South Carolina is blessed with talented leaders, state Rep. Doug
Smith says, but it is hindered by a growing distrust of public
officials and the political process.
The Spartanburg Republican and House speaker pro tem has a plan
to change that.
Smith has created the South Carolina New Statesman Society, a
nonprofit foundation aimed at promoting “ethical and enlightened
leadership.”
However, his organization is being funded, in part, by
contributions from companies that lobby the General Assembly — and
that is cause for concern, a government watchdog says.
Smith wants the organization to help freshman House and Senate
members learn leadership skills with a focus on ethics and civic
responsibility.
“This is all about building public trust and pride in elected
service,” Smith says. “We can engender more confidence by
reinforcing positive behavior.”
This is the perfect time to start, Smith says, because of the
first-time lawmakers elected in 2004.
“This freshman class is a strong group of individuals,” Smith
says. “They have a chance to leave a legacy. They can be the first
to actually restore public confidence in service and instill civic
responsibility.”
The society will, every two years, host freshman lawmakers —
Republicans and Democrats — for a three-day conference that focuses
on the organization’s core principles.
The first conference is set for Oct. 18-20 in Landrum and will
feature Wofford College president Bernie Dunlap, University of
Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato and University of South
Carolina history professor Walter Edgar.
Smith wants the young legislators to have a year of service
before the training.
“It’s important we give them a year, so they can get accustomed
to what’s going on in the State House — but not too far in, before
they get any bad habits,” Smith says.
BUSINESSES ASKED TO ‘COUGH UP THE COIN’
Smith has 15 legislators — nine Republicans and six Democrats —
already signed up to participate. Rep. Nikki Haley, R-Lexington, is
one of them.
“We’re close,” Haley says of her freshman colleagues. “We came in
wanting to make sure we made change in the state and wanting, above
all, to boost the confidence of our constituents in their public
servants.”
To that end, Haley says, Smith’s organization is “a great
idea.”
“My hope is, we’re coming together,” she says. “It’s both sides
of the aisle. I hope it will strengthen the bond we have and remind
us again of why we were brought there in the first place.”
Lawmakers “can’t work hard enough at public confidence,” Haley
says. “And we can’t work hard enough to find good solutions to
complex problems.”
The idea for the organization grew out of Smith’s membership in
the Liberty Fellowship, founded by Greenville businessman Hayne Hipp
to swell the ranks of business and civic leaders in South Carolina.
One of that group’s partners is the Aspen Institute, a
world-renowned think tank and leadership organization.
Each participant in the New Statesman Society will be given a
packet of reading material, including “The Ring of Gyges,” from
Plato’s “The Republic.”
They also will study Machiavelli’s “The Prince,” the Declaration
of Independence, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Martin Luther King
Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail.”
Sabato, a nationally known expert on American politics, met Smith
at a leadership foundation seminar for lawmakers. They sat at the
same table, Sabato says, and “chatted about all kinds of different
things.”
Smith told him then about his idea for the organization. Sabato
found it “intriguing,” but better still, Smith was “willing to take
on the burden of organization.”
Part of that burden was to raise money to pay for the seminar.
The lawmakers who attend will do so at no cost; the society picks up
the tab. The society is getting its money from individuals and
corporations — including those with business before the General
Assembly.
Smith says he has put up his own money and wrote letters to 60 to
70 companies and individuals asking for contributions. While he
would not say how much he has given or how much has been received,
he says he needs $335,000 to permanently endow the foundation.
About half of his solicitation letters, he says, were sent to
companies who have hired lobbyists to work the General Assembly. But
their support will not win them favor, he says.
Smith asked the companies to contribute but told them “they don’t
get to participate.
“I’m asking them to cough up the coin to support such an
important opportunity, to really begin at the beginning.”
Corporations and companies that hire lobbyists — known as
lobbyist principals — are allowed to make contributions to
lawmakers’ political campaigns. However, state law limits those
contributions to $1,000 per lawmaker. There are no such limits for
gifts to the New Statesman Society or similar groups.
Smith says those who contribute are making a statement.
“Anyone who gives to it, I believe, is giving because they want
to promote ethical conduct, ethical leadership,” he says. “To be
honest, I’ve been fairly disappointed with the response from the
principals that do business in Columbia.”
‘THE LEADERSHIP ... IS VERY WEAK’
That relationship — of organizations with business before
lawmakers giving money to a group of lawmakers — is cause for some
concern, a prominent government watchdog says.
But the overall goal of Smith’s group is still positive, says
John Crangle, executive director of the S.C. chapter of Common
Cause, a Washington-based government watchdog group.
“The idea itself seems to have a lot of merit to it,” Crangle
says. “There’s no question that the leadership in the Legislature is
very weak. It has deteriorated in the 19 years I’ve been over
there.”
Crangle hopes the organization focuses on the “biggest ethical
problem in state government in South Carolina.” That, he says, is
the growing influence of special interests, primarily through
campaign contributions.
A recent analysis by The State newspaper of 2004 campaign finance
documents showed that more than one-third of contributions to
members of the General Assembly come from special interest
groups.
“I don’t think conflicts of interest or people taking freebies
are such a problem,” Crangle says. “But campaign contributions
pretty much drive the legislative process.”
If Smith’s group is successful, Crangle says, it will anger some
people in the state’s political leadership by exposing the growing
influence of campaign cash.
“If it’s just window dressing, if it’s just make believe, which
is always a possibility, then that will become obvious,” Crangle
says. “If it’s a serious organization, it’s going to create a lot of
pressures over there.”
Reach Gould Sheinin at (803) 771-8658 or asheinin@thestate.com
