Where is Amelia McKie?

Merry Christmas, Amelia McKie. Santa Claus is looking for you. He has some switches and a bag of coal for you.

On November 30, 2022 the S.C. Ethics Commission issued a Decision & Order (D&O) in the case of Amelia McKie. She was fined $1,550 for failing to include her 2020 school board income of $9,600 in her 2021 Statement of Economic Interest Report that was filed on January 12, 2021. 

The D&O was sent to her by Certified Mail, return receipt requested. This followed a hearing on October 20th at the Ethics Commission.

The D&O provides that she can appeal the D&O within ten days of receipt of the D&O. 

The Problem? McKie has not accepted the Certified Mail. This means that the 10-day appeal period has not started yet.

McKie's mailing address, on record with the Ethics Commission, is P.O. Box 291173 (29229). This would be the Post Office at 1805 Clemson Road. 

McKie may or may not still live in Richland 2 school boundaries. By using a P.O. Box, it is impossible to know where she actually lives. 

It is reasonable to assume that McKie is picking up her mail. She either leaves the USPS Notice of Certified Mail in her box or she takes it and discards it. She would have to go to the counter and ask for her Certified Mail and then sign the receipt for it. That receipt would then be sent to the Ethics Commission.

Once McKie receives the D&O, then 10-day period starts. If she doesn't appeal, then she has 90 days from receipt of the D&O to pay the $1,550. If she doesn't, then $1,000 will be added, and the Ethics Commission will file a Judgment for $2,550 in the Richland County Common Pleas Court. That's where they filed a Judgement on 7/10/2019 for $51,750.

McKie owes the Ethics Commission $57,100, excluding this latest fine. 

That is the person who was a Richland 2 school board member for eight years. That's the person who never took the oath-of-office legally for her second term. That's the person whom the (previous) board (the majority Four) chose to represent Richland 2 on the South Carolina School Boards Association. 

At the October 20th Ethics Commission hearing, McKie claimed she had not received the original, October 2021 complaint. She claimed not to know about the Complaint until an investigator called her in December (2021). 

If you spot Amelia McKie out and about, politely ask her to be responsible about this obligation. Do not harass her or argue with her. 

[Edited 12/22/2022]

Florida 12-year-old shoots self

Read carefully this reporting of a shooting in Lakeland, Florida, where a 12-year-old boy shot himself at a friend's house. Apparently, the kid found the gun in a car at that house.

Richland 2 should institute safe gun-handling training for all students, starting in elementary school. 

In a year what has BeSMART really done, except learn how to repeat its "Did You Know?" questions? Or hand out gun locks?

How about some education?

You teach kids that, if you point a gun at yourself (or someone else) and pull the trigger, you may just cause an irrevocable act. 

"I'm sorry" isn't going to work. "I didn't know it was loaded" isn't going to work. "I didn't mean to" isn't going to work.

Even in that short article, you can see the parental failures. 

It's not just kids who are stupid and careless with guns. There is a link in that article about two cops who were roommates. One was fooling around and shot the other. Just. Plain. Stupid.

Drinking & Driving? Not a good idea

Most people will acknowledge that drinking and driving are not a good idea. And yet people still do it. 

Aja Adams (black, female, age 27) was charged on December 14, 2022 with four traffic violations, including hit-and-run with injury, felony DUI, DUI involving death. $75,000 Bond.

There is an Aja Adams listed on the teacher rolls at Blythewood Middle School.

So far, nothing in the news.

Persons charged are presumed innocent.

Libby Roof's Replacement

Libby Roof is gone. The new guy's not here yet. Who wrote the press release for the new guy? You can bet that the superintendent approved it.

Why does the press release lie about Libby's departure?

In the next-to-last paragraph, the press release read, "He will officially take the helm in Richland Two on Monday, January 9, 2023. Turchetta is replacing Elizabeth “Libby” Roof who transitioned to Lexington School District One in November."

NO, Libby did not "transition" to Lexington One. She quit. And she had a new job at Lex 1 lined up. Why the lie?

The new guy is Greg Turchetta, and he starts January 9.

