Tom Swatzel and Jack Scoville continued their long-standing disagreements this week, this time over fines levied against Front Street businesswoman Jeanette Ard.
In a statement released Monday, June 30, Swatzel urged Georgetown City Council to drop the fine -- $1,087.50 per day -- that city officials levied against Ard more than a year ago. Swatzel is chairman of the Georgetown County Republican Party and is a former member of Georgetown County Council.
He also called on members of the county Democratic Party to join with the GOP in persuading City Council -- six of seven members are Democrats -- to drop the fine.
"Only Tom Swatzel would politicize a toilet," Scoville declared in a phone call to the Georgetown Times.
Scoville is a member of City Council and served for many years as county attorney for Georgetown County. He also is an executive committeeman for the county
SEE CITY, Page 4A
Democratic Party. The two men had long-standing disagreements on issues while he was county attorney and Swatzel was a member of County Council.
In early 2007, Ard submitted plans to the city Building and Planning Department for a take-out ice cream shop to be added to the rear portion of her flower shop, Colonial Floral Fascinations. A building permit was issued after the plans were reviewed. Along the way, city building officials reviewed the plans, suggested or directed some changes, and on June 20, 2007, Ard sought a certificate of occupancy once the work was done. On that day, for the first time, city officials said she needed to have a public restroom installed in the ice cream shop. She was denied the certificate of occupancy and a fine of $1,087.50 per day was levied. That figured, multiplied by 365 days - one year - now totals $396,937.50.
According to the city ordinance, each day that a situation is not corrected or a fine is not paid, another fine is added to the ones before it.
Ard refused to add the restroom because her building is historic, the restroom would mean a load-bearing wall would be taken out, and historic buildings do not have to have restrooms added in such circumstances. Also, she said, nothing was said about a restroom until all the work was done and multiple site visits were made by building officials.
When the city insisted on its position, Ard filed a lawsuit last September. That kept her from having to pay the fine while the lawsuit was active. However, if she ultimately loses the lawsuit, there is no cap on the amount of the fine in the city ordinance.
Because of all that, Swatzel said, "It's hard to defend the indefensible, or even explain why the city is engaging in a Keystone Cops routine against a successful business owner that will cost city taxpayers with a growing bill for legal fees and the possibility of a huge award for damages," Swatzel said. "It's even more interesting that it's the county Republican Party that is coming to Ms. Ard's defense, since the city council is strongly controlled by her fellow Democrats, but we believe the issue hurts all city and county residents by making it harder to attract and create new businesses and jobs."
Ard previously ran for City Council as a Democrat.
The county GOP adopted a resolution saying that City Council should "resolve this matter without delay in favor of Ms. Ard."
Swatzel sent a letter to county Democratic Party Chairman Jamie Sanderson urging him to use his influence with the six Democratic members of City Council, including Mayor Lynn Wood Wilson.
"The arbitrary and capricious actions of the city have harmed Ms. Ard," Swatzel wrote to Sanderson, "but they also send a very strong anti-business message to businesses that may locate or want to expand in Georgetown. This will harm the city's and county's ability to attract businesses and jobs. The Georgetown County Republican Party supports economic development and the creation of more jobs for city and county citizens. It is my hope that the county Democrat Party also shares the same view and is willing to publicly stand with us by helping to resolve Ms. Ard's plight."
In early June, Circuit Court Judge Lee S. Alford denied the city's "motion to dismiss" Ard's lawsuit against the city. As reported by the Georgetown Times, Alford said she had sufficient allegations "to set forth a cause of action for gross negligence" against the city. Alford said the lawsuit would go forward. On June 25, attorney Victoria Vaught of Conway filed a motion to amend for the city.
In his call to the Georgetown Times, Scoville said that since the matter is in litigation and is being handled by the city's insurance company, that's where the matter should stay.
"It's unfortunate that Mr. Swatzel and the county Republican Party have chosen to make this into a political issue," Scoville said.
