Sanford speaks to Sumter Rotary, Lions clubs

By JASON WERMERS
Item Content Team Leader
jwermers@theitem.com

Gov. Mark Sanford continued his statewide, several-months-long tour of South Carolina Rotary Clubs and other civic organizations with a visit to the Sumter Rotary Club this afternoon.

About 130 people, including members of the Sumter and Sumter Sunrise Rotary and Sumter Lions clubs, attended the event at Sunset Country Club.

As Sanford has done in other civic organization visits during the past few months, he opened his remarks with an apology for disappearing from the country for five days in June while on a secret rendezvous with his "soul mate" Maria Belen Chapur in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

"Anytime I'm in front of a group I haven't spoken to before, I always want to say that I let you down," Sanford said. "I let many of you down. Some people say, 'Would you quit with the apologies already?' But if I let my brother and sister down, and I saw them for the first time since then, I'd apologize immediately."

From there, Sanford moved on to talk about his plan for restructuring what he termed South Carolina's outdated and inefficient government structure. He also fielded a few questions at the end of what he described as one of his "roving town halls" before civic groups across the state.

"I genuinely believe that God can make lemonade out of lemons," Sanford said. "There can be positive things that come out of this (2010) legislative session if each and every one of you makes your voice heard at this legislative session."

For more on what Sanford said in Sumter, see Wednesday's edition of The Item.