JASON LESLEY / themanningtimes

By Megan Rivers Vickers

The Manning Times

 People from all walks of life — teachers, preachers, City Council and County Council members, School Board members, the young and the elderly all flocked to Manning Junior High’s gymnasium Sunday for what many people claimed to be “Alvin Michael Greene’s opportunity to prove himself.”

Alvin Greene garnered national attention this past Sunday with his first public opportunity to communicate, without interruption, to the people of South Carolina. The Manning Branch of the NAACP invited him to be the speaker for its monthly meeting. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jay King

Staff Writer

jking@hometown-news.com

Hometown News

The Holly Springs Fire and Rescue Commission’s apparent disregard for the state’s Freedom of Information Act continued last week as a response to a Freedom of Information request admitted the commission failed to take minutes at all unscheduled meetings for the past year.

A letter from attorney Kenneth Anthony representing the commission in response to an FOI request made by Hometown News via certified letter to Commission Chairman Ryan Phillips dated June 24 said that the commission “has no documents responsive to your request.”

The request asked to inspect or have copies made of all minutes notes and other pertinent records from all non-scheduled commission meetings from July 1, 2009, to June 16, 2010, with specific reference to any proceedings concerning financial matters of the department.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, specifically Section 30-4-30, any person or organization has the right to inspect any public record of a public body. This section further spells out that no written notice has to be given for person or group to inspect the minutes from the previous six months when the person appears in person.

The commission’s apparent violation occurs in regard to Section 30-4-90 whereby the act requires all public bodies to keep written minutes of all of their public meetings. The act makes no distinction for “work sessions,” and Anthony’s letter in response from the commission on the face of it represents a further violation of the FOIA.

A further development along this line apparently occurred last Wednesday when the commission hired Inman accountant Chris Skinner of Taxpayer’s Choice to conduct an independent audit of the fire department. According to Chief Lee Jeffcoat, Skinner contacted him last Thursday to make initial arrangements for the audit and informed the chief that he had been contacted by the commission.

According to S.C. Press Association Executive Director Bill Rogers, the commission’s failure to give notice of any meeting at which they hired the accountant represents another violation of the FOIA and that any action taken during such an illegal meeting would itself be illegal. This is the same way in which the commission tried to terminate Jeffcoat June 16.

Also, apparently commissioner Hugh Jackson was not notified of the meeting and has been excluded from the commission’s decision-making process since the June 18 community meeting that drew such a large, angry crowd. In an interview Monday, Jackson said he has been belittled and excluded from virtually all of the decision making of the rest of the commission for some months.

Jackson said that when the commission – essentially Phillips, and commissioners Roscoe Kyle, Kelly Waters and Clarence Gibbs – issued a reprimand to Jeffcoat for releasing public information, the four came in with the reprimand already written and never took a public vote on issuing such a reprimand.

“I was told that they had three votes to my one, so what did my vote matter anyhow,” Jackson said of his fellow commissioners’ expressed attitude. “I was told that if I wanted any part in discussions of department business I should meet at Inman Realty where they meet two to three times a week.”

Inman realty is Gibbs’ Inman real estate brokerage firm, a firm where Gibbs is listed as a direct supervisor of Kelly Waters, who also works in that office. Of course, any such meetings at that or any other location are expressly illegal under the Freedom of Information Act which prohibits any “chance” encounters by enough members of the commission constituting a quorum. In the case of the Holly Springs commission, that would be three commissioners.

Jackson said he has tried top alert the community for months about the cavalier attitude of the other commissioners and their habit of holding illegal secret meetings.

Among the information about his fellow commissioners that Jackson and others raised and that Hometown News has been able to verify are the following:

•Attorney Kenneth Anthony is the attorney of record for the personal business interests of Gibbs and represented him in a $409,164 foreclosure action filed in August 2009;

• Gibbs made a personal loan in the amount of $170,823 to Ryan Phillips in December 2006 for 4.8 acres on Blalock Road. The document was witnessed and signed by Kelly Waters. The debt was repaid in January 2007.

While this information does not necessarily represent any wrongdoing or conflict of interest on the part of any of the four commissioners, it does apparently demonstrate a longstanding relationship predating their appointments to the Holly Springs Fire and Rescue Commission.

Hometown News also learned Monday that Phillips posted a notice at the department Friday announcing the change of Tuesday’s scheduled meeting time and place from 7 p.m. at the Holly Springs-Motlow Elementary School to 4 p.m. at the fire department.

Jeffcoat said a letter from the fire marshal advising him of the maximum occupancy permitted in the department of 107 necessitated the change in venue to the school because of the large crowd anticipated. Jeffcoat said he has had no contact with Phillips or any of the other three commissioners, and Jackson said he was not involved in or even aware of the meeting time change until someone from the community told him.

