Monday, November 4, 2024
A good first step toward ethics reform in South Carolina would be to fire S.C. Ethics Commission Executive Director Herb Hayden.
Last month, Richland County Circuit Judge Alison Lee approved a consent order ruling Hayden propagated a “falsehood” to a state ethics watchdog agency and in responding with a falsehood violated the Freedom of Information Act.
As part of the settlement, Hayden and the ethics commission maintained the falsehood was inadvertent and unintentional.
A request for a judge to rule the S.C. Ethics Commission violated the state’s FOIA law has been entered in a lawsuit brought against the commission by the S.C. Public Interest Foundation.
The motion for summary judgment results from the S.C. Ethics Commission’s apparent attempts to hide the contents of a letter to Gov. Nikki Haley from commission attorney Cathy Hazelwood.
In the letter, Hazelwood requested Haley to reimburse the state for the cost of travel for Haley and her campaign staff to a fundraising event in North Carolina last year.
When the internet publication “The Nerve” requested a copy of the letter from the commission, it was reportedly told by commission director Herb Hayden, “No letter was sent to Gov. Haley.”
Earlier this week, the S.C. Ethics Commission moved to restrict information flow to the media from agency personnel.
An announced new policy limits press inquiries and responses to Executive Director Herb Hayden taking the ethics commission attorney and deputy director out of the loop.
The new policy was announced by S.C. Ethics Commission chairman James Burns, a Gov. Nikki Haley appointee, during a commission meeting.
The S.C. Ethics Commission and its executive director Herb Hayden have been sued by The South Carolina Public Interest Foundation for violating the FOIA law by “responding with a falsehood.”
The foundation, a Greenville based government watchdog organization, and its founder Ned Sloan have been very successful over the years filing lawsuits against government agencies and officials for violating state law.
The lawsuit evolves from an attempt by internet media outlet TheNerve.org to obtain a copy of a letter that ethics commission attorney Cathy Hazelwood sent to Gov. Nikki Haley directing the governor to reimburse the state for travels costs associated with a fundraising event.
A recent story in The Nerve detailed the internet publication’s difficulties in obtaining a letter from the SC Ethics Commission to Gov. Nikki Haley.
According to the story, a freedom of information request was sent September 5, 2013 to the commission requesting a copy of an August 28, 2013 letter commission attorney Cathy Hazelwood wrote to Gov. Nikki Haley directing the governor to reimburse the state for travel costs incurred by her and her campaign staff during a June trip to North Carolina.
Initially, commission executive director Herb Hayden responded by saying no such letter was sent.
You have to give Nikki Haley credit for consistency. Whenever the governor comes up against a law she doesn’t like, she ignores it.
The latest comes with having her campaign reimburse the state for the costs of state law enforcement officers providing security while she is on the campaign trail.
Haley’s latest end run around state law results from a trip to North Carolina she made in June where Haley attended an event held by a foundation supporting N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory. During the course of her attendance, Haley picked up a total of $34,500 in campaign donations.
The current discussion on ethics reform for public officials in South Carolina appears to be veering off the main track that will establish public confidence in the governing process.
The discussion this week appears to be about additional funding for the S.C. Ethics Commission. Extra funding is necessary for this agency, which has been way underfunded for way too long.
According to ethics commission director Herb Hayden, approximately 70 percent of the funding for the agency’s budget comes from fees and fines.
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