WINNSBORO – The Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce ushered in the holidays with its annual Christmas drop-in on Dec. 13. The event, held at the newly named Carolina Center for Events and Conferences, was sponsored for the 12th consecutive year by TruVista. The new Chamber director, Gene Stephens, was on hand to meet and greet more than 85 members and their guests, who enjoyed visiting and dining.
WINNSBORO – The Donut Guy owners, Shaun and Crystal Paulk, held a grand ropening Monday morning for their donut shop, located at 149 S. Congress Street. The Fairfield Chamber of Commerce celebrated the occasion with a ribbon cutting. The shop opened in January, 2017, but the Paulks say they have just now settled into regular hours and are open six days a week: Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, 7-4; Thursday and Friday, 7-7 and Sunday, 12-5.
Besides donuts and other sweet treats, they offer off-site catering, breakfast and a food truck for special events. Mayor Roger Gaddy and the Paulks, center, snip the ribbon assisted by, from left, Terry Vickers, chamber president; Shameika Sims, Darryel Davis, Gaddy, Douglas Pauley, the Paulks and their three daughters, Shauntae, Genesis and Imani; Dr. J. R. Green and chamber secretary Susan Yenner.
WINNSBORO – When the new leader of the Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce failed to satisfy Council’s concerns last week, during a budget workshop, regarding the Chamber’s plans for the upcoming budget year, Council threatened to reduce the funding it provides for the Chamber from $87,500 to $25,000 unless the Chamber provided a financial roadmap for how it plans to spend that funding in the 2018-19 fiscal year.
“I’m not opposed to continuing our full funding for the Chamber,” Council Chairman Billy Smith said, “but we need a plan to know what they’re going to do with it.”
Chris Timmers, who was introduced by the Chamber Board as the Interim Director of the Chamber during a member breakfast on March 2, introduced himself as Executive Director of the Chamber when he came before Council during the April 17 workshop. Asked by The Voice following the meeting to clarify Timmers’ job title, Board Chairman Harper Shull said Timmers had not been hired to be the Executive Director.
“He is the Interim Director,” Shull said.
After announcing to Council that March 31 was the Chamber’s 73rd anniversary, informing Council that Providence Health was clearing ground to construct a new emergency facility in Fairfield County and that Lake Wateree is sold out and being developed to the max, Timmers said the Chamber had McMaster Enterprises, which is owned by Bill McMaster, Shull’s employer, to thank for having rent-free office space. Timmers said that was way the Chamber has saved Council money.
However, Council has never funded office space for the Chamber according to several Council members. Prior to moving into its current offices at 120 N. Congress Street, which were offered by McMaster, the Chamber occupied rent-free offices in the Town Clock tower which is owned by the Town of Winnsboro.
Timmers said the Chamber’s programs include the S.C. Railroad Museum, the Big Grab Yard Sale, Arts on the Ridge and Ag & Art. However, when asked about the Chamber’s involvement with the Railroad Museum and Arts on the Ridge, Susan Yenner, secretary of the Chamber, said those are not financially supported by the Chamber, but are included in the Chamber’s promotional material.
When Council Chairman Billy Smith inquired about the amount of funding provided to the Chamber by the Town of Winnsboro and what that funding is used for, Timmers looked to Chamber Board Chairman, Harper Shull, for answers and then sat down.
Shull said the Town provided the Chamber with about $35,000 last year, but that it was a one-time deal and was to be renegotiated each year. As for how that money was spent, Shull looked to Chamber Secretary Susan Yenner in the audience for guidance. Yenner, who has been managing the Chamber’s day to day business since former President/CEO Terry Vickers resigned last October, said the money went to such events as Pumpkin Fest and Spirit Fest, before Shull picked back up and continued.
Shull expressed a dim view of whether the Chamber should be taking any money from the town government for events in the town.
“We’re not exactly sure how we go forward with that just because there is a, I won’t say a conflict of interest, I mean, it’s the county seat of Fairfield County, and maybe previously we spent too much time in downtown Winnsboro versus the County as a whole,” Shull said.
“Well, I think if the Town is giving you the money, it’s appropriate you spend it there,” Smith said.
