Blythewood Online 691

Category: News

  • SC Ethics Commission dismisses Ross’s complaint against Councilman Brock

    BLYTHEWOOD – The State Ethics Commission has dismissed a complaint filed Feb. 7, 2022, by Mike Ross against Blythewood Town Councilman Donald Brock.

    “I’m frustrated that our town is now tied up in two lawsuits because of this councilman’s actions to deceive the people and his other council members,” Ross wrote in his complaint. “The final vote taken on the contract had to be illegal because of the misinformation presented and supported by Councilman Brock.”

    According to MPA Strategies’ lawsuit, it was filed against the Town after Mayor Bryan Franklin failed to turn over documents to MPA’s attorney Joseph Dickey, Jr., that Dickey requested under the Freedom of Information Act.

    To support the allegations in his ethics complaint, Ross submitted copies of pages from stories published in the Jan. 27, 2022 and Feb. 3, 2022 issues of the Country Chronicle. The story that Ross specifically referenced was titled, ‘MPA Strategies Lawsuit Leads to Mounting Concerns About Councilman’s Role in Contract Negotiations,” by Tonya Page.’

    “There looks to be blatant fraud and deception on the part of Councilman Donald C. (sic) Brock,” Ross wrote. His complaint was notarized by the Blythewood town hall’s office manager.

    After reviewing the complaint on Feb. 28, 2022, and considering the allegations, Ethics Commission Executive Director Meghan L. Walker wrote that the complaint failed to allege sufficient facts which would constitute a violation of the Ethics Reform Act.

    “The complaint is therefore dismissed,” Walker wrote in a letter to Brock, dated the next day, March 1, 2022.

    “It should come as no surprise that Mr. Ross filed an ethics complaint about me after reading the ridiculous propaganda that the Country Chronicle has published,” Brock commented about Ross’ complaint. 

    “Even more, the fact that it was immediately dismissed only lends itself to the blatant falsehoods within his complaint.  He says he’s frustrated?  So am I, as I expect better of someone who identifies himself to the Ethics Commission as the ‘Former Mayor.’ This is petty; he can do better,” Brock added.

    Ross’s complaint stems from the Feb. 22, 2021 decision by the Blythewood Town Council to hire MPA Strategies instead of the Blythewood Chamber of Commerce to provide marketing and grant writing services for the Town. Up for grabs was a marketing contract for about $40,000.

    Ross is chairman of the Blythewood chamber.

    Both MPA Strategies and the chamber responded to a Request for Proposal (RFP) issued by the Town in December, 2020. Also answering the RFP was NP Strategies, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nexsen Pruet law firm. After council determined that NP Strategies’ services were too costly, it declined to consider that firm’s response.

    The Town is being represented by Nexsen Pruet law firm in both the complaint filed by MPA against the Town and the countersuit the Town filed against MPA.  

    In addition to MPA Strategies’ FOI complaint, Dickey announced last month that the marketing firm plans to bring another legal action against Franklin and the Town for defamation and breach of contract.

    The Town’s legal costs for the ongoing lawsuits between MPA and the Town currently stand at a little more than $90,000 and continue to increase. Council has proposed that the budget for outside legal expenses be amended to $145,000 which, Williamson said last month, should be sufficient until the end of this fiscal year, June 30 2022.

  • Redhawks notch 5th straight win

    BLYTHEWOOD – Fresh off of winning its first ever tournament championship, the Westwood baseball team notched its fifth straight victory Monday night against Ridge View.

    The Redhawks used heads-up baserunning and timely hitting in a 10-run third inning to take out the Blazers 15-5 in six innings.

    Westwood’s win came after it won the first annual National Restoration Brokerage Invitational tournament Feb. 26 – March 4. The host team Redhawks bested North Central 10-7, C.A. Johnson 15-0, Fairfield Central 9-0, and Chester 12-11 over the course of the tournament.

    “We’ve been putting in a lot of work. We have a very experienced team with 13 seniors,” Westwood head coach Mike McDermott said. “We expected to play well and we came out swinging the bat. We’re doing good things.”

