As the Richland County Recreation Commission continues its problematic ways, the county’s legislative delegation might make another attempt to transfer control of the commission to County Council.
 

Richland County Council members have been frustrated at having virtually no oversight of the county Recreation Commission. The council appropriates funding to the commission but state lawmakers appoint the commission’s board members. Photo by Jonathan Sharpe

The Recreation Commission is a special-purpose district with a seven-member board appointed by the county’s legislative delegation. That’s where the lawmakers’ oversight of the commission ends.

One issue shared among county lawmakers and council members is that while County Council appropriates funding for the Recreation Commission, the council has little to no say in how that money is spent and no governing power over the commission.

County legislators have attempted to transfer control of the commission to County Council before but encountered opposition from the commission’s board, which charged that doing so would be unconstitutional.

Republican state Rep. James Harrison of Richland says he will introduce another bill during the next legislative session in an attempt to finally transfer power.

“It’s in council’s jurisdiction and I think they should have more oversight than they currently do,” Harrison says. “If they fund them, they should appoint members and have more control.”

The situation frustrates County Councilwoman Kit Smith, who describes the Recreation Commission as an unaccountable mess.

Free Times has reported on the commission board apparently disobeying the S.C. Freedom of Information Act several times this year by failing to specify topics it discussed during closed-door meetings, instead labeling them “personnel” and “contractual” matters.

Neither of those descriptions is specific enough to comply with the state FOIA, according to Bill Rogers, director of the South Carolina Press Association, and Jay Bender, an attorney for the association. Free Times is a member of the group.

The commission also was not forthcoming about the recent departure of interim director Robert Redfern, nor, before his exit, the retirement of former commission director Lewis Leopard. The agency released the details of Leopard’s retirement package, which was standard fare, only after Free Times asked for the information pursuant to the open-records law.

In 2005, the General Assembly passed special legislation to transfer control of the Recreation Commission to County Council. The commission’s board sued, alleging that the act ran afoul of the state constitution. The measure was overturned in 2007.

Harrison says he plans to craft his bill in a way that he hopes will prevent it from meeting a similar fate.

Says state Rep. Todd Rutherford, D-Richland and chairman of the delegation, “We’ve met with members of the commission’s board recently and told them in no uncertain terms to stop what they were doing.”

Having served on County Council, S.C. Rep. Joan Brady, R-Richland, says she can see the issue from both sides. While critics charge that the board is unaccountable, Brady says, “They’re mistaken to think that we’re not keeping an eye on them.”

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Related:
Former Member: Rec Commission Board “Dysfunctional”
Rec Commission Releases Information But Remains Secretive
Rec Commission Continues to Evade Public Disclosure
Rec Commission Back to Its Problematic Ways