‘All fall on Chris Eldridge’s feet’: County leaders respond to SLED report on Gardner
Horry County Council Member Danny Hardee wasn’t surprised when he heard the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and 15th Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson announced no charges would be brought against Horry County Chairman Johnny Gardner.
“I had no reason to doubt him, so that’s how I figured it’d come back,” Hardee said Friday morning, hours after the report was released.
Now, Hardee said, the County Council has to decide how to move past a two-month political drama.
In December, Horry County Administrator Chris Eldridge asked SLED to investigate a possible extortion attempt detailed in a memo written by County Attorney Arrigo Carotti.
Carotti’s memo, which was labeled attorney-client privilege but ultimately leaked to a political blog in Columbia, outlined a dramatic three-week window of interviews regarding a recorded dinner involving Gardner, his associate Luke Barefoot and Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation president Sandy Davis and director of investor relations Sherri Steele.
Late Thursday evening, Richardson announced he would not bring charges against Gardner or Barefoot.
According to Richardson, there was no evidence that Gardner and Barefoot tried to extort or use force to get money from Davis and Steele.
Gardner said from the beginning he did nothing wrong and he is happy to see the SLED report confirm that to the public. He said he wants to speak with his council before talking about what to do next.
Council Member Johnny Vaught said he is glad to see the chairman will not face any charges. Now, he said, council needs to figure out why Eldridge called SLED in the first place.
“I’m extremely gratified Chairman Gardner came through clean,” he said. “Nothing indicated anyone did anything wrong.”
Hardee and Vaught said it’s going to be tough figuring out what to do next, but it’s going to take council coming together to decide what is best for the people of Horry.
Vaught said the Council needs to move quickly but should not have a knee-jerk reaction like they did when a special meeting was called Jan. 3.
He said the Council needs to sit down, discuss the report and speak with the administrator about why he felt the need to report this to SLED when neither Davis nor Steele said they felt threatened.
“We had no idea it would all fall on Chris Eldridge’s feet,” Vaught said, adding he has spoken with other council members who agreed.
Vaught said he has not spoken with Eldridge since the report was released.
Davis, who said from the beginning she did not feel threatened by Barefoot or Gardner, felt SLED did a thorough job in compiling its detailed report.
“We’re happy with the outcome and the truth is the truth,” she said.
Council Member Cam Crawford said the report came out late and he had work Friday, so he’s only read part of it. Still, he was glad to see it finally came back.
“I hope we can put it behind us,” Crawford said.
Council Member Gary Loftus said the report should be the end of it, no charges were brought against Gardner and the county should move on. Loftus said Eldridge acted as he was supposed to by passing off the investigation to SLED after hearing the recording.
Council Member Dennis DiSabato said the report lifted a cloud of suspicion from the chairman. Moving forward, he wants to hear the entire recording of the dinner before any votes are made.
“Individually, I am not going to take action that affects the employment of the administrator until I hear the audio and think what I would do in the situation,” he said.
Council Member Paul Prince also was relieved it was back, but wanted to spend more time reviewing the report before making a statement.
Former Horry County Chairman Mark Lazarus was mentioned several times in the SLED report. When the memo was leaked to FITSNews, he was still County Chairman and was on the MBRDEC board. He said in an email to The Sun News he hopes the council can move forward doing the people’s business.
In a group text message sent Thursday and obtained by The Sun News, Barefoot urged people “to call their county councilman to get rid of the two staffers that caused this big mess. … SLED SAID NO. ELDRIDGE & CARROTI (sic) GOTTA GO!”
On Friday Barefoot sent out a second response saying Eldridge used poor judgment calling for an investigation. He added the investigation was a waste of taxpayer dollars and the time of the Solicitor’s Office.
Before the report came out, Carotti said he did not plan on responding to the report being released. He said in January his memo detailing the extortion attempt was him doing his job of informing council to the best of his ability, but he would quit if he lost the faith of his clients.
“I will quit,” Carotti told the council in January. “If I lose the trust of my client, I will quit. You don’t have to play any politics with me.”
Eldridge did not respond for comment. He instructed Horry County Spokesperson Kelly Moore to tell The Sun News to use his Jan. 4 letter to Council as his response.
In his letter, he said he was acting on the recommendation of council members when he reported the issue to SLED. He said was doing his job and does not believe there are grounds to fire or suspend him.
“I have done nothing wrong to be punished in such a way,” he wrote. “Doing so damages my career and makes me a target of retaliation.”
The Sun News reached out to all other members of County Council for their responses.
This story was originally published March 1, 2019 at 1:45 PM with the headline "‘All fall on Chris Eldridge’s feet’: County leaders respond to SLED report on Gardner."
