Blythewood Online 691

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  • FMH employees air concerns about leadership

    WINNSBORO—At Monday’s meeting, council members listened intently as the director of Fairfield Memorial Hospital’s Rehabilitation Center openly criticized hospital leadership during public input.

    “We question and don’t quite understand decisions made by administration, such as finances, priorities at this stage of the game and treatment of employees,” Laura Willingham, the hospital’s rehabilitation director, said. “Of course we’ll do what we’re asked to do. But it’s still disconcerting.”

    Willingham also emphasized the need to keep a rehab facility in Fairfield County as opposed to having rehab patients travel to Columbia for service.

    Smith commended Willingham for speaking publicly.

    “I think probably since I’ve been on council, it’s the most brave thing I’ve heard spoken to  us,” he said. “When we question some of the hospital administration, we’ve been chastised. I hope there are no reprisals against you.”

    Councilman Cornelius Robinson also signaled support for the rehab center.

    “Rehab is something that we need in Fairfield County,” Robinson said. “Each one of us is definitely thinking about it.”

    Sexual harassment suit filed

    Willingham’s address was unrelated to a developing legal matter involving Fairfield Memorial Hospital – a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former employee.

    Tabitha Williams, a former certified nursing assistant, made that claim in a lawsuit Feb. 22 in Kershaw County Circuit Court. The litigation was removed to federal court in March.

    The lawsuit says a human resources employee made several unwanted sexual comments to her shortly after he started working at the hospital in October 2016.

    The comments came during conversations at work, on the phone and via text message, according to the litigation.

    Williams further says the employee tried to “lure” her into a sexual relationship. The lawsuit calls him a “sexual predator.”

    She said the man fired her in August 2017, “ostensibly for reasons related to job performance,” the suit continues.

    “He began a period of inappropriate and aggressive communications with Plaintiff in and out of the workplace,” the suit states. “Plaintiff is informed and believes that her termination resulted from her refusal to engage in sexual activity with Defendant.”

    In its response, the hospital denies the allegations.

    The hospital’s response says Williams refused to cooperate in an investigation of her claims. It further states Williams was fired for poor performance and attendance issues, court documents state.

    Williams is seeking damages for lost pay, embarrassment and humiliation, punitive damages, legal fees and other unspecified damages.

    No trial date has been set, though in April a deadline of Jan. 2, 2019 was set to complete mediation.

    County Mulls FMH purchase

    While the diagnosis doesn’t look good for Fairfield Memorial Hospital, efforts to resuscitate parts of it by buying some health care properties are underway.

    At Monday night’s meeting, some hoped the county would vote to purchase several parcels associated with the hospital property. That was one of three items on the agenda for discussion in executive session, but a vote did not materialize.

    Council Chairman Billy Smith predicts a vote will come soon.

    Smith said the county is interested in purchasing parcels encompassing the rehab center, as well as a couple of private practice offices. He hopes a third party will take over operations.

    “We’re close to making a decision. I was actually hoping for a little bit more in executive session tonight,” Smith said. “Certainly we hope to set it by the next meeting.”

  • Trustees question Mitford payments

    WINNSBORO—As the Fairfield County Board of Trustees finalizes its upcoming budget, some members are questioning why Fairfield County money is still being spent in neighboring Chester County.

    At issue are state-mandated payments to the Chester County School District covering costs of Fairfield County students, specifically from the Mitford community, who attend school in Chester County.

    Fairfield trustee Annie McDaniel took issue with the payments during a discussion at the April board meeting, citing rising costs.

    Payments – calculated at 103 percent of Chester’s prior year per-pupil cost of Mitford transfer students – are mandated in state law and have been upheld by the S.C. Supreme Court.

    “I don’t think they intended for it to go on and on forever,” McDaniel said. “We need to look at that, we’re sending a lot of money over there.”

    In 2018-2019, student transfers are expected to cost Fairfield County schools an additional $74,150, rising from about $552,000 this year to $626,000, according to budget figures.

    McDaniel called for the district’s legal counsel to review the Chester County payments. She also suggested that Chester is more prosperous than Fairfield County.

    “They’ve got some pretty good industry coming in on their side,” she said.

    Since January 2017, the S.C. Department of Commerce published on its website two announcements about new or expanding industry in Chester County, accounting for 174 new jobs.

