Carl Gullick is resigning from the South Carolina State House as he is moving to Kentucky for his wife’s new job. I think this is fantastic news here in York County and for those who live in the 48th House District as Gullick played a large role in trying to push a tobacco tax increase in order to expand the nanny state with more government subsidized health care. He was also one of several Republicans that stood in the way of the governor’s efforts to control government spending, thus aiding in its growth and contributing to the massive budget crisis we have seen here in the state over the past year. Gullick was almost tossed from the House last year by a primary challenger who came within 180 votes of defeating him, but him leaving by his own accord so soon after will work just as well.
This vacancy leaves open a special election this November to replace him and the challengers have been lining up for the past month. On the Republican side is businessman Roger Costner, founder and CEO of Brothers Air and Heat. Costner has a lengthy list of goals in mind for the county and state if elected. Among them are increasing jobs, solutions for affordable health care that do not include an unconstitutional universal health care program from the Federal government, drilling off shore, a Fair Tax for South Carolina, and fighting illegal immigration.
Another GOP candidate is Fort Mill businessman Greg Rogers. Now this guy is shady. I truly believe that the people a man keeps in his company is a reflection of himself. Well, Mr. Rogers’ business partner happens to be none other than local sleaze bag York County Councilman Paul Lindemann, whom I just wrote about…. again….yesterday. Now certainly Greg can’t be directly blamed for all of Lindemann’s indiscretions, however he was partnered to a slew of bad checks in excess of $10,000 written by Lindemann’s business just a few month ago to pay for an April 1st forum on illegal immigration at Winthrop University featuring former Congressman and presidential candidate Tom Tancredo. Tancredo called the York County Sheriff’s Office when the check he was paid with was returned to him citing account closed. Two more checks totaling $14,230 paid to the organizers of the event also bounced, with a $10,000 check from that amount being written by Rogers himself.
I would link to the story on this, however, something very odd has occurred. Even though this story is only three months old it has mysteriously been removed from both The Herald’s and the Fort Mill Times’ Web site. Now why would that be? Hmmmm….. that’s a mystery. Fortunately for all of my readers, I am a resourceful man and have found the Herald article cached on the Internet and here is the whole thing.
Apr. 30_Authorities are investigating whether York County Councilman Paul Lindemann’s company wrote bad checks to cover the costs of an event sponsored by the business.
Lindemann said Wednesday that everything is “100 percent resolved.” He and his business partner blamed the problems on a misunderstanding with the bank and a post-dated check.
Lindemann’s Fort Mill development firm, Pinecrest Holdings, sponsored an immigration reform forum April 1 at the Winthrop Coliseum. The main speaker was former Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo, an outspoken critic of U.S. immigration policy.
Three weeks after the event, Tancredo contacted the York County Sheriff’s Office to report that he tried to cash a check for $833 from Lindemann’s company. But the check was returned with notice that the account was closed, Tancredo told the Sheriff’s Office, according to an incident report.
The local organizer of the event also filed a police report citing two faulty checks. One written for $4,230 came back from a closed account while a second for $10,000 came back as insufficient funds, organizer Virginia Faircloth told authorities.
The $10,000 check came from Lindemann’s business partner, Greg Rogers, a 29-year-old Fort Mill native who helped promote the rally, according to the report.
The York County Sheriff’s Office is investigating, said Capt. Jerry Hoffman, who declined further comment.
Faircloth, of Rock Hill, set up the event through the South Carolina FIRE Coalition, a grass-roots group that advocates for tougher immigration laws. She sent invitations to dozens of elected officials and activists.
The rally drew a crowd of 150 to 200 people to the 6,100-seat basketball arena, Faircloth said.
On Wednesday afternoon, Rogers and Lindemann gave their explanations. Both men said the faulty check to Tancredo and the $4,230 check to Faircloth resulted from a misunderstanding with their bank; Rogers said the bank closed the account instead of correcting a wording error in the account’s name, as he had requested.
Rogers said he mailed a certified check to Tancredo on Wednesday afternoon.
As for the $10,000 check, Rogers said it wasn’t meant to be cashed immediately. Rogers said he wrote the check as a good faith gesture and post-dated it with the understanding that he would pay in smaller increments.
“Paul and I both feel we have satisfied our involvement with that event,” Rogers said. “Considering everything that’s been said and done, all Paul and I want to do is put this thing behind us.”
Lindemann and Rogers gave Faircloth a $4,230 cash payment on Wednesday morning, both men said. Faircloth confirmed she received that amount.
“Everything is 100 percent resolved,” Lindemann said Wednesday afternoon. “Everything’s been fulfilled.”
Reached by cell phone in Providence, R.I., Tancredo said he believes the payment will come through.
“The person is sending me a check,” Tancredo said. “I’m assuming it will be OK. That’s about all there is to it. I believe him.”
But Faircloth said vendors are still owed $5,000 for catering, sound equipment and a rental car used by Tancredo. “They have a long way to go to resolve this,” Faircloth said.
Lindemann, 30, also faces legal issues on a different front.
In a suit filed last month in York County civil court, a former employee says Lindemann’s company owes him compensation for six weeks of work. The employee, Derrick Grimsley of Rock Hill, claims he tried to cash a paycheck for $1,750, but it didn’t clear the bank, according to the suit.
Grimsley said he was fired Jan. 13 after being told repeatedly he would get paid “the next day” or “the end of the week,” the suit states. Grimsley says in the suit he never got paid.
Rogers and Lindemann declined to comment, citing the pending lawsuit.
The suit comes less than a year after Lindemann was arrested in Columbia on a drunken driving charge.
Lindemann settled the case in February by agreeing to plead guilty to driving with an unlawful alcohol concentration. He paid a $400 fine, authorities said.
Lindemann, a Republican, said he plans to continue serving on the County Council. He was elected last year to a second, two-year term. He holds the District 1 seat representing Fort Mill, Tega Cay and a small part of Rock Hill.
“Just like everybody else, I’m human and I’ve made mistakes,” he said. “Have they all been resolved? Absolutely.”
Lindemann is the definition of a mistake and I don’t see his relationship with Greg Rogers catapalting Rogers’ political ambitions. A third GOP candidate, Sammy Rhodes, is also in the race, but I am still trying to find out some information on him.
On the Democrat side, small business owner Pansy King-Reid is making a run for the seat. She is the mother of two and comes from a very political family. She is the brother of State Representative John King (D-Rock Hill) and daugher of the late Christopher King, the first black mayor of Chester. She is a member of the Springfield Middle School PTA and Nation Ford High School Basketball Parents Association and she has a lengthy resume of community service and charity. On the issues she is strong on public education and greener energy alternatives.
These are the four candidates. This is right in my backyard so I’ll be paying close attention to this one.
