Blythewood Online 691

Category: News

  • In searing public speech, BW mayor confuses conspiracy with routine journalism

    BLYTHEWOOD – Mayor Bryan Franklin delivered his most chilling verbal attack to date on The Voice’s publisher and Councilman Donald Brock at the end of a joint town council/planning commission meeting Monday night. The subject matter was rambling, with multiple undocumented claims.

    Explaining that his speech was in response to The Voice’s editorial in the April 28, 2022 issue of the newspaper, Franklin never mentioned the subject of the editorial – the almost $70,000 the Town’s outside attorney erroneously claimed the Town had spent responding to 6 or so FOIA requests from The Voice. 

    Instead, Franklin veered into the weeds, alternately mocking The Voice’s professional awards and accusing the newspaper of pressuring the Town government “to take certain actions”, though he did not identify those actions.

    In his 15 minute uninterrupted diatribe, Franklin made numerous random claims that he could not or would not provide evidence for. The speech can be viewed in its entirety above.

    Franklin claimed, for instance, that there had “never been an outright vote to hire MPA strategies” [to provide marketing and grant writing services for the Town].

    However, a YouTube video of the Feb. 22, 2021 council meeting, posted on the Town’s website, shows Councilman Sloan Griffin making a motion to take a vote, and it shows the 3-2 vote, as each councilman specifies to whom he prefers to award the RFP (Request for Proposal). Franklin and Councilman Eddie Baughman voted for The Blythewood Chamber of Commerce.

    Franklin also claimed that he voted ‘Yes’ to enter into a contract with MPA, while in fact he voted ‘No’ in the same Feb. 22, 2021 YouTube video. It was not until three weeks later that he voted ‘Yes’ when a motion was made to execute (finalize) that contract.

    Referring to what may have been a campaign pledge on Brock’s part (to become mayor), Franklin claimed it was “a conspiracy to commit fraud against the Town.”

    More than once in his speech, Franklin characterized the newspaper’s routine communications with MPA’s attorney as The Voice’s out-and-out conspiracy against the Town. The State, Post and Courier and other newspapers, like The Voice, frequently quote attorneys and their clients in regard to their lawsuits. The Voice also emailed questions (other than FOIAs) to The Town’s outside attorney, David Black.

    Franklin also declared, for some unexplained reason, that The Voice “profits three times as much as the other paper [the Country Chronicle].” He did not credit a source for that information or present any proof of his calculations.

    Franklin noted, again for an unstated reason, that “MPA submitted its FOIA for my, the mayor’s emails, communications, etc. after the contract was signed.”

     According to records obtained by The Voice, MPA’s attorney submitted the FOIA to The Town requesting Franklin’s documents on April 15, the day before Franklin signed MPA’s contract on April 16, not the day after.

    Franklin sought throughout his speech to elevate himself as the authority for determining who’s right and who’s wrong in regard to the Town’s lawsuits with MPA.

    “If any citizen wants a balanced argument, you call me directly,” Franklin said. “I’ll return your call … or visit you on your front porch to … clear up these falsehoods…” he stated.

    In conclusion, Franklin noted that, “I’ve just disproven 5 or 6 items in the editorial that could have been disproven by picking up the phone and calling somebody.”

    However, it was not obvious in the speech what those “5 or 6 items” were, or how he had “disproven” them.   

    Franklin has made multiple undocumented claims in the past against The Voice that were proven to be false.

    For instance, in the Sept. 23, 2021 issue of the Country Chronicle, Franklin was quoted as saying he had been “informed by [Town Administrator Carroll] Williamson that he had received ‘numerous inquiries’ from Voice publisher Barbara Ball regarding Town Attorney Shannon Burnett’s resignation…”

    Franklin was quoted as saying that those “numerous inquiries” amounted to “intimidating and bullying” Williamson.

    The Voice sent a Freedom of Information request that same day to town hall requesting copies of the “numerous inquiries” that The Voice allegedly sent to Williamson regarding Burnett’s resignation.

    In a Nov. 18, 2021, response to that FOIA, the Town’s outside attorney David Black confirmed that the Town did not possess “numerous inquiries” from The Voice concerning Burnett’s resignation letter.

  • Blythewood woman dies in crash with train

    BLYTHEWOOD – The Richland Coroner’s office has identified a woman who died on Saturday following a crash involving a train outside of Blythewood.

    Jennifer Kennedy, 25, of Blythewood died in the crash, according to Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford. The crash occurred on Hobart Road around 5 p.m.

    Master Trooper David Jones, with the South Carolina Highway Patrol, which is investigating the crash, reported that the victim had been driving south on Hobart Road near Farrow Road when her vehicle hit the train.

    Hobart Road connects the Brookhaven community to Farrow Road.

    More information will be provided as it becomes available.

