By John Cattano || As a businessman, my experience is in the private sector, most notably as a real estate developer and part-owner of several hotel properties in South Carolina and Georgia. I also served as Deputy Treasurer and then Treasurer of the SCGOP from June 2009 through March 2010. I am writing this piece because I believe in preserving fiscal conservative values within the Republican Party of South Carolina.
I was asked by SCGOP Chairwoman Karen Floyd last summer to become the Treasurer of the party, and after some initial guidance by Glen O’Connell – who had served as SCGOP Treasurer for a few years under Katon Dawson – I assumed that role in December of 2009. I resigned three months later.
In short, I would describe my tenure as an absolutely toxic experience that I could simply no longer endure. Not only was I forced into a reactionary position concerning the party’s extravagant spending on non-electoral items, I was also forced to oversee expenditures on items that would only serve political insiders in Columbia – and to do so without objection.
I believe the responsibility of the SCGOP should be to help elect fiscally conservative Republican candidates in South Carolina. I do not believe it should be used as a promotional vehicle for its chairman or the various political consulting firms who continually fleece the SCGOP of its funds. These consultants serve little purpose but to drain massive amounts of cash from the party, and in my opinion they are nothing more than an incestuous pool of individuals bent on advancing their own agendas.
Unfortunately, Chairwoman Floyd fails to realize that it is not her money that the SCGOP receives, but rather the donors – and that no entity has an entitlement to these funds.
In fact, the average donor would be outraged to learn of the expenditures undertaken by the SCGOP over the past nine months. For example, the hundreds of donors who graciously sent $50 – and who may struggle financially month-to-month – would never understand why the consulting firm of Richard Quinn & Associates was paid $16,000 during the first quarter of 2010 alone, or why the SCGOP had to spend almost $8,000 on a self-promotional brochure for the Chairwoman that was disguised as an “annual report.”
Nor would they understand the thousands of dollars wasted on redundant and worthless printing expenses that were performed by these “consultants” to garner additional income to their firms. In total, I estimate that the political consulting elite have been paid approximately $60,000 over the past seven months. In addition, I am sure many members of the SCGOP would be quite surprised to learn that the party still retains a working-capital loan of approximately $20,000 from First National Bank of the South with a monthly payment of $582. All debt was supposed to have been erased recently with the gracious donation of Roger Milliken, or that’s at least what everyone was told.
Also, while the SCGOP website is indeed excellent, the use of $35,000 to build it when funds are so scarce is a questionable allocation at best, especially when the party is still in debt by approximately $20,000. I understand the SCGOP website won an award at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference recently – and it should have considering the amount of money that was spent on it over the past seven months.
Shouldn’t the goal of the party be to win political elections – not website contests? After all we have individual candidates like Mick Mulvaney who is attempting to unseat John Spratt, Sheri Few who is taking on Anton Gunn, and numerous other Republicans who will be in tough fights in November. Shouldn’t these candidates be receiving these funds instead of a group of overpaid consultants?
If the SCGOP cannot become a better steward of its donors’ generous commitments – if it cannot lead by example through the exercise of fiscal restraint with regards to its OWN funds – then how can Republicans be trusted with anything?
At a time when the SCGOP is criticizing Democrats over their lack of spending restraint, how can this accusation be taken seriously when the GOP’s own fiscal house is out of order?
Preserving cash and considering every nickel to be a valuable resource should be a basic tenet of any organization – particularly one that claims to fight for those principles in government.
That is not what is happening, though.
During my time with the SCGOP it was disappointing to witness the lackadaisical attitude and general lack of regard shown to expenditures that were being paid for with the after-tax income of donors. The donors of the SCGOP assume that their funds are being used to promote Republican candidates – not to promote the self-interest of its Chairman or political consultants. Accordingly, I determined that if I continued on as Treasurer then it would mean I was advocating this loose spending attitude, which is why I decided to resign effective March 31, 2010.
