Election board upholds vote on sales tax

Opponents claim county campaigned for increase and say they'll appeal

BY ARLIE PORTER
Of The Post and Courier Staff

     The Charleston County Election Commission on Monday upheld voters' narrow approval of a new half-cent sales tax, rejecting opponents' claim that fliers distributed at polls Nov. 5 and the election ballot itself violated state law.
     Opponents immediately derided the 4-0 vote that ended a protest hearing, described the hearing as a "kangaroo court" and promised to appeal the decision by next Monday to the state Election Commission.
     County deputy attorney Kurt Taylor said the county is ready to defend the election up to the state Supreme Court, if necessary.
     The commission also threw out a challenge to a race for a seat on County Council, siding with incumbent Leon Stavrinakis over former council woman Anne Alford. Alford's attorney, her son Gregory, argued unsuccessfully that the election was riddled with errors and rife with the potential for fraud. Out of more than 81,000 votes cast, the sales tax won by 865. Stavrinakis won by 136 votes.
     Opponents of the sales tax, including a state lawmaker and elected officials from Charleston, North Charleston, Mount Pleasant and James Island, claim that the sales tax passed due to a deliberate effort by Charleston County to encourage a "yes" vote.
     County administrative staff produced 50,000 yellow fliers that the commission distributed to polling places. These flyers misled voters because they listed road projects as if they would be funded with the sales tax, said opponents attorney Trent Kernodle. Charleston County used public money to encourage voters to increase their taxes, Kernodle said.
     "They wouldn't have printed 50,000 of these if they didn't have a desired effect in mind," he said.
     But, sales tax opponent Charles Taylor testified, members of County Council cannot commit future council members to build those roads.
     Opponents attorney Tommy Goldstein sought the testimony of County Administrator Roland Windham to probe the county's motive in printing the fliers. The commission refused to call Windham to the stand.
     The commission's only concern is whether the flier represents campaign literature, not who authored it, said Commission Chairman Tom Masi.At one point, Kernodle said the commission is in the awkward position of judging itself on whether it should have distributed the flyers.
     "We have, in effect, the fox guarding the henhouse here," he said.
     While he did not testify, Windham has said the flier was produced at the request of the election commission. The commission manager also approved the flier before it was distributed to polling places, county spokeswoman Jamie Thomas has said.
     County Attorney Joe Dawson said the road list was meant only to explain to voters what they were voting on and made no attempt to promote the sales tax.
     After deliberating behind closed doors for 20 minutes, election commissioners agreed.
     "Kangaroo Court. They had their minds made up. This was a waste of time," said Warren Sloane, a James Island Realtor and sales tax opponent.
     Masi and commission attorney Mikell Scarborough dismissed the remark. "If we had ruled in their favor, we would have been the greatest election commission in town," Scarborough said.

     Arlie Porter covers Charleston County. Contact him at 937-5548 or porter@postandcourier.com.