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Tag: Lindsay Agostini

  • Agostini: Board chair plays favorites with speakers

    COLUMBIA – Amid budget discussions, policy revision votes and a slew of special recognitions, one board member’s critique of the Richland Two chairwoman’s job performance punctuated a more-than-four-hour meeting.

    The drama began at about the 38-minute mark of the May 14 meeting when board member Lindsay Agostini called attention to “inconsistent” enforcement of the board’s public participation policy.

    Agostini

    Agostini accused McKie of giving preferential treatment to some speakers while shutting down others.

    “At a Feb. 12 meeting, we denied a participant. The chair stated they had missed the signups. The chair stated we are going to strictly adhere to board policy going forward because we are going to be as ethical and policy abiding as we possibly can,” Agostini began.

    The speaker in question had, at a previous meeting, called for McKie to step down, saying that McKie was not legally seated due to having failed to file a statement of economic interest form which is required by law before an elected school board member can be sworn into office.

    “However, on March 26, a different community member came to speak who admittedly showed up too late to sign up on the list, and the forms had been pulled,” she continued. “When I expressed concern to our board chair in an email, she responded by saying she chose to allow latitude to allow the person to speak.”

    McKie said she had started cracking down on public participation after she felt some speakers failed to display proper decorum.

    “When our meetings became out of order, when they became a three-ring circus, and people used my graciousness and latitude for personal gain and for insult, I chose to abide by public policy,” McKie said. “I don’t make any apologies for that. I’m happy to abide by public policy.”

    McKie has come under fire in recent months, largely over a litany of violations of state ethics laws.

    The S.C. Ethics Commission recently fined her $51,750 for failing to file various ethics forms. There have also been calls for her to step down from the board.

    As public participation began last Tuesday night, the evening’s only speaker sided with Agostini and called for greater transparency from the board.

    Columbia resident James Mobley, who ran unsuccessfully for the board in the past, also called upon the board to extend public participation from three to five minutes.

    “You have hurt Ms. Agostini and I’m sad about that,” Mobley said. “I believe that she deserves an apology. Unity should be a driving factor on this board.”

    Later, during the board member comment period, Agostini again raised the issue of inconsistent adherence to district policies. Then she turned to McKie’s ethics issues.

    Agostini didn’t directly mention McKie by name, though she referenced a story in The Voice that stated McKie hadn’t filed her April 2019 quarterly campaign disclosure report as of May 7. It was due April 10.

    According to Ethics Commission filings, McKie filed the form May 8, the day after The Voice notified her about the tardy filing.

    Agostini stated the missed ethics deadline came on the heels of the board adopting a policy demanding punctuality from staff when submitting reports and assignments.

    “Once again we’ve heard from the media of another missed deadline for campaign disclosure reports after being assured in January that it wouldn’t happen again,” Agostini said. “When do we start walking the walk and hold ourselves to the same standards we put in place for others?”

    McKie was visibly frustrated with what she called “accusations” and “personal attacks,” though she never addressed anyone by name.

    “I have a bevy of comments to share but in the respect of your time I won’t do so,” McKie said. “I won’t dignify certain accusations tonight that haven’t been asked of others.

    “You can’t pick and choose who’s acceptable to hurt and who’s not,” McKie continued. “At a board meeting or any facility, nobody should be hurt. Nobody should be injured; nobody should be castigated.”

    Other board members, most of whom have also missed ethics filings, and some of whom have paid fines, avoided addressing Agostini’s comments. Most declined to say anything at all.

    Board member Cheryl Caution-Parker was the only other trustee to speak. She didn’t directly address any issues from the meeting.

    “I do have something to say, but I’m not going to say it, but it’s on the tip of my tongue,” Caution-Parker said. “I’m sure a lot of you out there know what I want to say.”

