Quit bashing, and do your jobs

I read with interest your Mack Whittle article in The

Columbia Star. While I agree that Whittle continues to put himself first and probably should not have received his full retirement package, I disagree with the public "Whittle bashing" by The Columbia Star and especially by Governor Sanford and Congressman Ingles. Like it or not, the TSFG Board acted within its authority by honoring Whittle's retirement contract. The TSFG Board may be guilty of exercising poor timing and/or judgment, however, they did nothing illegal or unethical!

If Bob Ingles and Mark Sanford, as private citizens, TSFG customers, or TSFG shareholders want to criticize the TSFG Board actions, that's fine. However, Ingles as our South Carolina Congressman and Sanford as our South Carolina Governor have no right to publicly condemn the legitimate actions of the Board of a publicly owned South Carolina company. TSFG is a major South Carolina business, one of the largest employers in our State (1,600 jobs), a good corporate citizen, made over $1 billion of loans in this state last year alone, and supports countless business and charitable endeavors throughout the state with millions of TSFG dollars and countless hours of TSFG employee time!

The irresponsible criticism by Ingles and Sanford, as our Congressman and our Governor, of the TSFG Board actions could help cause a loss of public confidence in TSFG and force the Bank into a FDIC takeover. If a business fails because of poor management decisions, that's the "real" corporate world. However, if that same failure is precipitated by the actions of our South Carolina Congressman and Governor, that is just wrong. If the bank is forced into a sale, hundreds of innocent TSFG employees in Greenville, Columbia, and South Carolina will lose their jobs, the shareholders will lose their investment in TSFG and TSFG retirees could lose their retirement funds!

I worked for Wachovia for almost 30 years, and I know first hand what happens to a bank when it loses public confidence and political support. Charlotte will lose thousands of very good jobs. Sanford and Ingles must not let that happen to Columbia, Greenville, and South Carolina. One of their primary responsibilities as our South Carolina Congressman and our Governor is to protect, defend, and support South Carolina businesses and South Carolina jobs. George King, Columbia

Columbia trolleys in New Orleans

I enjoyed Warner Montgomery's story about New Orleans last week. The street car in the photo probably came from Columbia. New Orleans bought the lion's share when General Motors convinced the Broad River Power Company they were a thing of the past. My grandfather was a conductor while he was in the legislature and running a shoe shop. Chuck Gerald shoeguy@earthlink.net

Thank you, Columbia Star

Thank you so much for publishing my grandson's photograph in The Columbia Star. You have made a grandmother's day. And it is also great that you did the story about FACE. I am constantly amazed at all the homeschool groups do and how many of them there are. Robin Copp