SC ethics commission finds probable cause for violations by former Beaufort Co. official
The S.C. Ethics Commission has found probable cause to support allegations that former Interim Beaufort County Administrator Josh Gruber broke state law when he wrote a secret $24,000 consulting contract for himself and failed to disclose a gift of Concours d’Elegance tickets on his 2017 statement of economic interests form, according to a letter obtained Monday by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
The ethics commission has scheduled two hearings in Columbia to adjudicate the allegations. The hearings are both set for 9:30 a.m. Feb. 17, 2022.
“I believe my actions were in line with all of the ethical boundaries,” said Gruber, who is now Hilton Head Island’s assistant town manager, in a Monday phone call.
The rulings that found probable cause came last week.
The upcoming hearings stem from two complaints that Port Royal resident Mare Baracco filed against Gruber on Jan. 11, 2019, and Sept. 25, 2019, respectively.
If a public official is found guilty of a violation, the ethics commission may recommend disciplinary action, issue a public warning, order restitution and levy a fine of no more than $2,000, according to the state’s website. Criminal violations are prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office and can result in a misdemeanor conviction and a fine of up to $5,000, one year in jail, or both.
Motoring festival tickets
The Jan. 11 complaint centered on Gruber’s relationship with the Hilton Head Island Concours d’Elegance, a nonprofit that runs the yearly high-end motoring festival and is funded through donations.
From 2016 through 2019, former Beaufort County Administrator Gary Kubic and Gruber allocated a total of $43,000 to the motoring festival via the county administrator’s contingency fund, with annual payments of $10,000 for the first three years and $13,000 in 2019, according to previous reporting from The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
Kubic has said he originally paid the group using the contingency account when Carolyn Vanagel, then-festival president, asked him to help with site improvements after Hurricane Matthew damaged the festival area. It was a one-time, unexpected circumstance.
However, Gruber, the deputy administrator at the time who became Kubic’s successor, continued to pay the festival group from the contingency fund in subsequent years. Those expenditures mean the county was making two payments to the group each year, as Concours already received between $25,000 and $26,000 in yearly funding through the accommodations tax process — funded by a 2% tax on rental properties.
According to emails between Gruber and Vanagel, Gruber paid $13,000 to the Concours group in 2019 for “lighting, sound, security and other infrastructure costs.” The emails also show that for each year that Kubic and Gruber contributed county money to Concours, they received gifts from Vanagel in the form of sponsor badges and admission to the Flights & Fancy Aeroport Gala, a fancy evening of cocktails, fast cars and private jets organized by Concours. Tickets to the airport gala in 2019 were between $195 and $295 per person.
Vanagel first referred to these gifts in a July 2016 email to Gruber: “Thanks to you and Gary for this support. As a thank you, we would like to offer you 4 Sponsor Badges which will give you access to all our public events.” Gruber did not report the gift to the ethics commission in 2017, as required by law. However, at 6:53 p.m. on Feb. 7, 2019, he amended his 2017 report to show he received $820 in gifts from Concours d’Elegance. Gruber made the change the same week the county began an investigation into his $24,000 consulting contract.
The ethics commission on July 7, 2021 found probable cause that Gruber violated state law for failing to disclose his receipt and use of the 2016 Concours D’ Elegance tickets on his 2017 statement of economic interests form.
$24,000 contract
The Sept. 25 complaint detailed the secret consulting contract written by Gruber and authorized by then-county attorney Tom Keaveny. At the time of the contract, Gruber had already accepted the job as assistant town manager on Hilton Head.
Gruber’s contract — which ran from Aug. 6 to Oct. 8, 2018, and didn’t become public until that September — angered many on county council who said it was written in secret, in nebulous language and without council approval. Others have considered the contract a way to pay Gruber after he wasn’t selected for the permanent county administrator job.
The complaint alleged that Gruber violated the State Ethics Act when he wrote his contract by using his office for financial gain and failing to adhere to a one-year “cooling-off” period required of public employees before they accept similar work.
The Sept. 25 complaint was the same as an Oct. 3, 2018 complaint that Baracco, the Port Royal resident, originally filed against Gruber.
That 2018 complaint was dismissed because the ethics commission’s letter detailing probable cause in the case failed to specifically tell Gruber, a lawyer, that he could obtain legal counsel. The commission said it dismissed the complaint “out of an abundance of caution,” without prejudice — meaning the complaint could be refiled (Baracco refiled it in September 2019).
The ethics commission on July 7, 2021 found probable cause that Gruber violated state law when he was “authorized to perform an official function relating to a contract in which he had an economic interest,” and when he failed to submit a written recusal statement during the writing and drafting of the contract.
What’s next?
Ethics commission hearings are typically held in executive session, according to the state’s website.
The hearings are similar to court proceedings, during which witnesses and the respondent speak under oath.
Evidence and testimony are presented at ethics hearings, such as reports from experts. A three-person panel oversees each hearing and acts as a jury, making decisions in the case.
Gruber’s hearings are set for Feb. 17, 2022.
This story was originally published July 12, 2021 at 3:17 PM.
