Palmettovore Campaign Wastes $50,000 Attacking Free Trade
June 22, 2009: The South Carolina Policy Council shined a light on "Palmettovore," a SC Department of Agriculture promotional campaigns that not only is anti-free market, but an outright waste of South Carolina tax dollars - nearly $54,000 for the current fiscal year.
The SC Policy Council found that in less than two years, the SC Department of Agriculture has paid out more than $2.5 million to Columbia advertising agency Chernoff Newman, which created the Palmettovore campaign.
Read the full article here
Innovista: State-Driven Economy Struggling Despite $140 Million in Taxpayer Support
June 9, 2009:
Innovista was touted as a can't-miss project that would be a driving force for the Columbia, SC, economy with plans for the University of South Carolina’s 500-acre research campus were rolled out in 2005.
Today, some $140 million has already been poured into Innovista, most of it state and local tax dollars. But the if-you-build-it-they-will-come approach has reaped few results, according to the South Carolina Policy Council.
Nearly four years later, Innovista’s goals remain largely unrealized as a majority of the buildings constructed can’t even be completed for lack of funds.
Read the full article here
South Carolina sees first two cities pledge financial transparency
April 7, 2009: Government transparency in South Carolina, which has been criticized for being behind may other states, received a large boost when its first two cities pledged to post their financial records online. State Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom, along with South Carolina Policy Council President Ashley Landess and local government officials, held a press conference to congratulate Irmo and Columbia for their commitment to transparency.
Rec Commission Continues to Evade Public Disclosure
April 8, 2009: "One of the issues the Richland County Recreation Commission board has been talking about behind closed doors, and refusing to identify before doing so, apparently has come to light — the retirement of commission director Lewis Leopard.
No less, the commission, a special-purpose district critics assail as an unaccountable fiefdom, is being tight lipped about Leopard’s retirement package, too.
As reported exclusively in Free Times on April 1, the commission board is engaged in a practice that appears to violate the S.C. Freedom of Information Act." Read the full article here.
FOI case in Anderson moves forward
March 25, 2009: "An attorney for Anderson County is seeking to have a lawsuit thrown out that contends the county did not follow the state’s Freedom of Information Act rules.
Attorney Kurt Gibson filed paperwork Monday asking that the lawsuit contending that Council Chairman Eddie Moore did not follow FOIA guidelines be dismissed." Read the full article here.
Bluffton holds second closed session
March 4, 2009: " The Bluffton Town Council met again Tuesday in a closed-door session that was described only vaguely, despite a requirement in the state's Freedom of Information Act that public bodies announce the specific reasons for secret meetings.
The meeting came a week after the council held a similar closed-door session without announcing the specific reason.
The FOIA states that a public body must say specifically why it is going into executive session before doing so. Opinions from the state attorney general's office underscore that requirement.The opinions, issued in 1988 and 2004, were provided by the attorney general's office last week." Read the full article here.
Public bodies cannot act outside of the law
February 27, 2009: "A representative democracy cannot function in secret.
The state Freedom of Information Act specifically forbids secrecy, and outlines a number of ways that the public's right to know supersedes a government body's desire for secrecy.
Bluffton Mayor Lisa Sulka and the Town Council need to study the Freedom of Information Act. Bluffton needs to hire a town attorney who knows the law and appreciates how important it is for public officials to obey the law. Town attorney Terry Finger gave the Bluffton Town Council bad advice Tuesday when he told the council it could thumb its nose at the Freedom of Information Act." Read the full column here.
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