Rainey continues fight for transparency, ethics

Former chairman of the Board of Economic Advisors John Rainey continues to fight for clean government, transparency and ethics, with a terrific column in today's edition of the Orangeburg Times and Democrat.

The resignation of former Lt. Gov. Ken Ard, followed shortly by his indictment and guilty plea, marks another milestone in the long road of ethical lapses by public officials in South Carolina. One might have thought that Lost Trust, the 1992 sting operation wherein several legislators were caught essentially selling their votes, would have served as a corrective for future politicians, but they continue to live up (or down) to expectation.

We now learn from the Center for Public Integrity, Public Radio International and Global Integrity (Center) that South Carolina ranks 45th among the 50 states and scored an “F” on the Center’s “State Integrity Investigation.” Components of the report card for which South Carolina individually received an “F” included Public Access to Information, Executive Accountability, Legislative Accountability, Judicial Accountability, State Budget Processes, State Civil Service Management and Ethics Enforcement Agencies.

One of the center’s criteria for judging state ethics agencies is “In law, the agency or set of agencies tasked with enforcing state ethics rules has jurisdiction across all branches (including legislatures) of the state government.” The grade for South Carolina is zero because the South Carolina General Assembly polices itself on the question of ethics, contrary to the best practices as defined by the center.

South Carolina’s ethics laws, however, are lax for all public officials, not just legislators. The ethics laws themselves require something less than full ethical behavior, which could be one of the reasons that South Carolina scored an “F” in this area.

I resigned as chairman of the South Carolina Board of Economic Advisors effective Dec. 10, 2010. I received in March, 2011, $5,000 in deferred pay for the year 2010 from the BEA.

While in the process of preparing my 2011 Statement of Economic Interest for the calendar year 2010, I inquired of the South Carolina State Ethics Commission (Ethics) whether I should report the $5,000 then or I should plan to file another SEI in 2012 in order to report wages received in 2011. Ethics informed me, in fact, that I needed to file no report at all in 2011 (for 2010) since I no longer held the office as of April 15, 2011.

General counsel Cathy Hazelwood informed my office by email that, “Mr. Rainey doesn’t need to file a 2011 SEI. You file if you’re in the position on April 15, 2011. He’s not, so no filing is required. I would delete the one you’ve started unless he must file for some other position.”

South Carolina law indeed states that, “A person required to file a Statement who is no longer in office on April 15 of the year following the first filing, is not required to file an updated Statement.” This regulation, to add insult to injury, became law in 1997 as part of the post-Lost Trust ethics “reforms”. It was written by Ethics and sent to the General Assembly which, according to its 1997 Journal, never voted on it, thereby allowing it to become law since Regulations require a negative vote to stop them. The whole lot, therefore, collaborated to create by law a period of time during which public officials may hide from public scrutiny.

The public lost its right to know whether a public official received anything that may have constituted a conflict of interest during this time. Such a conflict, if it existed, remains unknown unless probable cause ever exists for law enforcement to investigate.

Our ethics laws release from their requirements public officials at the very time when they know that they will not again face scrutiny by election or confirmation. This could not be more backwards.

Ken Ard, for instance, may choose to not file this year a SEI for 2011 during which he served as lieutenant governor simply because he will not hold the office on April 15, 2012. He also, of course, may choose not to file in 2013 a SEI for the 2-1/2 months of 2012 during which he held office.

This 14-1/2-month free pass on ethics reporting simply boggles the mind, particularly since the pass resulted from a resignation stemming from ethics reporting violations.

I filed a SEI in 2011 (for 2010), including the $5,000 paid to me in 2011, simply because the spirit of the ethics law calls for full disclosure during one’s tenure in office.

I urge Ken Ard to file for 2011 and 2012. This, however, is not about Mr. Ard. This is about the fact that our ethics laws make a farce of the notion of accountability and transparency, and therefore contribute to the status of South Carolina as a national laughingstock. And so it goes.

Could Glenn McConnell become Governor?

If John Rainey gets his way, it will be so: Glenn McConnell -- now less than a week into his service as Lieutenant Governor -- may succeed Nikki Haley before her first term ends in January, 2015.

