Former Solicitor Seeks Scapegoat
A disgraced former Solicitor is attempting to pin the blame for a massive political scandal in the Pee Dee on the former executive director of the “non-profit” organization that he chaired, according to local reports.
Former Fourth District Solicitor Jay Hodge, who was forced to resign from his taxpayer-funded post two weeks ago amid a federal investigation, is blaming former Mercy Ministries executive director Barbara Bullard for the whole fiasco.
Mercy Ministries is at the heart of the scandal, which involves the alleged misappropriation of drug court and pre-trial intervention funds, public monies which multiple sources have confirmed went to fund private exploits – including work at the former Solicitor’s residence as well as numerous rental properties.
From today’s edition of the Cheraw Chronicle:
I should have been more on top of things, but I trusted Barbara implicitly. I had a job to do as the solicitor that involved me focusing on four counties. Barbara has run Mercy Ministries for eight years, so I never questioned what she was doing.
Bullard pointedly denied the accusations to the paper, saying “I can assure everyone that I’ve done nothing wrong. I have assisted the investigators in every way and will continue to assist them until justice is done.”
In addition to the renovations, Hodge is also alleged to have improperly used public money to pay college tuition costs for his alleged homosexual partner, Bill Overcash, as well as trips for the two of them to Charleston, S.C.
Overcash resigned his position in the Solicitor’s Office last week – the third public official to step down in the wake of the growing scandal.
Unfortunately, Hodge’s problems don’t appear to be stopping with this current flap.
FITS is investigating allegations that Hodge was involved in a November 2006 incident that could have been the impetus for his decision to step down as Solicitor in the first place.
Hodge did not seek reelection as Solicitor in 2008, but stayed on as an Assistant Solicitor – which is the position he was forced to resign from last month.
Developing …
Comments
By Bob Issacs on June 4th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
I couldn’t think of a better headline myself.
By Freddie Guy on June 4th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
How does this implicate the Honorable Ted Vick?
Freddie
By hardyboys on June 4th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Honorable! Are you kidding?
By liz on June 5th, 2009 at 7:00 am
HEY WAIT
I’m the one who knows Social Security was privatized and I am being abused as the scapegoat.
DON”T TAKE THAT TOO
By Just a comment on June 5th, 2009 at 10:16 am
Well, it would seem that Mr. Hodge is now a guest writer for The Cheraw Chronicle. Wonder if next week maybe some real investigative writing will take place or just more of the same spew, from the politician himself.
Wonder if Ms. Berger will get paid for the work of Mr. Hodge? It would seem only fair, considering Mr. Hodge has been paid for many years for the hard work of people around him. I do believe this is the only case Mr. Hodge has worked on in years, besides making special deals behind the scene!
By Tom Sikes on June 5th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Been giving all this some deep thought, probably should be doing something better with my time. It seems that all the accused have paths that have crossed many, many times and while they seem to be able to explain away the individual instances of dealings, how can they explain their repeated contacts and dealings? Seems they have a system in place to refer and reward those in the inner circle. And why would the remaining board members of Mercy Ministries continue to allow the accused to dictate the actions of the board? And I wonder if the board members were notified of the board meeting held this week? Remember in the Link Newspaper, one board member stated that he had not been notified of any meetings since April 16. Since that printing, has the board made any attempt to notify members of meetings, if not, do the attending board members make decisions in their absence. Who is keeping minutes of these meetings? Is it the accused or another member who has had no involvement in the supposed mishaps? Anyway you slice it, something is amiss and is a good thing that matters are being looked into and I’m not talking about the internal investigation that is being conducted and spun, I’m talking about the law enforcement’s efforts. The current Solicitor has been cleaning house in his operations, so mark one down for the citizens. But one thing remains clear, until the current remaining leadership of the ministry cleans its house, its going to continue to stink. One final note, why would our media allow its papers and air waves to be used for the propaganda of one and yet charge their other clients for advertising space? Enquiring minds want to know. To those who have come forward and assisted investigators, words cannot explain the appreciation. To those who keep putting their foots in their mouth…how does it taste.
By about time on June 5th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
About time Fits got to the dirtiest part… Why would a man retire before his pension for life kicked in? He would have been re-elected and then received pension FOREVER!!! This all has to do with something that occurred at a rest stop in Nov. 06 doesn’t it!
By Lee on June 7th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Hey, if you get tired of reading all this negative stuff then check out two of Cheraw’s cutest residents over at http://gyllendogs.wordpress.com
Jake and Maggie have never been embroiled in any scandal (if you overlook that business involving the bones missing from Jingles’ bed).
By John Wilson on June 8th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
To Mr. Sikes, I agree with you, there are definitely too many opportunities flowing in these guys direction for it to be overlooked. Accountability time is now. And for the Mercy board why they would continue to allow the persons in question remain on the board, is beyond me.
By HOTROD 396 SC on July 5th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
I THINK ITS VERY IMMATURE FOR HODGE TO TRY TO PUT THE BLAME ON BARBARA.I THINK MERCY MINISTRIES,INC. IS THE BEST THING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO DARLINGTON COUNTY IN 10 YEARS!KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK BARBARA!!!!!!
By 1st none surprised on July 29th, 2009 at 12:11 am
Shift, shift, shift the blame
Onto someone else…
Shouldn’t have played around at the rest stop
Now I’m in a fix.
(Sung to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat)
What tangled webs we oft weave…