WINNSBORO – Fairfield County school board members voted to extend Superintendent Dr. J.R. Green’s contract another year, but individual evaluations remain shrouded in secrecy.
The district, which has a $43 million budget and whose millage is more than half of a typical property tax bill, released only four evaluations from the seven-member board.
In addition, the forms that were released were anonymously written, making it impossible to determine how individual board members rated Green.
On Dec. 18, board members voted 4-1 to extend Green’s contract by one year to 2024. Paula Hartman voted in opposition.
The Voice requested individual evaluations the following day through the S.C. Freedom of Information Act, but the district didn’t provide the documents – consisting of four pages and a cover sheet – until Monday, Jan. 7.
Public bodies have 10 business days to respond to FOIA requests, according to state law.
Jay Bender, a media law attorney with the S.C. Press Association, of which The Voice is a member, said taxpayers are entitled to know precisely how school boards evaluate the superintendent.
“If the board members are evaluating the superintendent anonymously, that doesn’t seem like much of an evaluation to me,” Bender said. “If they’ve structured a process where the evaluations are all anonymous, it seems to me that that’s worthless.”
Board chairman William Frick couldn’t be reached for comment late Tuesday to address why only four evaluations were released or why they were conducted anonymously.
What the evaluations said
Three of the four evaluations give Green an “exemplary” rating in each of five categories: Community Engagement, Student Achievement, Leadership, Learning Environment and Fiscal Management.
The fourth form gave Green a “proficient” rating in Leadership and Learning Environment, and exemplary in the other three categories.
None of the evaluations released to The Voice gave Green a “needs improvement” ranking in any category.
Only two evaluations include written comments.
One board member praised Green for his “excellent fiscal management” and “continued improvements” in student achievement.
“I enjoy working with Dr. Green,” another board member wrote. “We need make it harder [sic], going too good!”
The glowing comments align with what a majority of board members stated publicly at the December board meeting.
“I’m glad we can essentially tie him down one additional year,” Frick said.
Board member Henry Miller said that Green is a heavily recruited superintendent, claiming that Richland One previously was interested in hiring him.
“They were definitely wanting him to leave us,” Miller said. “I’m just glad we have him. He’s a hot commodity all over the state.”
Hartman, who cast the lone dissenting vote, didn’t think extending Green’s contract was necessary. She said three-year contracts are standard in most school districts.
“I don’t think whether it’s three years or six years, it’s telling someone that we don’t want them,” Hartman said. “I don’t understand why we continue to keep it at six years.”
Frick said maintaining continuity with the superintendent is critical.
“We had a slight history in this district of superintendents not necessarily staying,” he said. “That was I believe a serious destabilizing effect on the community.”
Superintendent’s salary
Green said the contract extension is important to him because he interprets it as a vote of confidence from the board. He added that he has not asked for a salary increase.
That prompted Hartman to ask Green to publicly state his salary, but Green stated that he didn’t know it.
In response to The Voice’s FOIA request, the district listed Green’s annual salary at $182,287. His current annuity contribution is $29,165, documents state.
Green’s salary ranks toward the high end of Midlands area school districts, according The State newspaper’s online salary database.
Richland One Superintendent Craig Witherspoon makes the most at $222,895.29, followed by Lexington One Superintendent Gregory Little at $204,373.
Dr. Baron Davis, superintendent of Richland Two, makes $193,903, followed by Green, according to the database.
Christina Melton, superintendent of Lexington-Richland 5, follows at $175,000. The superintendents of Lexington 2, 3, and 4 make less than $169,000, the database states.
Greg Huegel leaps in the arms of a teammate after Monday’s championship game. | Ben Margot/AP
SANTA CLARA, CA – The college football world sat back in amazement on Monday night as the Clemson Tigers picked apart the mighty Alabama Crimson Tide. The Tigers brought home their second National Title in the last three seasons with a 44-16 win, and there were two former Bengals present for the program-defining victory.
Huegel
Huegel joined the Tigers as a walk-on and is still the only player in Clemson history to earn All-American honors while not on scholarship. He was voted Second-Team All-American by Sports Illustrated in 2015, first-team freshman All-American by USA today and nailed 27 of his 32 field goal attempts in 2015.