  • MTC president questioned on how county funding is spent

    WINNSBORO – With Fairfield County considering tax increases and agency cuts to balance the budget, questions arose during a work session Tuesday about how the county funds Midlands Technical College.

    MTC president Ronald Rhames acknowledged this year’s $155,100 funding request – up from about $143,000 last year – would be spent not only in Fairfield County, but also Richland and Lexington counties.

    “It’s used for all of our physical plant operations,” Rhames said.
    Pauley questioned other aspects of MTC funding that he said is often vague.

    This year’s request of $155,100 is characterized as “Other.” In prior years, MTC classified its requests to the county as “building maintenance.”

    Pauley found that odd, noting that the county fully maintains the MTC building in Winnsboro, a process that involves trimming bushes and removing bird nests. Then the county also provides MTC with funding for maintenance.

    “I’m pretty sure it doesn’t take $155,000 to do those things,” Pauley said. “You could offer a whole lot more in Fairfield County. Two academic classes, I feel, is not enough.”

    Rhames suggested that the Fairfield money helps backfill MTC’s overall budget, thereby saving students money in the long run.

    “The money you provided helped lower the costs of students attending MTC when they come to Columbia to attend one of our campuses,” he said. “We have a number of Fairfield citizens taking advantage of those courses.”

    Pauley also stated that MTC’s Fairfield campus is only offering two courses – English 101 and History 201 – in the upcoming fall semester. There was conflicting information about whether MTC-Fairfield offered one or two courses this past spring.

    “With the amount of money that Fairfield County has given, we’re not getting the best bang for the buck,” Councilman Doug Pauley said.

    Moments earlier, Rhames extolled how 25 Fairfield County high school students were slated to receive associate’s degrees or certificates this week. He said county funding helped make that happen.

    “These students have a head start. Your investment allows this,” Rhames said. “These students are saving their parents a tremendous amount of money.”

    MTC is one of 22 outside agencies that have requested county funding to help subsidize their 2022-2023 budgets. Tuesday’s work session gave those agencies a forum to formally request funding.

    Most presentations wrapped up in a few minutes with council members asking few to no questions. MTC’s request, however, garnered considerable commentary.

    Pauley pressed Rhames about whether MTC students really attended spring classes for free as the state had promised.

    Rhames responded that while the governor’s office recently pledged free technical college education for eligible students, the state only provided 20 to 25 percent of the necessary funding.

    MTC covered what the state didn’t fund, Rhames said.

    “For the students who qualified for it, the institution made up the difference to make sure we honored the commitment the governor made,” he said.

    Not all council members contested MTC finances.

    In spite of scant academic offerings at the Winnsboro campus and most of Fairfield’s funding being spent in other counties, County Chairman Moses Bell applauded the college system for its efforts.

    “You and I have talked about those courses, those free courses, those community courses,” Bell said. “That’s been a success for this county.”

    No decisions were made on any of the outside agency requests.

    The county will likely hold second of three readings on the budget in two weeks. A third budget work session is tentatively set for Monday, May 16.

  • Fairfield Electric board trims its benefits package

    BLYTHEWOOD – In preparation for the upcoming Fairfield Electric Coop’s annual meeting, the Board of Trustees met March 28 to discussing discontinuing the health/life/dental benefit package for new Trustees beginning with the May 20 election. The vote to do so was unanimous.

    The package, valued at about $19,000, has always been free to Trustees, except for paying the taxes for the value of the benefit. According to a Trustee who was present at the meeting, only three Trustees currently take the package and will be allowed to continue to do so, but most have other insurance benefits available. That Trustee said the discontinuance of the benefit will be a big savings for the Coop.

    On April 11, the Board held a special called meeting to discuss the disqualification of Larry Sharpe, Jr. who was nominated on March 14 for an at-large Trustee position.

    Sharpe was running against Tim Hopkins of Lugoff who currently holds the at-large seat. 

    According to the Board minutes, Hopkins recused himself from the discussion and the vote which was unanimous.

    At issue was the eligibility requirements for Trustees, according to attorney Jay Bender who presented information on the issue.

    Act 56 of the 2019-20 General Assembly, Bender said, prohibits Trustees from having a business relationship with the cooperative separate from membership in the cooperative. The Coop’s bylaws also prohibit a “direct business relationship,” between a Trustee and the cooperative.

    Bender said Sharpe, Jr. is associated with Blythewood Oil Co., and as recently as March of this year had met with cooperative employees to discuss fuel purchasing procedures.

    Over the past 25 months, Bender said Blythewood Oil has received payment from the Cooperative of more than $10,000 per month for purchases. Bender added that the company has received in excess of $1 million over the past five years.

    The context of Act 56, Bender noted, is to eliminate self-dealing between cooperatives and the trustees of the cooperatives.

