After the taxpayer was kicked in the teeth by the General Assembly’s budget conference committee, it looks like members and candidates for Anderson County Council are willing to help with government transparency. My budget proviso to mandate all government bodies post their expenditures got axed, yet the discussion is alive and well. Read on:
Anderson County Council candidates speak out about open government
Part 5 in seven-part series – By Liz Carey (Contact)
Tuesday, June 3, 2008 ANDERSON COUNTY — Over the past year, questions have arisen about how open Anderson County government is with public records. County Council members Cindy Wilson and Bob Waldrep have said the administration has either delayed getting them the information they request or charged them hundreds of dollars to access the files in question.
Additionally, council members also have requested that financial information be more readily available, if not presented at each council meeting.
Several organizations made Freedom of Information requests in November for credit card expenditures for the county. A review of those records in February revealed thousands of dollars in food and entertainment expenses made by Anderson County Administrator Joey Preston, as well as other department heads.
Since then, South Carolina Senator Kevin Bryant introduced legislation that would require counties to post all of their expenditures online. He said South Carolina Comptroller Eckert had been able to do that for many state cabinets at no cost.
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Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina
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