THE ISSUE: Awards for the city

OUR OPINION: MASC awards are indicators of city focused on progress

Our Page 1 headline of July 24 called it “City of honors.” The subject of the accompanying story should not be missed by all residents of the city of Orangeburg and those in the county and region.

The city of Orangeburg once again has been honored by the Municipal Association of South Carolina for exceptional projects.

In a very competitive field with other locales around the state, the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety’s regional law enforcement forensic laboratory received the annual Municipal Achievement Award. The Orangeburg Idol event earned the 2007 Main Street South Carolina Inspiration Award for Outstanding Promotional Event.

The crime lab is innovative. A joint project of ODPS and Claflin University, the lab is located in the new ODPS headquarters on Middleton Street.

Importantly, it allows the city and other law enforcement agencies to perform drug analysis without waiting on the always overloaded lab at the State Law Enforcement Division. Speed in processing means speed in solving cases and getting them to court. That can mean and has resulted in a decrease in drug-releated crime -- and crime overall.

For the future, the city wants to expand its partnership with Claflin and develop a freestanding, full-service laboratory on campus. City officials also want to conduct DNA and ballistic analysis at the local lab, thus relieving dependency on SLED.

MASC Executive Director Howard Duvall said of the project: “This public-private partnership that the city of Orangeburg initiated to protect residents will be an example to others for years to come.”

Orangeburg Idol 2007 was a project initiated by the Downtown Orangeburg Revitalization Association. It was a big success -- and is presently in its second year.

Capitalizing on the popularity of the national Idol competition, the local event showcased Orangeburg talent and in the process raised money for downtown parking. After the event, the six finalists in the contest released a Christmas CD benefiting DORA.

Orangeburg has a history of success in the MASC competition, winning previously for achievement with Centennial Park, the County/City Industrial Park and the Edisto Gardens’ spray park.

For promotion, Orangeburg and DORA have won for events such as Taste of Orangeburg and Ferse’s 5&10 100th anniversary celebration.

The awards are significant and represent a city focused on continuing progress. Congratulations to the many who made the awards possible.

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