"No one's asserted that Mrs. Ard is going to have to pay a huge fine on this thing. That's ridiculous that she's going to have to pay a $300-something thousand dollars fine. That's absurd. They know that," Scoville said.
"The staff made a determination that she's in violation and she's disputing that. It's not a political issue," Scoville said. "Only Tom would try to make a political issue out of a toilet. It's unfortunate, because this really undercuts Mrs. Ard's position with City Council much more than it will help it.
"It's unfortunate that the county Republican Party doesn't have anything better to do than attack City Council over a toilet," Scoville continued, "when the Republican-controlled School Board hasn't gotten our test scores up, and the Republican-controlled legislature has failed to improve education, pave roads, improve infrastructure, and I could go on with a whole litany of problems that Republicans ... have failed to achieve. They'd rather talk about a toilet."
When asked if he was speaking for the county Democratic Party, as an attorney or as a member of City Council, Scoville said, "I'm a partisan Democrat and on City Council. They're attacking City Council. I don't see where the county Republican Party has any room to complain about anything City Council has done. If they want to be criticizing anybody, they ought to be criticizing the state legislature and the School Board. They're certainly not living up to their promises.
"This is clearly political mischief," Scoville said, "trying to create an issue out there where there isn't any."
When asked what about the fine mounting up every day, if the city should win Ard's lawsuit, Scoville said, "You've got a situation of an excessive fine. A fine has to suit the penalty. I've practiced law for 30 years. I've never known someone to impose a fine of that nature," he said of the daily total approaching $400,000.
"The purpose of the fine would be to get her compliance with the ordinance, not to put her out of business," Scoville said, "and Tom knows that. The city court is not going to do that."
Scoville said he doesn't think the ordinance needs to be amended to set an upper limit.
"It's a good tool for enforcement, but nobody ever does that, as a practical matter," he said.
For her part, when the Georgetown Times contacted Ard about Scoville's letter and the GOP resolution, she simply said, "I deeply appreciate the support to try to resolve this, because it is an economic development issue."
: 7/7/2008
In response to misleading information contained in a story, a poll, and some anonymous commentary regarding Ms. Ard's ice cream shop, I offer the following clarifications: -The shop has been open for months and Ms. Ard has already taken her grievances to court, which is her right(making the poll meaningless) -According to our information, Ms. Ard's building is not considered historical as defined by the State Department of Archives and History -The city has assessed no fines against Ms. Ard -This matter can not and will not be resolved politically
: 7/6/2008
As I said before, if political parties get involved in legal matters such as this for all citizens, what's the judicial process for? This will work out, and if you know Swatzel, he has a hidden agenda. This has lasted for more than a year now, so why now does he bark. Think about what might be beneath.
: 7/6/2008
She's winning so far... what's the deal.
: 7/6/2008
This is the kind of bovine scatology expect from a Democrat majority city council. These girlie-men need to get a backbone and stop the beaucrats prosecuting this poor lady. This nitpicking stuff that should have been pointed out during the first (of many) inspections. Nobody but a wimp would need the court system to point out the foolishment of their argument. Unfortunately, when you elect spineless lawyers to City Council, this is what you should expect and deserve. For heaven sakes, get off this lady's back and pick on somebody your own size.
: 7/6/2008
lawyer man, i believe youre misguided. you are basing your comments on the fact that the atmosphere in city hall is tried and true. the politicians on council hired the thugs they call staff, and those staffers are destroying the good lives of georgetonians. those same politicians that ALLOW this to occur could be the saviors of the citizens. instead, they sit idly by and endorse the action by taking none themselves.
: 7/6/2008
No. The Democratic Party is standing for the legal system and not trying to manipulate it. If political parties always got involved with petty citizen issues including building permits, they'd pretty much not mean a darn thing to anybody. That's what lawyers are for... One call, that's all.
