Griffin 
Ed Driggers 
Balthazor
BLYTHEWOOD – Town Councilman Donald Brock announced almost three months ago, during the Nov. 24 town council meeting, that, “$20,000 from last year’s Juneteenth event funding walked away, and it can’t be accounted for.”
He was referring to H-tax (hospitality tax) funds that were appropriated in the FY 2024-25 town budget for Blythewood’s 2025 Juneteenth event. According to the Town’s Hospitality and Local Accommodations Tax Guidelines/Application, “the Town of Blythewood imposes a 2% local hospitality tax on all prepared food and beverages sold within town limits to support tourism-related, non-profit events and organizations through a grant application process”.
Mayor Sloan Griffin authorized awarding council’s appropriated $20,000 to UniversalCMG World Entertainment to plan and produce the Town’s Juneteenth event.
The event was subsequently cancelled by town council due to safety concerns months before it was set to happen, but officials say the $20,000 was not returned to the Town.
BW Juneteenth Relocated
In an emailed demand letter to The Voice dated Dec. 12, California Attorney Imene Meziane, representing UniversalCMG, stated, “UniversalCMG thereafter relocated and successfully produced the Juneteenth event at its own expense, without additional funding from the Town.”
Meziane did not disclose to what location the event was relocated.
“I am not sure where that money is now,” the Town of Blythewood’s Marketing and Special Projects Manager Jordan Langland told council while presenting an event funding report during the Nov. 24 council meeting.
Brock said Langland’s report on the $20,000 H-tax award was news to him.
“I don’t think any council members were told about any of this until Nov. 24, I know I wasn’t,” Councilman Rich McKenrick told The Voice.
What is Universal CMG?
UniversalCMG World Entertainment is described on its website as an American record label founded by Edward Straiter, with offices in Las Vegas, Dubai, Beijing, L.A., Chicago, Ft. Lauderdale, Atlanta, Columbia, and Bronx. The site states that Universal CMG’s parent company is Straiter Enterprises, Int., a global venture capital firm that is also founded by Edward Straiter. Straiter lives in Blythewood.
Timeline
The path of the $20,000 H-tax award followed this timeline:
June 24, 2024 – Council appropriated $25,000 for the 2025 Juneteenth event in the 2024-25 budget. Eighty percent ($20,000) of the $25,000 was to be used for planning and producing the Juneteenth event. The remaining 20% is disbursed after a report of the event’s expenditures is submitted to the town administrator and approved.
March 24, 2025 – Mayor Sloan Griffin authorized Langland to send a check for the appropriated $20,000 H-tax funds to UniversalCMG World Entertainment to plan and produce Blythewood’s 2025 Juneteenth event.
March 27, 2025 – The $20,000 check was issued to UniversalCMG World Entertainment.
April 30, 2025 – Council voted to cancel Juneteenth and other nighttime town park events due to ongoing safety concerns.
May 1, 2025 (the next day) – The $20,000 check was cashed by UniversalCMG and cleared the bank.
The Application
A note written by Langland on the check request form stated, “Approval of mayor in place of application.”
At that time, the town operated under the mayor-council form of government, giving the mayor full authority to manage the town hall’s day to day operations.
According to the Town’s H-tax policy, however, an application for the funding is required by town statute before the funds can be awarded.
“Applicants seeking H-Tax or Local Accommodation Tax funding … must submit completed applications no later than Feb.15, for consideration and approval by Blythewood Town Council,” according to the Town’s H-Tax policy.
The Voice submitted an FOI request to the Town on Dec. 19, 2025, for UniversalCMG’s application for the $20,000 H-tax funding. The Town’s attorney, Pete Balthazor, acknowledged on Jan. 16, 2026, that the application and other requested documents are “publicly available,” but he has not provided a copy of the application to The Voice. That 30-day response was due on Feb. 5.
Two council members say they were told the application does not exist.
