Right.
And a lot of information is on our website. I don't know if we have the latest version of the poll manager's handbook, but any citizen, any voter, any observer can stop by, retrieve that handbook and read it at their leisure. There's some good information in there and it helps to know where you stand and what's allowed when you show up on election day. It keeps a lot of the confusion.
[00:27:24] Speaker A: Down and it helps those poll workers when voters know what's going on. Because I've done the poll worker gig before. Yes, it can be hard.
[00:27:33] Speaker C: We want you back, actually.
[00:27:35] Speaker A: We'll see.
[00:27:35] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:27:36] Speaker A: I've got a little one right now. Yes, that's a long day to be away from her and have to have a babysitter. But let's talk about poll workers. We always need poll workers. Yes. Like I said, it is a hard job, but it is a rewarding job and it is a paid gig.
[00:27:50] Speaker C: Yes, it is. So we are always recruiting. We're lucky this go round to have our locations fully staffed. One of the reasons for that in this election cycle is that the voters are split in half anyway, and so you won't have all 3600 of your voters showing up on one day. And that cuts down on the need for the maximum amount of workers. However, in June and November, we will restart that recruiting process because we will need the max during those election cycles.
[00:28:31] Speaker A: But if somebody is interested in maybe doing that later, they can go ahead and let you know. Right?
[00:28:35] Speaker C: Yes. So a lot of voters or county people who come in, they want to work the polls. We ask for their id and social, and they're a little apprehensive, but it's the only way to get them paid. So poll clerks make 265 per election. And those are your more seasoned clerks. Those are your poll workers who've probably been doing it for a few years.
[00:29:04] Speaker A: I've always thought that they named them is a little confusing. I would consider the poll clerk to be like the poll manager. Right. But they named them oddly, in my opinion.
[00:29:14] Speaker C: And whenever we start recruiting and we go, hey, are you interested in being a poll manager? Or here's the poll manager application, they go, no, I'm new. I only want to be a worker. And we have to explain that the.
[00:29:27] Speaker A: Poll manager is the lower level and the poll clerk is actually what would normally be the manager.
[00:29:32] Speaker C: Yes. And so I want to add that the poll managers make $165. So while it's not a whole lot of money and you don't get rich doing it, I think it is rewarding, and I think a lot of people view it as a civic duty.
[00:29:47] Speaker A: It is hard work. It is a long day because those polls open at seven and they close at seven, and you have to be there before that and after that. But you see lots of people from your community. You don't have a lot of time to talk to them, but enough time to say hi. It is a fun experience. If you've never done it before, I would definitely.
[00:30:06] Speaker C: I think so.
For anyone who is looking to become a poll worker, stop by our county office so we can get that process started.
[00:30:17] Speaker A: Great. So let's talk about filing, because we do have some other positions, local elections, that are going to be on the ballot this year. Sheriff, coroner, auditor, treasurer, clerk of court.
[00:30:31] Speaker C: Council districts two, three, four, and. Mm hmm. And your probate judge will be on the ballot. And so you have some school board seats that will be on the ballot as well, in addition to your water and soil seats. Fallon, for those seats. So, Fallon, for all of your elected officials and any of your partisan offices, will take place March 16 at noon, which is on a Saturday, and will end on April 1 at noon. So for anyone who's interested in running for any of your elected official seats or your county council seats, give us a call. We can tell you what that fouling fee will be and how to start that process and remind you of the Fallon dates. Again, all of this information will be on our website well before that date starts. So again, you can find it on our website. Those are the seats that are up. We also have school board candidate Fallon that starts August 1 at noon and will end August 16 or August 15 at noon. So if you're interested in running for any of those seats, give us a call and we will explain to you how that process works.
[00:31:55] Speaker A: Now, a lot of those seats are countywide seats like sheriff and coroner. Obviously the council seats, and I believe the school board seats are also by district. Correct.
[00:32:05] Speaker C: So the school board seats that are up this year are by district. But I believe you do have one. It could be two at large seats that are countywide.
[00:32:15] Speaker A: So district two is currently held for county council. Bob Anderson. That is the Polly's island area.
[00:32:22] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:32:22] Speaker A: District three, Everett, Carolina, in the Sand Pit Santee area. District four would be Lily Jean Johnson. That's in kind of Georgetown central, the city area, and five is Raymond Newton for Andrews. So if anybody has thought about running for office, those are the ones that will be up for this year. Is it the same for the school board seats? Do they kind of mirror the council seats that are up this year?
[00:32:45] Speaker C: So I don't think so.
I know school board seat four is up and I know that that's the only one I know off the top of my head.
[00:33:03] Speaker A: Well, we'll put more information about that later this month on our website. Again, that's gtcounty.org vote. So we have those filing dates. The primary will be in June to decide any narrow down multiple candidates. And then, of course, November is going to be a presidential general election. And those are always really busy.
[00:33:25] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:33:26] Speaker A: What are you expecting for this year? Do you think turnout is going to be huge?
[00:33:28] Speaker C: I think turnout is going to be extremely huge in November. So our early vote locations will be open and available. So hopefully having those four centers open will cut down on the long lines that we expect to see.
[00:33:46] Speaker A: I am so glad we started doing early voting in South Carolina.
[00:33:49] Speaker C: People love it.