Read the press release here. Read about his "background in digital marketing and media strategy ... (and) news director, assistant news director and executive producer at various television stations in Texas, Florida, Georgia and Washington."

And then ask yourself: Why does a school district want or need a person with those credentials to run the communications department of a public school district? There is no marketing needed. The District has nothing to sell. It's not Ford or Chevy or Subaru or Hyundai or Kia. The District is not selling houses or soap or TVs. It's not "selling" anything.

Wasn't Libby being paid $140,000/year plus benefits? What is Turchetta's salary? $160,000? $180,000? Plus benefits.

What is the purpose of a board of directors (here, called board of trustees)? What is the function of a board? 

Does this early decision by the new board bode well for the taxpayers? Did they get hornswoggled at their first meeting?

Exposing Newsguard

                                                                               Click to Play

Watch this Fireside Chat with Dennis Prager and Marissa Streit, CEO of PragerU.

They rip Newsguard. Listen to Dennis distinguish between The Left and Liberals. 

Find out who the most dangerous man in America is.

This will be 30 minutes well-spent.

Then go to PragerU.com and sign the petition

CUBE Conference in Miami

Remember the infamous CUBE Conference in Miami that departing Richland 2 trustees were going to treat themselves to in September? The one that got postponed, thanks to Hurricane Ian?

Well, it's happening right now. December 8-10, 2022.

How many Richland 2 trustees are there? Will we get a report at the school board meeting on December 13th?

On July 1, 2022 each of the seven trustees' slots on the board became entitled to $7,000 in spending money for travel and training. Those trustees were Holmes, Manning, McKie, Caution-Parker, Agostini, Scott, and McFadden.

How much money was left in the accounts of Holmes, Manning, McKie, and Caution-Parker on November 21, when the term of the new school board members (Nash, Porter, Trapp, and Washington) started?

Maybe it's about time to file a FOIA request  for that information.

The new trustees should have have whatever is left over from the $7,000 awarded on July 1. They don't get the full $7,000. 

Will the superintendent provide a report to the board (in public) for each account, listing how much was spent during the period 7/1/2022-11/21/2022 by the four who left the board and how much is remaining for the four new trustees?

McKie fined $1550 by Ethics Commission

Former Richland 2 school board member Amelia McKie has been fined $1,550 by the South Carolina Ethics Commission. The Decision & Order is dated November 30, 2022.

McKie had failed to report her 2020 Richland 2 income of $9,600 on her 2021 Statement of Economic Interests (SEI). Her original 2020 SEI was filed on January 12, 2021. 

After a complaint was filed in October 2021 with the Ethics Commission, McKie amended her SEI on December 23, 2021 and reported her Richland 2 income.

In April 2022 the Ethics Commission found probable cause and the complaint became public. A hearing was scheduled for June 2022, but it was postponed until October 20, 2022. The Commission held a hearing into this matter on October 20th and began deliberations.

McKie told the three hearing commissioners that she did not intend to violate the Ethics Act and that she had misinterpreted the requirement of the Act.

McKie didn't seem to have any problem with interpreting the Act correctly in previous years, because she reported her Richland 2 income on her SEIs for Report Years 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2015. The "Report Year" is for the previous calendar year.

Under the Decision & Order, McKie is "Publicly Reprimanded" and is fined $1,000 for the violation plus an administrative fee of $550, totaling $1,550. The full amount is payable within 90 days of her receipt of the Decision & Order. 

Should she fail to pay the full amount within those 90 days, a Judgment for $2,550 will be entered in the appropriate court.

McKie has ten days from her receipt of the Decision & Order to appeal to the full Ethics Commission.

Should she appeal, a transcript of the October 20, 2022 Hearing will be created. I am especially interested in reading the transcript for anything she had to say about being harassed and followed. I shall carefully scrutinize those remarks for their truthfulness.

A Judgment of $51,750 was filed in the Richland County Common Pleas Court on July 10, 2019. Her balance owed to the Ethics Commission, prior to this new fine, is in the neighborhood of $57,100.