Inconvenient questions and the realpolitic of transportation funding policy in South Carolina.
On December 8, 2019, The Post and Courier published a column headlined At Least Vince Graham isn’t asking all those inconvenient questions any more.
Excerpt:
“It took Gov. Henry McMaster all of a couple of months to dump him after Haley departed for the United Nations in January 2017. Graham’s mortal sin: not being all in on the Highway of Our Dream, the $750 million-and-counting extension of Interstate 526. His 10-point plan in December 2016 to unwind the project was like a five-alarm fire for the Charleston political establishment.”
For those interested in a deeper dive down the rabbit holes of 526 and/or the realpolitic of public transportation funding, this 10-point plan, can be found here. It was presented at the SC Transportation Infrastructure Bank’s (SCTIB) Board meeting of December 14, 2016. The plan followed a year of futile negotiations between officials of the SCTIB and Charleston Council over funding the shortfall for this proposed project which, if built, would be the most expensive in South Carolina history.
During my time as the Bank’s Chairman, I took the position that as an officer of the State appointed by Governor Haley, I was responsible to the entirety of SC’s citizenry. This position conflicts with the ongoing “bring home the bacon” money scramble that takes place in Columbia and Washington, D.C. My “inconvenient question,” posed to Charleston area politicians, including Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg and Charleston County Council Chairman Elliott Summey was this:
If you, the elected leaders of Charleston, aren’t willing to ask local citizens to fund a controversial project, how can you reasonably expect the larger citizenry of our State to do so?
This question was at the heart of this Sept. 27, 2016 letter to Tecklenburg and Summey, which also provides a full history and background for the controversial 526 extension project.
Charleston officials wouldn’t answer this question, much less abide it. A few weeks after Trump was elected President, he nominated Nikki Haley to be the next U.N. Ambassador. She was confirmed by the Senate on January 24, 2017 and immediately resigned her Governorship. The Lieutenant Governor, Henry McMaster, took her place.
The Governor appoints is empowered to appoint numerous state officials, including the Chairman of the SC Transportation Infrastructure Bank. After becoming Governor, McMaster was subjected to intense lobbying on behalf of Charleston’s politicians including Tecklenburg, Summey, State Senator Sandy Senn, State Representative Leon Stavrinakis and others. Also, various business interests, including government contractors engaged in the road building industry. McMaster succumbed to the pressure and appointed a new Chairman, John White of Spartanburg.
Some final thoughts as Chairman are outlined in this March 6, 2017 letter to Governor McMaster.
The new SCTIB Board Chairman, John White subsequently took the same position as I and a majority of the bank board at the time did: that for the Bank to continue with its $420 million funding commitment to fund the controversial extension of 526 across Johns and James Islands made in 2006, Charleston County must come up with an acceptable plan to fund the projected $300+ million shortfall of the revised $750 million cost estimate .
After much hemming and hawing, a majority of Charleston County Council members voted to fund the shortfall using money from various sources including the federal government and Charleston County sales tax proceeds. Several individuals and organizations have subsequently sued the County to block this action. That litigation is pending.