    There have been no announcements for Fairfield County, according to the Department of Commerce website. Besides the money the Fairfield School District receives from the state and from County taxes, it also receives more than $18M in property taxes annually from V.C. Summer’s unit one.

    Board member Henry Miller thinks there should be greater accountability of the money Fairfield sends to Chester.

    “Where are the checks and balances? I don’t want anyone fudging the math, so to speak, making us pay more,” Miller said. “I’d just love to see all of them [Mitford students] come back home.”

    When contacted by The Voice, the Chester County school district released a prepared statement attributable to Dr. Angela Bain, the district’s superintendent.

    “We are not privy to any discussions that the Fairfield County School Board is having regarding this matter,” the statement said. “We are aware of the Supreme Court’s decision, and we are complying with that decision.”

    A state law known as Act 294 that passed in 2010 requires the Fairfield County school district to foot the bill for Mitford community students attending Chester County schools, mainly in Great Falls.

    The school district filed suit, challenging the law, but the effort failed when a sharply divided state Supreme Court upheld Act 294 in a 3-2 decision, according to judicial records.

    The voting majority said in its opinion that Fairfield County Schools never showed that the General Assembly “failed to have a logical basis or sound reason” in enacting Act. 294.

    Court documents state an informal agreement facilitating the transfer of Mitford students to Chester County existed since 1972.

    It wasn’t until 2007 that the deal broke down, prompting special legislation to address the issue.

    Following the 2010 legislation, the Fairfield County school district was invoiced more than $1.8 million for the past three years, court documents state, and has been paying the Chester County district ever since.

    In a minority opinion, Justice Donald Beatty said Act 294 is unconstitutional because it conflicts with pre-existing general laws addressing student transfers. Justice Kaye Hearn concurred.

    “In reaching this conclusion, the majority myopically focuses on the procedural posture of the instant case and, in turn, effectively discounts the fundamental question regarding the constitutionality of Act No. 294,” Beatty wrote.

    Beatty further asserted Act 294 provides different processes for calculating the cost of student transfers.

    “Fairfield County has the resources and facilities to provide free public education for all of its resident children,” Beatty said. “I discern no reason why FCSD should now be statutorily required to reimburse CCSD for continued voluntary transfers.”

  • Moonshine bust nets Blythewood man

    WINNSBORO – While conducting a lawful search warrant at about 6 p.m., May 8, at a residence on West College Street in Winnsboro, officers from the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Narcotics Unit, the Winnsboro Department of Public Safety and the Chester County Sheriff’s Narcotics Unit, encountered numerous subjects in the front yard of the residence and discovered 25 mason jars of liquid believed to be moonshine inside the house, the incident report states. It was also reported that officers found substances believed to be cocaine and marijuana in a vehicle on the property registered to Derrick Jones, 41, of Blythewood.

    Jones

    Upon the officers’ arrival, one of the subjects, Donald Glenn, Jr. who, it turned out, is on federal probation/supervision for a previous arrest, immediately bolted from the location, but was captured in the next block, detained, handcuffed and taken back to the residence.

    All the other subjects were also handcuffed and secured by perimeter units in the front yard. A search team along with a K-9 officer reportedly entered the residence where the K-9 made several narcotic alerts.

    Outside the residence, Jones, who had been seated at a picnic table, still handcuffed and under legal confinement, also bolted from the property, the report states. While officers were unable to catch or locate Jones, he contacted officers about 11:30 that evening and made arrangements to turn himself in.

    Jones was arrested and charged with trafficking cocaine over 10 grams and common law escape and transported to the Fairfield County Detention Center. Jones was released on $25,000 bond for drug trafficking and $5,000 bond for escape. According to the report, Glenn was turned over to federal authorities.

  • Cauthen gets 30 days; must pay $1.8M restitution

    Blythewood—A former Blythewood Town Councilwoman who helped bilk an estimated 17,000 people out of $28 million in fraudulent health care claims will spend 30 days in prison.

    Kathleen (Katie) Cauthen, 47, was also sentenced to 12 months of supervised release and ordered to pay nearly $1.8 million in restitution, according to a sentencing order filed Monday.

    Cauthen

    Cauthen could’ve received up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the misprision of a felony count to which she previously pleaded guilty. Prosecutors recommended an “advisory sentence of 21 to 27 months.

    The one-page sentencing document says the sentence was part of a plea agreement that the court accepted. No further details from the nearly 90-minute hearing were contained in the document.