He also set a school single-season record for points scored in a season with 138. He was a Lou Groza award semi-finalist during the 2016 national championship run and broke another Clemson single season record with 71 successful extra point conversions.
Greg Huegel (92) | Richard Shiro/AP
A torn ACL robbed Huegel of the 2017 season, but he made a furious return in 2018. He went 68-68 on regular season extra point attempts and earned Honorable Mention on the All-ACC team. Huegel became only the sixth player in school history to score at least 300 points and broke Chandler Catanazaro’s record of 203 successful point-after attempts.
Huegel held the record for most field goals made in a game in Blythewood history with three until Miles Heitman tied his record in October.
Williams
Graduate linebacker Jalen Williams and senior place kicker Greg Huegel added their second championship rings to their collections with the rout. Williams and Huegel’s places were forever etched in history after the blowout win. The 2018-2019 Tigers were the first Football Bowl Sub-Division team to go 15-0 since the Penn Quakers in 1897.
Williams recorded 186 tackles in his Bengals career, 18 tackles for a loss, an interception, six forced fumbles and six fumble recoveries. He was the 29th ranked player in South Carolina by ESPN when he came out of Blythewood and was named MVP of North-South All-Star game.
Jalen Williams (30) | Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Williams recorded his first sack against Miami in 2015 and went on to finish the 2015 season with 15 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. He earned his Psychology degree in 2017, and finished his Clemson career with 77 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and three sacks. He also picked off two passes, including one this season against No. 16 NC State.
Belva Belton, left, and Sandra Cammon, who operate Closet to Closet, receive donations from Leah Branham and her dad Eddie, located at the Learning Center. | Barbara Ball
WINNSBORO – A Ridgeway woman is being heralded as an inspiration for her enduring work to provide resources and support to local students and families in need through Closet to Closet, a program supplying a variety of gently used school uniforms, clothing and shoes for the family, bedding and other household items.
Belva Bush Belton, the registrar and attendance supervisor at Fairfield County School District, initiated the program four years ago when a state law was passed requiring school districts to provide a liaison to identify students experiencing homelessness. Belton and volunteer Sandra Cammon, a bus driver for the school district, operate the Closet, located in the Learning Center at 250 Roosevelt Street (behind the former Fairfield High School).
While the Closet initially served only homeless students, Belton has since opened it to all families in the community who are in need, especially those who are victims of house fires and other crisis events.
During the last four years, Belton has worked tirelessly to reach out to students and families within that scope, but more recently her actions have far surpassed just identifying the need.
“I guess you could say I go above and beyond, but really I do what I know is needed,” Belton stated.
Each year at the start of the new school year, Belton is tasked with identifying any students who qualify as “in need”. Those needs, she said, may include a lack of transportation to or from school, assistance with covering fees for field trips or school supplies, or even purchasing school pictures. Others, she said, may have far greater needs.
“Through the years I have learned that helping students with just their school needs was not nearly enough,” Belton stated.
Belton said she has found that the families of many of the students need food and housing. Most, she said, are in a “doubled-up” situation, where families are living with other families in a home that is not their own, such as a mother and her children moving in with the grandmother. Others, she said, were without any home at all.
“Occasionally, I find families who are living in a vehicle. That’s when I start making emergency calls and get them in a hotel and connect them with groups for food and clothing,” she stated.
Having grown up in Fairfield County herself, Belton said her greatest strength is her connection with the community. She said those connections make resources far more accessible.
In 2011, Belton was awarded the WIS/Mungo Homes Community Builders award after she successfully turned an unused room in the Learning Center into a thrift-type store for her families. Operating every Wednesday, the store, through continuous donations from the community, has grown to now include furniture.
Other organizations have set up an Angel Tree program in which Belton’s students or families can be adopted anonymously by local residents who provide them with Christmas gifts.
That support, Belton said, has helped her continue her efforts year after year. During the 2017-2018 school year, she assisted 114 families. For the 2018-2019 year, she has already helped 104 families with five months still left on the school year.
