The self-styled financier and state benefactor from Lake City called the pension system "horrendous" and said its $4.4 billion shortfall was "close to being considered financially unsound." At the current pace of contributions it will take an estimated 27 years just to close the gap, a situation so dire that by 2006 there will likely be a cost-of-living freeze to payouts.

"These are your neighbors, your kids' teacher and principals, my father and many more people," Moore told about 100 business leaders at the annual meeting of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce gathered this year at Charleston Place hotel.

Moore is a partner with her husband, Richard Rainwater, in Rainwater Inc., a top investment banking company in New York.

Her passion nowadays is the Palmetto Institute, a nonprofit think tank she founded and chairs that seeks to boost South Carolina's income levels through research universities and high-tech jobs. She donated $25 million to her alma mater, the University of South Carolina, in 1998, prompting the university to name its business school after her.

The poor performance of the public pension fund sends a noticeable, negative vibe to those outside the state who matter, she said.

"This is $24 billion in assets and the (mismanagement) gives the major financial markets no reason to have confidence in our actions."

"You all remember what we looked like to the outside world when the Confederate Flag issue was raging?" she asked. "Well (now) we either look irresponsible or incompetent to a much more sophisticated and important audience to our longtime well-being."

WHAT NEXT?

Charlie Rivers, who for almost a year and a half has been running SouthTrust Bank's operations in the Charleston area, is weighing job options.

The merger finalized last week between Wachovia Corp. and SouthTrust left little room for two top executives in town, and the nod went to Len Hutchison, Wachovia's area president, who will now be the merged bank's (also called Wachovia) market president.

Nannette Sheaffer, a bank spokeswoman, said Rivers is "reviewing his options within the company."

If Rivers goes, he likely won't be the last.

Consolidation of the two banks will lead to layoffs and branch closings nationwide, but the new Wachovia isn't saying who or where just yet.

Before the merger, Wachovia had about 400 people on its payroll in the Charleston area and ran 22 branches. SouthTrust had six branches and isn't saying how many employees it had.

ALL THE STATE'S HORSES

If someone knocks on your door in coming weeks and asks how many horses you own, don't call the police.

The state Department of Agriculture, along with the South Carolina Horsemen's Council and the Farm Bureau, is sponsoring the South Carolina Equine Survey, "the first comprehensive equine census performed in South Carolina in more than 20 years," according to the department.

The census will count horses, ponies, mules and donkeys, and will tote them up by breed and primary use. The survey will also look at the value of animals sold and the number of workers in the industry, in a bid "to show how large and how important the equine industry is to South Carolina's economy."

If you own some of these animals, you can visit a U.S. Department of Agriculture Web site (www.nass.usda.gov/sc/) and request a survey form.

Or you can wait and see if a census taker comes to your door. In that case, the department says, the correct response is to "share your equine information for the good of the equine industry in South Carolina."

A HOTEL'S BEST FRIEND

Local tourism leaders converged on Kiawah Island last week for the annual AAA Four-Diamond Award ceremony, the hotel-restaurant equivalent of the Oscars.

McCrady's restaurant was inducted into the Four-Diamond club. Other than that there was little changed on the AAA rosters. The John Rutledge House Inn secured its 16th straight four-diamond plaque and Charleston Place picked up its 13th. All told, nine lodgings and eight restaurants in the area garnered four diamonds.

The Wentworth Mansion, Woodlands Resort & Inn and The Dining Room at Woodlands all maintained their five-diamond status.

About 3 percent of the places AAA inspects get a four-diamond. And five-diamond awards are even harder to come by. Not only are the plaques a much-publicized nod from a tough review staff, but the lucky winners are listed in AAA's South Carolina tour books, which go out to about 1.8 million of the organization's members every year.

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