Moss undecided on opening state ethics hearing to public

Superintendent Jeff Moss has not decided whether to allow the public to attend his state hearing on alleged ethics violations in August, he said after Tuesday’s Beaufort County school board meeting.

Moss has until Aug. 7 to request that his Aug. 17 S.C. Ethics Commission hearing be open rather than held in executive session. The superintendent also said he will not be represented by district attorney Drew Davis at the hearing, which the commission called April 13 after investigating the September hiring of Moss’ wife to a newly-restructured administrative position and finding probable cause on three counts of ethics violations.

Two residents filed complaints against Moss following the nepotism scandal, which resulted in the resignations of Darlene Moss after one week on the job and of the school board chairman Bill Evans in October.

At the start of Tuesday’s board meeting, chairwoman Mary Cordray read a statement saying that the board respects and will cooperate with the ongoing ethics investigation.

“The board has previously discussed these issues,” she said. “This is the process, and we will support this process. We intend to fully cooperate with the South Carolina Ethics Commission.”

Earlier this month, the Mosses listed their Beaufort home for sale with realty firm Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners. Moss said Tuesday that has nothing to do with the state’s ongoing ethics investigation and doesn’t mean he’s leaving the district.

“I plan to be here for many years,” he said.

Only one member of the public, Citizens Advocating Responsible Education founder Richard Bisi, spoke at Tuesday’s meeting about the ethics hearing, which the commission released notice of on Monday.

Bisi, a vocal critic of Moss and the school board, argued that Moss had tarnished the district’s reputation and should resign, but board member Geri Kinton corrected a portion of his statement that suggested the ethics commission had already found Moss guilty

“The ethics commission has not ruled on anything,” she said, adding after the meeting that the board must wait to see how the commission rules before determining if any further response is needed.

While Kinton would not say whether she thought Moss acted unethically in September, she said she may have thought differently of signing off on Darlene Moss’ hire at that time if she’d known Jeff Moss had just changed the district’s rules on conflicts of interest. Or, she said, she may have ultimately decided Darlene Moss was the best candidate for the job regardless.

“It’s unfortunate that I didn’t have that information, but it doesn’t necessarily change what would have processed after that,” Kinton said.

It’s now the commission’s job to hear both sides of the story and weigh in, she said.

“There were investigators who have now moved it up, and now a higher authority will look at it,” she said. “Doesn’t mean he’s done anything wrong. Doesn’t mean he should be fired today. It means the process is going forward.”

Two other board members, JoAnn Orischak and David Striebinger, said they supported the call for the hearing Monday. Only one other board member, Earl Campbell, could be reached for comment Tuesday.

“Probable cause, that does not mean that he’s guilty. That’s all I’m saying,” Campbell said. “People are accused of doing something all the time, but once they go to court, a lot of times they’re vindicated.”

The commission will have 60 days to return a decision after hearing, which is the result of two complaints filed by Beaufort resident Kimberly Morgan and Hilton Head Island businessman Skip Hoagland.

It will take place before a randomly-drawn panel of three commission members, who act as the jury. They may either clear Moss or find he violated state ethics law by knowingly using his position as superintendent to obtain an economic interest for an immediate family member or by participating in a governmental decision in which that family member had an economic interest.

If the panel of commissioners finds Moss in violation, it could then issue a public reprimand or levy an administrative fine of up to $2,000, commission executive director Herb Hayden said. The panel could also refer any criminal activity to the attorney general, who could prosecute the misdemeanor carrying penalties of up to a $5,000 fine, one year in prison or both, Hayden said.

This story was originally published April 19, 2016 at 9:15 PM with the headline "Moss undecided on opening state ethics hearing to public."