Clerk of Court

[Anonymous]

It came to my attention today that Beth Carrigg has been endorsed by the Home Builder's Association. What a shock! I wonder whether this endorsement was "Thank you, Mr. Carrigg and County Council for allowing the home builders/developers to clear cut Lexington County, destroy nearly all of our wildlife habitat, ruin our ecology, jam every road and highway with constant traffic, keep our roads torn up and dotted with potholes, overload our schools, etc., etc." On the other hand, it could be "We hope this endorsement will go a long way toward your allowing us to continue destroying the county; and we especially thank you for always voting down an add-on tax on new homes." Had a small amount been added to the cost of each new home built in Lexington County starting even as late as 15 years ago, we might now have money desperately needed for the infrastructure to accommodate the overwhelming influx of new residents.

[Anonymous]

It appears Mrs. Carrigg is already reaping the benefits of having a Husband on County Council! Well, there goes the neighborhood! :evil:

[Anonymous]

Is that conflict of interest starting to be seen now? :roll:

[Anonymous]

like the Coroner being a funeral director and working at a funeral home is not???????

[Anonymous]

We were not commenting on the Coroner's race. This site is about the Clerk of Court. Frankly, have not analyzed the coroner's racefrom thaqt perpective (yet) but, in any event, adding another CONLICT OF INTEREST is not in our best interests, is it?

[Anonymous]

Last week I told you that I would be back with more real facts and issues in this race. I have thoroughly investigated these matters because I do not want to misstate anything to anyone. It has taken me a little time as I have been examining several races and I have to do these things on my off time from work, but here they are:

1. Beth Carrigg would send the federal funds from the Clerk's office to County Council where her husband would vote on how to spend them. This is at least $200,000.00 per year. Comerford obtained these funds from the federal goverment to enforce child support obligations in Lexington County. He hired private process servers to find "dead beat parents" because the Sherrif's department couldn't get the job done in a timely fashion. These funds also provide the salaries of key employees who work closely with the Family Courts to see that these child support obligations are met. The funds come to the State, and the Clerk's offices have contracts with the Sate which provide that any unused portion of these funds will revert to the county coffers to be spent by the county as it wants. Comerford has always expended all of the funds for child support and to subsidize the Family Court in its child support efforts. That is because these efforts require all of these funds and more.

This has increased child support collections to over 1.2 MILLION dollars per MONTH and provides over $35,000.00 to the county's general fund every month. This is because the law imposes a 5% service fee on the payor, part of which goes to the county.

Now, let's examine that. If you take away the federal funds, the children who need support don't get it and have to be supported by welfare funds; the county loses at least $35,000.00 per month or $420,000.00 per year --more than twice the amount the county would get if it just left things alone. What kind of fiscal responsibility is that?

Beth Carrigg says the money is not needed for child support purposes and that County Council ( i.e., her husband) can find better things to do with the money. In her view, we could just have an email system where people rat on the dead beat dads (or mothers , these days). The police then would ostensibly go out and haul them in.

The fact is,however, that there are still a lot of people in this county who don't even have a computer and many who do, don't have email. Also, many times people are not going to rat on friends or acquintances and they just get away with it for years and years.

Also, we know that the Sherrif's Dept. has a high visibility and just cannot get most of these people.

We also need our Sherrif's Dept doing other things related to law enforcement.

The private process servers using pickup trucks have proved highly successful and the Clerk's office needs to keep them on the job.

2. The flyer put out by Mrs. Carrigg says that she plans to implement "E-filings" for attorneys " To save time, money and create new opportunities for last minute filings." Now, I don't know what opportunities could be created for these little creatures but I did determine that Mr. Carrigg told the State Newspaper that such filings were a waste of time and money.

Mrs. Carrigg has, in fact, told many people that if she gets elected that she " has the ear of council" and can the money for this. When Comerford asked for it to be included in this budget council refused. Well it seems that it is an unneccesary waste of time and money if Comerford wants it, but very neccesary if Beth Carigg gets elected and wants it. What a strange situation. Looks like council has been holding back on a much needed imaging system until they can get "their girl" in there to hand over to them that $200,000.00 plus money from federal funds. For those of you who do not know what this system is, it is a system to immediately record and make available to the public up to minute information on documents filed in the Clerk's office. So it is not just something for lawyers, it is for title abstractors, credit investigators, etc. and the general public.

3. Carrigg says she want to implement a new on line live docket system. The problem is that Comerford long ago implemented an online docket system and it is to be perfected soon. However, the Chief Justice has under study right now a program to link all court houses on line and the software for that is yet to be chosen. The courts would be wise to wait until that is determined to make sure that they all come on line with software that is universally compatible. That is what Comerford has said he intends to do. This is certainly no " Carigg idea."

4. The juror information system that Carigg proposes must also wait until the Supreme Court finishes its study to insure uniformity among the forty-six counties of the state. This is also not a " Carrigg idea."

