SC

Lowcountry SC Educrat Indicted

SUPERINTENDENT BROKE THE LAW IN PUSHING $200 MILLION TAX HIKE || By FITSNEWS || The Superintendent of the government-run school system in Berkeley County, S.C. was indicted this week on one count of using taxpayer resources to influence the outcome of an election. Dr. Rodney M. Thompson was indicted by…

SUPERINTENDENT BROKE THE LAW IN PUSHING $200 MILLION TAX HIKE

|| By FITSNEWS || The Superintendent of the government-run school system in Berkeley County, S.C. was indicted this week on one count of using taxpayer resources to influence the outcome of an election.

Dr. Rodney M. Thompson was indicted by a state grand jury convened by attorney general Alan Wilson for his role in manipulating a November 6, 2012 voter referendum.

That vote raised property taxes on Berkeley County homeowners by $200 million.

According to a statement from Wilson’s office, Thompson “did authorize and agree to the production and dissemination of pro-referendum campaign material” related to the election.

All of Thompson’s efforts “promoted and supported a ‘yes’ vote,” Wilson’s office stated.

The use of taxpayer resources to influence the outcome of elections is flagrantly illegal … yet this law is habitually violated in “Republican-controlled” South Carolina.   Especially by government-run schools.

Thompson, if convicted, faces up to a year in prison and fines “five hundred percent of the amounts at issue.”  He is the second Berkeley official (district communications director Amy Kovach was the first) to be indicted related to this scandal – but other indictments against additional district bureaucrats could be forthcoming.

Kovach was indicted last February on the same charge as Thompson.  Then last September she was indicted on forgery charges related to a false invoice which attempted “to establish that she had intended to have public funds repaid to the county” for pro-referendum campaign materials.

Ah, government-run “education.”

Gotta love it …

Thompson is currently on “administrative leave.”  With pay, of course … (editor’s note: eye roll).

Meanwhile taxpayers have shelled out hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal fees to defend these scammers.

***

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18 comments

Pappy O'daniel April 15, 2015 at 8:55 pm

Please explain how the tax money can still be collected now that the architects are indicted?

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Your idiotic question answered April 16, 2015 at 7:56 am

They had a referendum.It passed fairly easily.No one seriously believes that the efforts of Thompson had any real affect on it.

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Manray9 April 15, 2015 at 9:49 pm

This is a crime? How are Haley, her cabinet, and three-quarters of the state legislature not in jail?

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idcydm April 15, 2015 at 10:30 pm

Why just three-quarters and not all?

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Manray9 April 15, 2015 at 11:20 pm

I figure there must be a handful who aren’t crooks.

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idcydm April 16, 2015 at 6:16 am

“Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on offices, a rottenness begins in his conduct.” ~Thomas Jefferson

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CNSYD April 15, 2015 at 10:21 pm

“That vote raised property taxes on Berkeley County homeowners by $200 million.”
In Berkeley County only homeowners pay property taxes? Interesting. I guess businesses, rental property, etc. skate by for free.

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idcydm April 15, 2015 at 10:33 pm

Dr. Rodney M. Thompson, this must be a Dr. that ended up in the bottom half of his class.

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shifty henry April 15, 2015 at 11:19 pm

Q: What do you call a doctor who was at the bottom of his class?
A: “Doctor”

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Rakkasan April 16, 2015 at 5:44 am

Can’t do it in schools–but OK in tax-exempt churches?

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G.O.B. April 16, 2015 at 7:40 am

Alan, this is low hanging fruit. You can reach higher!

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Victorious Secret April 16, 2015 at 8:38 am

That said, $200M is $200M. Keep grabbing fruit wherever you can.

You have to push a healthy mix of hunting squirrel, deer, and elephant. Can’t focus on just one.

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Keep Grabbing Fruit April 16, 2015 at 9:03 am

That’s what she said.

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Lobeco April 16, 2015 at 9:35 am

Meanwhile, millions of dollars remain missing in Jasper County – and nothing has happened to anyone. Tom Davis? Anyone heard from Tom Davis?

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ELCID April 16, 2015 at 11:24 am

What!!!

And, Alan Wilson hasn’t even looked at Lexington District 5’s massive tax increase that was a based upon complete lies, in a campaign funded and pushed directly from the District’s own offices.

I guess Lexington is immune from State and Federal laws under Wilson.

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anonintheknow April 17, 2015 at 12:40 pm

Is it just coincidence that Papa Joe and Mungos’ best friend/personal attorney were/are law partners…you know… Jake Moore and Mungo Family and Moore live in District 5 – a developer’s gold mine? Of course they’re protected.

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Mangum April 16, 2015 at 5:49 pm

Ha! Lex-Rich 5 uses taxpayer dollars for all kinds of campaign activity, including tax hikes and “favored” candidates for school board. They even hired Democrat campaign consultants with taxpayer money. They will be fine, lawmakers and other politicians are scared shitless of them and the Mungos.

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edr April 19, 2015 at 1:42 pm

Every school district in state is guilty of this practice

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