    On Monday night Westwood kept doing good things.

    After giving up a run in the first, Westwood got three runs on zero hits in the bottom of the frame. Ridge View starting pitcher Alvin Murray III walked four Redhawks and threw five wild pitches in facing seven batters.

    The Blazers tied the game up at 3 in the third. Thomas Williams hit a 1-out, ground-rule double off of Westwood starting pitcher Kendell Gandy, then Xavier Johnson singled in Murray, who legged out an infield single to start the inning. Nathan Caldwell II reached on an error that scored Murray.

    Gandy, who like Murray also struggled with control in his four innings of work, pulled himself together to strike out Ni’J Steadman to end the inning. He finished his turn on the mound giving up three runs, walking three and hitting two batters, but striking out six.

    Westwood’s 10-run third was when Murray’s control, never really present, went off the radar. Murray faced four Westwood batters and hit two of them, walked one, and gave up a hit. The Ridge View pitcher gave up eight runs, walked six, hit three, and stuck out just two in his two-plus innings of work.

    Jackson Kennedy came on in relief of Murray and wasn’t much better for the Blazers. Kennedy pitched the rest of the third, giving up five runs on six hits, walking one. Ridge View committed three errors in the inning, during which Westwood sent 16 batters to the plate.

    “Honestly it’s a new team, the way we’ve been hitting the ball and the confidence that these kids have,” McDermott said. “We have confidence in executing offensively, which we didn’t really have in years past.

    Ridge View kept the game going with two runs in the top of the fifth to make it 14-5, but Westwood’s Josh Henegan drove in a run on a single in the bottom of the sixth that ended the game on the 10-run mercy rule.

    Westwood played at White Knoll Wednesday and travels to Ridge View Friday.

    “White Knoll just won their tournament and we know they’ll be a challenge,” McDermott said. “Well have John (Janco) on the bump for that game. Previously we would just try to compete, but now we’re going into White Knoll and we expect to win.”

    Ridge View – 1-0-2-0-2-0 — 5, 5, 2

    Westwood  – 3-0-10-1-0-1 — 15, 12, 1

    WP: Kendell Gandy. LP: Alvin Murray III.

    Hitters: R – Thomas Williams, 2-3, RBI. W – Donnie Weston 2-3, 3B, 2RBI. Zach Gore 2-3, 2B, RBI. Xavier de Jesus 2B, 3 RBI. John Janco 2B.

  • Griffins Ink College Plans

    • Photos: @FCHSGriffins

    WINNSBORO – Three Fairfield Central student-athletes signed their letters of intent on Wednesday, March 2. Pictured at left, Stephon Gadsden, quarterback for the Griffins, made his plans to play football at South Carolina State University official. According to stats on Maxpreps, Gadsden averaged 99 passing yards per game and 65.2 rushing yards per game in his career as a Griffin.

    At right, twins Tamerra and Tanisha English signed their letters of intent for track and field at Oakland City University. Tamerra English was a part of last season’s 4×100 relay team, which finished first in the region. She also placed third at region in javelin. Tanisha English placed second at region in 100m hurdles and fifth in high jump and shot put.

  • Letter: Wait! How is this Council Operating?

    If anyone cares to understand the function of the Fairfield County Council, let me enlighten you. After reading the last article in the Voice, I became nauseated thinking about how the Council operates. On one hand you have the new Administrator looking for delinquent monies from the city of Winnsboro and on the other hand you have the 5 Members of the Apocalypse voting for a 2.5 million dollar Recreation Center in Mr. Bells neighborhood (I bet his name goes on the plaque at the opening ceremonies).

    Now, if this was a company/business, all investments would have to be approved by a CEO or a Board of Directors. Not a bunch of locals looking to help out a few friends for future favors. If the money spent did not generate funds to be self-supporting then we, the taxpayers, are paying for utilities, manpower, maintenance, landscaping and so on, forever. A great point was made about the limited use of the existing Recreation Centers. We are paying for a few people to enjoy indoor walking, exercising and rentals. The county spends more money for up-keep on these existing centers than they are worth. I should know, I spent 3 1/2 years maintaining 19 locations in the Parks and Rec Department.