5. Carrigg is critical of the " current administration" ( I quess she will run for President next) for not applying for grants from the federal govenment. If her husband and his colleagues would have given Comerford the additional employees that he has continously asked for, this could have been studied more carefully. However, the Clerk's office is woefully understaffed with only two employees being funded by council in the last twelve years (while the population has increased by 72,000 people). At first blush it looks as if most grants would have had some pretty tight federal strings attached to them and it also takes some specially trained to prepare grant applications. For example, the University of South Carolina told me that they have employees who do nothing but write and prepare grant applications and they would never let anyone not especially trained in that area apply for any kind of grant. So where does Mrs. Carrigg think that these people are going to come from? Will her husband ignore his conlict of interest and vote for some more salaries?

6. John Carrigg is a member of county council and if his wife is elected this will guarantee that $60,000.00 comes into his household immediately PLUS whatever salary increases council might vote for Mrs. Carrigg. But he says he does not have a CONFLICT OF INTEREST. Council has to vote on the entire budget for the clerk's office and Mr. Carrigg says he has no CONFLICT OF INTEREST. How can he say that in good faith? He thinks the people of this county are that disinterested or that gullible. What happens, even if he disqualifies himself from certain voting. Would he not still be in a position to influence other members of council? Moreover, we would end up with another Jim Papadea situation on our hands like they had in Richland County. What good is any councilman who can't vote? A former member of the State Ethics Committe told me this week when I inquired about all this that Carrigg could avoid a conflict by resigning from council if his wife gets elected. That would make sense because he would be giving up about $15,000.00 in salary to get $60,000.00 flowing into his home. Not a bad deal, uh????

7. In her flyer, Beth Carrigg says the "current administration" (there's that presidential language again) lost the taxpayers over $40,000.00
in bank service fees in the child support trust account over the last two years. That is very misleading. Remember that "slippery language" problem I told you about? These fees were legitimate bank service fees except that the bank was really not supposed to charge these accounts all of them by agreement with the clerk's office. When it was discovered an appropriate adjustment was made. She says she would hire a CPA firm to watch over these matters and reconcile these accounts montly. Well, where is she going to get the money for that? Mr. Comerford couldn't get it because if he did there wouldn't be an issue for Mr. Carrigg's wife to seize upon. More importantly, however, is the FACT that Mr. Comerford has saved the taxpayers of this county over $6.5 MILLION DOLLARS since he took office. I've seen those figure and they are REAL!

8. Comerford had experience in managerial positions with Fortune 500 companies before running for office. He has put those skills to work for the taxpayers and it has really paid off.

9. Some of the things that I discovered about Mrs. Carrigg, I really do not wish to put in print. But you need to know that another of her former co-employees confirmed what you were told earlier told. She is very hot tempered, spiteful and even hateful. This one told me that if she is elected that she will immediately target people in her office for harrassment. She will do all that she can to fire as many of those employees as she can. Further, she will try to make a job for newly elected West Columbia Councilwoman Martha Moore in the Clerk's office as that is one of her " running buddies."

10. Let's take a look at some more of that slippery language in her flyer. She say that she is married to The Honorable John Carrigg. This would lead a lot of people to believe that he is a judge, but he is not. Now, it is true that some people do in some situations refer to county coucilmen as "honorable" but that is a title usually reserved for judges. Very important is the fact that nowhere does she reveal that her husband is a councilman. She doesn't say it because she doesn't want you to know it. You see, they both know that this whole thing reeks of CONFLICT OF INTEREST. Remember that she said that she attended public schools..." and then pursued an education at the University of South Carolina which prepared her for a career in the Legal Community" ....then she goes on to say that she and her husband founded the Carigg law firm. See, that slippery use of words makes it sound like she is a lawyer doesn't it? BUT SHE'S NOT. More of that deception. Says that she was "ultimately" certified by the Supreme Court as a quardian ad lite. Catch that word; " ultimately." WOW, pretty impressive ,uh? Well, no. You see it only takes nine hours of classes and watching three custody cases to be certified as a guardian ad litem. That slippery language makes it look like something that it is not. She is a secretary in her husband's law office and has worked for (and been fired from) other law firms, but she says...." she has spent numerous years working with Family Court and Circuit Court." Yes, typing up papers dictated by lawyers and taking them or mailing them to the court to be filed. My goodness, what crucial role she has played in the operation of these courts! That slippery language...that deception. But ask yourself. "Why all of the deception." Simple, she has absolutely no bonafide platform. She also probably doesn't want you to know who she is. AND FOR GOOD REASON as you shall hear later.


WHEN YOU COMPARE THESE TWO CANDIDATES THERE IS NO QUESTION ABOUT WHO DESERVES YOUR VOTE AND WHO DOESN'T. IF YOU WANT TO GET RIPPED OFF ROYALLY IN THE MIDST OF A GIGANTIC CONFLICT OF INTEREST ITS CARRIGG---IF YOU WANT TO CONTINUE TO SAVE TAXES AND HAVE THE CHILDREN OF THIS COUNTY SUPPORTED PROPERLY WITH NO CONFLICT OF INTEREST ITS COMERFORD.

