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Tom Martin considers resigning as Anderson County attorney
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ANDERSON COUNTY — Anderson County Attorney Tom Martin said he was seriously considering resigning as the county attorney on Dec. 31 in a letter sent to county administrator Joey Preston and dated Oct. 31.
“As you may recall, I notified you in the spring of this year that I was seriously contemplating no longer serving as Anderson County attorney after Dec. 31, 2008,” according to the letter. “The purpose of this memo is just to remind you of that fact, and that you should be making plans accordingly.”
Martin said in the letter that the notification applied only to him, and that the McNair Law Firm, for which he works, would be available to serve the county for current and future assignments.
Additionally, Martin wrote in the letter that the law firm has “a good-sized van full of files, if not a roomful” that needs to be transferred from the law firm to the county, if the county requests the move.
Reed Byrum, spokesman for McNair Law Firm, said because the letter was privileged communication between an attorney and client, the firm could not comment on the letter.
Byrum did confirm, however, that Martin was not leaving the McNair firm.
“McNair has a very strong commitment to the Anderson area and its clients there,” Byrum said. “Attorneys like Tom … are closely involved in the community.”
Preston was not available for comment.
Anderson County Council Chairman Michael Thompson said Preston would be the only one who would know the status of the county attorney.
“The county attorney is hired and fired by the county administrator,” Thompson said. “That has nothing to do with the County Council. It is up to the administrator who is hired and fired.”
Thompson said he did not know how much Martin makes as the county attorney but did know that Martin greatly reduces the hourly rate he charges the county.
“I think the letter pretty much explains itself,” Council member Larry Greer said.
According to the Anderson County finance department, Martin is paid by McNair Law Firm, which invoices the county monthly for the work they do.
When asked how much McNair is paid annually by the county, County Finance Director Gina Humphreys said that information was not immediately available, but the information was being gathered and would be available for review next week.
Council members Cindy Wilson, Ron Wilson and Gracie Floyd were not immediately available for comment Wednesday evening. Incoming council members Eddie Moore, Tom Allen and Tommy Dunn did not return calls for comment.
Council member Bob Waldrep said he has not had any conversations with any incoming council members regarding a replacement for Martin.
“Well, not a great deal of thought has been given to that,” he said. “There is an anticipated change in the air. … I just wish Mr. Martin well, and appreciate his letter.”
County Assistant Administrator Michael Cunningham, who will become administrator when Preston steps down as of Monday, said he was not familiar with the letter and could not comment on the letter or Martin’s intentions.
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Don't get in the way of the door. The rush has begun.
You can tell the ship's taking on water...the rats are headed for higher ground!!!!
The only thing I have to say about this article is Tom Martin is an awesome guy...one of the straightest shooters I have ever delt with. If he chooses to leave, his wisdom and wit will be greatly missed.
in response to andersonian
Yep, he shot us right in the foot with Preston's contract. He's a straight shooter all right!
Mr. Tom Martin is a wonderful, caring, intelligent human being! It is my desire that you Preston Haters QUIT berating people to make yourselves feel better! You people are sick!
Why doesn't the county do like the city and hire an attorney full time. The city attorney does not handle any cases other than for the city. The City provides him an office and secretary in the city hall building. I don't know his salary, but he does not have to pay rent, phone or utilities. He may have a city car, but I don't know that to be fact.
It should be online somewhere. Where does anderson county publish their expenditures?
in response to zeldaz
Suppression of free speech is an act of desperation and a sure sign of tyranny.
in response to CindyRoper
Miss Roper,
Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.
- John Adams (1770)
2nd President of the United States
in response to StupidShouldHurtMore
The fact is she asked you not to address her. Why don't you just speak your little piece to the general public without addressing her personally. She feels you are harassing her and unless you are some kind of perv or stalker or something, you can leave her alone.
Yes, facts are a funny thing. Hard to escape without changing the subject. That's why you try so hard to do just that. In sixty days you won't even know where Anderson, S.C. is. We will.
As good a contract Tom wrote for Joey, are we supposed to shudder to find out what Tom's contract is? Is that the other shoe getting ready to drop?
in response to oracle
Mr. Oracle,
I assure you, I will still be here in 60 days. So will Anderson County Government, sans one or two key players, those being JRP and now, apparently, Tom Martin.
