Category: Government

FAIRFIELD – In a special called meeting June 5, Fairfield County Council voted unanimously to sanction the County Administrator, Phil Hinely, for forwarding inappropriate emails from his County computer back in 2010. Hinely was placed on probation by Council, to be reviewed by the Chairman, Vice Chairman and County IT Director at the end of a six-month period. Hinely’s salary of $119,530 was reduced 5 percent by Council for the duration of the probationary period, and he will be expected to submit an official letter of apology to Fairfield’s local newspapers. Council also voted to include contract employees under the same policy manual as regular, at-will employees, except where the manual conflicts with the contract. In that case, Chairman David Ferguson said, the contract will prevail.

Ferguson (District 5) said he was pleased with the outcome of the June 5 meeting and that Council’s decision would be the last word on the matter.

“That was the consensus of the group after meeting with our attorney,” Ferguson said. “Everyone appeared to be satisfied. We’re not going back and massaging this thing again. We’ve got bigger fish to fry than this mess. The County Administrator agreed; he was very amenable. He realizes he made a mistake – we all do.”

The State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) opened a case file in February on Hinely’s email activities after someone brought to them alleged emails containing graphic images of nude women that were asserted to have been sent from Hinely’s County email address. SLED closed the file within weeks after determining the images were not illegal and told The Voice that they never conducted an investigation to determine the source of the alleged emails. Hinely told The Voice that he forwarded emails for a short period in 2010 that, in hindsight, he considered inappropriate, but said he never sent anyone pornography and claimed the materials in SLED’s file did not come from his computer.

“I did something stupid,” Hinely said after Council’s June 5 decision. “It wasn’t as bad as what I was accused of doing, but I should have known better. I regret that it’s caused anyone any embarrassment. I’m willing to do whatever Council asks of me. We’re in the middle of a lot of good things for Fairfield County. I think the punishment fit the crime.”

Councilwoman Carolyn Robinson (District 2), however, said that in the business world the punishment would not have fit the crime. Still, she said, she accepted the majority decision.

“That’s what the majority of Council felt was the right thing to do,” Robinson said. “As a Council, we have to be satisfied.”

RICHLAND – For the past year or more, Richland County Council has leaned on the County Development Roundtable to make land development policy that could end up turning zoning throughout the county, as well as land development, on its head. It has to do with the County’s current Green Code that was developed in 2008 by an earlier Roundtable group. There is no history of what went into that ordinance and now the County is preparing to replace the Green Code with a less restrictive but much more complicated provision.

The Green Code was little used until Tracy Hegler, the County’s current Planning Director, was hired. LongCreek resident Sam Brick currently has a lawsuit pending against the County, stemming from their application of the Green Code in the LongCreek Plantation subdivision. According to Brick, Hegler, in her Development Review Team (DRT) role, has focused on some Green Code ambiguities. To aid local developers, Brick said, she has determined in Green Code applications that residential zoning standards do not apply.

Interpretation of Bonus Space

Brick says this is in the face of specific provisions in zoning ordinances that reference the Green Code and its bonus provisions. Hegler’s interpretation is that the bonus provisions are not necessary because of a conditional provision to get to the bonus that says no minimum lot areas are required. This interpretation is before the Circuit Court along with another strained determination that, under the Green Code, the requirement for 50 percent pervious surfaces in buildable areas is only applicable if the developer uses such surfaces in sidewalks and driveways.

“So, of course,” Brick said, “a developer will jump to abide by such a costly ‘green’ provision.”

Since major land development is within the purview of the Planning Department and its DRT that makes final decisions on Green Code projects, Hegler’s interpretations are final.

Roundtable Membership

Because this issue has caused even the County Council to wince at some of these interpretations, Council has requested the Development Roundtable to suggest changes to the Green Code. A third of the members of the Roundtable are members of Hegler’s staff. The other two thirds are people she appoints from the development and conservation communities. There are no representatives for neighborhood zoning or property owner associations’ interests. Even though the Roundtable is an advisory body that drafts proposed ordinances regarding land development policy, its meetings, agendas, reasons for action, discussions, decisions, etc. are all done in secret. This may be a violation of the Freedom of Information Act, a matter that Brick is pursuing in the Court of Common Pleas next week.