My resignation is neither a vendetta against Chairwoman Floyd, nor a personal attack on any of the direct officers of the SCGOP, but strictly an opinion on the uses of SCGOP funds. Many of the employees and officers of the SCGOP are rising stars; Wes Donehue is a savvy young man who is a genius with technology, Joel Sawyer is a master at communications and operations, and Adam Piper has done a phenomenal job as Third Vice Chairman organizing young Republicans.
Unfortunately, however, their work is often wasted due to excessive spending on consultants.
Also, it’s a real shame that talented individuals such as Ryan Meerstein and Todd Kincannon – both former Executive Directors of the SCGOP over the past nine months – were chewed up and spit out by the chaotic and dramatic management style of Chairwoman Floyd. In the past I have been one of Floyd’s biggest promoters, making generous donations to both her 2006 campaign debt repayment and SCGOP chairman’s election. I have also always assisted her fundraising efforts for individual GOP candidates.
However, the goal of fiscal conservatism in government is larger than one individual and begins at the top through displays of leadership, and my loyalty is with the SCGOP and the executive committee that selected me – not with its Chairwoman.
In conclusion, I truly hope Chairwoman Floyd begins to pay closer attention to the scarce monetary resources that are at her disposal. I also hope she begins to manage the party in a more efficient and organized manner – one in which constructive discussions and feedback are encouraged and not disparaged. A solution to this problem might be for the SCGOP executive committee to appoint an independent finance committee (whose members are not selected by the SCGOP Chairman) to meet each month for the purpose of examining and reviewing party expenditures.
In the end, I was not the correct fit for Treasurer because I am not accustomed to ignoring spending binges in any of my businesses. Vince Lombardi, the legendary football coach of the Green Bay Packers said, “Some people try to find things in this game that don’t exist, but football is only two things, blocking and tackling.”
Maybe it’s time for the Republican Party to get back to the basics as well. I will continue to financially support Republican candidates through donations to individual candidates, but I will not be contributing to the SCGOP because I know where the money really goes.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: John Cattano is a real estate developer and part-owner of several hotel properties located in South Carolina and Georgia. He served as Treasurer of the SCGOP from December 2009 until last month.
By FiscalConservative April 12, 2010 at 12:08 am
Well said, John. Thanks for shining a light on what’s really happening in Columbia.
By conservative republican April 12, 2010 at 3:52 am
“In fact, the average donor would be outraged to learn of the expenditures undertaken by the SCGOP over the past nine months. For example, the hundreds of donors who graciously sent $50 – and who may struggle financially month-to-month – would never understand why the consulting firm of Richard Quinn & Associates was paid $16,000 during the first quarter of 2010 alone, or why the SCGOP had to spend almost $8,000 on a self-promotional brochure for the Chairwoman that was disguised as an “annual report.”
Realizing the relationship of Quinn and Associates to Shamnesty Sen Graham and now the scgop sickens me a little. This cozy triangular relationship cannot be good for our party. Karen Floyd needs to go!! And don’t even think about bringing back Kayton Dawson. We need to reform government, but we should clean up our own house first. I recommend that folks send their hard earned contributions directly to conservative local and statewide candidates as opposed to the scgop forthwith. THIS IS DISGUSTING.
By Gerry April 12, 2010 at 6:17 am
This state is a cess pool. Until we throw out this crowd of “good ole boys and girls” our state will never change.The GOP elected leaders in columbia are no different.
Throw the bums out and lets clean house, starting June 8th.
By Ynotfirst April 12, 2010 at 7:10 am
Mr. Cattano, thank you for being so honest and for signing your name. The SCGOP needs people like you but they unfortunately eat them up and spit them back out.
In my opinion, the SCGOP cannot get much worse, that is until they decide they are truly Nazi’s and start saluting a leader.
The SCGOP is truly one corrupt organization, so very similar to organized crime that it is no longer funny or able to be covered up.
By Web Weaver April 12, 2010 at 7:24 am
HA HA HA HA HA
$35,000 for a $1500 website?