It is a sad day when it appears that we must part the ways with the McNair Law Firm. Now, before the opposition jumps up and down for joy, I think you and others need to understand the impact of the McNair Law Firm, both here in Anderson County and elsewhere.
From the McNair Website:
"McNair’s counseling of governmental entities is a seamless web of experience and capabilities. Just as we understand how state and local governments work at the highest administrative and legislative levels, our professional credibility with these decision-makers enhances our ability to counsel counties, municipalities and special purpose entities throughout the state. If you are a county government official in South Carolina, you have likely worked with a McNair lawyer: we have represented at least 25 of the state’s 46 counties, more than half of the 85 school districts, and dozens of municipalities on some issue of importance to them. We not only serve as general counsel to some of these clients – our lawyers often are special counsel on administrative, environmental, financing, immigration, land use and other matters. At the intersection of multiple local government and business interests, McNair lawyers smoothly direct the administrative and legal traffic so that public purposes and private needs are integrated for the common good."
Did you catch that? Twenty-five of this states 46 counties are represented by the McNair Law Firm. Thats over HALF of all counties in South Carolina. This is a HUGE step BACKWARDS for Anderson County if we choose to show the McNair Law Firm the door.
Stupid doesn't even begin to describe the condition of mind one must be in to send this group packing.
- SSHM
in response to StupidShouldHurtMore
I really don't care who Martin/McNair has represented. He hasn't been representing my or the citizens best interests, he has been representing Preston. How do I know he hasn't been representing us? Because he can't tell us anything about anything, as it would violate attorney-client privilege. Therefore we must not be his clients. We didn't show him out, although I am sure no one will block the door. He showed us what a terrific lawyer he is by the employment contract he wrote for Joey (and possibly Cunningham). So, other than stating nothing but the obvious, what's your point?
in response to oracle
Mr. Oracle,
You just made my point for me. Allow me to quote you:
"He hasn't been representing my or the citizens best interests, he has been representing Preston."
It is NOT the job of the County Attorney to represent you or the body politic as a whole. In fact, if you read the following from the article, you might get a clue ...
“The county attorney is hired and fired by the county administrator,” Thompson said. “That has nothing to do with the County Council. It is up to the administrator who is hired and fired.”
Allow me to drive a related point home (this will sting) . . .
Contrary to what many from "the opposition" think and feel, County Council can NOT fire County Employees. That power rests ONLY with the County Administrator. Now, if the County Administrator opts not to fire an employee, they have very little form of recourse.
Well ... there is ONE thing they CAN do ... (and I hope they are taking careful notes).
County Council, in addition to being able to hire and fire two people (Clerk of Council and County Administrator) can defund/eliminate positions from the budget, IF, and ONLY IF, the law allows for it.
You and others keep forgetting that this is a County Administrator form of government. A form of government that is LEGAL and APPROVED under HOME RULE. The council has very limited authority over the day-to-day operations of the county.
Oh, as a sidebar, if you don't like the current form of government, it requires a public referendum to change it.
So, in summary:
1.) The County Attorney owes you nothing, as he does not represent you in any matter.
2.) Council can't fire employees of the county, save two individuals, the County Administrator and the Clerk to Council.
3.) The County Administrator form of government is an APPROVED and LEGAL means by which to run local government under the auspices of Home Rule.
4.) To change the current form of local government will require a referendum.
That, Mr. Oracle, is my point. It is also why the opposition is so sore over the results of the past few weeks.
As it has been said before: Be careful what you wish for. You might just get it.
- SSHM
Okay, so now you have spent thirty minutes speaking about something no one asked. I ask again, what is your point. Your original post was about how we should be sorry for losing McNair and Martin. I just asked, why should we care. He didn't represent us. Seems to me we've been on the screwing end of his expertise. So I agree it is terrible for you he is leaving...I guess. You seem to think so anyway. Again a bunch of unneeded facts, for a question no one asked. Well done.
in response to oracle
If Martin is not representing the people of Anderson County, why are WE paying him?
Poor little "Wilson Supporters"....
in response to patriot
The unfortunate reality is, unless someone files a formal complaint, the solicitor can't just go on a personal witchhunt. The other part of that reality is, these are some smart people. It appears they have covered themselves pretty well. Their weakness lies in the massive amount of paperwork (or lack thereof) supporting what Preston has done for the past 12 years. That "proof" either would have to be in the files, not ever been there, or been there and now has been shredded or altered. Those are the only four options out there.