  • R2 board secretary resigns when asked to verify that McKie is legally seated

    R2 school board member Lindsay Agostini resigns as secretary. James Shadd, right, was elected to replace Agostini as board secretary. | Barbara Ball

    COLUMBIA – Chairwoman Amelia McKie’s ongoing ethics problems have prompted another member of the Richland 2 Board of Trustees to resign her officer position.

    Lindsay Agostini stepped down as secretary of the Richland Two board, but still remains on the board as a voting member. Agostini notified McKie and Superintendent Dr. Baron Davis of her decision via email Friday.

    In a prepared statement read at Tuesday’s meeting, Agostini said she consulted her personal attorney after raising concerns about two documents she says she was asked in her position as secretary to sign.

    Both documents alluded to lingering legal and ethics issues that have haunted McKie for months.

    “With these questions in mind and under advice of legal counsel, my principles would not allow me to sign these two documents,” Agostini said. “Therefore, I felt it was in the best interest of the district for me to resign as board secretary but continue in the capacity as a member of the Board of Trustees.”

    Neither McKie nor other trustees at Tuesday’s meeting responded to Agostini’s statement.

    One document, titled “Certificate of Incumbency,” asked Agostini to confirm McKie as the board chair. It also stated the dates of McKie’s chairmanship are July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019, Agostini said.

    The “Signature and No Litigation Document,” which related to the recently passed $468.4 million bond referendum for school building upgrades, was modified to include verbiage inferring that McKie is legally allowed to serve on the board in spite of failing to follow state ethics law.

    “The School District is aware that members of the public have called for the resignation of the current Board Chair because of fines owed by the Board Chair to the South Carolina State Ethics Commission because the Board Chair did not have on file a current Statement of Economic Interest prior to being sworn in to a second term as a member of the Board,” the document stated.

    “The School District is not aware of any litigation, regulatory effort, or official proceeding challenging the Board Chair’s right and title to serve as a Board member or Board Chair,” the document continues.

    Agostini said she refused to sign both documents since she said she cannot, in fact, verify that McKie is legally allowed to serve.

    “This presented several questions to me. Is this normal wording? Why is an extra paragraph needed? Have we ever included wording like this in a Richland Two bond document?” Agostini asked. “We are asking our community for half of a billion dollar bond and we need to include this language?”

    McKie owes nearly $52,000 in ethics fines for failing to file various campaign disclosure reports.

    She also didn’t file statements of economic interest, or SEI, forms from 2015 to 2018 until December 2018, the S.C. Ethics Commission’s online database states.

    McKie did not file the forms until after The Voice sought comment from her about the missing forms. March 31 is the deadline to file SEI forms in a given year, according to the Ethics Commission.

    Section 8-13-1110 of state law says no public official “may take the oath of office or enter upon his official responsibilities” unless an SEI form is filed.

    McKie has been serving on the board since her re-election in November 2018. She didn’t file her SEI forms until Dec. 4, nearly a month later.

    McKie’s apparent ineligibility to serve has prompted several residents to call for her and other non-compliant trustees to step down.

    “The proper action is for Ms. McKie and [board trustee Teresa] Holmes to stand up now and step away from the board immediately,” Richland County resident Gus Philpott said at a Richland Two meeting in March. “Ms. McKie is not legally a board member and so cannot be chair of this board.”

    In January, when The Voice asked the state ethics and election commission spokespersons which agency is tasked with enforcing the eligibility statute, each agency punted the issue back to the other.

    “I would think compliance would be a question for that body [the ethics commission],” Chris Whitmire, spokesman for the S.C. Election Commission, told The Voice in January.

    Meghan Walker, the ethics commission’s director, said only the election commission has the power to remove a candidate from the ballot. She said the ethics commission only fines candidates for non-compliance.

    “We don’t file an injunction or anything,” Walker said.

    Section 8-13-1520 further says violations of the ethics chapter are misdemeanors punishable by up to a year in prison, a $5,000 fine or both, though there’s been no indication that charges will be filed.