Edwards Ad Not Meant To Tell It All

It's The Economy, Halburn!



You may have seen it. The full-page ad that Hurricane Mayor Scott Edwards signed on the back page of the Putnam Herald. It was designed to let people know about an upcoming health fair, the Run for the Wall, the Independence Day Celebration, a Senior Picnic, and the new sprayground.



South Carolina resident Mark Halburn is attacking Mayor Edwards for it.
This wasn't an ad touting Scott Edwards' accomplishments It was an ad listing what is going on in Hurricane.

Ah, political hit pieces. In Putnam County, no one does them better than Mark Hallburn.

Halburn asks who paid for the ad? Did Edwards? Did tax dollars pay for it? Was it tourism dollars?
We say who cares? This is something every municipality in the state does all the time. Letting residents know what's happening in their community is not nefarious or underhanded.
Of course, Halburn did what he always does. Filed a Freedom of Information Act request, via email and immediately started complaining that no one would give him what he wanted. Criminal charges, Mark A. Sorsaia, blah, blah, blah.
As usual, Halburn continues to sit on his hands, do nothing and whine and cry about it. At least your toady Jay Smith has the sack to take people to court when they don't comply with a FOIA, lippy.

Halburn never tells the whole story, he just makes up stories. So PutnamLIES.com set out to show you "the rest of the story" about what is happening in Hurricane.

It isn't pretty. But it's not the Mayor's fault.

Halburn says, "It's the economy, Scotty!"
You're goddamn right it is lardass.
Your liberal-progressive-socialist buddy Barack Obama can take the blame for that.
He took an economy that was in the ditch and managed to run it over a cliff.
In Hurricane, vacant store fronts stand where jobs and revenue should be produced. It's not hard to find those vacancies because they all occurred during the Obama depression.

Halburn starts his baseless tirade with, "The "crown jewel" of the Edwards Administration is the vacant A to Z Supermarket. After more than 50 years in business, the Edwards-supported Walmart killed off this Main Street landmark. The building still stands, as a testimony to Edwards' failed economic plan for Hurricane."



A to Z a crown jewel? More like a brown jewel.
What Halburn didn't tell you was that A to Z was shut down by the health department for being filthy, dirty and unsafe.

131 violations. 36 of them critical. Mold on the walls and ceiling tiles, improper food handling, dirty shelves, floor, coolers, and walls and leaking plumbing.
It's a miracle no one died of food poisoning. This wasn't something that happened overnight. A to Z suffered from years of neglect. It was well on its way out long before Walmart came to town. People voted with their wallets and put this shithole out of business. Scott Edwards had nothing to do with this store failing. They did it to themselves.

Then Fats starts in on another of his favorite targets. The Hurricane Marketplace.



Located next to Walmart, 6 of the 13 storefronts are vacant. During the Obama recession, Rocky Top Pizza and American Mattress have gone under. The Alltel-Verizon store moved to another location. Fat Patty's chose not to locate there down because it would have taken too much money to install a kitchen and prepare the space for a restaurant.

It's not Scott Edwards' job to solve the problems of poorly capitalized, poorly managed locally owned businesses.



Tricor built the Hurricane Marketplace. It's now their job to attract tenants. Maybe the rents they are charging are out of step with what tenants are willing to pay. Why aren't you harassing them, Hallburn? Maybe their corporate counsel has told you to leave them alone?

Then Mr. Bankrupt complains that Edwards opened a new business in Teays Valley instead of Hurricane.

Smart businessmen have to work harder in tough times. They do this by locating wherever they can maximize their profit. If this means out of the city limits where rents are cheaper, then we'd say it was a smart business move.

Halburn then accused Edwards of doing so to avoid paying Hurricane's Business and Occupancy taxes.

That's rich.
Halburn is always bitching about other people not paying their B&O taxes. Mark Halburn operated a business from Hurricane for 7 years and never paid ONE DIME of B&O taxes. In 2010 he claims to have made $22,000 from the tax dodge he calls PutnumLive.com. The amount of B&O tax he paid? ZERO.



