SC legislative transparency, or shell game?
The proposed bill from state Rep. Bill Herbkersman, R-Bluffton, to exempt nonprofits that receive taxpayer money from directly responding to a citizen’s FOIA request is a sham. That’s because any taxpayer FOIA request can be sought only from the awarding agency and not the recipient agency (such as the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce).
The awarding agency (Town of Hilton Head Island) is but a gatekeeper and intermediary. It merely accepts the chamber’s response.
This system would prevent real transparency and place an untenable and unnecessary burden upon the awarding agency.
Incomplete or otherwise vague responses lead to further FOIA requests, which can be stonewalled by the chamber. The town does have the option of requiring an audit, but that should not be necessary. The taxpayer’s alternative is to commence litigation, which is the current situation.
During oral argument on this issue before the S.C. Supreme Court this past October in the case of Domains New Media v. Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber, Justice John Few demonstrated his exasperation early on with the chamber’s reporting. Counsel for the chamber could not explain, for example, what $200,000 for marketing services represented. The attorney further admitted under the current arrangement, the town would not be able to explain what it represented either.
If the legislature wants the public’s confidence and real transparency, require detailed financial quarterly reports from nonprofit entities and otherwise exempt them from any unreasonably intrusive “public body” rules.
If direct disclosure is not acceptable to nonprofits, then they should not accept taxpayer money.
Albert Emanuelli
Hilton Head Island
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This story was originally published January 21, 2018 at 7:32 AM with the headline "SC legislative transparency, or shell game?."