As widely respected as McConnell is for his whipsmart political mind, today's news from Columbia may show that McConnell is also the cleverest person in the entire legislature.

The news? It comes from Columbia's Free Times, which broke the story last fall of Lt. Governor Ken Ard's ethical challenges.

A judge heard oral arguments on March 12 in a public corruption lawsuit brought on behalf of a prominent GOP fundraiser against Republican Gov. Nikki Haley.

Fifth Circuit Judge Casey Manning has yet to make an official ruling on whether the case will move forward.

If ever answered prayers might prove beneficial to the people of a state, now is the time to pray that Judge Casey Manning grants time and space for justice to blossom in his courtroom. In the spirit of last year's Tunisians, Egyptians and Libyans, let's pray for a Carolina Spring.

Reached by phone, Haley spokesman Rob Godfrey said the governor's office had no immediate comment on the matter.

Of course she hasn't. That doesn't stop the rest of us from considering it aloud, in public places.

Former Board of Economic Advisors chairman John Rainey, who recruited Mark Sanford to run for governor in 2002, filed the lawsuit in November. It asks whether Haley broke any laws as a House member either by lobbying a state agency on behalf of her employer Lexington Medical Center or by doing secret consulting work for Wilbur Smith and failing to properly abstain from legislation benefitting the engineering firm. Both occurred during the time she represented Lexington County as a Republican in the S.C. House prior to becoming governor in 2010.

Regardless of how the judge rules, a complaint could still be filed with the S.C. House Ethics Committee, a six-member panel of House members that regulates the conduct of current and former House members and candidates.

Complaints brought before the committee can end up in front of Republican State Attorney General Alan Wilson. On March 9, Wilson indicted former Lt. Gov. Ken Ard, a fellow Republican, on public corruption charges.

“I believe Governor Haley is the most corrupt person to occupy the Governor’s Mansion since Reconstruction,” Rainey has said. “Put it another way: I think she is corrupt to the core of her being.”

To the core of her being.

I don't know for sure about Haley's anatomy, but I believe that when the House proposed improving its appropriation to public schools, she excoriated House members and demanded they use that money instead for corporate tax breaks. If that represents being corrupt to the core of her being, then she's corrupt.

Rainey's lawsuit also alleges that Haley filed false claims on her ethics reports, failed to disclose her association with lobbyists; neglected to disclose conflicts of interests when voting on bills; illegally voted to benefit a business she was associated with; and used her office to solicit money from lobbyists.

Whew. That's a lot of failing and using.

The House Ethics Committee is charged with regulating its own members and former members. The State Ethics Commission does not have jurisdiction over current or former state legislators.

Oh, no, no -- this is too big an issue to leave to the House Ethics Committee. That's a recipe for delay, distraction, disappointment and dissatisfaction. A Haley investigation would be buried there, and we'd never hear of it again.

Aiken Republican Rep. Roland Smith chairs the House Ethics Committee. The retired rural mail carrier and minister says he is not aware of any complaint against Haley before his committee.

If his committee received one, Smith says, he would refer it to staff attorney Emma Dean to determine if it’s valid. Dean has been there about a year, he said. She is also assistant counsel to the House Judiciary Committee. If Dean decides the complaint deserves an investigation then she would refer it to the committee for a vote on whether to proceed.

The committee has a staff of two, according to its researcher Adam Anderson. After staffers make recommendations on a complaint, the committee members serve as “the judge and jury,” Smith said.

See? Recipe for disappointment. When was the last time the House Ethics Committee ruled against a sitting governor and called into question the legitimacy of his (or, now, her) claim to the office? I wager it's never happened.

Smith says his committee could be fair and impartial if it had to investigate a sitting governor – and a fellow Republican.

“We would certainly have to entertain that,” he said March 16 about what would happen if he received a complaint about Haley. “We have to be fair … that's our motto: to see that House members are treated fairly as well as people in the public that may be dealing with whatever is being dealt with.”

Smith said if the committee found probable cause in an investigation it would refer the findings to the attorney general.

Five Republicans make up the six-member panel.