The Check
In response to an email from Langland asking for additional information about UniversalCMG World Entertainment before she issued a check request for $20,000, Griffin wrote: “Julie [HR/finance director] should have this information on file. They [UniversalCMG] provided the entertainment for the Christmas party.”
Town records show that UniversalCMG provided musical entertainment at the December 2024 Town Christmas party at a cost of $4,450, and a Santa at another town Christmas event for $1,750.
Manor records obtained by The Voice through an FOI request show that Griffin also authorized (in writing) a deeply discounted $500 reservation fee for the Straiter Family Thanksgiving Day Dinner at the Manor in November 2024. According to Sec. 93.03 of town council’s authorized User Fee Schedule, the reservation fee should have been $2,700, $2,200 more than Straiter paid.
Town Hall Mum on Investigation
In an email dated Dec. 5, 2025, The Voice asked Blythewood’s Interim Town Manager Ed Driggers for follow-up information on UniversalCMG’s $20,000 H-tax award. By that time, the town operated under a new manager-council form of government, giving the town manager the authority to manage town hall’s day-to-day operations.
“It is under review,” Driggers replied. “I expect to make a report to council on 12/15.”
Driggers did not make that report at the Dec. 15 council meeting, and he has not made public any information since then as to any efforts the Town has made to investigate or recover the $20,000 or explain why the funds were spent after the event was cancelled.
The Voice launched an investigation into the matter, seeking three documents: Universal’s application for the H-tax funding, the contract between UniversalCMG and the Town if one exists, the expense report that should have been submitted by UniversalCMG to the Town following the event, as well as emails between Straiter and town hall officials (Driggers, Griffin, Balthazar, and other members of town staff) through a Freedom of Information request.
Balthazar responded to The Voice’s FOI, stating, “The Town’s cost for the search and retrieval of archived emails is $500.” In a subsequent town council meeting Driggers said a private vendor maintains the Town’s emails and it is the vendor who charges the $500.
The Voice obtained a copy of the Town’s contract with its email vendor, and found no mention of any charge for providing emails. Driggers pointed to a fee of $150 per hour for ‘Non ATG Device Outboard – Server/San,’ saying that makes up the $500 fee. That fee isn’t posted on the Town’s website as required by state law.
Driggers said at the council’s strategic meeting on Jan. 12, that the town’s staff does not have the capability to search for emails and that he can’t search staff’s government emails due to privacy issues, effectively making it difficult and expensive for citizens and the media to obtain public records because the Town allows a private company to controls its emails.
“There is no expectation of privacy with government records,” said Media Attorney Jay Bender, who represents the South Carolina Press Association. “To outsource the maintenance of your public records to a private company seems to be inconsistent with the notion of transparency.”
The Town has not said there is any charge for the additional three requested documents, (application, contract and end-of-event expense report) but it has not provided them to The Voice, almost two months after the FOI requested them.
How was $20K Spent?
In a demand letter sent to The Voice, dated Dec. 12, 2025, Meziane stated, “At the time of cancellation [of the Juneteenth event] the Town was fully aware that UniversalCMG’s expenditures were non-refundable and that the funds had already been committed in furtherance of the event.”
According to exhibit C attached to the letter, a total of $19,130 was spent on non-refundable deposits: $8,950 prior to the check being issued on March 27, and $10,180 after the check was received by UniversalCMG.
Only $2,550 of the $19,130 was spent on “advertisements and promotions related to tourism development”, the only H-tax category UniversalCMG’s expenditures qualified for, according to the Town’s H-Tax policy.
Did UniversalCMG Qualify for Funding?
For UniversalCMG to qualify at all for H-tax funds from the Town, the company would have to be a non-profit, and the event would have to be designed to draw tourists. Universal CMG does not appear on the South Carolina Secretary of State’s website, and is not listed as a non-profit. No information was submitted as to how the event was designed to attract tourists.
Mayor Pro Tem Andrea Fripp did not respond to a request for comment from The Voice.
Councilwoman Trish Hovis was not on council when the $20,000 was appropriated and disbursed.
