Years ago I read a story about a college professor who was addressing a class of senior students. One young man sat in the front row, slouching in his seat and yawning loudly.
The professor addressed him. "Young man, do you know that the two biggest problems of college students today are ignorance and apathy?"
The kid answered, "I didn't know that and I don't care."
What does this story have to do with this blog?
The problems of ignorance and apathy are right here in River City (apologies to Meredith Willson); errr, I mean Richland County. And there aren't new.
In his 600-page tome titled Operation Lost Trust And The Ethics Reform Movement 1989-1999, former Common Cause/SC Executive Director John Crangle wrote:"... the public is often apathetic and ignorant about such scandals." He was referring to major criminal scandals in state governments. (Page 164. ©2017 Published by the Crangle Company, Columbia, S.C.)
Have we got our own "scandal" right here in Richland 2 School District?
Would you care, if we did?
Sunday, July 21, 2019
Saturday, July 20, 2019
Ethics Commission files Judgment against McKie
On July 10, 2019 the South Carolina Ethics Commission filed a $51,750 Judgment in Richland County Common Pleas Court against Amelia McKie. The Case Number is 2019CP4003809.
This Judgment is to collect the $51,750 in fines and fees that she owes the Ethics Commission under Decision & Order No. 2017-023, which was issued on July 3, 2018.
That Decision was based on McKie's failure to file numerous required documents between 2015 and 2018, including Campaign Disclosure Reports and Statements of Economic Interests Reports.
Those reports are required; they are not optional. It would be hard for McKie to say that she didn't know they were required, because she did file at least one report when she was running in 2014 for her first term as a Richland 2 School District trustee.
The 2018 Decision & Order informed McKie that, if she didn't make payments as scheduled with due dates of December 31, 2018, and June 30, 2019, the Judgment would be entered.
And so the Ethics Commission followed through and promptly filed.
McKie can expect further collection attempts to be pursued. Will she pay?
This Judgment is to collect the $51,750 in fines and fees that she owes the Ethics Commission under Decision & Order No. 2017-023, which was issued on July 3, 2018.
That Decision was based on McKie's failure to file numerous required documents between 2015 and 2018, including Campaign Disclosure Reports and Statements of Economic Interests Reports.
Those reports are required; they are not optional. It would be hard for McKie to say that she didn't know they were required, because she did file at least one report when she was running in 2014 for her first term as a Richland 2 School District trustee.
The 2018 Decision & Order informed McKie that, if she didn't make payments as scheduled with due dates of December 31, 2018, and June 30, 2019, the Judgment would be entered.
And so the Ethics Commission followed through and promptly filed.
McKie can expect further collection attempts to be pursued. Will she pay?
School Board Meeting - Tuesday, July 23
The Richland 2 School Board will hold its one July meeting on Tuesday, July 23, at 6:30PM for the public and preceded by a 90-minute Executive Session that will begin at 5:00PM. The Board meets at R2i2.
This meeting will the first in the new school year, which started July 1. The Board Chair is James Manning, who has been a trustee since 2010 and is the longest-serving trustee.
Eleven Board Policies are up for decision, and FOURTEEN (14) Policies are being submitted for review but no action. How did the District ever survive with all the policies in place before so many came up for attention, review and vote?
Too many times last year decisions were avoided by the throw-away phrase "will of the Board". Rather than determining what the "will of the Board" was, business just moved on. Board members failed to demand a vote by making a Motion of the topic that had just been discussed or learning the consensus of the Board.
The Board should probably consider a Parliamentarian, which Richland School District One has. That person could help the Board Chair keep meetings moving along. When Board members ramble or are slow to consolidate their comments, the Parliamentarian could prompt them to speak directly and to complete their remarks.
Hopefully, meetings will no longer run two hours, three hours, or more than three hours.
The next Board meeting will be Tuesday, August 13, 2019. There will be two meetings in August, September and October. Then the Board will meet once in November and once in December.
Parents: tell the kids they are on their own for dinner and start showing up for these meetings.
This meeting will the first in the new school year, which started July 1. The Board Chair is James Manning, who has been a trustee since 2010 and is the longest-serving trustee.
Eleven Board Policies are up for decision, and FOURTEEN (14) Policies are being submitted for review but no action. How did the District ever survive with all the policies in place before so many came up for attention, review and vote?
Too many times last year decisions were avoided by the throw-away phrase "will of the Board". Rather than determining what the "will of the Board" was, business just moved on. Board members failed to demand a vote by making a Motion of the topic that had just been discussed or learning the consensus of the Board.