    Last year, I found out that the ARP funds were not given out fairly, then the announcement came that volunteer poll workers received money from the county funds at the amount of $200.00 each. Now we are looking to build a multi- million dollar recreation center instead of investing in Fire, Police, and Emergency Services. Wasting our money does not impress anyone with common sense.

    I have every intention to continue to investigate the secret mission that is going on which is to  waste taxpayers money and benefit a select few. I have begun to contact State and Federal agencies for insight into this mess.

    Also the “Forgotten 58” are still waiting for their checks, maybe you can make the restrooms in the new Rec Center smaller so you will have the funds.

    This isn’t over!

    Joe Novaro

    Winnsboro

  • Nyah Leveretter, Kentucky upset Gamecocks to win SEC title

    Celebration. Kentucky beats South Carolina 64-62 to become SEC Champions. Photo by Eddie Justice | UK Athletics

    NASHVILLE – Westwood graduate and 1,000-point scorer Nyah Leveretter describes her sophomore season with Kentucky as a difficult one at first, with the bangs and bumps of a team learning how to play together.

    The SEC universe found out Sunday night in Nashville that the challenges that awaited Leveretter and the Wildcats this season forged a team on a mission.

    Kentucky, a No.7 seed in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, dismissed Mississippi State, then took out No.2 LSU and No.3 Tennessee to reach the championship game against a team Leveretter was all too familiar with—No.1 South Carolina.

    The Gamecocks, riding a 17-game winning streak, played their typical game for three quarters, building a 57-43 lead early in the fourth quarter before Kentucky started to take South Carolina down.

    USC, which had beaten Kentucky twice in the regular season, gave up 21 Wildcats points in the fourth quarter and scored only seven. Dre’una Edwards’ 3-pointer with 4.2 seconds left in the game lifted Kentucky to a 64-62 victory and its first SEC championship since 1982.

    Leveretter, although she didn’t score any points, played a solid role in the victory as a starter, her 10th start of the season.

    “It feels amazing,” she said about the victory. “We’ve had a hard year from the beginning to now. Just to think we pushed through all of that and pieced ourselves together to get it done shows what it really means to a lot of us.”

    Getting a win over South Carolina was especially meaningful.

    “That meant a lot too, just to think that it was my home state,” she said. “My family was there and even though it was intimidating, at the same time it felt great, but I’m glad we got the ‘W.’ That’s the state where I’m from and it makes it mean that much more.”

    Nyah Leveretter. Kentucky beats South Carolina 64-62 and becomes SEC Champions. Photo by Grace Bradley | UK Athletics

    Leveretter noted her personal struggles earlier in the season.

    The 6-3 forward had a storied athletic career at Westwood, which included back-to-back final-four appearances in the state playoffs. She made All-State her senior year, when she averaged 13.3 points and 10 rebounds per game. Not only was she a top academic achiever, Leveretter was also a four-star recruit and a top 100 player in her class, according to ESPN.com.

    Yet after her freshman year at Kentucky, those accolades and accomplishments probably seemed distant in Lexington, playing for a team full of achievers who were coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021.

    “I was struggling a lot at the beginning of the year with my confidence,” she said. “I didn’t have much confidence in myself.”

    She said her situation took a turn for the better when head coach Kyra Elzy took her out for smoothies and a long talk about Leveretter’s past and future.

    “After that I worked on doing my best and working hard,” she said. “I think I improved tremendously. Coach Elzy, Coach (Niya) Butts, Coach Amber (Smith), and Coach G (legendary Duke and Texas head coach Gail Goestenkors, who is anassistant to Elzy) and even Coach (Lee) Taylor in the weight room have boosted my confidence so much that when it came time for me to step up, I was prepared for that.”

