Richland 2 school board trustee James Manning made several comments to WIS-TV on-air on Friday on Friday afternoon, January 28.
Among them (1:57) he said "Philpott has talked about staking out board member's homes and taking pictures." His statement is a lie.
What I did discuss with others was trying to learn whether James Manning was living outside the boundaries of Richland 2 School District. Manning and his wife began living separately some time back (two years?), and there was a rumor he was living at their lake house on Lake Murray. If so, then he was not residng in Richland 2, and Board Policy would require him to resign from the board.
There was some conversation about learning whether he drove to his home at 6627 Longbrook Road (29206) after board meetings or whether he left from there in the mornings for work. The address is listed in the public records of the South Carolina Ethics Commission. On January 5, 2022 he filed a Campaign Disclosure Report (CDR), indicating that he lived at the 6627 Longbrook Road address.
If he didn't live at that address when he filed his Report, then he committed an ethics violation and would be subject to a fine, if a complaint were filed. Would the Ethics Commission fine him $100 for each CDR and Statement of Economic Interests Report filed from that address after he moved out?
Manning telephoned me on January 6, 2022 and told me that he lives in the District at an address across from Dent Middle School. The street number that he gave me for his address does not exist, and I suspect he may have provided his apartment number, rather than the street number for his address. I didn't bother to call him back.
However, the issue may not be dead. When he moved out at the time his wife and he separated, did he at any time reside outside the District? Did he go to the lake house in Lexington County? What would he say under oath? What would she say? When did he lease the apartment near Dent MS? Then he should have resigned from the School Board. "Reside" means live at, sleep, hang your clothes, etc. Would his resignation have to be retroactive? Would he have to repay $800/month for all those months?
Property ownership alone is not sufficient for the residency requirement for the board. One must reside in the District. Perhaps a little deeper investigation is now warranted.
Manning is right that I said I shall go on Richland 2 property at any time. The District has, as of 4:15PM today, 1/29/2022, failed to provide me with a written Trespass Notice. It could have been delivered to me on Wednesday, January 26. Had it been mailed to me that day, it would have been delivered on January 27 or even on January 28. Today in January 29. No Notice.
Was security director Marq Claxton just blowing hot air on Tuesday night? Is his department so disorgaized that they cannot even mail out a form letter? Did Claxton and his boss think it through and decide they should not issue a Trespass Notice to me? In any event, the Trespass Notice will be found invalid, because Claxton had no grounds to issue it.
Any cop knows you gather information before you run off half-cocked and start writing tickets (or issuing Trespass Notices), especially when you didn't witness an incident. Claxton was a NYPD cop for years. Maybe things are done differently in New York City.
I emailed Claxton on 1/27/2022 at 8:19PM and copied the superintendent and the full board (including Manning) with this message:
"Mr. Claxton,
Has anyone else gotten a trespass notice for a verbal outburst without prior warning? If not I’d say you were unfairly trespassed. Why was Pam not made to leave? We know why.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. In three years of attending board meetings I've never heard a verbal outburst like that on January 25. Note ever. If I'd done something wrong, I'd admit it. She told WIS-TV that she said and did nothing inappropriate. And she even tried to keep a straight face.
Delete