“GETTIN’ PAID, GETTIN’ RICH”
|| By FITSNEWS || We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, but the most powerful political force in South Carolina right now is the consulting empire of Richard Quinn and Associates (a.k.a. “The Quinndom“).
Seriously … there used to be three or four warring factions of “Republican” consulting shops, but the 2010 death of veteran consultant Rod Shealy and the steady decline in influence of consultant/ lobbyist Warren Tompkins has left Quinn’s conglomerate as the state’s 800-pound gorilla.
Or the Death Star … pick your descriptive metaphor.
Whatever you call it, “The Quinndom” enjoys unrivaled influence over state government … which is probably how they are able to command fat paychecks from state agencies like the “flagship” University of South Carolina.
How much?
Well, courtesy of a source in S.C. Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom‘s office, here’s a record from the state spending transparency website …
(Click to enlarge)
(Pic: Provided)
“Institutional support?” Sheesh … more like protection from the Peaky Blinders.
But hey …. those colleges and universities are a core function of government, right? Ummmm … right?
Oh just pay the bill, taxpayers. It’s not like anybody’s keeping score anymore.
14 comments
I can’t read the number on the report. How much?
The political consultants in SC do much more than political consulting. That is their entry into the big, easy money: government, to include the high ed, the Ports Authority and Santee Cooper.
Just ask the big law firms like Nexen Pruet and Nelson Mullens about how much money the pay in “legal” fees (wink wink).
Yeah, maybe these wise guys are just the bagmen.
$76,200 over 12 months? Just over $6,000 a month? That’s just about a retainer fee and a few hours of work. Get over yourself, Will. You’d kill for a $5K/month retainer and you know it.
That’s 76k for 6 months so 12k a month (do the math correctly). Who wouldn’t love to make that a month but that’s not the point. The point is USC pays the Quinndom for influence. Someone needs to FOIA this stuff so we can see how they got this contract!
Betting: no bid contract.
You seem to be making an argument for graft…I’d recommend you remain anonymous as there are angry people being fleeced to pay for Quinn bene’s and they might decide one day to lynch the whole lot of people connected to it.
As long as the conflict stays within the academic/political arena, let the purges begin.
Me too! Although I would stop short of bloodshed … maybe.
Do they rent one of their buildings to the usc alumni association???
Chump change chump. If you want to sling some mud at the University then get to the real dirt – it’s there if you know where to look. You should start at the corner of Blossom.
Richard Quinn and Associates owns 1600 Gervais Street which it leases to the University for its Alumni Association. So the “contractual services” is for rent.
Shirley you jest. And there are no bugs in the meeting rooms.
Mayor Benjamin sold the USC Alumni Association the land where their
new building is for 1,200,000 , the city paid 3,800,000 for the land.
That’s what I call a sweetheart deal.
Wondering if those lobbiests get expenses paid besides. If your flagship U. is paying the fees, is the U. paying for perks, too?
(Those of us in small biz know that, tax wise, the fatter payouts can be “the costs of doing business”. In this case one would rather eat in a good restaurant down the street, than the rubber chicken at the conference, because both tabs are deductible. … And how about the “research” junkets?)