Graham remembered as national leader focused on local issues – Coastal Observer

Graham remembered as national leader focused on local issues – Coastal Observer

Bill Otis remembers the time Sen. Lindsey Graham invited him to Washington, D.C., for a meeting about beach renourishment. The Pawleys Island mayor, Otis walked into a room where Graham had assempled top staff from the Army Corps of Engineers and an assistant secretary of the army. “I’m a small town mayor from a very small town,” Otis said. But he saw the same level of personal interest that others in Georgetown County said they saw when they sought help from Graham.  “He was always so receptive,” said Sel Hemingway, a former County Council chairman and county administrator. “A lot of times you go into those offices and you meet with staff.” Graham died July 11 from a tear in his aorta, according to information released by his office. He was 71. Elected to the Senate in 2002 to replace Strom Thurmond, he was seeking a fifth term. Gov. Henry McMaster on Tuesday named Graham’s younger sister, Darline, to fill his unexpired term. While his sudden death prompted reflections about his national impact, including drawing ire for working across the aisle, U.S. 7th District Rep. Russell Fry said that wasn’t where Graham saw his greatest accomplishments. “Instead, he talked about the small victories – the constituent whose problem was solved, the small town that received long-overdue help, the quiet successes that never made the evening news,” Fry said in a statement. That’s what Otis recalled. Pawleys Island was trying to get the Corps to authorize a renourishment project, but it said there was a gap in the requisite public beach access in a section of the island’s south end. “It was a small area holding up a huge project that was critical,” Otis said. He was invited to a fundraiser for Graham at the beach house of Dr. Eddie Floyd. “We met on the beachside porch after everybody left,” he recalled. “I explained the problem and he said, ‘I’ll get on that.’” Otis was invited to Washington. At the meeting, Graham asked him to explain the problem to the Corps officials and the assistant secretary. “Lindsey leaned back and turned to the assistant secretary and said, ‘this seems like it ought to be an easy problem to solve,’” Otis said. The official came to Pawleys Island and looked at the beach. The approval followed. “He was everything that he’s be eulogized for,” Otis said of Graham. “He was laid back, but he carried the responsibility of his position well.” Hemingway remembered a boat tour of the Georgetown harbor with Graham when the county was trying to assemble funding to keep the channel through Winyah Bay dredged. Graham helped get federal funding to match what the county could provide, but the cost ballooned from $31 million to over $60 million. Graham still offered to help, Hemingway said. He also remembered Graham’s interest went beyond the infrastructure. “He was really asking a lot of questions about the living spaces above the retail stores on the Harborwalk,” Hemingway said. “He said, ‘I’d like to have one of those.’” That was an episode that stuck with Council Member Bob Anderson, who was also on the tour. Anderson told his colleagues just weeks before Graham’s death that the county needed to acknowledge Graham’s efforts to get funds for the dredging now underway in the harbor. “He really deserves the credit,” Anderson said. State Rep. Lee Hewitt agreed. “In my time working with him, he was always willing to help Georgetown County,” he said. “When the steel mill closed down, he stepped forward to help. The same thing with the paper mill.” Hemingway also worked for former 7th District Rep. Tom Rice. Most of the constituent issues involved the Veterans Administration, Social Security or the IRS. “When you exhausted your attempts to work with those agencies,” he said, it was Graham’s office he called. “People talk about term limits,” Hemingway added. “You’re getting ready to find out what his seniority and power meant.” Filing to replace Graham as the GOP’s nominee on the November ballot opens at noon Tuesday and closes at noon July 28. Early voting runs from Aug. 5 through Aug. 7. The primary will be Aug. 11. If no candidates gets more than 50 percent of the vote, there will be a runoff between the top two on Aug. 25.