On April 22, the Roundtable presented its draft proposed ordinance in a work session with the County Planning Commission. The meeting was advertised seven days ahead of the meeting but the subject of the meeting did not mention the Roundtable – only that it would be a work session. The notice said the “topic will be open space design standards.” There was no mention of the Green Code, although the proposed ordinance would replace the Green Code. There was no mention on line in the Richland Web sites that such a meeting would occur and no notice by the Planning Department of the meeting to persons who had expressed an interest in the topic other than a personal email from Hegler to the Executive Director of the Columbia Home Builders Association. According to Brick, what the Roundtable presented to the Planning Commission is complicated, complex and internally inconsistent.

The Open Spaces proposal

The proposal is for a developer to set aside some lands as a conservation district or as an “open space,” in order to be free of the otherwise applicable zoning standards. According to Brick, it also forces property owner associations (POAs) to accept the open space and to maintain it in perpetuity. If the development occurs in an area covered by a property owner’s association with the association being under the control of a developer, as is the case throughout Richland County, that property owner’s association would pick up the tab for the management, the upkeep and the total care of the set-aside. The POA would have to maintain expensive storm water systems to include whatever low impact development techniques the developer might utilize.

There is no evidence that Richland County POAs were involved in the preparation of this proposal. Even though the residential zoning standards would not be applicable, the change from their applicability would not be controlled by the County Council. Actually, there is no indication as to what the zoning would be in an “open space” development.

Council would be no help

Should a community want to complain about an open spaces development in its midst, it would not be to their County Council representative. Council would not be involved. It would be approved or denied in accordance with land development ordinances by Hegler and her Planning Department.

“With the open spaces proposal,” Brick said, “a builder developing a parcel over 2 acres could set aside a front yard or such as an open space and build without any zoning standards.”

The Columbia Home Builders Association testified that this would be great. In residential areas, they could build houses on concrete slabs right next to each other.

The ordinance speaks to reduction of impervious cover being a purpose of the provision but the only mention of impervious surfaces is with regard to unenforceable suggestions for the mentioned low-impact techniques and restoration of some pervious surfaces made impervious by the developer. The current Green Code limits builders to 50 percent impervious surfaces in their buildable areas. The Roundtable eliminated this provision, which is standard practice throughout green code provisions all over the United States. While the open spaces purpose section speaks to preservation of green space, provision for recreation, protection of wildlife habitat and creation of community and pedestrian connectivity, there are no provisions requiring these purposes included in its terms. Such provisions are specified as requirements in the Green Code. Regarding pedestrian connectivity, the “open spaces” proposal allows pedestrian connectivity between neighborhoods but only with Planning Department approval. In the Green Code, pedestrian connectivity is required. The proposed changes provide enhanced authority for the Planning Department to make determinations regarding conservation issues. Yet, Richland County has its own independent conservation department currently run by a conservation professional at the doctorate level.

The proposal sets forth a series of subjective constrained and unconstrained spaces of varying types and circumstances. It provides credits to be awarded by the Planning Department with complicated calculations, multipliers and bonuses. It considers lakes or open water as a constrained space that would qualify for a set aside bonus. When the builders were asked about this in the work session, they defended the practice by stating that the lake could be drained and they could then build on it. The proposal has never been discussed in a public setting.

County Council, after flawed notice of its consideration of the proposal and first reading of the ordinance, quickly passed, the proposed ordinance during its May 28 meeting.

WINNSBORO – Just two months ago, it appeared as if any hope of a deal for additional water from the City of Columbia was dead, with Winnsboro Mayor Roger Gaddy walking away from negotiations visibly and publicly frustrated. But Tuesday night, Town Council voted to authorize Gaddy to sign a contract for just such a deal, which Council said was before Columbia City Council that very same night, awaiting their approval.

The new deal, Gaddy said, increases the number of gallons Winnsboro can access from Columbia from the 400,000 a day agreed to in last summer’s deal to 1 million a day. Gaddy said the sticking points that had essentially killed previous negotiations – clauses that would have allowed Columbia to increase rates or decrease flow without notice, and that would have freed Columbia from water quality assurances or any maintenance responsibilities on their end of the line – had been removed from the current proposal.

“We met with them yesterday and we’re comfortable with the changes that they made,” Gaddy said. “We can bring it across the County line and be able to supply water for the industrial park.”

Gaddy indicated that State Sen. Creighton Coleman (D-17) played a significant role in bringing Columbia back to the table with a contract that Winnsboro could agree to.

Earlier in the meeting, Council passed, at least temporarily, on a proposal from HandMade in America, grassroots volunteer organizers from Asheville, N.C., which made a pitch last month to help spark revitalization in and around downtown. HandMade’s services would have cost the Town between $6,000 and $9,500.

Councilman Clyde Sanders said he felt Connie Shackleford, the Town’s Grants Coordinator, could accomplish much of what HandMade could with workshops to gauge volunteer participation and interest.