“We’ve got honest people on the Ethics Committee that really take their job seriously,” Smith said.

We had an honest governor who cheated on his wife and lied to South Carolinians about leaving the country to be with his mistress.

We had an honest state treasurer who was using and dealing cocaine.

We had an honest agriculture commissioner who held illegal cockfights.

We had an honest 66-year-old assistant attorney general who was caught on a Monday at 3:15 in the afternoon sitting in his car with some adult toys, some little blue pills and an 18-year-old stripper in Columbia's Elmwood Cemetery.

We have two honest state representatives serving today, one under indictment for failing to file tax returns, and another arrested for harrassment; and a third state representative suspended from office, under indictment for failing file state tax returns.

Our government is full of honest people. They're so honest, they rarely seem able to find fault in the crimes and ethical lapses of others like them.

Which, luckily, our judicial system is designed and empowered to do for them.

As it related to any complaint against Haley, Smith said in November, “I’m interested if there is substance … If that’s brought before the committee.”

He also said his Ethics Committee doesn’t comment on any investigations -- or about whether it is even conducting them.

Common Cause of South Carolina director John Crangle, whose watchdog group has observed state government for decades, doesn't have much faith in the panel.

“The House Ethics Committee in my opinion is little more than a fraud,” he says.

Little more than a fraud. I don't know John Crangle, but I respect his intelligence and judgment. He seems to know a bit about our state government.

Crangle says the panel has historically accomplished little more than receiving reports filed by House members related to their campaign fundraising and says anything it does is confidential.

Options for sanctions against a House member under the committee could include a private or public reprimand, depending on what the members find.

“Historically I can't recall a single case in which they have publicly disciplined a House member, and that even goes back to Operation Lost Trust where a number of House members were indicted and convicted of bribery,” Crangle says.

Not a single case, he says, in all these years. There's been just too many honest people serving in government, obviously.

Lawmakers are proposing a bill that would abolish the respective House and Senate ethics committees and instead put legislators under the jurisdiction of the State Ethics Committee.

“Right now you have the fox guarding the hen house,” says bill sponsor Rep. Boyd Brown, a Fairfield County Democrat. “It's like delivering lettuce by way of the rabbit. It's anything but ethical.”

Candidly, I don't see this proposal going far. South Carolina doesn't have a good record of abolishing bad ideas.

As for John Rainey and his corruption charges: After what happened this week to our former Lieutenant Governor, momentum would seem to be on the side of investigation and resignation.

Onward!

Lieutenant Governor Ken Ard has resigned

Adam Beam of The State newspaper has reported that Lieutenant Governor Ken Ard has resigned his office, via a press statement.

The resignation comes after a nine month investigation by a state Grand Jury into ethics violations, including allegations Ard used campaign money to buy personal items, including iPads, clothes, football tickets and a TV. Attorney General Alan Wilson and SLED Chief Mark Keel have a news conference scheduled for this afternoon.

“During my campaign, it was my responsibility to make sure things were done correctly. I did not do that. There are no excuses nor is there need to share blame. It is my fault that the events of the past year have taken place,” Ard said in a news release. “ I regret the distraction this has caused for the people of this state, my family, my staff, and other elected officials in South Carolina. It is because of these mistakes that I must take full ownership and resign from the Office of Lieutenant Governor. Once again, I am deeply sorry and take full responsibility for the entire situation.”

Lt. Gov. Ken Ard presided over the SC Senate Thursday. Here he waits for a group of senators to discuss an amendment. Ard is the focus of a state Grand Jury investigation for ethics laws violations that is now entering its ninth month.

“I want to thank the great people of South Carolina for the incredible opportunity to serve as their Lieutenant Governor. It truly has been an honor and an experience I will never forget. The love and support you have shown my entire family has been humbling and something I will always remember.

“I also want to thank my family, especially my wife, Tammy, and my three children, Jesse, Mason, and Libby. You have lived this experience with me. There were challenges and setbacks, but you were steadfast in your support and were there for me at every turn.

“To those who volunteered and worked on our campaign, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You were always there and never expected anything in return.