“It gets tough at times, when the numbers are so high, but when the community joins me in supporting these families, it just reignites my motivation,” she stated.
“It would be impossible for me to do what I do without help. Area businesses, churches, civic organizations and families in the community have helped me in a big way.”
Still, she said her work is never done.
At the end of the school year, Belton will begin contacting those families on her list to determine if they can be removed from her program. It can be the most rewarding time of the year for her, she said, but it can be one of the hardest as she sees some families continuing to struggle with their same vices.
That is where she has laid plans for the second chapter of her work. Even though retirement for her is still years down the road, Belton said she hopes, after retirement, to continue this work by creating a long-term “transitional housing” facility within the area.
“There are some families who find themselves in a tough situation more than once because they have never been taught how to handle finances, or they return to the same temptations that put them in a bad position in the first place. With transitional housing, I would be better able to control their surroundings and prepare them for success,” Belton stated.
Belton said she plans, after her retirement, to seek out grants that would make her transitional housing dream a reality.
“This work is my passion. It has been the most rewarding job I have ever had, and I certainly do not intend on stopping any time soon,” she said.
The Closet is open each Wednesday from 9 – 11:30 AM but also opens up by appointment for those who may be in immediate need. For more information contact Belva Bush Belton at Fairfield County School District Office (803)635-4607.
WINNSBORO – The Fairfield County Parks and Recreation Department has opened a new fitness room at the Winnsboro Recreation Center.
“We’re always looking to bring new opportunities to our community to exercise and stay fit,” County Administrator Jason Taylor said. “I encourage everyone to take advantage of the Fitness Room.”
Located in the basketball gym, the room will provide members with exercise options for cardio training, weight training and functional training, according to Parks and Recreation Director Russell Price.
“We took a dilapidated storage area and renovated it into an updated fitness facility for our citizens, and it was all done at a minimal cost,” Price said. “Mr. Taylor’s motto is, ‘Always utilize what you have,’ and we did that.”
The opening of the fitness facility coincides with the start of the Rec Center’s ‘Get Fit Fairfield!’ program, a 12-week fitness challenge between 20 teams that will measure their achievements in weight loss, diet and exercise, Price said.
Hours of operation for the Fitness room are Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Membership fees are $20 per month for an individual and $35 per month for a family of two. For more information, contact Lucas Vance at 803-635-9114 or by email at lucas.vance@fairfield.sc.gov.
BLYTHEWOOD – In the largest increase since 1991, according to the National Newspaper Association, United States Postal Service Forever stamps will rise from 50 cents to 55 cents on Sunday, Jan. 27. Metered letters will also increase from 47 cents to 50 cents on the same date.
Blythewood Post Master Richard Jones said, however, that Forever stamps purchased prior to Jan. 27 can be used indefinitely.
JENKINSVILLE – SCE&G, a subsidiary of Dominion Energy, will conduct a test of siren warning systems in Fairfield County on Tuesday, Jan. 8.
At approximately 1 p.m., SCE&G will sound the 109 sirens located within a 10-mile radius of V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in Fairfield County near Jenkinsville. As part of its regular testing program, SCE&G sounds its sirens in Fairfield, Newberry, Richland and Lexington counties each year for three minutes and each quarter for less than a minute. A full, three-minute sounding of the sirens is conducted on the second Tuesday of January each year. One-minute functional tests are conducted at noon on the second Tuesday of each month during the remainder of the year.
Area residents are reminded that the sounding of sirens during this time period is only a test. In the unlikely event of an actual emergency at the plant, the sirens would sound with no prior notice and would alert area residents to tune to an Emergency Alert System radio or television station for further instructions.
SCE&G and other companies that operate U.S. nuclear facilities maintain robust emergency preparedness plans to protect the health and safety of the public. SCE&G conducts multiple emergency response drills each year to validate its emergency response plan, which is independently evaluated every two years by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Information about siren tests, nuclear generation and emergency planning is mailed to residents within 10 miles of V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in the annual emergency preparedness calendar.
