Ethics violation or ‘frivolous’ complaint? State investigates $39,000 Port Royal wetlands grant
The South Carolina Ethics Commission is investigating a complaint against the former chairwoman of Port Royal’s Redevelopment Commission over a grant received by a local not-for-profit organization where she serves on the board.
At issue is whether Bernadette Clayton used her public position to help Friends of the Cypress Wetlands, where she is treasurer, obtain a T-Mobile grant that originally was discussed at a meeting of the Redevelopment Commission.
Clayton called the complaint “frivolous,” and doesn’t think it will move forward and finds it “mind-boggling” because the grant money is going toward benefiting the Cypress Wetlands, an environmental oasis in the heart of downtown with a boardwalk that visitors use to view numerous bird species and alligators.
Mare Deckard, a former Redevelopment Commission member who first proposed that the commission apply for the grant, says Clayton violated the State Ethics Law that prohibits using a public office for private benefit. Deckard later resigned, saying Clayton plagiarized her “work product.”
In December, T-Mobile announced that it was awarding Friends of Cypress Wetlands with a “hometown” grant of $39,000 for use on wetlands boardwalk, amphitheater and observation deck projects. The group, formed in 2019, promotes the wetlands.
At the time, Cypress Wetlands President Scot Clark said, “This project is our latest effort to continue our mission to support the wetlands and rookery, increase awareness through education, and advocate for the maintenance of this stormwater management system as a working organic laboratory.”
Mayor Joe DeVito said, “The wetlands are one of the gems of Port Royal, which is used for education and attracting tourism to the Town. We are excited to see the results of this partnership.”
Deckard filed a complaint with the South Carolina Ethics Commission on Sept. 29.
Details about the complaint, however, were not made public until March, after the Commission revised its rules on what citizens who file complaints can say publicly.
Hearings, documents and information about the status of complaints remain confidential for the Ethics Commission itself but a March 21 advisory opinion said state law does not limit what private citizens can say.
“If you ever breathed a word of it, you could go to jail,” Deckard said. Now, in light of the new opinion, “I’m allowed to discuss the complaint, and tell you it is under investigation.”
South Carolina state law says it’s illegal to use an official position or office for financial gain. Potential conflicts of interest must also be disclosed.
The Ethics Commission would neither confirm nor deny existence of the complaint or its status.
The Ethics Commission would not make the complaint public unless it finds probable cause and issues a notice of a hearing.
Clayton no longer serves on the town’s Redevelopment Commission but she’s still with the Friends of the Cypress Wetlands.
She did not write the grant Deckard accuses her of plagiarizing, Clayton says, and she adds that it was discussed at a public meeting, never voted on and readily available online for any organization that wanted to apply for it to benefit the town.
The deadline for the grant that Deckard suggested the Commission should apply for had already expired by the time the Friends organization applied, Clayton said.
“Our organization qualified to make an application that ultimately benefited the town in the second round of awards,” Clayton said in a statement to the Beaufort Gazette and Island Packet. “It is mind- boggling that Miss Deckard would not want to benefit the town but rather try to create this kind of turmoil.”
Timeline of the grant process
The purpose of this grant, Clayton said, was to improve and repair the Port Royal Cypress Wetlands and Rookery, a “jewel of the town” that’s providing beauty, educational opportunities and an environmentally-sound storm water system.
On April 20, 2021, Deckard explains in her complaint, she came up with a proposal in which she would work on getting grants to support the Commission’s redevelopment work. At the next meeting, on May 18, she presented funding opportunities that included an application for grants from T-Mobile up to $50,000.
“My goal as a redevelopment commissioner was to jump start funding and promote transparency and accountability,” Deckard said in a statement. “I never imagined the grants I brought to the commission for the benefit of my fellow citizens would become the subject of private emails between the commission chairwoman, the town manager and others, who had their own agenda.”
Shortly after she brought the grant proposals forward, according to emails Deckard later obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, Clayton discussed the T-Mobile grant with town officials.
“Van, Looking through the information that came through regarding grants, the T-Mobile stood out to me as a more appropriate fit for FOPRCW (Friends of the Port Royal Cypress Wetlands) to apply for,” Clayton wrote to Town Manager Van Willis.
In her complaint, Deckard argues, Clayton violated both the financial gain and conflict of interest aspects of state law and says she should be fined and “publicly admonished.”
The way officials with the town and the friends group communicated about the funding behind the scenes, through emails, Deckard adds, took the discussion of funding for an important local resource out of the public realm. “It’s very anti-transparent,” Deckard says.
Willis had no comment in regard to Deckard’s ethic’s complaint.
Regardless of Deckard’s complaint, Clayton said, “the town has benefited and thousands of visitors will continue to enjoy the results for generations to come.”
Cypress Wetlands says on its website that the $38,832 grant, along with matching funds from the Town of Port Royal and the not-for-profit, will be used to upgrade and renovate the boardwalks and observation areas surrounding the main wetlands.
In an Oct. 5 letter from the Ethics Commission, Deckard was told that her complaint contained facts sufficient to warrant an investigation but no definitive findings have been made at his point.
This story was originally published April 8, 2022 at 1:00 PM.