[Anonymous]

Vote Otis Comerford for Drunk of Court

[Anonymous]

Guest, You are about one rude individual. That's right ,BETH, you are more than rude

[Anonymous]

Do you really want to get into low blows, Beth? We can do that right now and you will get blown away with the UGLY truth about Beth Carrigg.

[Anonymous]

beth craigg====lesbian

[Anonymous]

So does that make her husband a lesbian, too you idiot?

[Anonymous]

i read, with deep interest, the detailed analysis of Beth Carrig's campaign literature made by "D. W.".

i found it not only revealing but also a confirmation of my previous feelings that no, I repeat, no Councilman's close relative should serve in a public position when that Councilman votes on the salary of the position in question.

I'm not an attorney nor public employee - just a concerned citizen who wants to see Lexington County continue to grow and prosper without the possibility of corruption or other political maneuvers that benefit a person or group of persons because of his or her relationship with a higher political authority over the office being sought.

I must confess that:

(1) I have always been strongly opposed to "negative campaigning". For that reason I do not intend for my statements to be construed as critical of one candidate over the other. But I can easily recognize the dangers in "Conflict Of Interest" which, to my mind, Mrs. Carrigg's campaign represents.

(2) I don't deal with the Clerk Of Court's office except on rare ocassions - to get a copy of the deed to my property, record a personal document or some other insignificant task.

I have always been treated by Mr. Comerford, and those who work in his office, with the greatest respect and efficiency. As the old expression goes "If it ain't broke don't try to fix it" particularly if what you have now is doing the job - and a good job at that.

For that reason, emphasized by the "Conflict Of Interest" question, I will vote for Mr. Comerford's re-election and hope that those who read this and agree will do likewise
[/b]

[Anonymous]

you know everybody has someting to say about the now clerk of court...
yes he has been arrested for drunk driving but every time i see him at the court house he has not been drinking...this is no worse than deputies, ems, fire, and dispatcher having a drink after work.. i understand it is wrong to drink and drive...but do you really want beth in the court house...i have heard from reliable sources that she is talking about all the supervisors that are at the court has now will not be there 2 months after she is in office.. this worries me for if you let go all the supervisors who some have been there almost 20 years...how are the new people going to know how to run the office. also she is talking about putting jury info on the internet.. do you really want the personal info that is right not public info when you get drawn all over the internet for someone to read. also she is talking about e fileing and the last time i heard e fileing was still against the law for south carolina...yes its in office trying to be passed but it hasn't of yet...just remember don't be to quick to judge someone for things they do outside the work place i'm mostly concerned with the fact that if beth gets office our court house will go down the drain.. if she fires everyone who knows more about certain things than she does how are the new people ever going to learn the right way from the beth carrig way?? just think about that folks.

concerned citizen from lexington

[Anonymous]

Bless your heart! You are absolutely right in every thing you said. It is just such good common sense that I cannot understand to save my life how anybody could disagree with those important points that you make.
If you could have been in County Council chambers yesterday when Mrs. Carrigg came to watch Mr. Comerford and staff PRESS council for more employees and, if you could have watched her behavior I wonder what you might think. She and another woman kept talking and giggling while the presentations were made. Several members of the press were there and one told me that it was sickening. Worse, one of the councilmen, by his actions,encouraged this behavior. We folks in Lexington County are better than that. Also somebody called the State Newspaper and told them that a lot of lawyers in the county want Mrs. Carrigg to win. I called my lawyer and he told me that here are only a few who feel that way and they are friends of Mrs. Carigg's husband who is a lawyer and a member of council. How could anyone want to destroy the clerk's office like that? If she gets elected, I am afraid that the office will never be the same. Then our courts could not function and we would have a real mess.

I happen to know a lot about Mrs. Carrigg that is unsavory to say the least, but I really am trying to stay above that level-- but is so hard. Part of me keeps saying the good people of this county need to know.

[Anonymous]

Dump the clown "Tom" and elect a new person. Anyone put lazyTom.

[Anonymous]

Welcome back Lucy Beth Marrs Audette Carrigg---anybody PUT him, uh?

[Anonymous]

Abe:
Sounds like you know some of what I know. Still having a hard time not telling it all, but it goes so deep.

[Anonymous]

Where is Tom? He still doesn't work.

[Anonymous]

Hit Me, don't worry yourself. One about wishes, you better know what you are wishing for! Pretty soon Beth (that is the name she is using now?) will take over and the fun will begin. We have worked with her before and we can tell you right now that our prayers go out to those folks at the Clerk of Courts Office. You thought there was controversary around Tom, Little Elizabeth will make that look like nothing. Oh, and all those great things she promised to do when she was running; we wonder what she will be like when she enters the real world!

[Anonymous]

Sober and that's more than you can say about Tom.

[Anonymous]

I assume then you haven't seen her on the weekends or at Brix during the week? By the way, what a fashion statement....... :oops:

[Anonymous]

AMEN GUEST....LOOKS MORE LIKE A HOOCHIE THAN AN ELECTED OFFICIAL. ACTS LIKE ONE TOO...

[Anonymous]

Good Bye, Mrs. Geri! We love you and we'll miss you! :(