Professional Documents
Culture Documents
tried repeatedly to have the commission dismiss charges that she did not provide addresses for all of her campaign donors, only to be rebuffed each time by the five members on the governor-appointed commission, according to 60 pages of emails released Thursday.....The commission fined Haley $3,500 in July and issued her a public warning" [The State, 8/15/13] Haley deleted emails, failed to provide emails and refused to disclose 10 years of tax returns to the public. Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley came into office promising a commitment to transparency, but the deletion of emails by staffers has brought new criticism that the Republican governor has fallen short on that campaign issue. [AP, 12/26/11] Governor Haley may talk about merit-based appointments, but Nikki Haley is all about pay-to-play, and regularly replaces wellrespected leaders with campaign donors on college & university boards. Lapointe is another in a string of controversial appointments to the states college and university boards that Haley has made in recent years as current board terms expire. In 2011, she replaced Dr. Paula Orr, the only black member of the Medical University of South Carolinas board, with white campaign donor Harold Jablon, a Columbia-based dentist. Earlier that year, the governor drew criticism nationally when she removed philanthropist Darla Moore from the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees and replaced her with Lexington lawyer Tommy Cofield, another campaign contributor. [Post & Courier, 9/30/13], [WIS, 3/15/11] Governor Haley may call for good government measures, but Governor Haley consistently misuses taxpayer-funded resources for political and campaign travel. The sudden revelation last week that Haley had used a state-owned vehicle for travel in North Carolina piqued the interest of the State Ethics Commission, the agency that has jurisdiction over statewide officeholders like the governor, but not lawmakers. [Charleston City Paper, 8/30/13] Nikki Haley flew campaign staff on the state plane 43 times in one year after having to reimburse the state $9,500 for ethics violations on plane usage. The S.C. Senate voted to sell the states two planes Thursday, hours after Democrats demanded Republican Gov. Nikki Haley reimburse the state for flying a videographer paid by her campaign on a state-owned plane. [The State, 5/16/2013] She returned $9,590 on Friday to the state Aeronautics Commission, which operates the states two taxpayer-funded planes. [Associated Press, 10/8/12]
Nikki Haley arguing for ethics reform is like Lance Armstrong lobbying for better doping regulations, Bernie Madoff pushing for more stringent stock-trading laws, or Barry Bonds calling for stronger drug testing. Haley is a prime example of why South Carolina so badly needs ethics reform, and her lip service is astoundingly hypocritical. Actions speak louder than words, and Nikki Haley is still all talk on ethics.