Ports Authority paid $2.6 million to political firm eyed in probe

The S.C. Ports Authority paid more than $2.6 million over an eight-year period to Columbia-based political consultant Richard Quinn and his firms, recently ensnared in an investigation into State House corruption.

Quinn and another Columbia-based political consultant, Bob McAlister, were paid an additional $324,867 from 2012 to 2014 to run ad campaigns promoting the port and to offer grassroots consulting, according to a summary of payments the Ports Authority provided in response to a records request from The State.

McAlister’s own communications firm, McAlister Communications, has been paid about $800,000 additionally for consulting work for the port since 2000, the summary shows.

A veteran Republican political consultant, Quinn’s records have been seized by investigators. He has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime.

But some are questioning why the Ports Authority paid Quinn and what for.

"Questions had come up about the consulting agreements, some of which were not in writing," Ports Authority chairman Pat McKinney told The State Friday.

Last July, Quinn responded to a Ports Authority request to outline the scope of his firm’s work for the port, explaining what he did for the authority. In a letter, Quinn said his firm receives a monthly fee for consulting and also provides other services, such as public opinion polling and creative help in developing and placing ads.

This month, Quinn’s relationship with the port became part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of State House corruption after his firm was named in an indictment of a state lawmaker. Sen. John Courson, R-Richland, was accused of funneling money to himself through one of Quinn’s firms, Richard Quinn & Associates.

In the documents provided, all the payments to McAlister Communications and most of the payments to First Impressions, a Quinn firm, were made monthly. Amounts ranged from $6,000 and $9,000, showing the price that state agencies will pay for advice.

However, the Ports Authority also paid First Impressions large sums at other times from Jan. 6, 2009, to March 1 of this year. The company received payments exceeding $100,000 on at least six different occasions, records show.

The single largest payment found in a review of Ports Authority records by The State was for $305,000.

Invoices and payment records show that sum was for a media campaign called “Our Ports, Our Jobs,’’ which included buying radio and television time. Of that amount, the company also charged a “creative fee” of $20,000 and $10,000 for online work, records show.

Joint venture with former Campbell aide

The documents provided to The State show how closely the Quinn and McAlister consulting businesses worked together.

For example, an invoice for more than $300,000 was written to McAlister Quinn, a joint venture between the two firms, but was listed as a payment to Quinn’s First Impressions firm.

The State requested the records after learning a state grand jury had subpoenaed the Ports Authority for details on its relationship with First Impressions, Richard Quinn & Associates and a number of other Quinn affiliates.

McAlister, whose name was not included in the grand jury subpoena, explained his business relationship with Quinn and his work for the port in an email statement to The State.

"RQA and McAlister Communications are separate companies that often have competing clients,” said McAlister, a former aide to late Republican S.C. Gov. Carroll Campbell. “McAlister Quinn was formed to accommodate a large, complex multi-media campaign for the port that included statewide media buys, including television, radio and social media. Separately, my company (McAlister Communications) has served the port in a wide-ranging strategic public relations role."

Of the nearly $325,000 paid to McAlister Quinn from 2012 to ’14, most of the money was tied to ad campaigns on television, radio and in newspapers promoting the port, according to invoices.

The largest payment to the partnership was for $92,500 in 2012 for an “Upstate image” campaign.

‘We advise the executive leadership’

Quinn said Friday that his “work relationship with the port goes back quite a while, and our work product over the years is well documented.”

Last year, however, the Ports Authority asked Quinn to outline the scope of his firm’s work with the port. In the July 1 letter, Quinn says RQ&A receives a flat monthly fee of $8,100 a month for general consulting services.

“That fee includes the time of all RQ&A personnel. We advise the executive leadership of the Ports Authority, as well as Board Members when requested, on strategic communications and public relations issues. We do not lobby."

Quinn also notes in the letter that his firm conducts specific projects, including polls tracking the public's opinion of the port and writing, producing and placing television and radio ads.

He added that, before any project, a budget proposal goes to the Ports Authority for approval.

Most of the money paid to his firm, Quinn added, is “flow-through” expenses for television, radio and production costs.

This story was originally published March 24, 2017 at 7:40 PM with the headline "Ports Authority paid $2.6 million to political firm eyed in probe."