The Board should probably consider a Parliamentarian, which Richland School District One has. That person could help the Board Chair keep meetings moving along. When Board members ramble or are slow to consolidate their comments, the Parliamentarian could prompt them to speak directly and to complete their remarks.
Hopefully, meetings will no longer run two hours, three hours, or more than three hours.
The next Board meeting will be Tuesday, August 13, 2019. There will be two meetings in August, September and October. Then the Board will meet once in November and once in December.
Parents: tell the kids they are on their own for dinner and start showing up for these meetings.
Thursday, July 18, 2019
McKie Files Report 8 Days Late
Amelia McKie is sitting on $4,265.01 in her political campaign fund. This means she must file quarterly campaign disclosure reports. The reports are due for Calendar Year quarters. Reports are to be filed by the 10th day of the month after the end of the quarter. For those who have a hard time calculating this, the reports are due by January 10, April 10, July 10, October 10.
By that calendar the Campaign Disclosure Report for the second quarter of 2019 (April 10-June 30) was due July 10.
Since July 8th I've been monitoring the Ethics Commission's public information found behind the Online Reporting link on a daily basis. Each day I have checked; each day there was no report for the second quarter. This morning there was no report for the second quarter. Today is July 18; the report was due July 10.
And finally, today, July 18, 2019 her report for the second quarter was filed.
Riddle me this...
McKie was fined for numerous filing violations and now owes the S.C. Ethics Commission $51.750 under a Decision & Order No. C2017-023, dated July 3, 2018. As of July 9, 2019 she had not paid. The Ethics Commission will file a Judgment in that amount to be entered on the Judgment Rolls of the Richland Court Clerk of Court's Office.
One would think that McKie would have begun paying close attention to filing all required reports on time. By January 9, 2019 she had filed numerous past-due reports. All are of public record and can be found on the website for the S.C. Ethics Commission at ethics.sc.gov
For the 4th Quarter 2018 McKie filed her Campaign Disclosure Report on time (1/9/19).
The next quarterly report was due April 10, 2019. When did she file it? MAY 8, 2019. LATE!
The next quarterly report was due July 10, 2019. When did she file it? JULY 18, 2019. LATE!
The School Board counts her as one of seven Board members. I do not. She is a Trustee-elect, not a Trustee, for reason I have written about extensively.
What possible valid reason could she have for missing two filing deadliness this year?
There is are procedures for removing her from the Board.
One is S.C. Code of Law Section 59-19-60.
Board Policy BCA - Board Member Code of Ethics. It reads, in part, "School board members are under the jurisdiction of the 'Ethics, Government Accountability, and Campaign Reform Act,' S.C. Code Section 8-13-100 et seq. School board members are expected to comply with the act." [emphasis added] I am not aware of any record of discipline by the School Board for McKie's repeated violations of Board Policy BCA.
A second way is that Governor McMaster could remove her, if he found her failures to file the required returns in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 to be acts of moral turpitude.
Being a Trustee of a billion-dollar school district is an incredible responsibility. Can this district tolerate any longer a Board member is so inattentive to such a very basic obligation? Oh, wait; she's not really a Board member.
By that calendar the Campaign Disclosure Report for the second quarter of 2019 (April 10-June 30) was due July 10.
Since July 8th I've been monitoring the Ethics Commission's public information found behind the Online Reporting link on a daily basis. Each day I have checked; each day there was no report for the second quarter. This morning there was no report for the second quarter. Today is July 18; the report was due July 10.
And finally, today, July 18, 2019 her report for the second quarter was filed.
Riddle me this...
McKie was fined for numerous filing violations and now owes the S.C. Ethics Commission $51.750 under a Decision & Order No. C2017-023, dated July 3, 2018. As of July 9, 2019 she had not paid. The Ethics Commission will file a Judgment in that amount to be entered on the Judgment Rolls of the Richland Court Clerk of Court's Office.
One would think that McKie would have begun paying close attention to filing all required reports on time. By January 9, 2019 she had filed numerous past-due reports. All are of public record and can be found on the website for the S.C. Ethics Commission at ethics.sc.gov
For the 4th Quarter 2018 McKie filed her Campaign Disclosure Report on time (1/9/19).
The next quarterly report was due April 10, 2019. When did she file it? MAY 8, 2019. LATE!
The next quarterly report was due July 10, 2019. When did she file it? JULY 18, 2019. LATE!
