Solid Waste Authority supports booting board member

Solid Waste Authority leaders will ask Horry County Council to remove Dan Gray from the agency’s board.

The SWA board voted 5-2 Thursday afternoon in favor of the recommendation, which comes after board member complaints about Gray working behind the scenes to undermine their efforts, particularly with the agency’s recent contract to process Charleston County’s recyclables.

“I do honestly believe that you have intentionally tried to harm the Solid Waste Authority,” board chairman Lance Thompson said to Gray before the vote was taken. “You have tried to kill the Charleston County deal.”

The SWA manages waste and recycling programs for the county. SWA leaders have accused Gray of spreading misleading and inaccurate information about the agency and its staff through text messages and emails.

During Thursday’s meeting, Thompson said he spent weeks meeting with Gray and other leaders trying to find a way for him to leave the board gracefully. When those efforts failed, he placed the item on the board’s agenda.

Despite the SWA board’s request, Gray’s future on the panel rests with County Council. Council members have not indicated what action they will take with Gray, who was recommended for the position by local municipal leaders.

Some SWA officials have voiced concerns about the issue causing friction between the SWA and city leaders. Thompson, however, insisted that the municipal officials’ support of Gray shouldn’t be a factor in the board’s decision.

“We cannot control that,” he said. “I do wish that the issue would be more about the conduct and behavior and less about personal relationships and who you know and who you are.”

Gray, who has served on the board for more than four years, rejected Thompson’s characterization of his behavior.

“What’s going to happen to happen today is unprecedented and drastic,” he said. “[The board is] not fully recognizing the difference between dissent and disruption.”

Gray said his efforts have helped the SWA, not hindered the agency.

Gray also defended his approach to the Charleston County recycling agreement.

SWA leaders maintain Gray tried to thwart the deal by sending critical messages to Horry County Council and calling a Charleston County official to tell him it was a poor proposal for that community. Gray has said his call to Charleston was merely to find out the level of commitment from leaders there.

“It’s critically important that that deal work,” Gray said. “I’ve not done anything to disrupt or hinder that contract.”

Board members briefly discussed reprimanding Gray instead of supporting his ouster, but some said his antics had gone on for years and past apologies had not yielded meaningful change.

“You must know that this behavior would be detrimental to any organization’s ability to be productive and effective,” board member Pam Creech said. “You’ve also said that you were sorry many times. Being genuinely sorry, to me, is actually admitting what you’ve done with no excuses, thereby having enough genuine regret to not repeat this behavior. You haven’t done this.”

Creech took issue with Gray telling council members that SWA leaders were providing them with misleading data about the Charleston County contract.

“We’re not living in reality TV or a soap opera,” she said. “To me, this is serious business.”

Board member Sam Graves said he made the decision to support Gray’s removal after reviewing a series of critical messages from Gray, including a May email where he alleged there was a group of local leaders “plotting a civil conspiracy to keep me off the SWA board.”

The email included a reference to the “NMB mafia,” which Gray described as including North Myrtle Beach Mayor Marilyn Hatley, Horry County Councilman Harold Worley, and state Sen. Greg Hembree, R-North Myrtle Beach.

Gray has admitted sending the emails and texts, which he insists were done as part of his job as a board member seeking and relaying important information.

Minutes before the final vote, Gray blasted his peers for “cherry picking” certain unflattering messages and ignoring those that praised the agency.

“Only the ones that are the most hurtful to me are the ones that are read into the record,” he said.

After the vote was taken, the board moved on to other matters. Gray excused himself, saying the meeting had been “degrading” enough.

He then wished the board a merry Christmas and walked out.

This story was originally published December 10, 2015 at 7:38 PM with the headline "Solid Waste Authority supports booting board member."