Dorchester County Councilman George Bailey is facing opposition this election season from a political newcomer fed up with the local governing body’s decisions.

Robert Gatch is a former South Carolina state trooper and current business owner.

The winner of the GOP primary on June 12 will appear on the general election ballot, on Nov. 6, along with Democratic candidate Tim Lewis.

Gatch

Gatch said he thinks council members are only concerned about special interest groups he believes they’re tied to. He said the county is at a crossroads, and change is the solution.

“I do not believe the current...members understand or care about the explosive growth in Dorchester County that is causing horrible problems, nor do they seem to be able to do anything about it because they are dependent upon developer campaign contributions to get re-elected,” Gatch said.

A Summerville native, Gatch is familiar with the area, absent for only a short season when he served in the military; he later returned to start a family and now wants the county to offer a better quality of life, believing “small government is good government” and shouldn’t compete with private business. He’s not worried about the fact he’s never served in political office.

“There comes a time when every person must ask him or herself what we are doing to make things better for their family and community,” Gatch said. “I think everyone should consider running to become a public servant. As we get older and become somewhat more secure in our professions, we find more time and desire to get involved in helping to change our community for the better.”

Gatch said he thinks current council members are engaged in a Ponzi scheme by initiating area growth in order to raise and collect more taxes to pay for county services.

“Growth must pay for itself so we do not have to raise taxes on current residents to pay for the needs of new residents,” Gatch said.

He blames “unrestrained development” as a “recipe for disaster” that’s the underlying cause of a variety of other county issues like traffic congestion and flooding.

“Excessive residential development has brought on traffic congestion, flooding, school overcrowding and the imposition of new taxes on residents when developers do not pay for the infrastructure caused by their mega-developments,” Gatch said. “We should not allow them to donate unusable swamp land as their infrastructure ‘contribution’ to our recreational or public safety building sites.”

Earlier this year council passed stricter guidelines for developers to abide by, to ensure they contribute more to the process.

But Gatch said council members need to altogether refuse developer campaign contributions; he also suggested increasing transportation impact fees for new developments. Gatch said fixing roads would be a first priority for him.

Council voted earlier this year to refund impact fees because members said the fees were restrictive and penalized new businesses.

Bailey

Bailey said council has a successful record for fixing roads in the last few years—thanks to monetary aid from Columbia, through the State Infrastructure Bank, and Bailey’s chairman role with the Charleston Area Transportation Committee (CHATS). Completion of the final phase of the Berlin G. Myers Parkway project is forthcoming, Bailey said.

“I have saved our county over hundreds of thousand of dollars and helped secure over $30 million from the SIB for road improvements, one being building the much needed highway improvements on Highway 165 from Highway 61 to Ashley Ridge High School,” Bailey said.

The incumbent has lived in Dorchester County for 40 years but longer in the tri-county and is retired—a position he said enables him to give back 100 percent to the residents—from his business Carolina Low Country Real Estate and Construction Company.

A former S.C. House member for 20-plus years, Bailey’s top passion lies in working for his community to do for people “what they cannot do for themselves.”; and “the sooner we get back to that basic understanding the better off we all will be,” Bailey said, quoting a timeless saying about politics he said he’s always liked.

“Working and serving the people is my number one desire,” he said. “Someone once asked me what is my hobbies—simple answer: ‘working for the people.’”

Keeping taxes low is a large part of the focus of his platform. In the General Assembly, Bailey said, he helped spearhead the largest tax cut in state history and remains a “fiscal watchdog” at the local level.

“We must continue to make ourselves more competitive by holding the line on spending, taxes and regulation. Companies want to do business in that kind of county,” Bailey said. “I fully understand whether its a fee or tax, it's money that comes out of your pocket that goes to the government; however you phrase that, it is a tax.”

Public safety, roads and schools are also on his list of areas to improve.

“I know there is more work to be done; I know these goals can be accomplished,” Bailey said.

He's interested in providing better fire protection and resources for EMS and the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office, as well as working on drainage along easily-flooded streets, increasing job opportunities and economic investments for industry, and promoting property rights—keeping over-development at bay.

“Focusing on these (items) will protect our families and businesses,” Bailey said. “We have a special way of life in Dorchester County and we need to protect it.”

Bailey’s leisure time, he said, includes cheering on college football and spending time with his family at the lake. Gatch, too, is a fan of family time—along with politics and participating in church activities.