[00:33:50] Speaker A: I love it.
[00:33:51] Speaker C: Yes, people love it. You don't have to have a reason you walk in with your id or your voter registration card that has the picture on it, you cast your vote and it's done.
[00:34:01] Speaker A: No lines. Generally, no lines.
[00:34:03] Speaker C: Generally, no lines in June and November. Voters will see some lines then, but for these next two elections, it's been pretty much smooth sailing.
[00:34:12] Speaker A: It's not like the election day lines we used to see, though. No early voting makes it so much easier now. I bet that does create some extra challenges with the poll workers, though, because it's not just one day.
[00:34:23] Speaker C: Yes.
The democratic early vote period ran for eleven days. The republican early vote period is going to run for nine days. So most of our workers that work those elections are retired, and that's great that we have them to do it, but we are looking for the younger population to pitch in.
Some of our poll workers are in their 80s, but they're dedicated, they're reliable, and they really love it. So while it is a challenge, we have some people that are committed to it, but we are looking for a few more good men or women.
[00:35:14] Speaker A: And I know that all these young people will say, oh, but I have to work. Well, some employers will let you take a vacation day and you can go make a little extra money on top of that by being a poll worker. So that is an option?
[00:35:25] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:35:26] Speaker A: So anything else you can think of to tell us? Afra?
[00:35:31] Speaker C: I just want you guys to know that the county office, our staff, our board members, we really work hard behind the scenes to make it possible for you guys to cast your vote as easily and as convenient as possible. We are always looking for ways to improve the process as a whole. So for anyone who wants to be a part of the process, give some suggestions, comments or concerns about the process, give our office a call.
We are working harder than you all can imagine, so help us improve the process by giving us your feedback and coming out to vote.
If you ever want to share your thoughts or stop in to just say hi, give us a visit at 303 North Hazard street here in Georgetown.
[00:36:30] Speaker A: The day before election day is probably not the best day to do that, though. You guys are very busy on those days and we do get calls sometimes about, oh, I can't get through to the office. You guys are short staffed right now and there's only so much you could do. There are some things that voters can do to make sure that you don't have quite as many calls on election date, such as checking their election information, which can be done online. Do you want to talk about that a little bit?
[00:36:56] Speaker C: So a few things I'm going to back up just a little bit.
We are a permanent office staff of three.
However, county council was pretty generous with our budget this year, so we have a call center staff that's available to help with the overflow of calls on election day and during the early vote periods. We didn't need them this go round, so we have them placed at an early vote location. So we try to now get your calls answered quicker. You get your calls answered quicker now than you did in the past, correct? So that is an extreme improvement.
Also, while we are very busy the day before election day, a lot of people say that I'm too accessible to the public, but those are my customers.
[00:37:59] Speaker A: That is not a complaint that I hear very often about government servants. So good on you.
[00:38:03] Speaker C: Yeah.
And I want to see my voters. I want to hear what they have to say. I want to see what they look like. I want them to know who I am. So even though I am busy on the day before election day, I am sure to have a quick minute or two to speak to you to discuss anything, but do her staff a favor.
[00:38:30] Speaker A: And go see her the week before election day.
[00:38:32] Speaker C: Right. That would be helpful. Any information that you need to find, whether it be where is your polling location if you want to view your sample ballot, if you want to simply check your voter registration, you can do that at our website. Anything you can possibly think of to do, we have provided as an online service to you. Calling our office is great, but I would recommend starting with our website.
That way you familiarize yourself with it, you get to know it, you get to know how it works, you get to know what's there. And if you find it difficult, give us a call and we'll assist you. But anything you can possibly think of, even if there is a polling location change, let's say there had to be an emergency move that had to take place three days before the election. That information you can find on our Facebook page. We have been extremely lucky to have the direct contact with the county IT department. One of my favorite people is Mr. Randy Acres. And so without Randy and the county IT department, it would be extremely hard for me to get all this need to know information out to you all as quickly and as efficiently as we have done. So, kudos and shout out to our county IT department. They are great help, but our online website has a wealth of information on it. So I recommend that you take a.
[00:40:10] Speaker A: Look and that again, one more time, is vote. And we will be updating that frequently this year with all the election news that's going on. Afraid. Thank you so much for coming in to talk with us about this.
[00:40:23] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:40:24] Speaker A: And I'm sure that some of these folks will be reaching out to you as we move forward.
Thank you for everything that you do for our county.
[00:40:31] Speaker C: Thank you for having me.
[00:40:34] Speaker A: That does it for the February episode of First Friday with Georgetown County. Sheriff Carter Weaver was supposed to be with us today. He unfortunately had another commitment come up. But I do just want to take a moment to remind you all that the polar plunge, a fundraiser for Special Olympics that the sheriff's office sponsors every year, is tomorrow. Registration starts at ten at Litchfield Inn. There is a costume contest, an award ceremony at, I believe, eleven, and the actual plunge is going to be at 1130. There is still time to sign up or make a donation and definitely go out. It's always a good time.
Also, you can keep up with other updates from Georgetown county on our website, gtcouny.org. And please sign up for our newsletter, the Georgetown County Chronicle, which comes out once a month and has a lot of great information in it. This again is Jackie Broach. Thank you so much for joining us.
