The distracting, painful, embarrassing, almost-year-long debacle that was the Spartanburg County Legislative Delegation’s power struggle is finally — and definitively — over. It took a huge waste of time and nearly made a mockery of the region so a handful of yahoo state politicians could make a grab at power, but at least it’s resolved now.
Just to remind you of the situation, it basically involves a bunch of bickering over which group gets to control the agenda for the delegation, which Spartanburg area at the state level. There are two camps: The majority of the delegation, who elected Rep. Lanny Littlejohn (R-Pacolet) chairman and 8-5 to elect Rep. Keith Kelly (R-Woodruff) as vice chairman. But, that didn’t sit well with Lee Bright, Sens. Shane Martin and Glenn Reese and Rep. Joey Millwood, and they decided to start their own delegation based on the idea that their districts have a higher population, therefore their votes should have more weight. So those four decided to hold their own meeting — completely excluding the rest of the delegation — and elected themselves as the representatives of the area.
Of course, there was no reason to think this was binding, or even legal, particularly since it was dubious at best that the four meeting could constitute a quorum, never mind the legitimacy of all of the stuff they voted at the meeting. As you might expect, the case went to court.
As Bob Dalton from the Spartanburg Herald-Journal reports today, the South Carolina Supreme Court completely and definitively rejected the claim made by Bright and company.
In Monday’s unanimous opinion written by Chief Justice Jean Toal, the high court sided with Mitchell’s contention that delegation officers are ceremonial positions and are not subject to weighted voting rules.
“Furthermore, the Chairman and Vice-Chairman: (a) cannot take any action on behalf of the delegation save for calling a meeting to order and certain other procedural matters, (b) cannot independently exercise any of the substantive functions of the delegation except by virtue of their roles as voting members, and (c) are not accorded greater weight when voting by virtue of their positions as delegation officers,” Toal wrote. “Thus, these officers do not perform substantive duties and perform no governmental functions that raise the concerns at issue in Vander Linden [Vander Linden v. Hodges is the case both sides cited as precedent -- SS]. Therefore, Vander Linden’s weighted voting remedy does not apply to the election of Chairman and Vice-Chairman, and these offices can be elected by a simple majority vote of the delegation.”
Bright said in an e-mailed statement he was “disappointed although not surprised,” and called the opinion “flawed.”
The court couldn’t have been more clear that Bright’s gang was completely, totally and unquestionably in the wrong. Which means that we can now call this what it was: A power grab. I hope voters remember exactly how much time Bright, Reese, Martin and Millwood wasted, and how they attempted to wrongly take control of the delegation based on an argument that even state Attorney General Henry McMaster dismissed as being fundamentally flawed.
As an aside, it’s in this kind of story that Dalton’s reporting style really shines, and the story is well worth the read.
Steve Shanafelt
With Lanny Littlejohn having announced his retirement, are there any prospects for candidates to fill his seat? His distict includes southeastern Spartanburg County and parts of southwestern Cherokee County. Who are some progressives in Pacolet or Glenn Springs?
Umm…don’t they shoot progressives out that way?
Seriously though, I don’t know anybody out there, but it’d be nice if we could find somebody worth running.
Here’s a map of the Spartanburg County House Districts: http://www.ors.state.sc.us/districts03/hse83.pdf
It looks like District 33 includes Pierce Acres, some of the newer east side neighborhoods and Glendale, which all have their share of progressive-minded folks.
I wouldn’t rule out this district!
Not trying to be a downer, and I think the right kind of candidate could maybe be competitive, but my sister lives in Whitestone, and one side of my family is originally from Glenn Springs, so I know the area pretty well.
It’d have to be one super-good campaigning Democrat running against one super-bad campaigning Republican in order to even have a shot at that seat. Not saying there aren’t some pockets of progressive people out there, but they are VASTLY outnumbered.
Pacolet and Cowpens alone would probably be enough to sink most anybody with a (D) beside his or her name, unless the Republican is a total disaster. Still, stranger things have happened.
Personally, I think Joey Millwood is vulnerable to the right kind of challenger. A lot of people up that way aren’t exactly happy with that Howard Rich-backed, empty suit they’ve got representing them. If he survives the GOP primary, there’s a chance for the Dems.
I understand what you mean. And for the most part, I agree with you. Too often it seems like anyone who comes across as anything but a tax-hating good ol boy has to fight to be heard anywhere outside of the city.
But I think that there may be some promise in Dist. 33. Elaine Harris has gotten a lot of good things going in Pacolet, B. G. Stephens has Glendale moving in the right direction, and a few folks in Glenn Springs are just beginning to redevelop its identity with a strong historical society working there. I think someone with connections and endorsements in those communities would get elected no matter what their politics were. I also tend to think that the majority of the actual voters in that district are people in deep eastside Spartanburg, which might go for a different sort of candidate.
I can dream anyway. I think there’s more hope there than in a lot of the county districts.
If you have someone in mind that would consider running in District 33, please e-mail our local Democratic Party Headquarters, or call & leave a message at 585-6957. Our Candidate Recruitment Committee will meet with any potential candidate to discuss the filing process, what to expect, what it takes financially, campaigning, training sessions, etc.