Wilson opens office in North Augusta

Pictured, from left, are North Augusta Chamber of Commerce ambassador Rod Barrie, S.C. Sen. Tom Young, Chamber ambassador Ken Kehr, Congressman Joe Wilson, his wife Roxanne, Mayor Lark Jones, Rep. Bill Hixon, DOE Operations Manager at Savannah River Site Dr. David Moody, Chamber president Terra Carroll and ambassador Rechelle Dallas at the ribbon-cutting ceremony at Wilson’s North Augusta office. Photo by Scott Rodgers

U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new office space at the North Augusta Municipal Building. The third floor office will be visited routinely by staff as well as Wilson."This is a big deal to me because truly this is where the district begins, it's the I-20 corridor," Wilson said. "I've been very, very honored that such a community has such a positive reputation, which is North Augusta, so I'm very honored to have the privilege and the opportunity. It's humbling to me and inspiring to represent the rural portions of Aiken County. I represent the entire county, and I want to be accessible and accountable."A number of prominent individuals were in attendance at the event, including S.C. Sen. Tom Young, Rep. Bill Hixon, DOE Operations Manager at Savannah River Site Dr. David Moody, as well as North Augusta Mayor Lark Jones and Chamber of Commerce president Terra Carroll."We had provided some space for Congressman Duncan and this is nothing new," Jones said. "The new part of it is that they're going to staff it and have people here on a regular basis. Ted Felder (special assistant to Wilson) is going to be here once a week and Congressman Wilson has been down here to North Augusta so many times already."He's actually going to spend some time in this office, every couple of months or so to meet with constituents in a one-on-one, face-to-face basis. It's refreshing your Congressional representative will come to your town and make himself known and you can handle things one-on-one."Wilson also stated that he would try to be accessible to citizens who want their voices to be heard."The bottom line is the rule of thumb we have is, wherever two or more gather, I'd like to be there or have staff people there," he said. "I enjoy doing plant tours, I've enjoyed visiting MTU, seeing the production of engines and certainly very grateful. I've toured the facilities at Bridgestone. I enjoy touring schools and, if invited, we will make every effort. I enjoy visiting with my constituents and find it inspiring as well as energizing."