While so many in the political arena are “wowed” by sites such as this, they are extremely easy to build and require very little in the way of programming.
There are literally THOUSANDS of templates available, free of choosing, that are similar, better, worse, etc… relative to the CMS website now used by the scgop
Hell, you can join a club for $20 a month and get much better designs and layouts than this one, easily customizable.
And they say we Republicans aren’t big spenders.
By Observation April 12, 2010 at 7:39 am
Didn’t Katon Dawson pay to have a major website redesign right before he left his position? Then we get another website in less than a year?
By Mike April 12, 2010 at 7:49 am
This article is a bombshell. Send your money directly to the conservative candidates of your choice. Do not contribute to SCGOP. Even if they were not spending the money on themselves, they would spend it on “Republicans” we would not want in office anyway.
By beentook2 April 12, 2010 at 7:51 am
Anyone who gives money to a political party or to an individual who is running or serving in any elective office would be better off shoving their money up a rat’s ass.
By Nancy Mace April 12, 2010 at 7:54 am
I very clearly do not charge enough for websites. ;-)
By Scott April 12, 2010 at 7:58 am
The State GOP is like a gang. They got control and they are going to keep it and they will destroy anyone that tries to stop them. John C better have a flap jacket and helmet, as these guy will have out the long rifles.
The elected officials the GOP sends are not much better. They act as if they own the statehouse.
Only one soulution, and that is to send them packing. If they are an good ole boy,and most of them are, send them home!
By Not surprised April 12, 2010 at 8:37 am
Robert Cahaly agrees that the SCGOP is burning through money too quickly, but he strongly opposes any attempt to cut off overpaid consultants currently working out of the SCGOP’s headquarters.
By Justin Evans April 12, 2010 at 8:43 am
I’ve been telling folks for months to donate elsewhere. In fact, the executive director of the SCGOP attempted to call me out for it!
Thank you John for showing the political courage that is lacking within the political world in SC. We need more like you.
And for the love of conservative values and principles, please get new leadership at the SCGOP….and fast.
We have actual elections to win in June and November.
By Mallory April 12, 2010 at 9:22 am
There are many similarities between Karen Floyd and Michael Steele. Neither realize their job is to promote good candidates; each has misused their position in an attempt to advance their own career. And each are now loathed by the party faithful they betrayed.
By Alison April 12, 2010 at 9:42 am
Floyd threw in with McConnell, Leatherman and Harrell from the jump. She decided to play the inside game. She ignored the future of the SCGOP — legislators like Mulvaney, Duncan and Massey — and focused on improving her own lot. Now she’s paying the price. Good riddance to her.
By Wesley Donehue April 12, 2010 at 9:54 am
The figure John states for the website design and development is WAY off.
I don’t have the specific numbers in front of me, but I can tell you that the SCGOP paid Northbound Design around $5,000 for design work and the coding and development was done by Emotive and paid for completely by the RNC. Thus, the $35,000 figure stated by John is actually closer to $5,000.
Web Weaver – the backend database, donor system, social network, email capabilities, home phone banking and all around CMS and CRM are more sophisticated than any site I’ve ever been a part of building. While yes, I can build a template site for around $1,500, my company couldn’t do anything near this for under $25,000…probably closer to $40,000. If we stick to $1,500 templated sites, we will surely be demolished online in 2010 as we were in 2008. Templates are good for city council and state house races, not for large political organizations that must mobilize tens-of-thousands of activists.
I’ll also say that much of this sites functionality, such as county party templates and the social networking system have not been rolled yet.
Lastly, I’ll point out that Chairman Floyd worked tirelessly to get the RNC to foot this bill so that SCGOP donors wouldn’t have to. We would not have an award winning site if not for her leadership.
All in all, John’s figures regarding the website are extremely off base.
Anyone reading this comment with additional questions regarding the SCGOP’s web operation can contact me at wesleydonehue@gmail.com.