: 7/5/2008
Is the issue political? no. can the issue be solved politically. YES. do not hide behind petty accusations and finger pointing. DO something. the council has the authority to overturn staff decisions for matters like these. council could rule that staff misinterpreted ordinances or whatever it would take to get this fixed. instead, the democratic party is pointing hate fingers and trying to bring state and federal issues to a clearly local problem. QUIT wasting our money, council!! QUIT beating up business owners--this is NOT the first time this has occurred with this council. DO the RIGHT thing. quit throwing mud at each other!! that includes swatzel. jabbing and rib poking solves nothing. action makes solutions.
: 7/5/2008
You must be joking, right? The GCDP standing up for the legal system? The lawyers are mostly democrats because they love corruption becuase it gives them work to do with all the lawsuits. That's probably why Jack the scumbag said what he did. A couple of his lawyer buddies are making money on this poor issue.
: 7/4/2008
Out of all that, GOP writer picks out the last comment. Typical. Politics as usual. Kudos to the GCDP chairman for standing up for the legal system.
: 7/4/2008
"I look forward to seeing you at the next labor day parade. Democratically yours, Jamie Sanderson - Chairman" Why have you and daddy not had a parade since Swatzel made you give back the money you got illegally for the one many years ago?
: 7/4/2008
For Immediate Release: To: Tom Swatzel – Chairman Georgetown County Republican Party Dear Mr. Swatzel, It is very encouraging to hear that the Georgetown County Republican Party has decided to join, however temporarily, the Georgetown County Democratic Party in our fight for quality job creation, living wages and the support of the Small Business owner in Georgetown. However, the situation between the City of Georgetown and Jeanette Ard regarding is not a political issue but rather is a legal matter that we believe Ms. Ard has taken due diligence to settle in a reasonable fashion. It is our understanding that all parties involved are working hard to resolve this issue and will consider the effect it will have on the operations of Ms. Ard's business and the taxpayers of Georgetown. Failing a resolution among the parties, we have complete faith in the judicial system to render a fair and legal result. In that regard, we do not believe it is appropriate for political parties to circumvent the clear separation of powers between the legislative and judicial branches of government and we will not be joining you in advocating for such a course of action. The political exploitation of citizens in peril is most often intended to be of more benefit to the politic party than the citizen. We have seen this "special interest " advocacy in action when your party called Congress to a special session for the Terri Schiavo matter. It is always unbecoming, creates polarization, and is usually an impediment to the legal and equitable resolution of disputes. While Ms. Ard's dispute with the city does not raise concerns of the same magnitude, the negative inevitable consequences of political interference with the legal system are the same. As always, the Democratic party will put its faith in our neighbors which serve at the will of the electorate as citizen legislators. We must trust them to see that all citizens are treated fairly, with respect and in compliance with the law. If Ms. Ard is correct in her complaints with the city we wish her well , if not , then the law must be followed, and no one is above it . To the extent that your recent letter seeks to compel any result other than that that the law be followed, I must disagree with you. Therefore, at this time as we celebrate our nation's birth, once again, we thank you for joining us as we fight the good fight for living wages, job creation, support of small businesses and the citizens of Georgetown. I look forward to seeing you at the next labor day parade. Democratically yours, Jamie Sanderson - Chairman
: 7/4/2008
The critics of this county are always the first to speak and offer no suggestions or remedies to the matter. The judicial process will render a fair decision and it's not up to political parties to influence that. We have already had enough.
: 7/4/2008
http://georgetowndemocrats.blogspot.com/2008/07/gcdp-response-to-swatzels-latest-jab.html
: 7/4/2008
Scoville said... 'I've never known someone to impose a fine of that nature," he said of the daily total approaching $400,000.' Are you not on City Council Mr Scoville? Isn't this your city government imposing such? Secondly, it seems you're spinning Swatzel's remarks into political rhetoric yourself. Ask a Democrat about Health Care and they will say that Bush got us into this war without cause. That's spin.
: 7/4/2008
This is the best the democrats have to offer??? Jack So-vile??? Where is Jamie Sanderson? Will the council stop persecuting Ms. Ard?