“To my staff, I have nothing but praise. Your professionalism and work ethic have been exemplary from day one. You have remained focused on carrying out the duties of our office in spite of other distractions.

“To all of the above and more, I owe a great apology. During my campaign, it was my responsibility to make sure things were done correctly. I did not do that. There are no excuses nor is there need to share blame. It is my fault that the events of the past year have taken place.

“I regret the distraction this has caused for the people of this state, my family, my staff, and other elected officials in South Carolina. It is because of these mistakes that I must take full ownership and resign from the Office of Lieutenant Governor. Once again, I am deeply sorry and take full responsibility for the entire situation.”

Media: Romney kicks "toxic" Haley to the curb

Do you reckon this means Governor Nikki Haley's chances of joining the Romney ticket as a vice presidential nominee are down the drain? This is depressing; I was looking forward to the discussion of Lieutenant Governor Ken Ard's succession.

For the two weeks leading up to January's S.C. Republican primary, presumptive nominee Mitt Romney and S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley were seemingly inseparable.

They appeared together at events in Romney's adopted home state of New Hampshire, as well as multiple events across the Palmetto State: she was campaigning with her husband after her endorsment in mid-December, she was on the stage in Charleston when former VP candidate John McCain mistakenly called Romney by the name Obama and she repeated the mistake herself on her birthday, the day before the primary at a Greenville event.

But when Romney, leading in the state's polls throughout January until four days before the Jan. 21 vote, took the stage that night to congratulate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on his victory — his only to this point — Haley was nowhere to be seen, instead staying home to celebrate her 40th birthday with her family.

I noticed that too! But I assumed that it was Haley's decision, that she didn't want to be seen with the loser and have those indelible images posted for all eternity on the internet, like the shots of her with ol' Sarah Palin.

So it was really Romney's choice?

And she's been absent ever since.

Instead of stumping for Romney through other important Southern states, where her name recognition would be high, Haley has stayed at home while heavy campaigning has taken place in Florida, Georgia and Virginia. Other prominent national Republicans — including Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — have taken her place.

Haley, through her spokesman Rob Godfrey, said that she remains in contact with the Romney campaign and plans to continue campaigning for Romney.

Remains in contact. Have you spent any time in our criminal courts recently? The dockets are full of cases of men or women trying to "remain in contact" with their former boyfriends or girlfriends after some acrimony. Judges call that harrassment or stalking, and sometimes they issue restraining orders against it. Is Her Man Godfrey trying to say that Haley is having difficulty giving up on that relationship? Our governor?

The governor's office also points to local responsibilities as the main reason she has been absent from any Romney campaign stops for the past six weeks.

News flash: There were plenty of local responsibilities to hold the governor's attention during those two long weeks in arctic New Hampshire, and during those ten long days that Haley spent escorting Mr. Inevitable from Greenville to Charleston. Those local responsibilities weren't enough to tear her away from her political meal ticket then, so why now, if it isn't that Mr. Inevitable has declared her Ms. Unnecessary?

"South Carolina is on the cusp of passing the largest government restructuring bill in two decades — that, our budget, and economic development is where the Governor's focus has been since the South Carolina presidential primary," Godfrey said in a statement.

Is that it? We need her more than Romney does? Forgive the chuckling in the background, but I somewhat doubt that. If the past decade has demonstrated one thing to the kiddies in South Carolina, it's that we're perfectly capable of running things without an effective governor, or his or her presence in Columbia. Uh, does the Appalachian Trail ring a bell?

We're on "the cusp," he says. The cusp. Such words. How about "the precipice"?

Comparable conflicts, like a pair of controversial abortion bills in Virginia and a gay marriage debate in New Jersey, haven't kept McDonnell and Christie off the trail, but Haley's office insists she will still play a role in the campaign.

"We're in constant contact with the Romney campaign," Godfrey said, "the governor intends to continue to campaign for him both before and after he's the Republican nominee, and her belief that he is the right person to occupy the White House is unwavering."

Uh-oh. We're veering into "Fatal Attraction" territory here: "I won't be ignored, Dan -- er, Mitt!"