Shull also suggested changes that might be coming to the Rock Around the Clock festival, including an admission charge. He also announced that Sam Edenfield would not be able to run the car show aspect of the festival this year.
“We had some feedback last year about Rock Around the Clock. We had a lot of mayhem,” Shull said. “We like to keep law and order as much as possible.”
Chief John Seibles of the Winnsboro Department of Public Safety said he does not remember there were any problems at the festival last year.
“It was a lot larger than in past years and it ran rather smoothly as I recall,” Seibles said.
When Smith asked about the Chamber’s annual golf tournament fundraiser that he discontinued this year and questioned how the Chamber planned to make up for the $8,000 it would lose without the tournament, Shull said the tournament was solely on the back of Winnsboro Petroleum, which is owned by McMaster, and other corporate sponsors.
“It became a lot for me to ask Coca Cola and Budweiser [for sponsorships],” Shull said. He also said the tournament had to be held out of county because there is no golf course in Fairfield County. He said the Board is tossing around another event that could be held in the county.
At the end of the six-hour budget workshop, Council appeared satisfied with the administrative recommendations for allocations for all the agencies supported by the County, except for those recommended for the Chamber and for Fairfield County Disabilities and Special Needs. Council suggested omitting funding for a $19,000 vehicle for DSN, saying that some of DSN’s vehicles still had low mileage.
“I wasn’t too impressed with some of the answers we received from the Chamber of Commerce tonight,” Smith told Council. “If they are not even sure they’re going to continue doing the things that we all know they have been doing, I think that leaves a question for us. If they don’t know what they’re going to continue to be doing, then how do we know how to continue to fund them?”
“Are they going to be doing away with Rock Around the Clock?” Councilman Doug Pauley asked.
“It kind of sounds that way,” Smith said. “I understand the Chamber is in a transitional period, but it seems the boat is rather rocky at the current time. Before we pass along any taxpayers’ monies, I’m just concerned about what the Chamber is going to do in the future,” Smith said.
County Administrator Jason Taylor met with the Chamber Board the morning following the meeting, explaining what Council is looking for in the way of a spending plan for the coming fiscal year. The Chamber’s response is due to Taylor no later than May 9.
In another funding concern, Council questioned Fairfield County Sheriff Will Montgomery’s request for funds in excess of Taylor’s recommendation. Montgomery requested additional funds for raises for his department that exceeded administrative recommendations. Smith said he would like to hear more details from Montgomery about the additional funding request.
Council held a third budget workshop on April 24 and final reading on the budget will be held at the regular meeting on May 14.
RIDGEWAY – Of the six candidates in the upcoming Ridgeway election, three of them, Angela Harrison, Roger Herring and Rick Johnson, participated in a candidate forum held last Thursday evening at the Century House and sponsored by the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce. The other three candidates, Heath Cookendorfer, Rufus Jones and Dan Martin, held a community barbeque on Saturday, March 24, where they talked with voters informally about their candidacies.
Attorney Mike Kelly, a member of the Chamber, served as moderator for the forum, first asking general questions posed by the Chamber and then taking questions submitted from the audience. The forum can be viewed on Angela Harrison’s Facebook page.
Since The Voice does not publish again prior to the election on April 3, the following FACT CHECK of some of the answers given by candidates to audience questions at the forum are published here.
Question: Historically, the majority of the recording and classification of town procedures and disbursements have been handled by one person [in town hall]. The likelihood of honest mistakes is real. If elected, would you continue with the current one-person solution or would you implement a more current, transparent solution?
Answers:
Angela Harrison (mayoral candidate): “From reading the audits from 2006 to the present, it has been recommended in every single audit that we not have a one person system. So I would like to see that change.”
Roger Herring (council candidate): “We need more than one person…our audit recommends that this [having only one person] be changed. It hasn’t been.”
FACT CHECK:
The Town audit makes no statement or recommendation about how many employees the town should have or, specifically, that the Town should not have a one-person system. Instead, the audit states, “during our audit we did not identify any deficiencies in internal control that we consider to be material weaknesses.”