“My personal opinion is before we spend the money we should try and see if we can do it on our own,” Sanders said.

Ultimately, Council voted to seek proposals from organizations similar to HandMade to compare their services, costs and successes.

BLYTHEWOOD – Monday night the Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend to Council the rezoning application of Dusty Broom for 11.43 acres on Blythewood Road near Fulmer Road from Rural to Community Commercial (CC). The property is home to Broom Heating and Air, which has been in business at that location for three generations, Town Administrator John Perry said.

Perry said that Broom has petitioned to have the property, which currently lies within the county, annexed into the Town limits.

Perry also updated the Commission on the Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) for the coming fiscal year. Perry said the 2013-2014 would be a “retrenchment” year for the CIP as the Town takes a step back and reviews the projects it has completed and plans for the projects i t will undertake in the 2014-2015 fiscal year.

“It’s a year to take a breather,” Perry said, “to review and make sure we can finish the things we’ve started.”

The proposed 2013-2014 budget for the CIP reflects that, going from $232,000 in the last fiscal year to $60,000 in the coming fiscal year. Among the projects to be tackled this coming year, Perry said, were the second phase of playground equipment for Doko Meadows Park and the second phase of updating the Town’s Christmas decorations. The Commission voted unanimously to send Perry’s recommendations for the CIP to the full Council.

FAIRFIELD – Recent revelations that the state’s highest law enforcement office had opened a file on allegations of computer abuse in the County Administrator’s office have put the County head under a microscope and may force County Council to reevaluate its computer use policies and how those policies are applied.

According to documents obtained from the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) through a Freedom of Information Act request, SLED opened a case file on Feb. 5 after it was alleged to their office that County Administrator Phil Hinely had been “disseminating pornography to a number of people via the Fairfield County computer system.” The photos associated with these alleged emails were viewed by Doug Barfield, the Sixth Circuit Solicitor, “and his opinion was that (the) images were not illegal,” SLED’s documents state. SLED closed the case on Feb. 21 and reported the matter to David Ferguson, Chairman of Fairfield County Council. Ferguson said he then brought the matter to the full Council at their Feb. 25 work session, but no action was taken.

“The resolution that night (Feb. 25) was to wait and see what the whole truth was,” Ferguson said. “I don’t jump to conclusions. I like to get the truth before I make a decision about someone’s life.”

Responding to questions about the depth of SLED’s involvement in the case, Thom Berry, a spokesperson for the agency, told The Voice last week that SLED did not interview Hinely, nor did SLED examine Hinely’s County computer when looking into the matter.

“We met with someone who provided our agency with the emails,” Berry said. “The emails were reviewed by our agents and with the Solicitor’s Office. As the images were of individuals over the age of 18, there was no violation of criminal law. SLED did not conduct an investigation.”

“At the time, I thought SLED had conducted an investigation,” Councilman Kamau Marcharia said. “It may not be illegal, but there may be a moral issue.”

In addition to the case status report, which marks the case as “closed unless additional information is received,” the SLED documents pertaining to the matter include a screen shot of an email in-box that appears to show 18 emails sent from Hinely’s fairfieldsc.com address between July 27 and Dec. 12, 2010 to an unidentified individual. Also in the documents are three of the alleged emails in full, in a PowerPoint format, and all bearing a date of Feb. 1, 2013 – just four days before SLED opened its case file – in the upper right-hand corner. These alleged emails contain nude and partially nude women in various suggestive poses.

Hinely said that during that six-month period in 2010 he did forward several emails containing inappropriate material, but that it was not a violation of County policy and that he hasn’t done so since. He also said he had never seen the alleged emails contained in the SLED documents.

“I do not recall ever having seen these before,” Hinely said after reviewing the SLED file. “These are in PowerPoint. I don’t even know how to use PowerPoint. None of these came from me.”

Hinely said he never solicited inappropriate emails and only forwarded such emails to people who had sent him similar emails in the past. He ended that practice, he said, long before it ever came to the attention of SLED.

“About three years ago, for a short period of time, I forwarded single pictures and jokes that would be considered R-rated,” Hinely said. “Then I thought I didn’t need to be doing that and I quit doing it.”

Councilwoman Carolyn Robinson said she had heard about the emails before the Chairman brought it to Council.

“I was not shocked, because I had heard rumors,” Robinson said. “It’s a sad day for Fairfield. I have received many emails from people who are so embarrassed over this.”

Robinson said she had not seen the alleged emails herself, but would like the opportunity to view them before making any decisions about what course of action to take.