For more information, log on to sceg.com/nuclearprep, or call your local emergency management office:
After missing a recent payment deadline, the Richland Two school board chair now owes nearly $52,000 in fines to the South Carolina Ethics Commission, an agency spokesperson confirmed.
McKie
In July 2018, the commission fined McKie $41,000 as part of an eight-count complaint that said she failed to file quarterly campaign disclosure reports.
McKie was ordered to pay the first $20,000 by New Year’s Eve. She missed that deadline, meaning the total fine increases to $51,750, according to the complaint.
“No payments were made prior to 12/31/18 and the fine amount for that particular order reverts as outlined in the order,” an ethics commission representative said via email.
Attempts to reach McKie have been unsuccessful.
In 2015, the ethics commission partnered with the S.C. Department of Revenue to increase ethics debt collection efforts through the DOR’s Setoff Debt Governmental Enterprise Accounts Receivable, or GEAR, collection programs.
Debtors who have reached “bad debt status” are referred to the Department of Revenue, according to the Ethics Commission website.
The Department of Revenue is authorized to garnish wages and tax refunds, or also impose liens to satisfy debts.
The Richland Two school board’s next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 8 at the Richland Two Institute of Innovation at 763 Fashion Drive, Columbia.
An agenda says the board will meet in executive session at 5:30, with the business meeting commencing at 6:30 p.m.
Lobbyist Income Report Doesn’t Match SEI Filing, Investigation Reels in 19 More Late Filings
Richland Two School Board memberes include Cheryl Caution-Parker, left, Chairwoman Amelia McKie, Jim Manning, James Shadd III, Lindsay Agostini, Monica Elkins-Johnson and new member Teresa Holmes. | Richland Two Website
BLYTHEWOOD – As the deadline to pay a hefty ethics fine nears, more questions are arising over reports filed by Amelia McKie, chairwoman of the Richland Two Board of Trustees.
Meantime, more previously unfiled ethics forms have been submitted by another Richland Two board member following an investigation by The Voice of campaign finance violations, according to public records.
The latest issues involving McKie revolve around lobbying activity reported on her 2015 and 2016 Statements of Economic Interest, or SEI, forms.
McKie’s SEI form for 2016 doesn’t list any lobbying activity or income.
However, on her Individual Lobbyist report, McKie reported earning $13,562.50 as a lobbyist for the S.C. Association of Developing Colleges, or SCADC, between Jan. 1, 2016 and May 31, 2016,
Her 2015 forms don’t match either.
In 2015, McKie reported $15,000 in lobbying income from the SCADC on her economic interest form. But her lobbyist report lists a year-to-date number of $27,125.
In addition, $2,000 in lobbying income from the Coalition for Access to Healthcare appears on her individual lobbyist report, but not her SEI form.
McKie couldn’t be reached for comment.
In response to inquiries from The Voice, McKie filed previously missing SEI forms for 2015-2018 on Dec. 4, according to Ethics Commission records.
As of Friday, Dec. 28, she still hadn’t filed quarterly campaign disclosure reports since early 2015, ethics records show.
The commission has already fined McKie $41,000 as part of an eight-count complaint alleging unreported campaign contributions dating back to 2015.
She had until Dec. 31 to pay the first $20,000. If she misses that deadline, the fine increases to $51,700. That information was not available to The Voice at press time.
In related news, board member Monica Elkins-Johnson filed a slew of outstanding quarterly campaign finance reports and amendments on Thursday, Dec. 27, nearly two months after the Nov. 6 general election, according to the S.C. Ethics Commission online database.
Elkins-Johnson joins fellow board members Teresa Holmes, Cheryl Caution-Parker and McKie among those who filed missing ethics forms only after being contacted by The Voice.
The Richland Two school board plays a direct role in developing the district’s annual budget, which for the 2017-2018 fiscal year totaled $273.9 million, according to the school district website.
Because Richland Two board members are entrusted with spending millions of dollars in taxpayer money, greater scrutiny of their ethics filings is appropriate, said Jay Bender, a media law attorney representing the S.C. Press Association.
