There were those of us who questioned, fought, and screamed in a bit of a rage from the first words of Scout Motors. Our words fell on deaf ears. Although the votes from the Statehouse all the way to Blythewood Town Hall went in favor of the YES vote, the NO votes were never heard. Another instance when our strong mayor took on the big league with the only “NO” vote.
Scout Motors came to our town and has turned it into a war zone in more ways than one. In the beginning, Scout Motors representatives were everywhere here in Blythewood, trying their hardest to interact with the community and officials. Now it seems they have left planet Earth. Like the Ice Age.
Sure, there were some that were sucked into Scout—our lovely representatives and economic department’s stories and fables about how wonderful it’s going to be for Blythewood. Some still believe it to this day.
Ever wonder why that is? Why have certain individuals of the council been seen having lunch and meeting with Scout officials on numerous occasions? Why is it the mayor can’t seem to get a phone call through to Scout? Meetings that were planned—canceled. Scout Motors made promises to our town and has yet to stand behind any, to my knowledge.
All we see is destruction, while they are on their LinkedIn accounts bragging about the amount of earth that has been moved, the huge buildings, the number of people they’ve hired from across the country and from different colleges—let alone the ones they took on from VW in Tennessee and Germany.
Oh, while speaking of Germany, one of our very own councilmen went to Germany. Yes, he will tell you it was on his own dime. Maybe it was. But what a convenient time for him to go. While he was in Germany, he met with Jan Spies, the chief production officer with Scout. Coincidence? I doubt it. The very same councilman is still seen meeting with Scout officials.
Why is it that with so many meetings, Blythewood hasn’t benefited from a single one? Or have certain individuals benefited? In all his meetings, has the councilman looked into getting the flooding and runoff issues in his own neighborhood resolved? After all, he is on the HOA. Personally, I doubt it, since he refuses to even address the homeowners. Hmm. They are in his neighborhood, but not exactly his kind of people, I’ve been told. You see, they live in the newer homes in “the very back” of Ashley Oaks. Not to mention further downstream, where the flooding affects the lower-income, mostly Black communities and roads. All this destruction because of Scout Motors.
Scout hasn’t been able to get direct sales passed in SC, so they head straight to the Trump administration. (I couldn’t help but laugh at that.) Scout Motors wants the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to address and potentially eliminate state motor vehicle franchise laws that hinder direct-to-consumer sales. Yet again, they are trying to change or break our laws.
Sloan Griffin was voted into our town administration as mayor in November 2023, eight months after the announcement of Scout. Personally, I don’t think our state officials counted on Sloan WINNING.
The only one to vote “No” on Scout! But he won. The people spoke. It was 562 to Franklin’s 245 votes. I’m sure that was a terrible upset for some. And still is!! Especially for some officials.
Sloan was sworn in and became the town’s mayor. Not only did he inherit the town and its people, he inherited MPA, a 1.3 billion-dollar business, the destruction, along with all the aches, pains, and struggles of the town. All without an ounce of guidance. No other Blythewood mayor has EVER had so much to deal with when taking office.
But what I find odd—while the election didn’t go quite as some officials had hoped, Sloan fights with every promise he made to be transparent and get Scout Motors and others to stick to their promises. But that’s really hard to do when, say, a council member refuses any phone calls, meetings, and such with the mayor, and recently turned his town phone back into Mr. Driggers. Now just think, why might that be??
The same is going on with all the other officials. Where are they? Why aren’t they standing behind their promises? Why are they not stepping up to the plate? There is a more telling tale than just what’s going on with the town council.
It seems to be a bigger entity behind all the chaos.
IMO, Mayor Sloan Griffin wasn’t—and still isn’t—their preference of a CEO of this town because he isn’t the type to handle dirty dealings, dark money, and backdoor meetings—nor is he MY color!
He will never be who they want to represent and run our town.
Now you think about what has transpired since March of 2023, since the announcement of Scout.
Now, think back to the November 2023 election. What do you see? Remember?
Has the mayor made mistakes? Absolutely. When he took office, he took it on alone. He was new to his position, as was the new council member who pronounced she needed time to get caught up. Tish, tish! She was being fed during the campaign. Brock should remember. He actually made a comment on the number of votes she received. In short: “How’d she do that?”
Here’s your office. Utilize it! As a Blythewood Town Mayor, you are on your own. You ARE a source of ONE.
And just so it’s known—there are many of us who don’t mind picking up the phone for a call/text or going to Town Hall and saying, “Hey mayor. WTH was that? Why was that done?” etc. And honestly, you’d be surprised at the answers. So, before assuming and taking the writings of a biased paper and council—GO TO THE SOURCE!
I understand that most may disagree with me, and that is completely fine. These are things I’ve observed and have been told by eyewitnesses.
These are MY OPINIONS only.
Cindy Merritt is a concerned citizen who has lived in Blythewood for over 30 years. Looking for answers and explanations.