Thank you,
Wesley Donehue
By Not surprised April 12, 2010 at 10:14 am
This is the type of leadership you’re bound to get from a candidate who wins by virtue of being the only one in the race.
By John Steinberger April 12, 2010 at 10:23 am
We have many outstanding GOP candidates for the SC House in the Lowcountry, including Joseph Caplinger (District 102), Peter McCoy (115)and Lee Edwards (119) who don’t have primary opponents and have a chance to defeat Big Government Democrats in November. Each candidate supports eliminating the state income tax. I’d rather see SCGOP money going to support them than supporting fat cat consultants!
By Chris Oviatt April 12, 2010 at 10:46 am
This sounds a lot like sour grapes to me. Mr. Cattano did not share any of this information with the executive committee when he gave his report. He only came forward with these false claims after he had left the SCGOP. He left the SCGOP because he could not handle the political aspect of the office. In other words, he realized that he could not help the select candidates that he found worthy of the SCGOP’s support. Mr. Cattano thought he was more important than he was. The SCGOP does not get involved in primaries, he did not like that.
Karen has been an excellent steward of the SCGOP’s money. Since coming into office 11 months ago. Karen has cleaned up the books and put the party finances in order. If there is anythig shady going on with the SCGOP’s finances, it was Mr.Cattano’s doing.
Mr. Cattano, please go away or at least act like an adult.
Chris Oviatt
Chairman
Kershaw County Republican Party
By Lin Bennett April 12, 2010 at 10:50 am
I was present at the Excomm when Mr. Cattano presented the budget – line by line. Where he now comes up with $35,000 for the website is beyond me. I hope he just made an error on that. The budget was approved by the Excomm. The budget is being overseen by two people with very high integrity – Lanneau Siegling and Dan Herren.
I also agree with hiring consultants instead of full time employees. How the manpower budget is spent makes not difference – as long as they stay within the budget and I believe they have.
At this time in the game when we need to be united, I must question the purpose of this posting. Mr. Cattano was present when the budget was passed. Why now does he question spending instead of talking with the Finance Committee?
By Jeffy01 April 12, 2010 at 10:54 am
Dont forget about GOP staff having to pick up countess vials of Prozac, Paxil, Zyprexa, and Lexapro for Kfloyd….and thats just before lunch. Helter Skelter……
Teams of shrinks can’t fix the bipolar in that head. But I digress…
Hey Nancy Mace….how you doing?
By outsider looking away April 12, 2010 at 11:10 am
I’m sure Robert Cahaly is a big fan of the Quinns, Donahue, and others making all that big $.
Have you met Cahaly?? He only supports him making money. He may not be one of the ones making big money from the party but he is getting plenty from his candidates.
No way that selfish bastard is for others getting rich off the Party. No way no how.
By Georgetown County Conservative April 12, 2010 at 11:29 am
Yeah he got advice from Glenn Oconnell. Glenn “one termer” Oconnell told him to shut his mouth and play ball like the others. Only this guy did the right thing and stepped up and told the truth. Unlike the lying vote for every tax increase that came along in Georgetown County Glenn Oconnell. Glenn and the others think the party is there to pad their pockets. Thanks to this guy we now know the truth about Glenn Oconnell and the party.
By This is crazy... April 12, 2010 at 12:03 pm
The state party’s main functions are 1. to ensure that GOP candidates get elected in November and 2. to make sure that the state party is compliant with the state election commission, FEC and State Ethics. Now we’ll all see what happens in November, but I can tell you that they’ve done an above-board job getting Victory off and running way earlier than in years past and have gone through great strides to do so.
The state party does not get involved in primaries. Period. If that was the case, then you would see so many folks up in arms and the state party would have NO ability to raise money because surely the SCGOP would be pissing many donors off if they were to endorse in primaries.
The problem is that not enough people understand what the role of the SCGOP is in a primary cycle. Its a ton of work to get candidate filing ready and to raise the funds needed for Victory and for November. But of course, each person that has the time to post a negative comment on a blog and ridicule something that they know nothing about (Justin) has way too much time on their hands.