The town actually has three employees in town hall, not just one, according to Town Councilman Don Prioleau, in order to provide internal control over the Town’s financial reporting (receiving, recording, depositing, and disbursing money) – a full time clerk, a part time assistant clerk who works at least 40 hours per month and a part time interim administrator who works at least one day per week and sometimes more. According to Prioleau, internal controls over financial reporting in the Town Hall are handled in the following manner:
Question: Would you implement procedures [for the Town government] to allow more public access [to Town government information]?
Answers:
Angela Harrison: I definitely think we need more public access. You don’t have to file an FOIA [Freedom of Information Request] with me. Just ask me. I will hand it to you…When you have a question, just call me, email me, Facebook me. I’ll always give you any document that I have.
FACT CHECK: On Friday, March 30, the day after the forum where Ms. Harrison made this statement, The Voice emailed Ms. Harrison to ask for a copy of the Town’s 2017 audit. Ms. Harrison answered via email that her copy was missing two pages. The Voice emailed back that was fine, and asked for the audit without those two pages. Ms. Harrison did not respond. The Voice made two more requests and four days later, at publishing time, Ms. Harrison has neither responded further to the request nor handed over the document.
Rick Johnson (council candidate): “Yes. You as a citizen ought to be able to come in here and ask how much money does Ridgeway have in the bank, and somebody ought to be able to tell you that. I don’t understand why that’s a real problem.”
FACT CHECK: Contacted by The Voice as to whether he had experienced this problem, Mr. Johnson said, “There is no problem that I know of. I have no specifics on this. I haven’t been involved in Ridgeway government so it’s hard for me to know this stuff.”
Question: How would you implement any changes in the way festivals are run in Ridgeway?
Answers:
Rick Johnson: “I know the [POR] steering committee has always managed it and they do a really great job making it a successful event. However, I think there needs to be oversight by council because the revenue raised by this festival…the oversight needs to come from this council. There’s a difference between a steering committee and this council’s responsibility as lordship over funds and making sure funds are disbursed properly, that things are purchased properly. There’s a fuzzy line there. It has created a problem…”
FACT CHECK: When asked by The Voice, specifically, what problems have been created by the Pig on the Ridge steering committee, Mr. Johnson said, “I don’t know of any specific issue or problem…I’m not saying anyone has done anything wrong or that there’s even a problem. I don’t know of a problem. I have no clue who has oversight over the Pig on the Ridge festival. I don’t know enough about Pig on the Ridge and how it operates to answer the question.”
Roger Herring: “There are too many holes in the festivals that have gone wrong. There should be more accountability for all of them. I think those in charge of the committees who put them on think it’s their festival and they can do whatever they want. But it’s not. So many things of accountability that have gone past, unnoticed and undone. We need new people involved.”
FACT CHECK: When The Voice contacted Mr. Herring to ask him to identify, specifically, what has ‘gone past, unnoticed and undone,’ by the POR steering committee, Mr. Herring declined to comment.
According to Town Hall, Councilmen Prioleau and Heath Cookendorfer and all four members of the steering committee, Town Hall receives all revenue for the POR festival, makes all deposits, keeps all records, writes all checks and Council approves all purchases, expenses and donations. Town Hall (the mayor, specifically) has taken out, kept records for, signed for and cashed all CD’s purchased with revenue from the POR festival. Town Hall creates and issues annual reports and monthly summaries on the festival’s finances for council, the auditor and the media. Those reports are available in Town Hall.
Question: (Addressed to Ms. Harrison) All Pig on the Ridge funds are in the Town government’s control…Why, then, do you say it is the Pig on the Ridge steering committee’s responsibility to report on the Pig on the Ridge festival funds?
Answer:
Angela Harrison: “If it were the town’s responsibility [to report on the POR festival financials], then the town council would have known about the false information filed [by the POR steering committee] with the Secretary of State.”
Response:
Mr. Tom Connor, one of the four members of the POR steering committee, stated (from the audience with permission from the moderator) that Ms. Harrison’s use of the term ‘false information’ inferred that the Pig on the Ridge steering committee had intentionally filed incorrect information with the Secretary of State.
Response:
“I never said that,” Ms. Harrison responded.
FACT CHECK – Mr. Connor gets the point here. According to Webster’s Dictionary, the term false information means to “deliberately and often covertly spread in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth.”