Our View: Nothing wrong with copying what works

 

If it were school, Abbeville city and county might be accused of cheating, taking answers from Greenwood city and county’s tests.

But in this case, we’d prefer to think of it as Abbeville government following Greenwood government’s lead in taking steps for its future.

In particular, note that following Greenwood County’s success in levying an additional penny in sales tax to fund a variety of capital projects, Abbeville County set about mirroring the methodology deployed by its neighbor. Come November, Abbeville County voters will decide whether to tack on a penny sales tax for its own list of projects.

Must-haves or wishes? That’s what the voters will decide, but the team appointed to explain the projects and field questions about them has done a commendable job. Voters will not be able to say they didn’t know what the tax is about or what it is intended to fund.

Abbeville County also saw the promise in Greenwood Promise, having established its own version of the program aimed at ensuring dollars are available for graduating high school students’ college tuition. As with Greenwood Promise, the Abbeville program will make funds available to all students graduating from private, public and home-school settings. Good move there as well.

And now, the City of Abbeville is poised to put before its voters a referendum that would let them decide whether restaurants can sell alcoholic beverages on Sundays. The two-pronged referendum, if approved, would simultaneously let voters decide whether beer and wine currently sold in retail outlets could also be sold on Sunday.

Several years ago, Greenwood County voters gave the go-ahead to allowing restaurants to serve adult beverages on Sundays. Come November, Greenwood County voters are most likely going to have the same opportunity as its Abbeville city neighbors, giving a thumbs up or a thumbs down to allow retailers to sell beer and wine on Sundays.

If anyone thought this a criticism of Greenwood’s good neighbors, that would be incorrect. Again, we think Abbeville — the city and county — are taking note of what is taking place around its borders and merely borrowing good ideas and mimicking good processes.

That’s not cheating; that’s borrowing from successful playbooks.

Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Jul 15, 2018

Article Link: https://www.indexjournal.com/opinion/editorials/our-view-nothing-wrong-with-copying-what-works/article_297ea3b7-dfc9-5ecf-8d40-9314ffbb98d6.htm