By mohanna April 12, 2010 at 12:10 pm
Uh Oh, somebody needs to get spanked on their way out.
By My .02 April 12, 2010 at 1:53 pm
If you guys don’t think Robert Cahaly is benefiting financially from the SCGOP and buddy Karen Floyd, think again. And as far as not getting involved in primaries, they sure seem to be helping Ken Ard all they can. And he’s the RINO in the bunch.
By Becky Delleney April 12, 2010 at 2:00 pm
I am a member of the South Carolina Republican Party Executive Committee. As a voting member of this committee, I would have appreciated it if John Cattano had contacted me personally to share his concerns about the SC GOP verses venting his frustrations on the internet for the whole world to see.
Personal attacks against Karen Floyd serve no purpose, nor do they help elect Republican candidates. Ronald Reagan often quoted the Eleventh Commandment which is “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican”. Mr. Cattano would be prudent to follow such wise and sound advice.
Mrs. Floyd works tirelessly on behalf of the South Carolina Republican Party. She works hard everyday on our behalf. We should thank her for her commitment to our party.
By OhNoNotAgain April 12, 2010 at 2:56 pm
From the outside looking in, sounds to me like the people he wants the party to support aren’t being supported, and he doesn’t like the people the party is spending its money with.
He questions the price being paid, but nothing suggests that the party is spending money on things it shouldn’t be spending it.
As compared to the Lesbian Bondage Fiasco at the national level.
Except for one thing. Apparently the debt was supposed to have been retired by the Millikin donation. That one bears some inquiry.
By Caution April 12, 2010 at 3:45 pm
I just visited the SCGOP.com site. The website sucks! A fifth grader could have done better! There were so many javascript errors that the page loses its functionality. And to think that this POS won some kind of award?
By Caution April 12, 2010 at 3:48 pm
Just for comparison, the scdp.org website actually works!
By Khadijah April 12, 2010 at 3:59 pm
Screw the “11th commandment.” Fire the incumbents!!!
By Sam from SC New Dems April 12, 2010 at 4:23 pm
Anyone else find it ironic that the SCGOP’s first tweet following this article being posted wasn’t to clarify or respond, but instead to call *Rob Miller* ‘Mr No Comment??’
http://blog.scnewdemocrats.org/2010/04/no-comment-has-never-meant-so-much.html
By Wesley Donehue April 12, 2010 at 4:28 pm
Caution – I see no errors. I’d love for you to point them out to me so that I can fix them immediately.
My email address is wesleydonehue@gmail.com.
If, of course, you don’t mind revealing your identity.
Thanks,
Wesley
By Ben Kinlaw April 12, 2010 at 4:51 pm
As a member of the SC State Executive Committee I was in attendance for our First Quarter 2010 meeting, sitting front and center. At no point did I hear Mr. Cattano express any concerns regarding the budget that he actively participated in preparing and presenting.
We are preparing for the November 2nd mid-term elections, the last thing we need is divisiveness in our state party. We have a unique opportunity to elect Republicans at the county, state and federal level.
For those of us who have made a commitment to the SCGOP we are fully aware of the personal sacrifices and tireless efforts Chairman Floyd has made in moving our party to the next level.
Publicly attacking Chairman Floyd does not move our party forward and does not bode well for our upcoming mid-term elections.
By Me April 12, 2010 at 5:10 pm
Defending incompetent leadership doesn’t move your party forward either Mr. Kinlaw. If i had to wager i would say people that are happy with the status quo like yourself are responsible for the mass infection of RINO’s in this state and the destruction of it. Thank god i never wasted any money supporting the SCGOP or my RINO rep Henry Brown .
By Khadijah April 12, 2010 at 5:40 pm
Wes,
I’m a big fan of yours, but I’m a little confused about the numbers you posted.