“You have all these people who take office who pay no attention what the requirements are, and that’s unfortunate,” Bender said.
Since The Voice’s investigation began in early December, Richland Two candidates have rushed to file at least 19 tardy ethics forms, detailing previously unreported campaign contributions, income sources and potential conflicts of interest.
Here’s a breakdown of each board member’s campaign contributions and statements of economic interest, when available, for recent election cycles.
Amelia McKie
On her 2018 SEI form, McKie reported $15,000 in income from lobbying activity for NextEra, a Florida-based energy company that recruited people to lobby the state to sell Santee Cooper, ethics forms state.
She performed additional consulting work for Infusion and LHI, though ethics forms don’t list income from those sources.
In addition to lobbying activity, McKie reported $9,600 in annual income from her position as school board chair.
McKie’s most recent quarterly campaign disclosure report was filed Jan. 10, 2015, ethic filings show.
She filed two amendments, one on Jan. 11, 2015 and the other Feb. 10, 2015.
Her Jan. 10, 2015 disclosure form, filed two months after the Nov. 4, 2014 general election, reported $10,861.95 in total contributions. She spent $9,524.41, leaving $1,337.54 cash on hand.
One contribution, a $1,000 donation from the Lou-Von Family Foundation in Sumter, was returned at the donor’s request, ethics forms state.
Though nearly four years old, an amendment McKie filed to her campaign disclosure reports in February 2015 raises additional questions.
In that filing, McKie lists 889.5 miles driven by various Columbia vendors for Get Out the Vote-related work, totaling $498.72 in mileage expenses at 56 cents a mile. The expenses were incurred on four dates in 2014: Nov. 3, Nov. 21, Dec. 11 and Dec. 22.
It is unclear from the forms what would require driving 890 miles in four days – roughly 222.5 miles per day – in the Columbia area.
James Shadd III
Board member James Shadd III has experienced issues with his ethics forms since 2014, when the ethics commission fined him $13,000 for failing to file several quarterly campaign disclosure reports, documents state.
The complaint has since been resolved, according to the ethics commission website. More recently, Shadd III hasn’t filed quarterly campaign disclosure or SEI reports since October 2016, according to ethics filings.
The absent filings only pertain to his school board seat. Quarterly reports for his 2014 solicitor’s office bid are available for public inspection.
Shadd III couldn’t be reached for comment.
In 2016, the last year Shadd III filed an SEI form, he only listed his school board trustee position, but not his income. He didn’t report any lobbying activity or any other potential conflicts of interest.
Shadd III filed three campaign disclosure reports in 2016, all on Oct. 31 of that year, which included his initial report, October quarterly report and his pre-election report.
He reported $10,375 in contributions for the election cycle, mostly from attorneys, physicians and other individual professionals. He spent $7,244.88.
Monica Elkins-Johnson
In all, Elkins-Johnson filed 14 previously missing quarterly campaign disclosure forms last week on Dec. 27, 2018, some of them dating back to 2016, according to ethics records.
One of the filings was a final campaign disclosure report for her 2016 campaign.
The report listed $12,860.52 in total contributions, most of which came from personal funds ($7,341). Most other contributions came from individual donors, filings show.
Elkins’ SEI forms have been filed on time most years. Her 2018 SEI report only listed $9,600 in income for her school board seat.
Teresa Holmes
Most of Holmes’ campaign contributions before the 2018 election come from personal funds.
For the 2018 election cycle, she reported $3,683.94 in contributions, of which $3,183 came from her personally, ethics records show.
The remaining $500 consisted of a donation from Sam Green, whose occupation is listed in ethics records as bishop of the 7th Episcopal District.
After the election, Holmes filed two amendments on Dec. 10 and Dec. 12, respectively amending her pre-election and initial reports to include additional contributions and expenditures.
As before, contributions mainly consisted of personal loans and small, individual donations.
Like McKie, Holmes filed her 2018 SEI forms after she was informed by The Voice that they had not been filed.
On her SEI form, Holmes reported $83,000 in personal income from the Fairfield County School District. She’s an assistant administrator and guidance counselor at the Fairfield Career and Technology Center, the Richland Two website states.