    Leveretter’s turnaround coincided with the team finally gelling after some difficult moments. 

    Teammate Rhyne Howard expressed how the Wildcats put their struggles of playing together behind them in the press conference after the South Carolina game.

    “We started having fun,” Howard said. “That’s pretty much it. When things were getting tough, we wasn’t having fun. Basically we acted like we didn’t want to be there, and that’s how it looked, and that’s how it appeared to our fans.

    “After we stopped — we had a team meeting, we were like, all right, y’all, this is dead, we cannot end like this, especially with it being a lot of us being seniors and just meaning a lot to ourselves and to Kentucky. We knew we had to get it together and thug it out.”

    As for Leveretter, she became a regular starter since Kentucky’s 81-74 win over Mississippi State Feb. 15. She averages 2.2 points and 2.7 rebounds per game, with 17 blocks on the year. The numbers may be slight, but all signs indicate that Leveretter is an up-and-comer with the Wildcats.

    And Kentucky is a team on the rise, Leveretter says. The SEC championship is nice, but she said the team is focused on staying alive for as long as possible in the NCAA Tournament.

    “We’re so locked in right now, even when we text in our group chat we talk about what we’re doing and when we get to practice we’re just as intense and just as locked in,” she said. “We know it’s not over. Last week was just a conference championship. We’re focused on winning a national championship and we can do that if we stay locked in and focused.”

    Kentucky will find out its seeding in the NCAA women’s basketball selection show Sunday at 8 on ESPN.

  • Redhawks tap O’Connell as new head football coach

    Robert O’Connell comes to Westwood from Ridge View.

    BLYTHEWOOD – Westwood High School announced on Wednesday that Robert O’Connell will be the Redhawks’ new head football coach, effective July 1, 2022.

    O’Connell succeeds three-year coach Matt Quinn, who accepted the head football position at North Augusta High School.

    “I could not be more excited to join a school and community with the commitment to excellence, rich traditions, and unrivaled pride and passion of Westwood High School,” O’Connell said in a press release on Wednesday.

    “I am fully committed to teaching, developing and graduating elite student-athletes, winning championships and working together with our administration, parents, and community to make Westwood the premier location for high school football in the country. Our potential is unlimited, and I cannot wait to get started,” he stated.

    “Coach O’Connell is a winner, in every sense of the word,” Principal Robert Jackson said in the press release. “He is known for his character, humility, work ethic, skill set and passion for education… it’s easy to see why he’s right sized for Westwood High School.”

    O’Connell currently serves as the Defensive Coordinator, Assistant Head Coach and Assistant Athletic Director at Ridge View High School.

    Previously, O’Connell served as head coach at Richard Winn Academy in Winnsboro where his 2016 team ended the season just two wins short of a state title.  Following his stint at with the Eagles, O’Connell served as Offensive Coordinator at Irmo High School, Defensive Coordinator at Wilson High School and a defensive assistant at Wofford College.

    O’Connell holds a bachelor’s degree in General Studies from Charter Oak State College and holds a South Carolina teaching certificate for Social Studies (grades 9-12). He is married to India O’Connell and they have one son, RJ.

  • Taylor: NO water advisory has been issued for Blythewood

    WINNSBORO – Rumors have spread across Blythewood Saturday morning that there is a Winnsboro water advisory for the Blythewood customers.

    However, Winnsboro Town Manager Jason Taylor informed The Voice about 11 a.m., Saturday morning that there is no health hazard associated with the sediment residents are currently seeing in their water.

    “We encourage people to run their lines a little while and run that sediment out, and the water should clear up. There is no need to boil the water or take other precautions. No water advisory has been issued. The water is fine to drink,” Taylor said.

    “I just got off the phone with the water operator and everything is fine,” he said. “We had a break at one of our large customers on Highway 34 late on Thursday. They lost approximately three million gallons through their fire suppression system. We went down to shut their system off to keep them from continuing to loose water.