Down the hill from Walmart is the former Saturn dealership. Edwards can't be blamed for Saturn folding nationwide. The Martin Outdoors RV dealership and Thrifty Car Sales that replaced that dealership only lasted a few months because of the economy. Edwards can't be blamed for for these businesses folding either. The economy killed both of these businesses. Edwards didn't mention this in his advertisement because it had nothing to do with what the ad was about.

Then Hallburn starts whining about where a Honda dealership was supposed to be built and says the Edwards administration continues to fail to get that project done.
We weren't aware that Edwards was going to build this. All along we thought that Sam Mitchell of Greensburg, Indiana was building that. Perhaps you should start harassing Mitchell about this one.

During the recession, Custom Carpets folded, Champion Windows moved in, and then closed its doors. You know what killed Champion Windows? "Advertising" on PutnumLive.com. Halburn's 29 readers seldom replace the windows on their trailers.

Halburn then complains about a vacant lot next to Walgreen's. It's not generating any business revenue.
THAT'S BECAUSE IT'S EMPTY, DUMB ASS! Scott Edwards doesn't own this property. 
What's he supposed to do? Jerk an old lady out of her car and scream at her? Oh, sorry. That's your job, meathead.

The economy continues to sputter. Stores are being shuttered left and right and more and more people are being thrown out of work. People who do have jobs are careful of their spending, with more of their money going for food and gasoline.
Consumer habits are changing. More people are buying online. Malls and shopping centers are suffering due to fewer people spending due to the reasons given above. They are also suffering because many shop owners can no longer afford to pay the rents charged. People are hurting. Unemployment is rising and nothing is getting better.
With a backdrop like that, it's no surprise that strip malls are not doing well. In fact, stores all over America are seeing reduced sales and are closing, not just in Hurricane.

Halburn prefers to place the blame on the Mayor of Hurricane, Scott Edwards.

And then we get to the crux of the biscuit, the point from which Halburn's vendetta springs. His second ex-wife's property.

"Just up the road are the Walmart neighbors that are still waiting for Edwards and his Putnam County Development Authority to purchase and redevelop."

 

Keep on waiting fat boy. It's not going to happen. You had your chance and you blew it.

"Edwards did make an offer on the blue house-for only $90,000. That's more than $50,000 less than what it appraised for before Walmart was constructed. Why the low-ball offer? Was he trying to take advantage of the Walmart neighbors after their quiet neighborhood was destroyed? You can ask Edwards."

We don't need to ask Edwards. We can look at your deposition.
Edwards did make a offer. The pre-Walmart appraisal plus 10%. About $160,000.
You were greedy and thought you could make more. You never even brought the offer to the actual property owner, your now second ex-wife.

Let's see. Which is greater? $160,000 or nothing at all? Because nothing is what you've got now.

The real question is, are you lying now or did you lie then?



Finally, he grabs a Google maps image showing the Honda vacant lot, the empty Saturn building, the vacant lot next to City National Bank, the house for sale next to it, and the vacant land beside St. Mary's and Willow Tree saying Edwards hasn't managed to get those projects developed either.

It's not the mayors job. 
Edwards didn't mention the following projects that came to town under his administration but we will. You want to assign blame, Halburn? We'll assign some credit.
The Hurricane Gateway, all the improvements at the City Park. Batting cages, the skate park, the new spray ground. Yeah we know it didn't open for spring break. Good thing too. Because IT WAS TOO FUCKING COLD.
City National Bank, Taco Bell, KFC, Arbys, Sheetz, Walgreens, Project Redskin,
renovated and built a little league stadium. The list goes on.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."

Nobody cares what you say Halburn. You're not a West Virginian and you don't live here. The good thing is you're 400 miles away and every time you drive back here it increases the odds of you dying in a horrible flaming car wreck.

If Scott Edwards paved the streets with gold, you'd complain they weren't shiny enough.