By Paul Gable
Why is it that public nonprofit authorities think they are an entity unto themselves?
Created by government act, they soon seem to forget that the whole purpose of their existence is to serve the citizens of the political sub-division that created them.
But, among other benefits, they sure love taking part in the public funded health insurance and retirement plans. No Obamacare worries for them!
The Nerve recently did a great article on the S.C. Research Authority and its ‘public nonprofit’ attitude “which views itself as public when it’s convenient and private when it comes to accountability.”
That sure sounds familiar.
In Horry County, we have the Horry County Solid Waste Authority which has managed to create a monopoly for itself in the realm of waste disposal while hurting private business along the way.
And, we can’t forget the Grand Strand Water and Sewer Authority. Created by the state legislature to provide water and sewer services to the citizens of Horry County, it now operates beyond county lines in the state of South Carolina and interstate into North Carolina.
Along the way, both the HCSWA and GSWSA have managed to amass tens of millions of dollars in the bank without real oversight by the government sub-divisions that created them.
The SCRA takes a different approach providing big bonuses to its employees, according to the article.
This is all public money folks, even though the respective agencies may not think so. It seems it could be put to better use than lying in banks or further enriching already highly paid employees.
Link to The Nerve article: http://thenerve.org/news/2013/10/24/Landess-column/
Let’s not forget the Friends of the Hunley, a non-profit, and their murky relationship to the Hunley Commission, a state agency.
Activist Edward Sloan, with litigation that went to the S.C. Supreme Court, finally received responses to his Freedom of Information requests.