Panel OKs nominees to SC Ports board, citing distant ties to probe

State legislators OK’d two nominees Tuesday to the S.C. Ports Authority, saying the candidates’ ties to a Columbia political consulting firm under state investigation are not a concern.

The nominees still must get a approval from the state Senate’s Transportation Committee and the full Senate before they are confirmed.

S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster nominated Kenneth Jackson, a senior vice president at the Cayce-based SCANA utility, and William Jones, a Bluffton attorney and University of South Carolina trustee, to succeed Ports chairman Pat McKinney and board member Mike Sisk, who are serving two unexpired terms.

State Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, said Tuesday the nominees were found to be qualified, adding their ties to the Richard Quinn & Associates political consulting firm “were several layers removed.”

SCANA had hired the Quinn firm, and Jones’ law partner, state Rep. Weston Newton, R-Beaufort, paid the firm $2,350 in 2012 for a mail piece, the nominees told the panel two weeks ago. The panel delayed a vote on the nominees to check their testimony.

No one at the firm, including its chief, veteran GOP consultant Richard Quinn, has been charged with any wrongdoing. But indicted state Sen. John Courson, R-Richland, is accused of funneling campaign money to himself through the firm.

The state grand jury investigating State House corruption also has subpoenaed records from the Ports Authority that detail its consulting arrangement with the firm.

McMaster also is a long-time client of RQA, which has consulted for dozens of influential public officials in statewide, legislative and local offices.

This story was originally published April 5, 2017 at 7:45 AM with the headline "Panel OKs nominees to SC Ports board, citing distant ties to probe."