    Others nominated for the May 20 election of Trustees include incumbent Keith Lewis (Dist 1); incumbent Cynthia Able and first-time nominee Dan Ruff (Dist 2); incumbent Mitch Rabon (Dist 3); incumbent Tim Hopkins (at-large); and new nominee Bruce Honecutt (Dist 9).

  • Winnsboro man dies in crash near Drawdy Park

    WINNSBORO – A Winnsboro man was killed when his KTM motorcycle crashed into another vehicle.

    Allen Jermaine Trapp, II, 28, was the operator of a dirt bike traveling north on Popular Street when he disregarded a stop sign and collided with a 2007 Ford Focus traveling west on 8th street at about 7:55 p.m., Friday, April 22, according to Brando Bolten with the S. C. Highway Patrol.

    Trapp was ejected from the motorcycle and was transported to MUSC Fairfield Emergency Department by Fairfield County EMS, where he was pronounced deceased.

    A 56-year old male and an 18-year old male were injured and also transported to a MUSC Fairfield Emergency Department. Their conditions are not known at this time.

    The incident is being investigated by the S.C. Highway Patrol and the Fairfield County Coroner’s office.

  • Update on Richland County mass rezoning

    COLUMBIA – The regular monthly meeting of the Richland County Planning Commission will not be held as planned on Monday, May 2, according to county officials. Instead, the Commission will hold a work session on the proposed new zoning map on Monday, May 9, at 10 a.m. at the council chambers at 2020 Hampton Street.

    The County Council will meet on Tuesday, May 3, at 6 p.m., but it is not known at this time whether council will hold first reading on Councilman Paul Livingston’s amendment to the text of the ordinance that approved the new Land Development Code (LDC).

    That amendment proposes to keep the new LDC in place (though not currently effective) and allows for the previous rezoning process to continue until the proposed new zoning map is adopted. Until that time, any rezonings would require using the zoning classifications from the former LDC (in place since 2005.) Those classifications match the official zoning map but have been removed from the new LDC.

    Livingston’s amendment will need three readings and a public hearing.

    Blythewood resident Sallie Sharpe will be meeting with a group on the lawn in front of the court house at 5 p.m. For information and regular updates on the rezoning issue, go to salslocalseed.com

  • No injuries in drive-by shooting on College St.

    WINNSBORO – The residents of a home in the 900 block of College Street were awakened by a hail of bullets just before 6 a.m., April 21.

    The couple said that when they heard bullets and breaking glass, and realized they were the target, they called 911 and immediately took cover.

    When Winnsboro Department of Public Safety officers arrived, the two residents reported that about six shots had been fired into their home, breaking glass and piercing walls.

    Officers said the front storm door had been shot out and two vehicles in the driveway were damaged from gun shots.

    After processing the scene, officers found several spent shell casings and two projectile from a distance of 15 yards.

    The incident is under investigation by WDPS.

  • Back on the Diamond

    Photos: Martha Ladd

    WINNSBORO – Those crisp new jerseys, cleats and gloves have officially been broken in as Fairfield County Recreation’s spring baseball and softball season began this week.

    Drawdy Park was packed on Monday’s opening night as the Rec featured t-ball games spread through the park’s three fields.

    The league’s older teams opened their seasons on Tuesday, and t-ball was back in action on Wednesday.

  • Ridgeway rec center sign defaced

    RIDGEWAY – The sign announcing the location of the new $2.5M recreation center to be built in Ridgeway was defaced last week with the words: “Stop wasting our $$.” The location is on Highway 21 between Ridgeway and Blythewood.

    During the county council meeting Monday night, Chairman Moses Bell addressed the incident.

    “I was saddened by the defacement of the sign at District 1 recreation community center location. Not so much for me, but for the citizens in the area. But I’m also very hopeful,” Bell said.

    He said he received a call from someone who stated, ‘Mr. Bell, you are doing the right thing to grow this county. But many don’t want to see you and this county be a part of the wealth that will come to the county for your work.’  He said the caller stated, ‘ We are trying to build the infrastructure in a way that gives us  sustainable growth in the future.”

    “There are many who are working to incite others, with many others granting permission,” Bell said. “It (the sign) is the property of Fairfield County and once the investigation is done by the Sheriff’s office, Fairfield County will erect a new sign.”

  • Two BHS students arrested with guns

    BLYTHEWOOD – Two students at Blythewood High School were arrested on Monday and Tuesday for bring guns to campus.

    On Monday, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department arrested a 15-year-old student after a teacher noticed a gun in the student’s waistband. The teacher secured the weapon and the student was arrested and charged without incident.

    According to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, on Tuesday, a student saw a 17-year-old student with a gun on campus on Tuesday and alerted administrators. The 17-year-old was also arrested and charged without incident.

    The sheriff’s department said there were no threats made against any school students or staff. Both students were charged with carrying a firearm on school grounds, unlawful carry, and possession of a firearm under 18. The students, whose names were not released because of their ages, were booked at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.