August 09, 2006 News+Opinion » Will Moredock

THE GOOD FIGHT ‌ Politicians Behaving Badly 

Don't we deserve better than this from our officials?

by Will Moredock

The past few weeks have been a parade of embarrassments for local public officials.

Let's start with Cottageville Mayor Bert Reeves, who has been stopped twice for speeding since March. In one incident, he was clocked doing 103 mph in a 55 mph zone. Then he was caught on tape scolding a police officer for not writing more tickets to generate revenue for the town, long regarded as a speed trap.

Last week, the mayor flipped his pickup truck, nearly killing himself, in a single-vehicle accident. The highway patrol has charged him with driving under the influence; Reeves denies the charge.

In a fit of road rage two days later, Mount Pleasant Town Councilman Bobby Utsey waylaid a 42-year-old female motorist and punched her twice in the face in front of her daughter. When he was pulled over by a Mount Pleasant police officer a few minutes later, he twice asked the officer, "Do you know who I am?" The officer didn't give a damn. Utsey was charged with DUI and aggravated assault.

And then there's the ongoing saga of Wallace Scarborough, the James Island state representative who is not living in his district and who was arrested on the night of July 15 for confronting two South Carolina Electric & Gas linemen in his backyard and firing off a round from his 9 mm Glock pistol, when the SCE&G boys were simply trying to check the power lines after a storm.

Scarborough spent the night in jail, charged with assault with intent to kill. The charge was immediately dropped, but the case left more questions than answers. Scarborough's attorney, John Graham Altman III, said his client fired the Glock into the deck where he was standing, yet police were not able to find a bullet hole or a shell casing, according to a union official who represents the SCE&G workers in the matter. At various times in the heat of the brief media storm, Altman said Scarborough was sitting in his dining room doing paperwork when he heard someone in his backyard. Another time Scarborough said he was watching a movie in the living room. Which was it, Wallace?

And what about his choice of attorneys? Until the end of the last legislative session, Altman was a state representative in his own right and the subject of several of my columns. There are plenty of decent and honorable attorneys Scarborough could have gone to, but he turned to the man who made his reputation as a demagogue and a bully, a race-baiter, and a gay-basher. Wallace, you are judged by the people you associate with.

Now Scarborough's bizarre behavior on the night of July 15 has led to an investigation into other aspects of his life, the report of which appears in this issue of City Paper. Affidavits filed by Scarborough's estranged wife in divorce proceedings at Charleston County Courthouse show the District 115 representative to be having a long-term affair with Rep. Catherine C. Ceips of Beaufort.

This sounds like a bad made-for-television movie, but it gets worse. Scarborough and Ceips both supported the proposed "defense of marriage" amendment to the state constitution. This is the amendment that would ban gay marriage in an effort to preserve the institution of marriage and keep it sacred. Apparently, Scarborough and Ceips did not consider their adultery to be a threat to the sacred institution of marriage. According to affidavits and other sources, Scarborough and Ceips were quite indiscreet in their affair, pushing their "pro-family" agenda while they were cavorting around South Carolina. Statehouse sources confirm that there were rampant rumors about the two legislators.

Was the Republican leadership aware of their behavior? Did they call the lovers in for a word of prayer about their unseemly behavior, about the sacredness of their own respective marriages? Or was this just business as usual in a club that would make most citizens gasp at its cynicism?

Scarborough's behavior seems particularly reprehensible. At least Ceips brings no children into this squalid affair. Scarborough has two sons still at home. And his behavior around Columbia comes across as boorish and immature. Reports hold that Scarborough likes to "party hearty" when he is out of sight of family and constituents. He pads around the Statehouse in loafers without socks, apparently thinking he's at the beach house. This perpetual frat boy brings neither dignity nor honor to his office.

The Republican Party will no doubt continue to push its preposterous "family values" program, but Scarborough and Ceips give it the lie. Morality begins with personal behavior, not with laws and constitutional amendments.

Comments (6) RSS

Showing 1-5 of 6

Add a comment | All comments »

This article is a total lie. If you want to know the truth please read below.

You’ve been the target of plenty of bad publicity in the last couple of years, and we’d like to see what you have to say about …

… your divorce, in which a number of allegations of adultery and misconduct were made against you:

I am very sad about my divorce. Anyone who has gone through a divorce knows how hard it is. Sometimes things come between married people that make it impossible to continue together. I think it is a shame that something so personal became so public. We had problems for years and we both worked to try to overcome those problems, unfortunately we were not successful. Mostly I am sorry and apologize to my children who were really the innocent bystanders caught in the fire of opposing divorce attorneys allegations that made a good election story in the media. It is important to know as a “rest of the story”. My wife and I were divorced based on a year separation, and irreconcilable differences nothing else. The public allegations that were made against me were false and were made to discredit me in the eyes of the public and place doubt in the minds of the voting population. It has been very unfortunate and difficult couple years for my family but now things are getting back in order and moving ahead.

… your arrest for discharging a pistol near some SCE&G utility workers:

Your question is about my confrontation with two men who jumped the six foot high fence into my parents’ back yard in the dark of night and were shining flashlights into the windows of the house. I armed myself and confronted the prowlers. They claimed to be power company employees but refused to show proper identification or return to their truck (which was nowhere to be seen). Then claimed to be checking on my power outage yet the power was clearly on in the house. When they refused to leave or show ID I retreated toward the house to summon the authorities, tripped in the dark, and discharged my pistol into the ground. For this defense of my family property, I was rewarded with a night in the jail and a front page news story. Ultimately, I was completely exonerated, charges were dropped and my record was expunged. Ninth Circuit Solicitor Ralph Hoisington said “Wallace Scarborough's conduct did not amount to assault with intent to kill”. I was merely protecting my property, as all South Carolinians are allowed to do. And to those who think I got special treatment I can promise you I did not. I have a fifteen hour ordeal as the eighth person placed in a two person cell to prove it.

Do you have any thoughts about bloggers and other “non-traditional” media outlets, such as websites or alternative papers?

It is interesting the way news is now reported. The evolving electronic media is challenging the traditional media. We need to remember that in every case people write the news. We are in an age where you have to know who is delivering the news to you and always remember to read the byline before giving credibility to the story. Those bloggers who write comments anonymously should be given as much credibility as they give which is none. If a person will not give their name, how can what they write be trusted?


As for my Parents that is a very private matter concerning a horrible sickness. I would welcome privacy in this matter as well as prayers.

Posted by Wallace Scarborough on | Report this comment

Very interesting article concerning Scarborough and Ceips. One may look into her "husbands" recent death (July 27)

Posted by Meljc424 on | Report this comment

Soneone should contact the Dixie Chicks about Katherine Ceips...they would have a good laugh

Posted by Ralph on | Report this comment

Bravo!

Posted by Adam McCoy on | Report this comment

"We're the elected officials; we don't have to follow the rules." Wasn't I the fool of the world to think that Georgia's McKinney was unique and alone as an elected scofflaw? But look what happened to her.

Posted by Séamus on | Report this comment

Add a comment

Classified Listings
{ more } Recent Comments
{ more } Reader Reviews

Powered by Foundation   © Copyright 2010, Charleston City Paper   RSS