By Paul Gable
It is ironic that Horry County Council is considering second reading of an ordinance for a $11.5 million bond issue for Coastal Carolina University tonight.
The request for the bond issue came to council from the Horry County Higher Education Commission, a quasi-governmental, non-funded (by state government) entity created by the SC General Assembly in 1959, before county governments existed, to oversee the use of county tax millage for Coastal Carolina University. Its members are recommended by the county legislative delegation and appointed by the governor.
The Higher Education Commission currently is funded at the rate of 0.7 mils on every property tax bill sent out in the county. It is unclear in the ordinance if the bonds will be repaid from the revenue generated by the current millage rate. CCU also receives revenue from the one-cent sales tax for education levied in the county. That tax will be up for renewal by referendum in November 2022.
The bond issue is not unique through history since 1959, but several factors call it into question at this time. Recently, the news of county council member Cam Crawford’s November 2019 termination of employment from the university made headlines.
According to a story written from the documents provided by CCU, Crawford was the subject of a Title IX complaint by a female student, who also worked part-time in a position Crawford supervised. The female student reported “discriminatory behaviors relating to physical contact with student employees, kissing of a student employee’s head, and additional behaviors of a sexual nature.” After investigating the complaint, the university concluded, “evidence does support a finding that Mr. Crawford violated University policies UNIV-466 Title IX Statement of Non-Discrimination and UNIV-468 Sexual Misconduct Policy.”
The termination was kept under wraps for two years before surfacing last month. According to stories published in two local newspapers, Freedom of Information requests on the termination were treated differently by CCU. One newspaper received documented information about the termination while the other was told no documents existed related to its FOIA request.
To date, there has been no explanation from CCU as to why similar FOIA requests received totally opposite responses.
GSD received many messages from readers questioning why an issue arising between a publicly funded university and an elected county council member was kept from public view for so long. If there is one issue taxpayers remain most insistent on, it is transparency from agencies receiving public dollars and elected officials.
Those same readers question whether CCU should continue to receive public dollars, especially from a one-cent special sales tax unless the university provides a complete public explanation if the circumstances surrounding Crawford’s termination.
To further complicate this issue, Crawford’s wife, state Rep. Heather Crawford, a member of the legislative delegation which recommends members of the Horry County Higher Education Commission and a member of the SC House Ways and Means Committee that writes the state budget, entered the fray into questions about her husband’s termination of employment at CCU.
According to public filings of campaign contributions to Heather Crawford on the SC Ethics Commission website, she has repeatedly been the recipient of campaign donations through the years from former CCU President David DeCenzo, as well as other CCU deans and professors. Both Crawfords have been steady recipients of campaign donations from the PACs associated with the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.
Heather Crawford reported a post on Facebook by current Horry County School Board Chairman and 7th Congressional District candidate Ken Richardson, which included comment on her husband’s dismissal from CCU and provided a link to a GSD story. Crawford reported the benign post, which merely stated facts, as “hate speech and false news.”
This is the same Heather Crawford who referred to Horry County police officers and firefighters as “Thugs” for questions they asked of then county council chairman Mark Lazarus during a campaign event in 2018. Lazarus walked off the stage and out of the event after refusing to answer the questions.
In full disclosure, the local organizations representing firefighters and police officers both endorsed Lazarus’ opponent Johnny Gardner in the campaign. The political consulting firm Crescent Communications, which is staffed by Heather Crawford, Cam Crawford and state Rep. Russell Fry, ran the Lazarus 2018 campaign.
Would not calling the county’s first responders “Thugs”, apparently for no other reason than they supported a candidate opposing the candidate she represented, qualify as “hate speech” by Heather Crawford?
This certainly seems to be a case of ‘the pot calling the kettle black.’
Considering the convoluted relationship between a state appointed local agency, county government and the public officials involved, it would seem appropriate for Cam Crawford to recuse himself on tonight’s discussion and vote on the proposed bond issue.
Speak Up…