Unfortunately, the Attorney General concluded that the previous Fairfield County administration’s procurement practices did not reveal enough supportive evidence to prosecute them.
Don’t forget what our former county council chairman said: “While those procurement practices may have been unusual, I do not think they were illegal.” They were not illegal in large part because the County had negligently failed to put into effect any laws to make their unusual practices illegal.
The Unusual Facts:
(1) In a previous SLED investigation, the former County Administrator was investigated for sending pornography from his county computer. It is unusual that the County did not have an ordinance prohibiting pornography on County computers.
(2) The administration granted unusual benefits ($795 monthly expenses, full tuition to a private college, cash in lieu of health insurance, etc.) for Council members beyond their unusually generous part-time salaries of $15,000 a year.
(3) It was unusual that Council did not properly and thoroughly inform the community about the shell corporation they were using in order to finance their $24 million bond and another ordinance that provided for unlimited GO bonds that have to be repaid with property taxes.
(4) It is unusual for a county government to repeatedly use only one engineering firm (in this case S2) without correctly, openly, AND HONESTLY putting County projects out to public bid, as they were supposed to do, and then paying S2 over $8 ½ million dollars for sometimes shoddy work, such as the wall that fell at Drawdy Park.
Unfortunately, our County leaders failed to provide laws to protect citizens from our County leaders’ misdeeds. The Assistant County Administrator said, “If people thought I had done something wrong, I hope this [AG’s opinion] vindicates me. I always follow my leadership and the direction of County Council. I only do what my bosses and County Council tell me to do.”
May the Assistant County Administrator, his bosses, and former County Council all proudly enjoy their vindication for their “unusual but not illegal” legacy of oppressive debt and financial mismanagement they left to cripple Fairfield County!
Selwyn P. Turner
Winnsboro