    Cauthen has been a cooperating witness in the government’s investigation and prosecution of others in the health care fraud case. Others received more harsh penalties.

    William Madison Worthy, the ringleader and a former client of Cauthen, got 82 months – or about seven years – and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty in 2016. Worthy was also ordered to pay $6.5 million in restitution, according to court records.

    Other codefendants have also pleaded guilty, including Angela Posey and Bart Posey.

    Angela Posey was sentenced in March to six months of probation. Bart Posey pleaded guilty in January and his sentencing was rescheduled from April 30 to July 13, documents state.

    Cauthen’s sentencing concludes a case that originated in 2013 and involves acts dating back to at least 2008, according to court documents. Cauthen is one of several people indicted in the multi-state health care fraud scheme.

    The suspects embezzled funds from premiums paid by people who had signed up for health plans that were unauthorized, diverting millions of dollars in premiums for the defendants’ own personal use, according to an FBI news release.

    Shell companies were set up to facilitate money laundering.

  • Volunteers of the Year

    WINNSBORO – Fire stations throughout Fairfield County presented their volunteer firefighter of the year awards during Fairfield County Council’s annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner on May 4.  Awardees pictured with Deputy Director Greg Gerber are, from left, Lewis Loftin, Blackstock; Brandon Edwards, Lebanon; Ned Gwin, Dutchman Creek; Melissa Adams, Ridgeway; Willie Bell, Southeastern; Gerber; Larry Robinson, Blair; Charles Lee, Mitford; Sammie Castles, Greenbrier; Caleb LeGrand, Community; Tavaris Brown, Rescue Squad. Adams was also named Firefighter of the Year for the entire county. James Feaster, Feasterville, and Tommy Sawyer, Jenkinsville, not pictured, were also Volunteer Firefighters of the Year.

  • Blackjack United Masons give back

    Members of the Blackjack United Masonic Lodge 41 recently set up a lunch tent on South Congress Street to feed those in the Winnsboro community who are homeless. From left, Celess Banks, Sylvester Jackson, Worshipful Master Oren Gadson, Robert Hughes, Ray Gadson (who, with his wife, Elaine, prepared the food), Cornell Hopkins ,Patrick Armstrong and Willie Pinson (special deputy of District 6, not shown) are ready to serve. | Barbara Ball

    WINNSBORO – Every year, the members of the Blackjack United Masons look for a way to give back to their community.

    “In the Masons, that’s what we’re supposed to do, to feed the homeless and the hungry, as many as we can. This is one way we look forward to serving,” The Lodge’s Worshipful Master Oren Gadson, a Corporal with the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Department, said. Sometime every year during the spring or early summer, they feed about 100 people. And so they did again in early May.

    This year, the lunch, prepared by Ray Gadson and his wife, Elaine, included baked chicken, yellow rice, green beans, rolls, lemon and chocolate cakes and ice tea.

    The members meet at 7:30 p.m., the first and third Tuesday of every month at the Lodge, located at 1206 State Highway 213.

  • Council wraps up budget requests

    WINNSBORO – Council wrapped up its fourth budget workshop recommending several changes in agency allocations as well as a proposal to encourage the county’s elected officials to buy in to a merit based system of salary increase.

    After considering agency requests and County Administrator Jason Taylor’s budget recommendations over the last six weeks, Council is looking at continuing to pay $15,150 for Behavioral Health Services’ annual audit. It will also begin paying $11,000 for the Council on Aging’s annual audit. Council will also provide lawn maintenance at Behavioral Health Services’ new facility which is not county owned. Councilman Billy Smith said the County generally only provides lawn maintenance for agencies occupying county owned buildings.

    Of the $65,000 recommended by administration for Disabilities and Special Needs, Council is pulling out $19,000 DSN requested for a new van. Smith said he recommends withholding that amount since the agency still has several vans with low mileage.

    No consideration was given to allocating $4,000,801 requested by Fairfield Memorial Hospital or $1,043,000 recommended for the hospital by administration. With the exception of the current rehab departments, the hospital is expected to shut down operations by the end of 2018 when construction of a new standalone Emergency Services facility is expected to be completed on the bypass by Providence Hospital.

    The full $87,500 the County allocates each year for the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce was been placed in a holding pattern earmarked for tourism after the Chamber’s interim director failed to present a plan of action for the agency for the 2018-19 fiscal year two weeks ago.

