Irmo mayor backed lower fine for property owner who displayed his campaign signs

Irmo Mayor Hardy King has been vocal about wanting to clean up the town’s blighted areas — he even helped develop the town’s current commercial building upkeep standards.

But eyebrows are being raised after King testified last week in support of a lower fine for a man charged with violating those standards. Among the concerns: the property owner has allowed King to post campaign signs on the property.

“He got a little too zealous,” said Councilwoman Kathy Condom, who ran against King for mayor in 2011. “I don’t think it was appropriate. It was bad form.”

The property, on Lake Murray Boulevard near St. Andrews Road, contains an empty store that Condom calls “the worst eyesore in town.”

The building, which is 88 years old, has a partially collapsed roof and the wood siding is a patchwork of styles with peeling paint, town officials say. Also, the lot is overgrown with tree saplings and weeds in back.

The property’s owner, Ron Dula, was initially fined $514 by Town Judge Mickey Epting. But Dula appealed in hopes of getting the fine reduced, and Epting heard the case on July 5.

To help his appeal, Dula said he asked King to support a lower fine and to discuss town officials’ demands to make repairs that seemed to be more than what the standards required.

For example, King said, town officials asked for caulking on windows.

The mayor said he appeared at the court hearing to help correct “a situation I felt was unjust.” King’s four-minute testimony largely described discussions among himself and other town officials about reducing the fine if Dula completed certain repairs by the town’s deadlines, according to video obtained through an open-records request.

Epting ultimately agreed to cut the fine in half, to $257. He declined to discuss the decision.

But other town leaders say King stepped over the line, particularly in calling town commercial building upkeep standards “very confusing.”

Councilman Julius Waites said King’s appearance leaves an impression of favoritism. “That probably shouldn’t have taken place,” he said.

Irmo resident George Glassmeyer, a self-appointed Town Hall watchdog, said King made a mistake in speaking publicly on behalf of Dula.

“It looks bad,” said Glassmeyer, a lawyer. “It gives the appearance of political payback” because of the campaign signs King has been allowed to post around the store.

King, who denied any favoritism, said his appearance won’t undermine enforcement of town standards on building upkeep.

“As the mayor, I get called on lots of times by residents in the town to get involved in all kinds of situations,” he said, adding that he often decides complaints are off-base after reviewing the circumstances.

Town administrator Bob Brown, who oversees inspection on complaints about building conditions, declined comment.

Dula agrees that the store is rundown. But he said plans are in the works to demolish it for redevelopment as soon as this fall.

“I agree my building doesn’t look very nice,” he said. “But why would I fix it up when I’m preparing to tear it down?”

But town leaders say they’re out of patience with what they said have been promises for years from Dula’s family to improve the site. Dula inherited the site in 2014 after his brother passed away.

King dismissed the fuss as political animosity created by those who want to be mayor.

“It comes with the job,” he said. “I take that in stride.”

This story was originally published July 12, 2017 at 6:14 PM.