Ah, the richness that is the Richland County Council.
Seems as though the controversy plagued council is in the news every other week or so, and never for a good reason.
We learned earlier this week that one council member was texting fired administrator Gerald Seals details and advice on what to demand in a parting of ways package.
That member, Dahli Myers, is anything but contrite for her texts, some that apparently were written while she sat in executive session as council discussed the golden parachute. Myers instead shifts the blame to a number of her fellow members for firing Seals for no good reason. She says the $1M buyout saved the county money had Seals sued.
With the Penny Tax program way over budget and the private consortium that administers it on the way out the door, Seals is now striking back. It has long been believed that his admonitions about the program got him in hot water with Council and led to his eventual dismissal. The County is having to reimburse the program from it's general fund for expenses it should never have incurred. Not that it really matters to you or me. It's just a moving around of tax dollars.
In an article that is set to appear in the ‘State Newspaper”, a 2018 letter from Seals has surfaced. In it he not only says he told Council in 2016 that Penny Tax funds were being misappropriated, but he lays out “irregularities” in regards to the behavior of some members. This is going to be good.
Heads-up to any potential PR firm that Richland County Council may be looking to hire, you got your work cut out for you.