(Published June 14‚ 2004)
Gov. Mark Sanford likes to present himself as a frugal, no-frills guy who doesn't mind wearing a blue blazer that's a little frayed at the sleeves. And when he wants to appeal to voters in his campaign ads, he borrows a friend's pickup for that down-home touch.
So why was Will Folks, Sanford's spokesman, tooling around in a borrowed little red Corvette recently? Seems he and his boss are not on the same page.
The fancy wheels created a stir. The 'vette, it turned out, belonged to car dealer J.T. Gandolfo, owner of Dodgeland of Columbia, who once was a member of a Sanford task force charged with overhauling the agency that licenses drivers and vehicles. To make matters worse, the car had dealer plates, whose use is tightly restricted. The Department of Motor Vehicles is investigating.
Folks offered the lame excuse that he had bought a car from Gandolfo and part of the deal was a set of new tires. So, when Folks brought his car in to trade out the tires, Gandolfo gave him the Corvette to use -- for eight days.
Most of us, when we go in for new tires, are given free use of a chair while the tires are installed. Giving Folks the benefit of the doubt, he might have made use of the borrowed Corvette for a day. But eight days? That's a bit too generous.
Folks has been called on the carpet by the governor. Sanford said this sort of thing won't happen again.
We don't think the infraction was a firing offense. If the governor is serious about cracking down on such favors, all the better.
And here's some free advice for Folks: Next time, borrow a Nova; no one will notice.
| IN SUMMARY |
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Sanford's spokesman made a mistake in borrowing a red Corvette. |
| Copyright © 2004 The Herald, South Carolina |