    “When that three million gallons went through our system, it basically flushed our system. That’s not a bad thing. We flush our system on a regular basis,” Taylor said. “But the break caused an unexpected, very quick flushing of our system which caused sediment in the lines to be stirred up

    “That sediment is what residents are seeing in their water right now.” Taylor said, “But it is not dangerous. If residents will let the water run a little while, it will clear up.”

  • Council majority planning third rec center

    During the last year, Council has voted to allocate $3M for new recreation centers. Monday night they voted 5-2 to lease land where they plan to build another recreation center. Pictured above is the site for the District 1 complex coming to Highway 21 in Ridgeway. | Contributed

    WINNSBORO – Mitford’s community center averages one to three people a day.

    Monticello’s averages three to five. Nobody visited either center at all in November.

    With $3M already earmarked for three rec centers in the county, council wants to spend more taxpayer money on parks and recreation.

    On Monday, council voted 5-2 to lease 8.12 acres in the North Monticello and Ladd Road area from Dominion Energy for another recreation center.

    Council members Doug Pauley and Clarence Gilbert opposed.

    “I ask this council to open your eyes and see what is needed for Fairfield County and its citizens, and not what is wanted by you for political reasons,” Pauley said.

    While the cost of the lease is only $5 annually, per the lease, Fairfield County must purchase several insurance policies to cover the property. Those policies are valued at $3 million, documents state.

    The county is also responsible for costs associated with adding any libraries, playground equipment or other amenities, the costs of which have yet to be determined.

    Pauley said the lease vote represents another instance of the council majority building projects for campaign purposes and putting them above what the county really needs. He rattled off a laundry list of those needs.

    He said the daily operating budget of the public works department was cut by 50 percent, yet the employees in that department have to do daily operations and make repairs to five county bridges that are out.

    “That department lacks adequate gravel, piping and other materials to maintain county roads,” Pauley said.

    “The Sheriff’s office and fire service must make do with antiquated vehicles. And what about the rising cost of gas for these vehicles?” he asked.

    “Fire service has been asking for tankers for three years,” Pauley said. “They have two with over 35 years on them. One of them caught fire while responding to a fire recently and another has a transmission problem. If the ISO came tomorrow and a tanker was not at a station, it would not qualify as a station.

    “We’ve needed a fire marshal for two years and we need four firefighters,” he said.

    “EMS needs three ambulances, and three of the ones they have, have over 350 miles. We have cut on-the-road paramedics who provide life-saving support,” Pauley continued.

    “We don’t even have a full time director to manage all these [recreation] facilities because we can’t afford to hire them,” he said.

    Without responding to Pauley’s statement, Council Chairman Moses Bell called for the vote which was 5-2.

    Later on, Bell once again took aim at the Mt. Zion contract, the subject of an unrelated agenda item following the lease vote.

    “The reason we have to spend all this money is the disastrous contract. Even lawyers advised us not to get into this contract,” Bell said, without identifying the lawyers or the circumstance.

  • Whitaker threatens to stop accepting Town’s waste

    Taylor: Town Prepared To Go To Court

    WINNSBORO – During county council’s meeting Monday night, County Administrator Malik Whitaker doubled down on the county’s position that the Town of Winnsboro owes over $60,000 in unpaid solid waste fees.

    In a letter to Winnsboro Town Manager Jason Taylor, dated Nov. 15, 2021, Whitaker wrote, “For the current fiscal year, the County has invoiced your organization approximately $35,612.01 for solid waste delivered to the County transfer station during the time period of July 1, 2021 to October 31, 2021. As of today, we have not received any payment for these waste services. We ask that you remit payment covering the balance of $35,612.01 within thirty (30) days of receipt of this letter.”

    On Monday night, Whitaker said Winnsboro now owes $61,881.75.

    “Fairfield County will be sending notice to the Town of Winnsboro that if they do not pay the fee by the end of March,” Whitaker told council members, “Fairfield County will not accept the Town’s solid waste at county facilities. So that is the county’s current position.”