The School Board counts her as one of seven Board members. I do not. She is a Trustee-elect, not a Trustee, for reason I have written about extensively.
What possible valid reason could she have for missing two filing deadliness this year?
There is are procedures for removing her from the Board.
One is S.C. Code of Law Section 59-19-60.
Board Policy BCA - Board Member Code of Ethics. It reads, in part, "School board members are under the jurisdiction of the 'Ethics, Government Accountability, and Campaign Reform Act,' S.C. Code Section 8-13-100 et seq. School board members are expected to comply with the act." [emphasis added] I am not aware of any record of discipline by the School Board for McKie's repeated violations of Board Policy BCA.
A second way is that Governor McMaster could remove her, if he found her failures to file the required returns in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 to be acts of moral turpitude.
Being a Trustee of a billion-dollar school district is an incredible responsibility. Can this district tolerate any longer a Board member is so inattentive to such a very basic obligation? Oh, wait; she's not really a Board member.
School Board still minus two legal Members and now minus one legal Officer
Reporter Michael Smith of The Independent Voice of
Blythewood & Fairfield County contacted me for a comment after the Richland
2 School Board elected its officers for 2019-2020.
In his July 3, 2019 article on www.blythewoodonline.com he correctly reported my position, when he
wrote "Philpott maintains that McKie and Holmes aren’t legally allowed to
serve because neither filed Statements of Economic interest forms until after
taking the oath of office. State law prohibits elected officials from taking
the oath when SEI forms haven’t been filed."
Further Smith quoted me correctly, when he wrote, “They are, in my
opinion, not legal board members,” Philpott said. “Teresa Holmes was nominated
for the position of vice chair and was elected. My contention is since she is
not a board member, she cannot serve as an officer.”
Smith also contacted Trustee-elect Teresa Holmes, and Smith wrote, "Holmes
said she doesn’t plan to step down, and disputes that she’s not legally
qualified to serve on the board.":
Smith quoted Holmes: “There is no reason that he should continue to say
that,” Holmes said. “He knows that that’s not true."
So, basically, Holmes is calling me a liar.
Teresa Holmes has a Ph.D. She should be able to understand the law and that
the order of the words in the law in important.
Why do I continue to say she is not a legal member of the Board? It's as
simple as 1-2-3. While she is legally “qualified”, she is not legally “entitled”
to serve on the Board.
1. At the time Holmes took the oath of office on November 13, 2018, she was
"qualified" to be a member of the Board, because she had been
elected.
2. However, when she took the oath of office on
November 13, 2018, she was not eligible to take it,
because she had not filed the required Statement of Economic Interests Report
with the South Carolina Ethics Commission. Therefore, it is as if she never
took the oath of office. The oath that she did take has no force or effect.
3. She filed the required Statement on December 4,
2018, but she has never taken the oath of office legally; i.e., after she filed
the Statement.
Because Holmes hasn't taken the oath of office, she is
NOT a legal Board member. And, because she is not a legal Board member, she
cannot serve as Board Vice Chair. She is only a Trustee-elect, not
a Trustee. She is NOT entitled to sit at the Board or to vote or to attend
Executive Sessions or to serve as Board Vice Chair. She is not entitled to receive
Trustee compensation or have any expenses paid or reimbursed for meetings,
conferences, out-of-town Association meetings, etc. Nor should Amelia McKie,
for the same reasons. All monies paid to or for McKie and Holmes should be
returned to Richland 2 School District.
Richland 2 School District has never provided me with any response or
statement regarding my allegations. It has informed me that "The District’s
legal counsel continues to advise us that actions taken by the Board are valid
under these circumstances." That statement is NOT a response to my
allegations. And it’s only true if a quorum of legal Board members was
in attendance.
As
early as mid-March I suggested to the Board that there was a simple
"fix" to this problem. Holmes and McKie need to raise their right
hands and take the oath of office. Then, and only then, will they become legal
board members.
As soon as they do, then the Board will have to re-examine every vote on or
since November 13, 2018 that was affected by votes by McKie and Holmes. Many
decisions will change.
Sunday, July 14, 2019
Could it happen here? A gender-less student body?
Could the insanity happening in NYC schools be foisted on students and parents of Richland 2 School District?
Read this article carefully.
Maybe this article is just a big joke. Maybe LifeSiteNews.com is just a branch of The Onion. And maybe it's not. Maybe this is true.