Lamanamawhtevr, rbmcarty, Stupid, sophievoter and the others on here constantly crowing about proof, know Preston has denied anyone meaningful access to the records where the proof lies. The 50,000 pages Preston has claimed to deliver has had all meaningful information (that someone could use to follow the money) redacted.
If I could draw a parallel in a card game. One of the players at the table keeps turning up with aces every time they deal. You've played cards long enough to know that just doesn't happen in the real world. So you start to watch the questionable dealer every time he deals. You begin to notice when he deals you see alot of cupping of the deck, moves to his shirt pocket and alot of unnecessary flourishing of a handkerchief. He is doing all the things a cheater would do. Then on one of his deals, you spot it, the corner of a card sticking out of his shirt pocket. You immediately stop the deal and demand a count of the deck to prove he is holding out some cards and cheating. Although fair play would demand the dealer to comply, he whips out a ruling from the Supreme Court that says he doesn't have to show you anything, except at his leisure. He whips out a contract that says only a majority vote of all the players at the table can make him comply with the card count request. Although every player at the table SHOULD be concerned about another player cheating, oddly enough only two of the seven players vote for the dealer to show the cards. That would have to mean the other five players are either in collusion with the cheating or are too afraid of the dealer to challenge him.
So there you have it. We see the corner of the card sticking out of Preston's pocket, but Preston holds all the proof, as he holds all the original documents and is refusing a count of the deck. He has stonewalled, sued, delayed, made expensive and now orchestrated a segue out the door for himself and all his supporting team. Who will be left behind are the people who will bare the blame for what Preston has done and stood silent while he plundered us. They don't have contracts or high paid lawyers to avert blame for their actions. Although Preston, Martin and the exiting council members are doing the cleanup they needed to relieve themselves of legal liability and further investigation, they are also kicking to the curb everyone who helped them, colluded with them or enriched themselves through his actions.
The forensic audit is so feared by these people, because they cannot redact information or hide from auditors with free access to the records.
So you see, if Preston isn't allowing anyone else to count the deck, then he can continue to crow, "prove I am cheating" because he holds all the cards. Until we get our hands on the deck, we will not be able to prove anything to the satisfaction of a court. That is why he has made getting our hands (in a meaningful way and not just 50,000 pages of meaningless records) an impossible task. He has hidden behind legal maneuvers, lawyers, long protracted legal actions, frozen the FOI process with the cooperation of Liz Carey (if you recall Carey asked for every FOI ever issued by Preston's office, thereby clogging up the legitimate FOI requests by a huge backlog of Carey requests) and now is having his accomplices on county council give him a walk with a severance agreement that does not permit us to pursue Preston, no matter what we find in an audit after he leaves. Pretty slick maneuvering.
Now I ask you, of the four options regarding the proof in the records. Are these the actions of people who fall under the first category (everything on the up and up as they claim with full records and documentation to explain their use of tax money) or the other three options (records never been there, not there now or have been altered)?
Letting someone off the hook, before we even count the cards, tells me these people don't fall into the first category (everything on the up and up).
You might well ask, what is the corner of the card sticking out of the dealer’s pocket? The corner of the card is in our code of ordinances covering procurement.
Sec. 2-640. Purchases not exceeding $500.00.
Any procurement of goods or services where the estimated cost is $500.00 or less, excluding tax, may be made without competition if the Purchasing director certifies that the price is deemed to be "fair and reasonable". Additional competition may be obtained whenever there is a reason to believe a quotation does not represent a fair and reasonable price.
If you take a close look at the credit card purchases over the past 12 years, you will see alot of purchases in excess of $500.01 routinely broken down into smaller purchases of equal amounts all less than !gasp! $500.01. You will note it has occurred many times related to exorbitant hotel and travel costs, but has also happened way too many times as a regular course of business, to just be happenstance or a fluke. It is clearly an attempt to circumvent the oversight and audit process. We will know more after a comprehensive audit. I just hope Preston and the other lame duck council members are not able to exercise too much revenge on us before leaving office. Their current actions, speak more clearly to me where their sentiments and intentions have been all along, than anything else they have done.
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