Opinion articles provide independent perspectives on key community issues, separate from our newsroom reporting.

Letters to the Editor

Mayor Benjamin doesn’t need to go to the border to find problems

Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin
Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin online@thestate.com

I was so disappointed to see Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin go to the U.S.-Mexico border to make a political statement.

If Mayor Benjamin and the U.S. Mayors want to do something important, why don't they visit Columbia or Chicago? Crime is so bad in some parts of Columbia that I’m told many veteran police officers are afraid to go there after dark. And what has happened in Chicago these past 10 years is a national disgrace. The South Side of Chicago is a War Zone: Thousands of families have lost dads, and children are now permanently separated.

If our Columbia water bill gets any higher, I don't know what my wife and I are going to do.

Mike Hicks

Irmo

The State publishes a cross section of the letters we receive from South Carolinians in order to provide a forum for our community and also to allow our community to get a good look at itself, for good or bad. The letters represent the views of the letter writers, not necessarily of The State.

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