Union Daily Times: Mulvaney Visits Union County
By Charles Warner
cwarner@civitasmedia.com
BUFFALO — When US House Fifth District Rep. Mick Mulvaney visits Union County he always makes it a point to dine at Midway BBQ in Buffalo and that’s just what he did Monday afternoon.
“I came to eat Midway barbecue,” Mulvaney said during his lunchtime visit to the restaurant. “I have a list of five or six restaurants across the district that I always try to stop at and this is number one. I came to the county fair last year just to eat Midway barbecue.”
Mulvaney was joined for lunch at Midway BBQ by SC House District 42 Rep. Mike Anthony, the chairman of the Union County Legislative Delegation; SC Senate District 13 Sen. Shane Martin who is also a member of the legislative delegation; and Union Clerk of Court Freddie Gault who was accompanied by his son, Jon Nick Gault. While the lunch was social in nature, Mulvaney, Anthony, Martin, and Gault also talked about matters of interest to Union County and its constituent municipalities and other communities. Those discussions continued after lunch when Mulvaney also met with other local officials including Union County Supervisor Frank Hart, City of Union Mayor Harold Thompson, Town of Lockhart Mayor Ailene Ashe, and Town of Carlisle Mayor Mary Ferguson-Glenn.
The visit to Union County was the latest stop by Mulvaney in a series of visits to the 10 counties that make up the Fifth Congressional District.
Mulvaney said the visits are designed to enable him to meet with local officials and other community leaders in his district to learn more about the issues that concern their communities and to see the impact of federal policies on those communities and their residents.
“This gives me an opportunity to learn how people back home interact with the federal government,” Mulvaney said. “It’s an opportunity to meet with small businesses, large businesses, officials, and educators to find out what’s going on.”
Mulvaney pointed out that the opportunity to visit the counties of his district this time of year is due to the tradition of Congress adjourning in August, a tradition that he said began as reaction to the weather in Washington, DC.
“The tradition in Washington is that we come home for the month of August,” Mulvaney said. “It’s a tradition that dates from before air conditioning. Congress didn’t want to be in Washington in August so they adjourned.”
Mulvaney said he takes advantage of this to spend the month traveling throughout the district.
“I take the time to get around to all the counties I represent,” Mulvaney said. “It is the longest drive in terms of drive time. It is the hardest district to drive.”
During his visit to Union County, Mulvaney visited the United Wood Treating Company plant in the Whitmire area. He said he was very impressed with the facility and its productivity, pointing out that its produces 60,000 telephone polls a year.
Mulvaney also discussed the construction of the Giti Tire Group’s tire manufacturing facility that is being built in Chester County. He said that when completed it will be one of the largest tire manufacturing facilities in the world. While it is not being built in Union County, Mulvaney said he feels it will nevertheless benefit the community as it creates jobs, not only for the residents of Chester County, but in surrounding counties as well, including Union.
“I’m very excited about the tire plant opening in Chester,” Mulvaney said. “That will create a lot of job opportunities here.”
Charles Warner can be reached at 864-762-4090 or cwarner@civitasmedia.com.