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Interview with Starletta Hairston

Interview with Starletta Hairston Part 1 of 2
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This is part 1 of a 2 part interview with Starletta Hairston, a Former Commissioner of Beaufort County, South Carolina. Ms. Hairston discusses the impact of unfair competition from unlawful alien businesses and their illegal workers, the deleterious effect on African-American communities and the attempts by local government to defend its citizens and the rule of law.  This is the full length interview, an edited portion of which is included in the documentary film "The Promise of Home".

Submitted on: 10/26/2007 12:00 AM | Category Interview with Starletta Hairston
Interview with Starletta Hairston Part 2 of 2
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This is part 2 of a 2 part interview with Starletta Hairston, a Former Commissioner of Beaufort County, South Carolina. Ms. Hairston discusses the impact of unfair competition from unlawful alien businesses and their illegal workers, the deleterious effect on African-American communities and the attempts by local government to defend its citizens and the rule of law.  This is the full length interview, an edited portion of which is included in the documentary film "The Promise of Home".

Submitted on: 10/25/2007 12:00 AM | Category Interview with Starletta Hairston


Interview with Starletta Hairston
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Biographical Sketch: Starletta Hairston Minimize

When she was elected to the Beaufort County Council (2003-2006), Starletta Hairston became the first Black Republican woman elected to office in the state of South Carolina.  While serving on the County Council, Ms. Hairston chaired the Beaufort County Affordable Housing Governing Council.  She was appointed as a Beaufort County member of the Lowcountry Council of Governments (LCOG), which received a Housing and Urban Development grant for more than $2 million dollars to promote and provide assistance with home ownership and home repair in the lowcountry.  As the spokesperson for Project SAFE ( Sewer access for everyone), Ms. Hairston was instrumental in the receipt of a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) of $750,000 thousand dollars to provide sewers to low income families in the Native Island Community on Hilton Head Island.  In 2004, Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) appointed her as chair of the Lowcountry Minority Advisory Committee (Low-MAC).

Starletta Hairston has been an outspoken advocate for fairness in immigration and for leveling the playing field for American citizens and legal immigrants in employment and small business.  She supported Citizens for a Better Community in its request to the Hilton Head Town Council to deny business licenses to illegal aliens.  In 2005, she requested and received approval for funding to conduct an impact study on the Cost of Illegal Immigration in Beaufort County.  In 2006, Ms Hairston championed the movement in opposition to illegal immigration in Beaufort County, and introduced the Beaufort County Lawful Employment Ordinance.  This ordinance passed unanimously by the County Council, allows for audit and revocation of the business license of any business owner that knowingly hires illegal aliens, and denies a business license to an illegal alien. 
 
Starletta Hairston was the subject of a article in the Wall Street Journal, Trading Places: How Immigration Upended Dreams of an Entrepreneur, December 13, 2006.  The article was published in additional papers across the country.

Mrs. Hairston is employed as a lead flight attendant by US Airways for both domestic and international flights.  She received her formal education in Gastonia and Winston Salem, North Carolina.  She is currently continuing the requirements for A Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Security Studies, University of South Carolina, Beaufort.  She is married to William Hairston, is the mother of four sons and has one granddaughter.

AWARDS, CITATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS

2007   The Strom Thurmond Award for Excellence in Public Service and Government
2007   Judicial Watch Panel Discussion: Local Governments and Illegal Immigration
2006   Address the South Carolina Senate Judiciary Immigration Study Committee
2005   Appointed to National Assoc. of Counties (NACo) steering committee
2004   Republican National Convention, Alternate
2003   National Freedom Community Service Award
2002   The Boys and Girls Club Valuable Service Award, Hilton Head Island
2001   Intriguing Islander, Hilton Head Island Monthly Magazine
2001   Mrs. Hilton Head Island
2000   Outstanding Business Service Award, Native Island Business & Community Affairs Assoc.
2000   Certificate of Appreciation as Afro-American Business Owner, Hilton Head Island
2000   Woman of the Year, Zonta
1999   Freedom Fund Business Award, Hilton Head Island/Bluffton NAACP

Member:   Beaufort County Republican Party
              Vice-President, Republican Women of Southern Beaufort County
              Vice-President, Hilton Head Island Republican Club
              Board of Directors, Boys and Girls Club, Hilton Head Island
              Board of Directors, Art Center of Coastal Carolina
              Associate member of Mount Calvary Missionary Baptist Church
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