This is why, Parents, you must attend school board meetings and be involved! Don't just ship your kids off to school and think that the schools, teachers and administration will do what's best for your kids.
YOU decide what is best for them. YOU are the governors of the school district. YOU elect school board members, and YOU must watch them carefully.
The only way to know what is going on is to view the agenda before each meeting and to understand it. Read the proposed revisions to Board Policies. These are not just policies that apply to the board. Many of these are policies of the Board that will be applied to your children and to staff.
If you don't agree with something, you must speak out - effectively.
One way to do that is to gather your friends, family and neighbors and speak up at Board meetings. Don't fall for the "one speaker on a topic is enough". Every one of you should speak. If the Board calls "Time's up", tell them "No, the time is not up."
Read this article carefully.
Maybe this article is just a big joke. Maybe LifeSiteNews.com is just a branch of The Onion. And maybe it's not. Maybe this is true.
This is why, Parents, you must attend school board meetings and be involved! Don't just ship your kids off to school and think that the schools, teachers and administration will do what's best for your kids.
YOU decide what is best for them. YOU are the governors of the school district. YOU elect school board members, and YOU must watch them carefully.
The only way to know what is going on is to view the agenda before each meeting and to understand it. Read the proposed revisions to Board Policies. These are not just policies that apply to the board. Many of these are policies of the Board that will be applied to your children and to staff.
If you don't agree with something, you must speak out - effectively.
One way to do that is to gather your friends, family and neighbors and speak up at Board meetings. Don't fall for the "one speaker on a topic is enough". Every one of you should speak. If the Board calls "Time's up", tell them "No, the time is not up."
Thursday, July 4, 2019
Remembering Operation Lost Trust
Were you in South Carolina when Operation Lost Trust broke open the issues of corruption and lobbyists' vote-buying in South Carolina government almost 30 years ago?
Recently I began reading the 600-page book titled Operation Lost Trust, by John V. Crangle. Crangle was the Executive Director of Common Cause/South Carolina from 1986 to 2016.
As I work my way through this tale of intrigue, I find myself thinking of the unresolved questions at the Richland 2 School District about the legitimacy of the School Board.
Operation Lost Trust quotes former S.C. House Speaker Bob Sheheen: "When you've got people involved in leadership who are under scrutiny, that reflects not only on them but on the institution." In the same paragraph on Page 43, Sheheen is further quoted: "you don't know what's coming next."
Sheheen's words ring true in 2019, not about the S.C. House, but about Richland 2 School District.
I have found myself at times becoming impatient with the wheels of justice and, at the same time, admiring the investigation and preparation skills of others who prepare such cases.
Thorough preparation often means that charges are announced and very quickly guilty pleas are entered. How does this happen? Defendants know that prosecutors have them "dead to rights".In other words, there is no way out of it for them.
The whole story will end up here one of these days.
An important decision was made by the School Board when it elected James Manning as the Board Chair for the 2019-2020 School Year. Manning is the longest-serving member of the Board, and he has been on the Board since 2010. His term as trustee runs to 2022.
The Board and the public are likely to see a noticeable change in leadership style. It may take him a month or two to institute changes. Meetings should be much better organized, smoother and shorter.
Recently I began reading the 600-page book titled Operation Lost Trust, by John V. Crangle. Crangle was the Executive Director of Common Cause/South Carolina from 1986 to 2016.
As I work my way through this tale of intrigue, I find myself thinking of the unresolved questions at the Richland 2 School District about the legitimacy of the School Board.
Operation Lost Trust quotes former S.C. House Speaker Bob Sheheen: "When you've got people involved in leadership who are under scrutiny, that reflects not only on them but on the institution." In the same paragraph on Page 43, Sheheen is further quoted: "you don't know what's coming next."
Sheheen's words ring true in 2019, not about the S.C. House, but about Richland 2 School District.
I have found myself at times becoming impatient with the wheels of justice and, at the same time, admiring the investigation and preparation skills of others who prepare such cases.
Thorough preparation often means that charges are announced and very quickly guilty pleas are entered. How does this happen? Defendants know that prosecutors have them "dead to rights".In other words, there is no way out of it for them.
The whole story will end up here one of these days.
An important decision was made by the School Board when it elected James Manning as the Board Chair for the 2019-2020 School Year. Manning is the longest-serving member of the Board, and he has been on the Board since 2010. His term as trustee runs to 2022.
The Board and the public are likely to see a noticeable change in leadership style. It may take him a month or two to institute changes. Meetings should be much better organized, smoother and shorter.
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