“If at first you don’t succeed …”
For the second time this year, a South Carolina state representative has come up short in his bid to win a high-paying job in local government. First, Alan Clemmons lost out on his quest to become the city attorney for Myrtle Beach, S.C.
This week, Clemmons withdrew his name as a candidate for the job of administrator of Horry County – a position that has become a bit of a lightning rod in this notoriously corrupt region of the Palmetto State.
According to editor Charles Perry of My Horry News, Clemmons “contacted county council members late last week and told them he was withdrawing his name from consideration” due to a lack of support among council members.
Clemmons’ withdrawal leaves four remaining choices: Interim administrator Steve Gosnell, former Myrtle Beach city councilman Wayne Gray, Laurens County administrator William Caime and York County Manager William Shanahan.
“Of the five finalists, Clemmons received the least support from council members during their evaluation of the 25 candidates who met the minimum qualifications for the job,” Perry reported, citing records obtained by his news outlet.
Wait a minute … if that is true, how did Clemmons wind up being among the five finalists for this position?
Hmmmm …
[su_dominion_video_scb]Clemmons previously said that if he did not get the Horry County job, he would run for another term in the S.C. House of Representatives in 2020. Clemmons has represented S.C. House District 107 (map) in the General Assembly since 2003 – consistently voting in favor of larger government, higher taxes and less individual liberty.
Despite his allegiance to their ever-expanding, results-challenged big government machinations, legislative leaders want Clemmons out of the House – and had been hoping one of the local government jobs might be the vehicle to accomplish his exit.
No such luck, it would appear …
It has been a difficult year for Clemmons. In addition to his failure to land either one of the two local government positions he applied for, his signature legislative initiative imploded earlier this year. Meanwhile, he was busted failing to pay taxes on a host of properties he co-owns with his wife.
Clemmons has since paid off much of the money he owed, however.
While it would appear Clemmons is highly vulnerable, documents filed with the S.C. State Ethics Commission (SCSEC) show he has more than $200,000 in his campaign war chest – an astronomical sum for a South Carolina legislative race.
-FITSNews
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