Rewrite the Job Description



It’s time to take a hard look at our state’s lieutenant governor job, as Thursday’s editorial discusses:

“I have no interest in resigning.”

“I’m not going to resign.”

“I have no plans to resign.”

– Lt. Gov. Ken Ard on Tuesday

It’s a strong sign that there’s something wrong at work if you feel compelled to start issuing statements such as these. And we imagine there’s definitely some worry in Lt. Gov. Ken Ard’s office these days. Ard is feeling some stiff pressure from Democrats and some in his own party to step down in the face of a lingering campaign finance scandal.

The saga thus far has led us to two main conclusions: First, it’s better to rip the Band-Aid off in one clean jerk than to peel it off slowly bit by bit. And second, it’s time to reorganize.

First, the Band-Aid. When this scandal first broke, it was bad enough. Ard was accused of using campaign donations for personal expenses such as iPads, a TV, football tickets and a vacation to D.C. He settled those charges with the state Ethics Commission earlier this month, agreeing to pay a $48,000 fine and $24,500 in reimbursements to the commission and his campaign account. What’s kept the brouhaha bubbling, however, has been his apparent concealment of key facts in his case.

For example, he told the Ethics Commission in March that his trip was to D.C. was to meet with Sen. Lindsey Graham. A couple of inquiries were made, and it was determined that Graham was actually in South Carolina at the time Ard said they were having their meeting in D.C. Oops. The “office equipment” that Art bought at Best Buy included a Playstation and flat-screen TV. Fun office.

Had Ard come clean with these facts from the beginning, the calls for resignation would likely still have come, but they would have probably been a little less bitter and harsh. It’s tempting to say that it’s this sort of dishonesty after the initial revelation that presents the real problem for politicians in scandals such as these, but that leads us to a tough question: If an action is wrong – like taking money for a campaign and spending it on yourself – shouldn’t that be bad enough? Have we become so jaded that we’ve gone from worrying whether our leaders have done something wrong to asking just how wrong it was?

The real question for many in the state now is, what next? The answer is a little different when it’s the lieutenant governor who’s in trouble. It’s hard to find somebody else who wants the job as it is. The person below Ard on the state government totem pole, Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, sure doesn’t want him to resign. After all, why would McConnell want to leave a job in the Senate where he wields a great deal of power to fill a post that does almost nothing and which hasn’t led to higher office for decades? In 2009, when it looked as though Gov. Mark Sanford might resign, promoting Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer and leaving Bauer’s post open, McConnell prepared a letter of resignation he was prepared to send rather than take the do-nothing job.

As others have pointed out, it’s simply laughable to suggest that this investigation could interfere with Ard’s official duties. After all, Ard’s main function is to wait for a call just in case Gov. Nikki Haley is struck by lightning or is convicted and sent to prison. In the meantime, he’s mostly free to fill his hours as it suits him. Last Friday, for instance, he visited an adult day care in Florence to take a turn as celebrity bingo caller.

It’s past time to reconsider the job. It makes perfect sense to have a line of succession in order to fill the state’s leadership in case of emergency, but surely we would like those in line to be doing something productive while they wait. The two main options at this point seem to be either scrapping the post altogether – as seven states have done – and making the Senate president pro tem the next in line, or combining the lieutenant governor and governor on one ticket.

Either approach could be a good move for the state. The first has the advantage of being a clean break and new slate. The only complication would be finding a new home for the state’s Office on Aging, of which the lieutenant governor is the titular head. The second is the approach that the House passed this year (and past years) and advocated by Haley. It would make the governor and lieutenant governor more of a partnership and team, which could give the lieutenant governor more of a consultant role or at least a part in executive decisions.

It’s hard to predict South Carolina politics, but we suspect the current commotion will likely not result in the ouster of Ard, mostly because it would be hard to find somebody to take his place and the job is of little importance anyway. But the ruckus could make a lasting impact if it’s taken as an opportunity to reimagine the job and take it from a curious redundancy to a contributing part of state government.

 

The saga thus far has led us to two main conclusions: First, it’s better to rip the Band-Aid off in one clean jerk than to peel it off slowly bit by bit. And second, it’s time to reorganize.

First, the Band-Aid. When this scandal first broke, it was bad enough. Ard was accused of using campaign donations for personal expenses such as iPads, a TV, football tickets and a vacation to D.C. He settled those charges with the state Ethics Commission earlier this month, agreeing to pay a $48,000 fine and $24,500 in reimbursements to the commission and his campaign account. What’s kept the brouhaha bubbling, however, has been his apparent concealment of key facts in his case.

For example, he told the Ethics Commission in March that his trip was to D.C. was to meet with Sen. Lindsey Graham. A couple of inquiries were made, and it was determined that Graham was actually in South Carolina at the time Ard said they were having their meeting in D.C. Oops. The “office equipment” that Art bought at Best Buy included a Playstation and flat-screen TV. Fun office.

Had Ard come clean with these facts from the beginning, the calls for resignation would likely still have come, but they would have probably been a little less bitter and harsh. It’s tempting to say that it’s this sort of dishonesty after the initial revelation that presents the real problem for politicians in scandals such as these, but that leads us to a tough question: If an action is wrong – like taking money for a campaign and spending it on yourself – shouldn’t that be bad enough? Have we become so jaded that we’ve gone from worrying whether our leaders have done something wrong to asking just how wrong it was?

The real question for many in the state now is, what next? The answer is a little different when it’s the lieutenant governor who’s in trouble. It’s hard to find somebody else who wants the job as it is. The person below Ard on the state government totem pole, Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, sure doesn’t want him to resign. After all, why would McConnell want to leave a job in the Senate where he wields a great deal of power to fill a post that does almost nothing and which hasn’t led to higher office for decades? In 2009, when it looked as though Gov. Mark Sanford might resign, promoting Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer and leaving Bauer’s post open, McConnell prepared a letter of resignation he was prepared to send rather than take the do-nothing job.

As others have pointed out, it’s simply laughable to suggest that this investigation could interfere with Ard’s official duties. After all, Ard’s main function is to wait for a call just in case Gov. Nikki Haley is struck by lightning or is convicted and sent to prison. In the meantime, he’s mostly free to fill his hours as it suits him. Last Friday, for instance, he visited an adult day care in Florence to take a turn as celebrity bingo caller.

It’s past time to reconsider the job. It makes perfect sense to have a line of succession in order to fill the state’s leadership in case of emergency, but surely we would like those in line to be doing something productive while they wait. The two main options at this point seem to be either scrapping the post altogether – as seven states have done – and making the Senate president pro tem the next in line, or combining the lieutenant governor and governor on one ticket.

Either approach could be a good move for the state. The first has the advantage of being a clean break and new slate. The only complication would be finding a new home for the state’s Office on Aging, of which the lieutenant governor is the titular head. The second is the approach that the House passed this year (and past years) and advocated by Haley. It would make the governor and lieutenant governor more of a partnership and team, which could give the lieutenant governor more of a consultant role or at least a part in executive decisions.

It’s hard to predict South Carolina politics, but we suspect the current commotion will likely not result in the ouster of Ard, mostly because it would be hard to find somebody to take his place and the job is of little importance anyway. But the ruckus could make a lasting impact if it’s taken as an opportunity to reimagine the job and take it from a curious redundancy to a contributing part of state government.