Hinely said the County’s policy regarding computer use dates back to 2008 and has evolved over time. It was originally devised to prohibit employees from downloading music and listening to podcasts while at work, which consumes a great deal of bandwidth and slows down internet use across all County computers. The policy has evolved to cover downloading offensive material, but Hinely said he never downloaded anything, only forwarded emails, which would not have been a policy violation. As a contract employee of the Council, Hinely is not directly covered by the County’s employee policies, but that may change.

Wednesday night, after The Voice went to press, Council held a work session to discuss the County’s employment policies.

“Council is going to have to make a decision,” Ferguson said. “It’s all going to come to a resolution Wednesday night.”

Hinely said he welcomed the potential of coming under the regular employee policies, but noted that such a move might present certain difficulties.

“Some things in the policy might conflict with my contract,” Hinely said.

County vehicle use, work hours and pay step increases, for example, which apply to regular employees, would not be applicable to certain contract employees, Hinely said.

“I’ve always acted as if I were covered by the County’s policies,” Hinely said, “but Council will have to officially put me under those policies.”

Had it been discovered that a regular, non-contract employee had been forwarding offensive emails, Hinely said, the County would have told them to stop.

“I was not downloading stuff from the Web, and that’s really what the policy was all about,” Hinely said. “Did I get some emails and forward them to people? Yes. Were they pornography? No. I am not a pornographer. I’m not surfing the Web and downloading porn.”

WINNSBORO – A proposal by a North Carolina based group of grassroots community development organizers has at least one Town Councilman excited about the future of downtown, but how much those efforts will cost the Town and whether or not Council buys in will be left to their June 4 meeting.

Jess Kryzenske, Community Development Manager with HandMade in America (HIA), out of Asheville, N.C., made her pitch to Council during their May 21 meeting and gave the Town several price options for their services. Kryzenske said her group has helped lead grassroots efforts in nearly a dozen small towns in Western North Carolina over the last 20 years and said she believes they can do the same for Winnsboro.

“Sometimes you have energy that is moving in a direction that is not the most helpful, or maybe it’s not the right timing,” Kryzenske said. “What we try to do is to shift that energy into something that is doable.”

HIA has, according to their May 21 presentation, organized projects in Andrews, Bakersville, Bryson City, West Jefferson, Robbinsville, Crossnore and other small towns in Western North Carolina. But the actual projects were all completed by the community, not HandMade, whose only job is to organize volunteers, help them identify projects and project funding and guide them through the process, keeping them focused along the way. The Voice reached out to several towns on HIA’s resume, but as of press time had received no response.

Kryzenske said her group works primarily through what she called “placemaking,” something she later defined as identifying specific things unique to the community – history and historic homes, in Winnsboro’s case – and helping the community highlight and market those features. For $6,000, Kryzenske’s proposal offers “Technical Assistance” to Winnsboro, which will develop and train volunteers for the formation of a community development committee, functioning separately from Town of Winnsboro staff.

“This community group needs to involve key stakeholders from across sectors,” HIA’s proposal states. “HandMade will work closely with Winnsboro to identify key stakeholders, train Winnsboro community leaders and aid in the formal formation of this grassroots revitalization group.”

For an additional $1,750 each, HIA will offer two workshops to the community, one on ‘placemaking’ and economic development and another to network with other HIA towns. Councilman Bill Haslett, who has been a huge proponent of HIA, said he hopes the Town will sign on with the organizers before he steps aside from Council in July. He said it was more likely that Council would opt for the basic $6,000 services, with an option to revisit the workshops in the future if necessary.

Volunteers, Haslett said, are ultimately going to be the ones who get it done in Winnsboro, and HIA is trained to get the most out of them.

“They will help us get the citizens involved,” Haslett said. “They help get volunteers together. The town will move forward through volunteerism. HandMade will act like a mediator to get volunteers together. We have a lot of strong personalities, but we need someone to bring them together.”

First off, he said, he would like to see the Town’s Master Plan dusted off and tackled.

“We passed the Master Plan in 2007, and we’ve done nothing with it,” Haslett said. “HandMade will help us get on track.”

Mayor Roger Gaddy (who could not be reached for this article) asked Kryzenske last week about the difficulties of taking on larger projects right away.

“We try to identify a small project that has a very definite beginning, middle and end,” Kryzenske said. “You put your name on it, and you have an early success and when you start to see that project and that process, it allows you to take on those bigger projects. Starting small with something that can be finished and that the community can see is very important. And it does need to be very visible, as a first step.”