Wednesday 6 January 2010

A fond farewell to Spartanburg, South Carolina

One of the many wonders of the internet is the Google news search. A Google news search for the words 'Barnet council' each morning shows me many - almost too many - stories about Barnet, giving me the subject matter for this blog.

Since I've been writing the blog I have had, however, to weed out a regular trickle of stories about Spartanburg, South Carolina, whose apparently popular mayor is one Bill Barnet.

Now Bill is stepping down as mayor after two terms and, I imagine, my Google news search for 'Barnet council' will no longer show me stories about him. I shall no longer be connected, however tenuously, to Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Touched by this thought, I did a little Google searching this morning about the town and Bill Barnet. I'm guessing that politically we wouldn't have a great deal in common, but this blogpost - from one Christopher George, a guy who seems a little more on my political wavelength - indicates that Barnet was respected by all the communities of Spartanburg and will be a hard act to follow.

Good luck and happy new year to Bill Barnet and the other residents of Spartanburg (incidentally, a majority black city).

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