Handpicked Power: Fire District Controversy Raises Questions Over Senator's Selections

It's easy to see what brings people here.

Rolling farm land mingles with fancy new homes that enjoy a front-row view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. This is the pretty side of Holly Springs.

But lately, all we've seen is the ugly. Community meetings where citizens shout both valid questions and personal attacks at commission members; commissioners who sit stone-faced and refuse to explain decisions.  

This community in northern Spartanburg County is divided over one of the few things that has its name on it: The Holly Springs Fire & Rescue Department. It is managed by a volunteer board which recently decided the fire chief needs to either work part-time or resign, ostensibly for budget reasons.

The conflict first grabbed outside attention when a judge ruled the board violated South Carolina Freedom of Information Act laws when it met on June 16th to discuss Chief Lee Jeffcoat's position without notifying the public. Since then, community members have raised questions about how those board members came to serve on the board in the first place.

"To me, the board members are a bunch of rodeo clowns," says Holly Springs resident Nick Zatorsky.

Zatorsky, a Connecticut transplant, says he did not have a prior allegiance to either Jeffcoat or any of the board members before this controversy erupted (a rarity in this tight-knit community). And despite having served on numerous public boards himself, including the Greenville County Health Planning Council and the Spartanburg Board of Assessment Control, both of which he chaired, he has never applied to serve on the Holly Springs Fire District board.

"It's clear you have a clique of people on that board who have one common goal: to bring down the fire department at whatever cost," says Zatorsky.

NOMINATED TO SERVE

Four of the five Holly Springs board members are fairly new, having been appointed in 2009. In South Carolina, special purpose district board members are nominated by legislators and appointed by the governor. But even the governor's staff admits his signature of the appointment is simply a formality.

"The real vetting of these candidates is supposed to be done by your local legislative delegation," says Bart Swaim of Governor Mark Sanford's Office.

Senator Lee Bright (R - Roebuck) nominated the four new commissioners at three meetings of the Spartanburg County Legislative Delegation in 2009. He says he got involved in the issue in 2008 when he attended a meeting held by Holly Springs residents who were upset at Chief Jeffcoat and the fire board for pushing a tax referendum.

"There had been a couple of attempts by the board to raise people's property taxes because the chief wanted to fund a full-time fire department," says Bright (the Holly Springs Fire Department is mostly volunteer). "These people felt the board wasn't looking out for them and they wanted some new board members. So they invited me and (State Representatives) Rita Allison and Joey Millwood to come to this meeting and listen to their concerns."

The meeting was held at Furniture Warehouse Showroom, which is owned by a man named Mike McClure. McClure does business with Sen. Bright's trucking company.

"He's not one of my bigger clients," says Bright. "We haul a few things for him."

Bright says the people at the meeting, including McClure, named several Holly Springs residents who they would like to see serve on the fire district board. 

"I tried to pick people both sides of the community would be happy with," says Bright.

At the August 2009 meeting of the legislative delegation, Bright nominated Ryan Phillips, a local contractor, to serve on the fire board (Phillips is now chairman of the board). Official minutes from that meeting show his nomination was seconded by Rep. Millwood and then approved by the entire delegation. Two days later, according to campaign contribution data on the SC Ethics Commission website, Furniture Warehouse Showroom made a $1000 donation to Bright's campaign. Five days earlier, the business had donated the same amount to Millwood.

Bright says the timing of the donation was just a coincidence and in no way influenced his selection of Phillips.

"I solicit contributions from every citizen who can donate them," says Bright. "I mean, I have yet to date turned down a contribution. I have folks that contribute that I help, and I have folks that don't contribute that I help. I have folks that I haven't helped that have contributed."

McClure also says the timing of the donation was coincidental.

"I gave a thousand dollars to several politicians around that time," says McClure. "I gave some to Nikki Haley, I gave some to Chuck Wright. I told my sons we needed to give some to Lee Bright because he actually came to Holly Springs and listened to our concerns."

Bright says Phillips was not one of the people McClure recommended to him, but McClure contradicts that claim.

"I didn't really know Phillips at the time but I knew his in-laws. They're pillars of the community and thought he would make a good, honest board member, so I told Bright about him," says McClure. "But Phillips was not one of the first names I gave him."

McClure says he also recommended Roscoe Kyle to Bright and several other legislators. Kyle was nominated by Bright at the February 23, 2009, delegation meeting.

"I know McClure named a lot of people who I did not nominate," says Bright. "I didn't pick his top choices."

Bright says before nominating Phillips, he consulted with Jeffcoat and others who support the fire department. He also nominated board members Clarence Gibbs and Kelly Waters.

"Clarence, I've known him for years and he is just an upstanding man who I think very highly of," says Bright.

Gibbs' name appears on an invitation for Bright's 40th birthday party which doubled as a campaign fundraiser. The party was held in March at Cleveland Park in Spartanburg and was attended by four Republican gubernatorial candidates. Gibbs and his wife are listed on the card as being members of the "host committee". Bright says the host committee is made up of people who donated money to the campaign. McClure's name also appears on the list.

"It's unfortunate that you have to raise money to run for office. You have to buy television time, something I learned during the last election," says Bright. "But my vote is in no way for sale. Anyone who knows me knows that."

Bright says Gibbs actually recommended Waters to him when he nominated her for the fire board in November 2009. Waters is a real estate agent who works out of Gibbs' business, Inman Realty. Bright says their working relationship is not a conflict of interest when it comes to serving on the same board, something with which the state ethics commission agrees.   

 APPLICATION RAISES QUESTIONS

Before fire board candidates can be nominated by legislators, they must fill out an application supplied by the county legislative delegation office. Phillips' application has raised questions because of one of his answers and a non-answer.

The last question on the application asks, "Do you think there would be a conflict of interest if you were to serve on this board?" Phillips circled, "Yes". The application does not ask for an explanation. He also skipped another question related to conflict of interest.

Phillips says he doesn't know why he circled "yes". He says he does not have a conflict. And he says he does not know why he skipped the other question.

"It was just a mistake," said Phillips.

The applications are supposed to be reviewed by the legislators who nominate the board members. When asked if he had noticed the mistakes on Phillips' application, Bright says he had not.

"We get a lot of applications," says Bright. "I'm sure I looked at it. I can't believe no one caught that. Usually (Senator) Shane Martin catches stuff like that. He's very thorough."

 Check back later for updates.