“…the SCGOP paid Northbound Design around $5,000 for design work and the coding and development was done by Emotive and paid for completely by the RNC. Thus, the $35,000 figure stated by John is actually closer to $5,000.”
“…my company couldn’t do anything near this for under $25,000…probably closer to $40,000.”
Do you mean that the RNC paid $30,000+ while the SCGOP paid just $5,000 for design work? Thanks for clarifying!
By Nancy Mace April 12, 2010 at 8:16 pm
@Jeffy01
Good. How you doin’?
;-)
By Wesley Donehue April 12, 2010 at 8:53 pm
Khadijah – Thank you for the compliment.
Actually, I nor anyone else at the SCGOP know how much the RNC paid. All I know is that we paid around $5k.
I was just saying that if my company did the entire project we could not do it for under $25k.
- Wesley
By Glen O'Connell April 12, 2010 at 11:58 pm
I was incredibly taken aback when I read John Cattano’s recent article in this blog. Cattano not only misrepresents the SCGOP financial status, but it is criticism that is very disingenuous coming from someone who was so disengaged and disinterested in party operations during his tenure as Deputy Treasurer up until December 31 last year.
I served as Treasurer during the administrations of Katon Dawson and later Karen Floyd, from her election until December 31, 2010. I led the effort in both cases to identify and correct bookkeeping, accounting, and compliance reporting issues. In both cases no malfeasance was discovered.
During Floyd’s tenure I presided over an outside audit and was able to report that no significant issues were identified.
In my time as Treasurer, I was incredibly disappointed with my Deputy, John Cattano. Cattano was difficult to track down, hard to contact, and uninterested in doing any real, significant, or meaningful work on behalf of the party. I don’t believe he has the credibility to cast aspersions with regard to the finances of the SCGOP.
Glen O’Connell
By Patrick April 13, 2010 at 4:16 am
I hope he’s got more. I was expecting at least a couple of strip club receipts from the Doll House or something like office supplies from Greens. Tell me there is more that “I don’t like RQA” and etc., etc. Fiscal mismanagement my arse.
Pingback: Spartanburg Tea Party | Former SCGOP Treas details $ abuses, SCGOP sez “nuh-uh!”
By Matt April 13, 2010 at 11:13 am
Maybe Karen should call her friend and old boss Dick Harpootlian for advise. He seemed to have a pretty good run as party chair back in the late 90′s. Oh wait, that was the other party.
Well, at least Karen and Dick can reminisce about the time they attended the DNC fundraiser in Washington together and swooned over Bill Clinton…the same year Karen decided to run for office as a Republican!
By WorkingTommyC April 13, 2010 at 2:34 pm
QUOTE:
By Becky Delleney on April 12th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
“. . . Ronald Reagan often quoted the Eleventh Commandment which is “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican”. Mr. Cattano would be prudent to follow such wise and sound advice.”
END QUOTE
_________________________________________
That’s what Ronald Reagan said.
That’s what Ronald Reagan said.
Listen now to what I say:
That’s how the RINOs got that way.
And then came Lindsey . . . ugh!
By the standards of the Founding Fathers, Ronald Reagan was a “RINO,” too. There’s nothing magical about any one man–such charismatic “leadership” has screwed this country time and again.
Just because dear ol’ R.R. (R.I.P.) said it, doesn’t make it canon. That was HIS strategy back then when there was no real talk of returning to the Constitution by anyone really serious about doing it.
The times they are achangin’ and principled conservatives/supporters of the U.S. Constitution are way past such absurd truisms repeatedly used by the very sinners to whom most of our criticisms rightfully apply.
Let us all instead apply principles over politics and never fail to speak the truth no matter how much it hurts the likes of Lindsey Graham and other betrayers of their oaths of office.
By Ron April 14, 2010 at 2:42 pm
Reagan meant that we should not make personal attacks on each other. He did not mean to outlaw critism, or argument based on fact.
Good ole boys use that argument to keep from being exposed….screw them I say.