    “We’re leaving it in tourism for Council for a future date to decide how to allocate that money,” Taylor said.

    “The latest word is that the Chamber has gone inactive, so it would not make sense even for us to allocate $25,000 at this point,” Smith said. “So we’re going to put that in a new line item right now?” Smith asked Taylor.

    “The money will be there should the Chamber come forward with a plan that you all find acceptable. If it is not acceptable, then that money could be reallocated for another project to be tourism related,” Taylor said. [Note: since the budget workshop, the Chamber’s new interim director has submitted a plan of action that is being considered by the County.]

    Looking at salary increases for county employees and elected officials, Smith suggested said he would like to see the county’s elected officials buy into a merit based system of salary increases.

    “If elected officials buy into the merit based program, then we would give them a full three percent increase to be dispersed throughout their departments as they see fit. If they don’t want to do that,” Smith said, “then we’ll allocate two percent for them to be used across the board.”

    Council is expected to vote on the 2018-19 fiscal year budget at the May 14 meeting to be held at 6 p.m. in council chambers.

  • USA Today recommends Laura’s Tea Room for Mother’s Day

    Laura’s Tea Room’s proprietress, Carol Allen, standing, pampers her customers with fussy attention, delectable sweets and never-ending pots of tea. | Barbara Ball

    RIDGEWAY – The May 7 issue of USA Today, on newsstands Monday, featured Carol Allen’s Laura’s Tea Room in Ridgeway as one of ten tea rooms around the country that it considers perfect settings for Mother’s Day celebrations. Tea rooms in Pasadena, CA; New York City; Tampa, Florida and Salt Lake City, were among those included in the article.

    No sooner had the newspaper hit the streets on Monday, than customers and friends began calling and emailing Allen with the news. Allen said she was incredulous.

    “You saw it where?” she asked repeatedly.

    “I was shocked,’ she laughed. “But it’s been one thing after another ever since the story broke,” Allen said.

    “A British couple called saying they were vacationing in Atlanta and would be leaving for Florida that afternoon. They told Allen they had seen the story in USA Today made reservations for High Tea the next day. They arrived about 1:30 p.m. and we had a wonderful visit,” Allen said. “And they enjoyed High Tea.”

    “It’s been crazy ever since the story came out,” Allen said.

    Allen and her now 96-year-old mother, known as Gramma, started the tea room in the spring of 2008 in the former Thomas Company Mercantile Store built in 1911 at the corner of Palmer and Church Streets in downtown Ridgeway.  Laura Thomas was the last member of the Thomas family to run the mercantile before it closed in the mid 1990’s.

    “My mom, my daughter and I would visit tea rooms wherever we saw one,” Allen said.  “I had so many dishes in my house that I had to do something with them.  And I am certainly a tea drinker, so it all fell into place.

    “I was playing around with a number of names for the tea room while we were working to turn the mercantile into a restaurant.  We wanted to maintain the ambiance of this beautiful building.  Locals would stop by frequently and make the same statement over and over again – that Laura Thomas would have been so happy to see it as a tea room.  I finally decided to call it Laura’s Tea Room.”

    According to the article, Laura’s Tea Room offers customers a choice of over 150 tea cups, a large assortment of teas and as a colorful collection of hats in case a customer forgets to bring her own.

    Allen gives credit for the tea room’s success in large part to her staff who she considers extended family. “My staff really cares about their customer’s experience and it shows in everything they do,” Allen said.

    Laura’s Tea Room features high tea in an exquisite setting on the upper floor of the over 100-year-old building. Lunch is served in the downstairs Deli. A first floor gift shop offers eclectic choices related to dinning and many choices for tea. The gift shop has retained the original mercantile cabinetry, which is a walk back in time.

  • Lack of transparency still dogs JWC

    JENKINSVILLE – Transparency complaints continue to muddy the waters of the Jenkinsville Water Company.

    Continuing a dispute that arose during the JWC’s meeting in April, several members of the public contested a murky vote taken by the board last month.

    “When you vote on items, when you don’t tell us what it is, we as a member of the company have a right to know what those items are,” Donald Melton with the Broad River Campground, who is in litigation with the JWC, said during public comments Monday.

    Specifically, Melton took issue with a series of votes the JWC conducted during the April meeting.