Cheryl Caution-Parker
Caution-Parker filed her four 2018 quarterly campaign disclosure reports on Dec. 17, shortly after The Voice contacted her that the forms hadn’t been filed prior to the Nov. 6 election.
Caution-Parker previously told The Voice that she had correctly entered the information, but didn’t complete the submission process because she failed to click the “File” button.
Her October 2018 pre-election report listed $5,150 in contributions and $5,129 in expenditures. She reported two contributions from developers: M.B. Kahn Construction Co., $1,000; and Stevens & Wilkinson, $250.
Caution-Parker spent the bulk of her funds on billboard advertising and campaign signs.
James Manning
Manning filed his quarterly campaign disclosure and SEI forms on time.
While it was previously reported that these fillings were late, most of his campaign disclosure reports are associated with the 2014 election cycle. Only a pre-election report filed Oct. 28, 2018 is associated with the 2018 election cycle, records state.
Manning said that’s because he announced his intentions to seek re-election late in the election cycle, which explains why his other quarterly reports are linked to 2014.
For the 2014 election cycle, Manning reported $9,198.76 in total contributions.
Manning reported an additional $7,775 in contributions for 2018. Notable donations for the most recent election cycle include: M.B. Kahn Construction, Co., $1,000; Brownstone Construction Group, LLC, $1,000; Darrell Campbell, construction, $500; and Grayson Thompson, architect, $300.
Manning reported $118,737 in personal income from working in state government. He works for the S.C. Public Employee Benefits Authority as a risk and compliance manager, according to the state’s online salary database.
Manning reported additional family income of $69,289, also from state government, and his $9,600 school board salary.
Lindsay Agostini
Besides Manning, Agostini was the only other current board member to file all her Campaign Disclosure and SEI forms on time. As reported previously in The Voice, Agostini hasn’t been required to file quarterly campaign disclosure reports since March 24, 2017, when according to ethics records, she submitted a final report.
Office holders may file final reports only after he or she closes their campaign account, which is what Agostini did, according to the Ethics Commission.
To qualify for this exemption, a candidate must have a zero balance and no outstanding campaign debts, according to the Ethics Commission websit, which Agostini met.
When her campaign accounts were open, Agostini was one of the school board’s top fundraisers. Her final report listed $22,947 in total contributions for the 2016 election cycle.
Contributions mainly came from attorneys, physicians and other business professionals. She spent the bulk of her funds on mailers and signage, records show.
On her 2018 SEI form, Agostini reported board member pay of $9,600 and various food and gas reimbursements totaling $1,146.89.
Under personal income, she listed Agostini and Associates as the source and event planner/swim lessons under the type. A dollar amount was not specified.
Agostini also listed 11 sources of family income, which include DaVinci Financial Designs, LPL, Midland Insurance, The Members Club, Washington & Lee University, Pomona College and other entities.
Craig Plank
Craig Plank, who did not win re-election to the board in November, but has filed all his forms on time during his time on the board, reported $13,090 in contributions this past election cycle, which included $2,100 from personal funds. He spent $9,483.85, mostly on advertising and direct mailing, records state.
Most of Plank’s donors consisted of individual business professionals, including several insurance agents.
Plank reported several contributions from developers: SC Builders PAC, $250; Stevens & Wilkinson SC, Inc., $250; Covert Homes, LLC, $250; LCK, LLC, $500; and M.B. Kahn Construction Co., $1,000.
On his 2018 SEI form, Plank reported a $12,000 stipend from the district.
Plank also reported receiving unspecified income from four sources: WIS TV, family income; State Farm Insurance Co., personal income; Millie Lewis of Columbia, personal income; and NFIP, personal income.
WINNSBORO – A Blair man died and another person was injured after they were involved in a single vehicle collision in Blair on Thursday, Dec. 28.
Tamarkquay A. Coleman, 34, of Blair, was a passenger in a 2005 Nissan Altima that was traveling south on Highway 215 South when it went off the left side of the road about 7:15 p.m., near the intersection of Ladds Road and struck several trees. The accident occurred south of Salem’s Crossing and about 6.5 miles north of Jenkinsville.