As of press time, Hometown News was unable to confirm whether Judge Couch had been made aware of the most recent developments in the case. Repeated attempts to contact Phillips remained unsuccessful this week.

By Jay King

Staff Writer

jking@hometown-news.com

and Jed Blackwell

Editor, Inman Times

inmantimes@aol.com

The Holly Springs Fire and Rescue Commission stopped short of trying to terminate Chief Lee Jeffcoat a second time at its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday.

An overflow crowd of more than 150 turned out for the meeting, the time of which had been changed from the normal 7 p.m. to 4 p.m. and the location moved from the more spacious Holly Springs-Motlow Elementary School cafeteria back to the fire station.

Emotions have been running high throughout the community ever since the secret commission meeting June 16 at which the commission voted to cut the chief’s salary and schedule in half. When the chief refused, the commission voted to terminate him.

Since that time, Circuit Judge Roger Couch ruled that meeting to be illegal and barred the commission from implementing any decision made, effectively reinstating Jeffcoat.

Concerned citizens began arriving shortly after 2 p.m. to ensure a place among the limited seating. By 20 minutes before the start of the meeting, Fire Marshal Russell Hart was asked by Commission Chairman Ryan Phillips to limit the number of people in the building. Hart addressed the crowd and asked that those already inside consider giving up their space for someone waiting outside in the July heat. From that point on a steady stream of residents went out and came into the meeting.

Jeffcoat opened the meeting with a presentation of the department’s budget. He said that as of June 30 this year the department had $121,907 cash on hand with $2.05 million in fixed assets and $621,273 in liabilities for a total departmental liquidity of $1.55 million.

The chief said that even though the county bases its projections for tax income based on a 91 percent collection rate, the department has historically collected 15 percent more than that minimum. Even with fundraising efforts zeroed out in the budget, projections based on the historical performance should see the department with a $23,770 surplus for 2010-2011.

Spartanburg County Auditor Sharon West was then asked to explain how the county derived its numbers for the district’s tax levy, but she quickly pointed out that there was little she could add to what Jeffcoat had already presented.

Commissioner Clarence Gibbs asked West what the legal maximum millage for the district should be, and she replied that her personal opinion was 16.6 percent based on the 2008 reassessment.

First Gibbs then commission secretary Kelly Waters tried to pin West down on whether the district was at risk of having to refund money collected at its current milage rate of 18, but she replied that she was not an attorney and suggested the commission contact one to make that determination.

“How did we arrive at the 18 mills,” Gibbs asked.

“Y’all voted on it in 2001,” West replied, resulting in an outburst of laughter among the audience.

West said after the meeting adjourned that she did not appreciate being blind-sided by the commission and their attempts to pin her down on a question she felt she was not qualified to comment upon.

“I didn’t appreciate being asked that,” she said. “They wanted to use me to say something against Lee and I wasn’t going to do that.”

Instead of moving next to consideration of budget amendments and eliminating the fulltime position of chief, Phillips directed the requested speakers to address the commission.

Commissioner Hugh Jackson was first to speak and told the crowd that on at least seven occasions the other four commissioners met privately to decide on department matters, including a Nov. 19, 2009 meeting at which they voted to reprimand Jeffcoat for releasing information to the public about matters discussed during a commission meeting. (Under the state’s Freedom of Information Act, all records pertaining to the meetings of a public body are considered open to the public.)

Jackson also said that the other commissioners apparently met on or about June 17 to hire attorney Ken Anthony. A decision “I still haven’t been approached about,” Jackson said.

He added that the change of Tuesday’s meeting to 4 p.m. was made without his input and that he wanted to express his concern about the way the business of the fire department was being conducted by his fellow commissioners.

A succession of speakers followed Jackson, most of them directing pointed questions at the commission. For the most part, the commission refused to answer the questions with many of them being greeted by a small smile by Phillips that seemed to anger many in the audience.

Kelli Cardoso, an organizing member of Concerned Citizens of Holly Springs Fire District, addressed Phillips and asked if Jeffcoat was fired was there a plan to replace the services he provides with other personnel. Evading the question, Phillips eventually said that as Jeffcoat remained the chief a plan for his replacement was not necessary.

Vice Chairman Roscoe Kyle subsequently made a motion to remove from the agenda the discussion of terminating Jeffcoat until a budget workshop could be held to clarify the department’s budget outlook. The proposal was seconded and passed unanimously, apparently ending for the time being plans to remove Jeffcoat.

A date for that workshop has not been set as Jeffcoat was directed to gather all the pertinent financial information to present to commissioners.

