Booking Lists Non-existent HOA, not Birthday Party
BLYTHEWOOD – In The Voice’s ongoing investigation of events held at Doko Manor for which there are no records of payment, it appears there are also no records that some events even occurred.
There is no reservation on the Manor Reservations List for a birthday party held at the Manor on July 7, 2024 for a town hall employee, but the employee confirmed to The Voice last week that she was given a surprise birthday party at The Manor on that date. The only event on the reservations list for Sunday, July 7, 2024, however, is a meeting for the Cedar Creek HOA (Home Owners Association) that was scheduled for five hours.
But leaders of the Cedar Creek community have told The Voice that Cedar Creek does not have an HOA.
“No, Cedar Creek does not have an HOA. We have a Cedar Creek Community Council,” said Kathy Young, president of the Community Council. “But to my knowledge, we have never held a meeting at the Manor; certainly not last summer. We have our meetings at the Cedar Creek Community Center on Cedar Creek Road.”
According to the SC Secretary of State’s office, the only listing it has for a Cedar Creek HOA is in Myrtle Beach. There is no listing for a Cedar Creek HOA located in Richland County 29016.
A six-hour event for a birthday party on Sunday, July 7, 2024 would have cost $2,800. If the booking had been made within 60 days of the event, a 50% discount would have applied, bringing the cost down to $1,400. The Voice has not been able to determine when the booking was made.
A booking for an HOA would have had zero cost since the Town allows HOA’s to book one free meeting per year.
When asked who booked the reservation for her surprise birthday party, the town employee told The Voice she didn’t know.
“I’m really not sure,” she said. “Some of my friends. The Manor should have that information.”
Another town official said she was invited and dropped in at the birthday party, and that Mayor Sloan Griffin was also in attendance.
According to town officials, no funds were collected for a July 7, 2024 event, and there is no contract or payment information in the files that represent a birthday party or an HOA being held at the Manor on that date.
This is in addition to information previously published in The Voice showing Richland County Councilman Derrek Pugh booked an event at the Manor for May 17 without paying the $4,500 fee.
The Voice later learned through town officials that Pugh’s wife, TK Pugh, had booked an event for Friday, Aug. 1 without paying the required $2,800 fee. Town officials said that after the information about the May 17 event appeared in the July 24 and 31 editions of The Voice, Councilman Pugh met with Griffin to negotiate fees for both the May 17 event and the later Aug. 1 event that had previously been booked by TK Pugh.
Title IX, Chapter 93.03 – User Fee Schedule – prohibits the mayor from waiving or reducing fees related to the rental of Doko Manor and Amphitheater.
During a Facebook live video of Blythewood Mayor Sloan Griffin’s July 26 breakfast meeting at Lizard’s Thicket, Griffin announced that Pugh would pay $250 for the May 17 event and $750 for the Aug. 1 event – a total payment of $1,000 instead of the total cost of $7,300 for both events.
The Voice has been unable to determine before press time if the $1,000 payment has been made.
This story was updated on Aug. 7, 2025 at 11:08 p.m. The Cedar Creek Landowners Association was changed to Cedar Creek Community Council.