    After a lengthy executive session, the board voted merely to accept “Item A,” “Item B” and “Item C” without specifying what those items involved.

    “The board cannot vote on just a name and a number. Will that be different tonight and here on out?” Melton asked.

    Board members remained mainly silent, responding only to say they couldn’t and wouldn’t respond to questions posed in public input.

    “We’re not going to go back and forth in meetings like that. We’ve told you that before,” Greg Ginyard, president of the JWC, stated.

    Melton took the entire three minutes allotted in public input, even though he spoke for roughly half that time.

    Ginyard did respond to Jeff Schaffer, another member of the public, who also criticized what he characterized as a lack of transparency.

    “Is it the new policy not to answer questions a member asks? Is there a policy for that?” Schaffer asked.

    “No sir, I’m giving you this because you haven’t been here in a while, but we’re not taking time to go back and forth between the board,” Ginyard said.

    Ginyard went on to say that numerous government bodies don’t respond to questions. He directed anyone desiring a response to submit written questions to the board.

    The Voice newspaper also addressed the board, cautioning members that JWC votes could be legally overturned when they’re conducted during meetings in which violations of the state’s Freedom of Information Act occur.

    In 1991, the S.C. Supreme Court upheld the invalidation of a Sumter County business license tax ordinance because the ordinance was passed following improper executive sessions, according to Supreme Court records.

    During an interview with The Voice following Monday’s meeting, Ginyard said he doesn’t think the water company is subject to FOIA.

    “We don’t feel that we are a governmental body,” he said.

    Ginyard didn’t respond to follow-up questions referencing a 2011 attorney general opinion classifying the JWC is a public body, and promptly left the building.

    That opinion stated the JWC was chartered in 1970 through a U.S. Department of Agriculture loan.

    The opinion also stated that through the years, the JWC has received government funding totaling at least $200,000 from the S.C. Budget and Control Board, as well as additional funding from Fairfield County Council.

    The council later threatened to cut off funding, citing transparency issues. Specifically, the county demanded copies of audits and federal tax records, the attorney general opinion stated.

    “Unfortunately, until you are able to provide the County with this information, the County will not be able to consider any funding requests from your organization; will discontinue and County funding to your organization; plus, will not be able to act as a pass-through for you on any grants or loans from any other governmental or charitable organizations,” the county stated in a letter cited in the attorney general opinion.

    Jay Bender, an attorney for the S.C. Press Association and expert on the FOIA, agreed with the attorney general’s opinion.

    “This organization (JWC) does not understand it is a public body and it is obligated to follow the law,” Bender said. “If it wants to act privately, what it does is give the money back. Don’t take public money if you want to act like a private corporation.”

     

  • Prowler caught on home surveillance in Blythewood

    BLYTHEWOOD – When Summer Pines resident Kristen Locklear received a text from her home surveillance system Saturday morning, April 28, she said she checked the camera video and found footage showing a male driving into the cul-de-sac where her home is located. The time on the video was 2:30 a.m.

    Prowler caught on surveillance video

    “He parked his car, a dark sedan, and calmly got out and walked up to our neighbor’s car in the driveway, looked in the window, then walked over to my husband’s personal pickup truck and then to his work truck, both parked in our driveway.  He looked in the windows and checked the tool boxes in the back of the truck. He attempted to open doors and tool boxes and appeared to be covering his hand with his sleeve so as not to leave fingerprints,” Locklear said.

    Locklear reported that the doors on the trucks were locked, and that there were no valuables in the vehicles, but that seeing the scene unfold on the video unnerved her.

    About five minutes after the man drove up, she said, he left.

    “He did not stop on his way in or out of our street to check any other vehicles. He came straight down into the cul de sac, parked and checked out all of our stuff, and then left. It looked like he had damage to the rear hubcap on the driver’s side of the car,” Locklear said.

    Locklear said she reported the incident to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department. She said this was the second time this kind of incident has occurred at their home.

    Prowler caught on surveillance video

    “In October, 2016, burglars stole over $1,000 worth of items from my husband’s truck sitting in the driveway,” Locklear said.

    “We just hope everyone will be on the lookout for this man and his vehicle. Keep your car doors locked and don’t leave valuables in vehicles,” Locklear warned.

    Locklear described the suspect as a dark-skinned, tall, thin male, with short dark hair, a mustache and goatee, wearing jeans and a light colored hoodie.