Your Honor, what I'm doing is not harrassment or stalking. It's just that I know deep down in my heart that we're right for each other, and I'm willing to be patient until he realizes it too, but I have to keep letting him know that I'm here, so he doesn't forget what we once had -- and what we're destined to have again, forever.

Romney's campaign office did not return multiple phone calls and emails asking for plans to use Haley moving forward. And former S.C. House Speaker David Wilkins, another prominent Romney supporter, declined to comment on Haley's apparent lack of campaign involvement.

Ooh, that has to sting. Former House Speaker David Wilkins won't comment on Haley's status in the Romney campaign? Former Ambassador to Canada Wilkins, who has former President George W. Bush on speed dial? He's still in, but she's out?

College of Charleston Political Science Professor Kendra Stewart said the reason Haley has disappeared from the campaign trail may have to do with her novelty wearing off.

"There was initially a lot of interest in her," Stewart said. "She was new, a woman who was able to capture the top elected office in South Carolina, but a lot of that has died down as the national party tries to prop up their candidates."

This sounds an awful lot like an assessment of the gubernatorial campaign of 2010. Haley was a novelty, there was initially a lot of interest, she got a lot of attention, then she won office and, whoops, South Carolinians got a big case of buyer's remorse. Conservative temple priests like John Rainey start asking uncomfortable questions. Former employers start telling inconvenient truths. Angry, double-crossed lawmakers reveal backroom deal-cutting. Facebook friends post barbed comments and get unfriended. It's a mess.

What's shocking, really, is that Romney wanted to swim in that tainted pool at all.

Stewart said that Haley doesn't have as much in the way of leadership experience as some of the other big names lining up behind candidates on the campaign trail, and that is a potential reason she has fallen out of the spotlight now that the race has moved on from South Carolina.

"The other names popping up tend to have lots more leadership experience because that's one area where (Pres. Barack) Obama is polling the weakest, so they are looking for people with a lot more leadership experience," Stewart said. "They're looking for someone who can beat Obama in that area."

Oh, the unkindest cut of all! A comparison of inexperience between former U.S. Senator Barack Obama and Haley! Yikes. Medic!

The only thing worse than that would be to craft a reference to our governor using some Britney Spears lyrics!

At least one S.C. Democrat says the reason Haley is no longer at Romney's side is obvious.

“She’s absolutely toxic,” Democratic strategist Tyler Jones. “[The primary] exposed her. She’s the second most unpopular governor in the South and the national media didn’t realize that until they got into South Carolina.”

She's toxic!

Can anything be worse?

Jones said Haley’s fluctuating national reputation mimicked that of another female governor.

“The more people get to know Nikki Haley, the less they like her,” Jones said. “That’s sort of the same with Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin.”

Nooo, not Palin!

“You will not see Nikki Haley on the same stage as Mitt Romney again this primary season,” Jones added. “She might be able to raise money behind closed doors but the Romney campaign will not allow her to take a role in the campaign if he has any desire to win.”

How the mighty have fallen.

Stewart at the College of Charleston, meanwhile, sees some truth to Jones' assessment of Haley.

"Her endorsement of Romney didn't carry much weight with South Carolina voters," Stewart said. "That is indicative of her standing with South Carolina voters."

"She's not that popular at home now."

Stewart said Haley is making some of the mistakes that her predecessor Gov. Mark Sanford made in alienating legislators in the General Assembly. While Haley can point to the government restructuring bill, if it passes, as a win, she has burned many bridges already in the S.C. House and Senate.

"It's hard to rise any higher nationally if you can't get support at home," Stewart said. "And she's not making a lot of friends in the legislature."

Stewart said Haley has some popular ideas, but she has yet to be able to convert them into policies. She said people in the state are also getting tired Haley consistently turning down federal money available to the state, and her apparent refusal to listen to anyone who does not agree with her, and points to a recent Post and Courier article about Haley deleting Facebook comments that were critical of her.

"If she's not listening to anyone, that could hurt her re-election chances," Stewart said.

Governor, now might be the time to buck up, admit some neglect and misplaced priorities, and get on board behind South Carolina's 700,000 public schoolchildren. They could use a governor in their corner right now, because they haven't had one there in a long time.