GEORGETOWN, S.C. —  The newest member of the Georgetown City Planning Commission may possibly be one of the shortest serving members.

Johnny Wilson has been unanimously approved by City Council to a seat on the Planning Commission Jan. 21.

But Wilson has also announced he will be a candidate for one of the two at-large seats on the Georgetown County School board that expire this year.

Wilson was a member of the board previously but was defeated in 2008 when the precinct elections began.

According to the office of South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, having Wilson on both the planning commission and school board would violate dual-office-holding laws.

 “It is not a problem if he is running for the school board. It’s wining that’s the problem,” said McMaster’s spokesman Mark Plowden.

After the Georgetown Times contacted McMaster’s Office for an opinion on the matter, Plowden responded with an opinion that sitting on both seats would be a violation of the law.

“There have been a number of opinions to deal with this scenario. This will clearly be a dual office holding,” Plowden said.

Wilson said he plans to serve on the Planning Commission at least until November and will step down if elected to the school board.

Paige Sawyer

On a similar issue, Plowden said it’s OK for Georgetown City Councilman Paige Sawyer  to serve on council while being a member of the Citizens Committee for the Judicial Merit Selection Commission for the Pee Dee Region.

Sawyer has been on that committee for 15 years, appointed by Senator Glen McConnell.

“We do not find any existing opinion that creates a scenario where there is a problem with him being on city council and the judicial screening committee,” Plowden said. “We do not have an existing opinion on that.”

However, Plowden added, there is a case that could soon be heard by the State Supreme Court “that could influence it but right now it is not a problem.”

The committee usually meet annually in Florence but there have been times when a second meeting within the year was needed.

“At first there was no compensation and in the past five years or so, we get paid for mileage,” Sawyer said.

He said the purpose of the committee is to hear from citizens about possible bad experiences they may have had with a presiding judge who was up for reappointment or a judicial candidate seeking a judgeship.  

Sawyer said he has never felt he needed to recuse himself due to conflicts of interest.

He said if he felt it was a conflict he “would have resigned from the citizens committee a long time ago.”

By Scott Harper

sharper@gtowntimes.com