COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Two of South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster’s choices to run state agencies have bowed out after problems surfaced following their nominations.
State Rep. Bobby Cox won’t be the first director of the South Carolina Department of Veterans Affairs because of an 80-year-old state law banning a lawmaker from leading an agency created during his term. Officials didn’t realize the law was a problem for Cox until seven weeks after Republican Gov. Henry McMaster picked him.
And North Charleston Police Chief Reggie Burgess said he withdrew his candidacy to run the Public Safety Department because of the toll on his family after the public learned about his tax debts at a confirmation hearing.
Potential problems with nominees should be uncovered through vigorous background checks before the governor finalizes his choices, said Democratic state Sen. Dick Harpootlian of Columbia.
Harpootlian said its a good thing that state law requires the Senate to confirm the governor’s nominees because the problems were detected before they started their new jobs.
“I’m baffled at how this wasn’t discovered,” Harpootlian said. “My recommendation is to come up with some special, more thorough vetting and scrubbing of the people we pick, like is done with magistrate candidates.”
A third nominee, Stephen Morris at the Department of Aging was rejected by the state Senate after complaints he treated white male supervisors better and made derogatory remarks toward women and minorities when he was interim director. McMaster’s 2019 pick to be chairman of the board that oversees state utility Santee Cooper, former state Attorney General Charlie Condon, withdrew his nomination after it was rejected by the Senate Judiciary committee.
The governor apologized to Cox for not discovering that he couldn’t legally run the veterans agency, and said he regrets that Burgess won’t get a chance to transform the Public Safety Department, which oversees state troopers, security at the Capitol and the state Transport Police.
“That he is prioritizing his family over his nomination to lead the agency says all anyone needs to know about Chief Burgess, and I find great comfort in knowing that he’s not going far,” the governor said in a statement.
Cox withdrew his nomination to run the Veterans Affairs Department on Thursday. His letter to McMaster said he had to respect the rule of law.
Cox, 38 is a former Army Ranger. He is serving his first term, which ends in January 2021. He was among the House members who unanimously voted to create the new Cabinet agency to deal with veterans issues last year.
Burgess withdrew his nomination to be Public Safety Director on Wednesday. His nomination started to go awry earlier this month when it was discovered the federal government filed documents to order him to repay income tax debt from about a decade ago.
Burgess, 54, disclosed three years of tax liens, saying he trusted a tax preparer who made mistakes on his family’s returns. Two more years of liens weren’t on his original paperwork, which the governor’s office said was an oversight.
“As my nomination and confirmation has progressed, it has taken an emotional toll on my family. They have always wholeheartedly and unconditionally supported my career in law enforcement, and I believe that in this case, I must support them and place them first,” Burgess wrote in his letter to the governor withdrawing his nomination.
Burgess said he didn’t withdraw because of the tax issue but because of the stress on his family. He said his mother was especially bothered by stories she saw in her newspaper.
“I made a mistake. I rectified the mistake. But she thought it was a personal attack,” Burgess said at a news conference Friday.
Burgess plans to continue serving as police chief in North Charleston. He started with the agency as a patrolman in 1989 and became chief two years ago.
The South Carolina Public Safety Department had been run for eight years by Leroy Smith. McMaster decided in November to effectively fire Smith by not nominating him for a third term.
Smith’s last day is Friday. Highway Patrol Maj. Robert G. Woods IV, who is a 30-year veteran trooper and the Public Safety Department’s major of administrative support, will be acting director until a permanent leader is approved by the Senate, McMaster said.
Smith’s tenure included fights with lawmakers over trooper morale and problems in finding and retaining new troopers. Burgess said he regretted he didn’t get to tell senators his plans to change those things and overhaul how discipline is handled with state troopers.
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