Procurement Under Scrutiny
WINNSBORO – The state’s highest law enforcement agency has opened a new investigation into Fairfield County government, sources confirmed this week, launching a probe into the County’s former procurement practices.
A spokesperson for the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) said Tuesday that their agency had indeed opened the investigation, but declined to comment on the specific nature of the case. Sources inside the County, meanwhile, said SLED agents have been on site at County offices interviewing County employees and reviewing checks and invoices from the County’s Procurement Department.
County Council Chairman David Ferguson (District 5) said after Monday night’s Council meeting that SLED’s focus so far has been on the County’s relationship with S2 Engineering, a firm with which Fairfield County has, between December 2009 and September 2013, spent more than $8.76 million. Documents obtained by The Voice indicate that S2 projects over that time period range from improvements to the HON Building, to construction of the new Voter Registration offices, work at the County Courthouse and much more. Work also includes the recently completed football field at Drawdy Park and its retaining wall, a portion of which collapsed last month.
While records indicate that most, if not all, of these projects were not put out for bid, Interim County Administrator Milton Pope said during Council’s Feb. 10 meeting that S2 was one of several firms on a list of firms approved for County work by then Administrator Phil Hinely. Since Pope’s arrival as Interim last summer, the County has returned to a more conventional procurement process, putting projects and purchases out for bid in accordance with County policy. Monday night, Ferguson said that while the former procurement practices may have been unusual, they were not illegal.
“Was it best practices? It was the cheapest practice for us to get jobs accomplished,” Ferguson said. “Did we bid out every job? No. With Milton (Pope) we do. Does that cost you? Yeah, it does.”
Ferguson confirmed that SLED agents have been reviewing checks and invoices from the Procurement Department, but added that he thinks the motivation for the investigation was not based on the legality of the County’s former practices.
“It’s called Creighton Coleman,” Ferguson said. “You know how to spell that?”
Reached for a response Tuesday morning, Coleman, Fairfield County’s State Senator from District 17, said he would not comment on any ongoing investigations.
