On Thursday, October 20, the S.C. Ethics Commission held a hearing on a violation of the ethics laws by Amelia McKie. The hearing started promptly at 9:30AM.
The complaint was that McKie had failed to report her Richland 2 School District income, received in the year 2020, on her 2021 Statement of Economic Interests Report (SEI). On that Report, she indicated only Personal Income from some entity identified as NLLC.
You can view that Original SEI, for Report Year 2021, filed on January 12, 2021, at ethics.sc.gov
After the ethics complaint was filed, she amended her 2021 SEI and reported $9,600 income from Richland School District Two.
The chairman spoke into his microphone and requested those giving testimony to do likewise. McKie spoke it a low voice and, at the beginning of her direct testimony (about 11 minutes into the hearing), the chairman again asked her to speak up.
Three people in the gallery, behind her, could not hear all of what she said. At times, I thought I heard "stipend", "income", "sheriff's department" , "school boards association workshop".
I think she offered some excuse to the hearing commissioners. I'm not sure how she could have explained it away, because in previous years she reported her Richland 2 income on her SEIs.
The audio recording of the meeting is very difficult to understand, because McKie did not speak clearly into the microphone. When a transcript of the hearing is available, I'll read it and learn the content of her testimony.
The chairman of the hearing announced that a decision would be announced within two weeks. That'll make it by November 3rd, before she completes her term of office. McKie is not running for re-election. She still owes $57,100 to the S.C. Ethics Commission, and a judgment for $51,750 is on file with the Richland County Common Pleas Court.