By Jay King

Staff Writer

jking@hometown-news.com

Hometown News

A circuit court judge declared the Holly Springs Fire Commission in violation of the state’s Freedom of Information Act for the action taken at what the court deemed an illegal meeting June 16 and effectively ordered Chief Lee Jeffcoat reinstated last Thursday.

In an action brought by attorney Ryan Langley on behalf of the embattled chief, Circuit Judge Roger Couch found evidence of FOI violations at the June 16 meeting including failure to give proper notice to the public and media, failure to take proper minutes at the meeting, failure to make the meeting open to the public, and taking a secret vote behind closed doors.

Judge Couch’s order states, “The violations have caused an irreparable injury for which no adequate remedy at law exists.” The order enjoins the commission from implementing any action taken at the meeting. Although not specifically mentioned, the order is clearly aimed at throwing out Jeffcoat’s termination dating from that meeting.

Langley said that the judge could not order the commission not to fire Jeffcoat but could, under the FOIA, require that they abide by the terms of the act requiring open meetings and public votes.

A hearing on the matter is ordered to take place within 10 days, and Langley said it would likely be before the end of this week.

Meanwhile, signs in support of the chief have appeared alongside area roads and at least one sign in support of the commission. Sen. Lee Bright said Friday that he has been inundated with calls regarding the commission’s actions but that his efforts to mediate a solution have come to nothing.

The senator said that as a result of both sides retaining the services of lawyers, he is stepping back and will await the outcome of any legal action.

“All I want to do is make sure there is fire service for Holly Springs,” Bright said. ‘I’ve talked to both sides and told them where I think they made their mistakes.”

He said the actions for which he has taken most of the criticism – appointing all but one of the current commissioners – were made in an effort to ensure all sides in Holly Springs had representation on the commission. He said the current controversy provides a perfect example of why he continues to advocate having fire and special purpose district commissions elected by the people they are supposed top represent.

He added that despite his best efforts and judgment, the appointment of commissioners has proved divisive and controversial, a condition that highlights the flaws in how commissioners are appointed.

The senator said legislation he proposed last year to have the commissioners popularly elected passed in the senate but ran into a wall of opposition in the House. He said several representatives disapproved of the measure as they said fire chiefs in their districts liked having input on who was appointed to their commissions and boards.

“Everybody would like to hand pick their own oversight,” Bright said. “I don’t think that’s a good situation because they’re dealing with tax money.”

Bright said that unfortunately this current situation will likely play out in court and that he will make no further comment on it. He said that no matter how that plays out, he does not foresee any situation in which the people of Holly Springs do not have fire protection.

“What we need is to bring that community together,” Bright said. “With or without Lee Jeffcoat, there will be a fire department and fire service.”

He added that he believed that the community will be stronger and better off after this situation is resolved and past. He said he will continue to push for the popular election of fire commissions and may even explore singling out the Holly Springs area to elect commissioners if there is no more support for doing it on a wider scale.

Records of called meetings being sought

In another area on this issue, Hometown News has filed a Freedom of Information request seeking the minutes and notes from all called, non-scheduled meetings the commission has had during the past year.

The request was sent to commission Chairman Ryan Phillips and follows in the wake of comments he made to reporters after the June 16 meeting in which he stated the commission had had a number of what he termed “workshops” at which the commission took votes on various subjects.

The state’s Freedom of Information Act requires all public bodies to take minutes at every meeting and only excludes proceedings behind closed doors where personnel or legal matters are discussed. The act requires at least 24 hours notice to the public and media for any and all meetings except emergency meetings.

Judge Couch’s order effectively reinstating Jeffcoat orders the Holly Springs Fire Commission from any “further violation of the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act.”

The next scheduled fire commission meeting will take place July 6 at 7 p.m.

By Jay King

Staff Writer

jking@hometown-news.com

Hometown News

The Holly Springs Fire and Rescue Commission conducted an illegal secret meeting last Wednesday evening at which a vote was taken to fire Chief Lee Jeffcoat.

Hometown News received a tip about the meeting and sent a reporter to attend. That reporter was subsequently excluded from the meeting after attempting to advise commission members about the requirements for open meetings under the state’s Freedom of Information Act.

The commission, comprised of chairman Ryan Phillips, vice-chairman Roscoe Kyle and members Kelly Waters, Clarence Gibbs and Hugh Jackson, met behind closed doors for about 45 minutes starting at 7 p.m. during which a vote was taken 4-1 to terminate Jeffcoat.

Most of the department’s 32 volunteers were present by the end of the meeting and tried to question commissioners about their decision, but the commissioners left without addressing those questions.