The driver of the vehicle was injured and taken to Palmetto Health Richland. Coleman was also taken to the hospital, where they later died.
The accident remains under investigation by the Fairfield County Coroner’s Office and the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
Danika Miles will start the Spring racing season in her new race car, to be painted by her father. | Barbara Ball
RIDGEWAY – Ridgeway preteen drag racer Danika Miles has proven to be a rising star in her sport as she prepares to sign with a national sponsor next month.
Miles, 11, will fly to New York in February to sign a contract with ES Foods, a school foods supplier, to be the company’s spokesperson and face of the company’s future marketing campaign. While ES Foods has sponsored other student athletes around the country, this is the first time it has sponsored a professional student
Danika Miles takes her last ride in her first dragster, which her father Gabe Miles built, painted and maintained. He is now upfitting and painting her new race car, made possible through the sponsorship of ES Foods. | Photo provided by Danika Miles Racing Team
athlete.
During her time in New York, Miles will also appear at a special announcement event and sign autographs.
“It’s amazing. I’ve never done anything like this and I’m just really excited about it; I can’t wait,” Miles stated.
Her father, Gabe Miles, who owns a paint and body shop in Ridgeway and has some racing experience, himself, takes care of his daughter’s car’s mechanical maintenance, body work and even airbrushes the designs on the finished product.
Miles said the title sponsorship has allowed the team to purchase a new, more powerful car, new trailer and the company will cover travel, equipment and other expenses.
Gabe Miles said it will also help his daughter test her limits on the drag racing circuit and boost her confidence.
“She’s going from a car that ran an eighth of a mile in 10 seconds at 64 miles per hour to a car that has an estimated time of 7.90 seconds at 90 miles per hour,” Gabe Miles stated. “She loves the faster car.”
Founded in 1998, ES Foods is a major supplier of food products to school systems across the country. After signing the contract, Miles will display the company’s logo on her new dragster for the 2019 year and have the company’s support as she strikes out in her second full year of racing.
“It is a big deal, and it means a lot to me to know that I have a big company’s support,” Miles stated. “It makes me even more excited to get behind the wheel and see what I can do.”
“Before, this was out of our own pocket. So, any parts or repairs were made out of what we could afford. Now, she doesn’t have to be afraid to try something in case it doesn’t work and then we have to make repairs. This gives her the freedom to really see what she’s capable of,” Miles stated.
Searching for a major sponsor was a mission that Miles’ father set out on last year to help support his daughter’s drive to succeed on the track, but only having one year of racing under her belt put her at a slight disadvantage, he stated.
“A lot of folks were a little hesitant to sponsor her because she was so new to racing. Some were afraid that maybe it was just a hobby or that she wasn’t serious, but I think now they can see that she is very serious about this,” he stated.
Miles began racing in 2018 after she accompanied her father to a Charlotte track in late 2017 for his own race. Having just expected to be there to cheer on her father, it wasn’t until she saw younger drivers climbing into their own cars that she realized she could join in on the fun as well.
“It was just this moment of ‘wow’ for me. I didn’t even know that was a thing, that kids could do this, and as soon as I realized it, I knew that was something I wanted to do,” she told The Voice in a November interview.
Gabe Miles said that was a defining moment for his daughter. Having always been a shy, quiet child who avoided crowds and attention, climbing into a dragster gave her a boost of confidence he never could have expected.
“She has grown so much, on the track. She used to be afraid to ride an elevator and next month she’ll be getting on a plane for the first time to go to New York – and she’s thrilled about it. As a parent, you never want to push them to do anything, but this is something she loves and wants to do,” he stated.
Miles’ 2019 racing season will begin this spring, and while she has the national sponsorship spot filled, her father said there are several smaller, local sponsors that have come on board including Capitol City Cycles, Blown Away Hair Salon, Danny’s Automotive and Brown’s Oil & Lube.
“She’ll have those local business logos on her car and suit, too. It’s a great way to represent where she comes from.”