    “Fairfield County charges solid waste service fees for services provided to all commercial users of the county’s solid waste transfer station,” Whitaker said. “The fees are service fees owed based on the amount of services provided and they are not a tax.”

    Winnsboro Town Council recently adopted a resolution sternly opposing the surcharge the county council had quietly inserted into the county budget.

    According to the resolution, the fee is tantamount to double billing since the county already bills Winnsboro residents for solid waste disposal via property taxes. State grants further augment the county’s solid waste budget, according to the resolution.

    For a small fee, the Town will transport the residents’ solid waste to the landfill. Fairfield County Council members did not comment further on the solid waste fees following Whitaker’s presentation.

  • Taylor: County double charging Winnsboro for waste disposal

    Town Lays Groundwork for Possible Legal Action

    WINNSBORO – Several things don’t smell right with a roughly $60,000 solid waste disposal bill that the Town of Winnsboro said it recently received from Fairfield County, according to town officials.

    Town Administrator Jason Taylor says the bill represents a double charge for a service municipal residents already pay via county property taxes – the right to dispose city-generated waste into the county landfill.

    Until now, the only extra charge town residents pay is a nominal fee to Winnsboro to recoup costs of transportation to the landfill.

    Taylor said the town actually loses money on the transportation fee. He said Fairfield County’s solid waste surcharge unfairly targets town residents while exempting county residents.

    “Outside the power plant, our citizens collectively pay more property taxes than anyone in the county,” he said.

    Taylor noted that DHEC grant money further subsidizes Fairfield County solid waste operation costs, which he said makes its surcharge all the more egregious.

    “That’s triple dipping essentially. We think this charge is invalid and inappropriate,” Taylor said.

    In response, the town recently adopted a scathing resolution that protests the fee and lays the groundwork for possible legal action.

    “The content of this particular resolution is important,” Taylor said. “We’ve crafted it in anticipation of potential legal action that may have to occur.”

    Fairfield County Administrator Malik Whitaker could not be reached for comment.

    The solid waste surcharge quietly found its way into the county’s 2022 budget last spring.

    The Winnsboro resolution says the county failed to give town officials an opportunity to participate in creating the fee, which violates state’s Solid Waste Policy and Management Act.

    It also says the county has failed to contract solid waste services with the town. Further, the county is engaging in double taxation of town residents, according to the resolution.

    “[T]he Town vehemently protests the implementation of a solid waste disposal fee as imposed by the Fairfield County Council,” the resolution states.

    A source familiar with the surcharge said County Council Chairman Moses Bell discussed the billing issue during executive session of the Feb. 14 council meeting. Bell also directed Whitaker and county attorney Charles Boykin to craft a letter demanding payment and threatening to cut off the town’s landfill access if Winnsboro leaders fail to pay, the source said.

    Bell couldn’t be reached for comment.

    On Tuesday, Bell answered when The Voice telephoned him but the call immediately disconnected when the reporter identified himself.

    Taylor said he hadn’t received any demand letters as of Tuesday. He did say he’s discussed the surcharge controversy with Whitaker, but declined to delve into specifics.

    “It was a productive conversation where we both stated our arguments,” Taylor said.

    Directing county officials during executive session to write a demand letter and send it to the town likely violated provisions of the S.C. Freedom of Information Act, according to a media law expert.

    At the Feb. 14 meeting, the only vote Fairfield County Council members cast after exiting executive session involved the expenditure of federal stimulus money, according to a video posted on the county’s official YouTube channel.

    “No action was taken in executive session,” Bell stated in the recording.

    However, directing county leaders in executive session to author a demand letter violates FOIA in at least two ways, said Jay Bender, an attorney with the S.C. Press Association, of which The Voice is a member.

    Committing to a course of action in executive session – whether directly or via straw poll – violates FOIA. The directive to pen a demand letter also should’ve received a public vote, Bender said.

    “It doesn’t matter if you call it a straw poll or you call it scratching your nose, if you’re committing to a course of action, that’s illegal,” he said. “I think the Town of Winnsboro has a claim and citizens have a claim against that process.”