Phillips returned about two hours later by which time crews from two local television stations had joined Hometown News’ reporter. Phillips agreed to speak with the department’s firefighters and eventually agreed to speak to reporters around 11 p.m.

During the ensuing questioning, Phillips asked how Hometown News learned of the meeting as only six people knew about it and were told to keep it quiet.

When asked who told the commissioners to keep the meeting quiet, Phillips replied, “I don’t know.

When asked who told him to keep the meeting quiet, Phillips again replied, “I don’t know.”

Phillips at first tried to characterize the meeting as a budget workshop but later said it was an executive session. Under the state’s Freedom of Information Act, it is illegal to take a vote during a closed-door session.

S.C. Press Association Executive Director Bill Rogers said the meeting was in clear violation of the FOIA in that no attempt was made to notify the public or the media as required by the act.

“Any action from that meeting is illegal and can be challenged successfully,” Rogers said.

Before leaving Wednesday night, Phillips agreed to meet with the firemen and members of the community Friday at 7 p.m. the department’s volunteers discussed a collective walkout but delayed making a decision until after the Friday meeting.

The extent of the public’s ire over the chief’s supposed termination was immediately evidently Friday as more than 200 area residents packed the fire station prior to the meeting. The mood was decidedly hostile as the five commissioners arrived. Phillips read a brief statement in which he asserted Jeffcoat’s termination was in the best interests of the department, a view clearly at odds with the feelings of the crowd.

One of the first questions to be raised was questioning the timing of the termination. One of the allegations that seemed to upset people most had to do with Kyle supposedly questioning the expenditure of department funds for food and water during the three-day search for a drowning victim at Lake Lyman earlier in the week.

“You haven’t given us a reason,” one woman said. “You’re just giving us numbers.”

The audience also questioned Waters and asked how she could be independent when she works for Gibbs at his Inman real estate brokerage firm.

Waters replied that she does not work for him but with him, an answer that seemed to incense the crowd further.

On at least two occasions, someone in the crowd shouted for the resignation of the four commissioners singled out as the one’s responsible for Jeffcoat’s ouster – Phillips, Kyle, Waters and Gibbs – a move that met the shouted acclamation of the crowd.

An emotional Mary Edwards point-blank asked the commissioners if they had ever faced a house fire as she and her family had twice in two years.

“My house is worth more to me than the $70,000 for this man’s salary,” she said. “If you ever had a wall of flame coming toward your house you would thank God for this man and this department.”

After less than 30 minutes, four commissioners – Phillips, Kyle, Waters and Gibbs – filed out and left the meeting. Jackson remained behind and state Sen. Lee Bright, who had a hand in appointing the four, stepped to the front of the crowd and began fielding questions.

Bright said he wasn’t aware the chief was going to be removed and said he wasn’t aware of any problems until four months ago.

“You knew that Jeffcoat would be replaced when you appointed them,” Jackson told Bright.

“No, I didn’t,” Bright shot back.

Several members of the crowd asserted there were conflicts of interest among the four commissioners, some citing financial ties between some of the four and Bright himself. The senator downplayed most of the claims and denied any financial ties.

“I think you have some legitimate concerns and we’re going to look into them,” he told the crowd.

Before the meeting broke up Assistant Chief Brent Blackwell told the crowd that the firefighters’ commitment to protect the community was unchanged and that the firemen would stay on the job. He also urged the audience to take action to help reinstate Jeffcoat and seek the removal of the four commissioners seen as the group who have effectively staged a hostile takeover of the department.

Jeffcoat arrived toward the end of the meeting and received an uproarious ovation from the crowd. He told the crowd that it was imperative for the department to have a relationship of trust and respect with the commissioners and said such a relationship was notably lacking in the current situation.

“The point is you’ve got to have a board that’s willing to work for the community,” he said.

He also told the crowd that he had received a termination letter via email from attorney Kenneth Anthony Thursday. Anthony is not the attorney of record for the department, and Jeffcoat said he did not know when the commission had retained Anthony’s services.

After the meeting, Jeffcoat told Hometown News that the outpouring of community support was simply overwhelming and had given him a boost after a particularly hard two days. He said as his family’s sole breadwinner, he has been in turmoil over how to provide for his families needs following his supposed termination.

“I’ve been here since I was 12,” he said.  ‘I’m blown away by this support. I’ve helped save a lot of houses over the 26 years I’ve been here and people don’t forget that.”

He said he and his wife had spent the day Friday talking finances.

Close to two hours after the four commissioners departed, Bright remained behind answering questions from area residents. He said he would look into the assertions that Wednesday’s secret commission meeting was illegal and might cast some doubt on whether Jeffcoat has been officially fired. He vowed to look into the matter and said he would be present at the commission’s next scheduled meeting July 6.