Tag: Waste

Chad Connelly and the SCGOP

A heated battle for the chairmanship of the South Carolina Republican Party has brought some interesting details to light as the contest enters its final days.

Last week, current SCGOP chairman Chad Connelly and the party were named defendants in a lawsuit alleging Connelly slandered Cherokee County GOP member Brian Frank in an e-mail and during a speech to upstate party members. Frank has been active in supporting Sam Harms, Connelly’s challenger in the upcoming chairman’s election at the SCGOP convention Saturday.

An e-mail from Harms claimed he was denied access, by SCGOP headquarters, to the list of county delegates to the state convention from 44 of the state’s 46 counties. Apparently this denial was in the hope that Harms’ campaign for chairman would be hurt by this denial.

An e-mail from Connelly, allegedly endorsed by 90 county party officials and members, claimed to “set the record straight” on Connelly’s record in his two years as chairman. However, while claiming facts about Connelly’s actions while chairman have been distorted by his opponents, Connelly’s e-mail contains its own distortions.

Continue Reading →

Awendaw’s Missing Money Partie Deux

According to a source with significant knowledge of the town’s finances who spoke on conditions of anonymity, Nichols had done audits of four prior years, all at the same time, after the S.C. Municipal Association had gotten the town’s financial records in order. The town, reportedly, had not had audits performed on an annual basis since the 2002-03 time frame.

Mr. Nichols reported nine significant deficiencies with town records. The lack of documentation and the lack of internal controls led Nichols to issue an adverse opinion on the audit.

According to the source, 41 percent of the town’s transactions were not approved with 30 percent of the funds spent not approved, a sum of over $200,000, according to our source.

Continue Reading →
MBIA

A Lesson in Government Folly

It was interesting to note, earlier this week, a media story that passenger arrivals at Myrtle Beach International Airport were down approximately 13 percent for the current year. The downturn in passenger numbers occurs while the airport is in the midst of an approximately $120 million expansion of its terminal facilities.

Horry County Council member Carl Schwartzkopf called me up to ask if I had read the story and asked my reaction.

I told him my reaction was limited to four words, “I told you so.”

The reason for the conversation is Schwartzkopf was elected to council in a special election in district 8 in late 2003 to fill the unexpired term of member Liz Gilland after Gilland was elected council chairman in a special election earlier in the year.

Continue Reading →