By Dan McCue
Staff Writer

Gov. Mark Sanford has removed one his earliest appointees to the S.C. State Ports Authority Board, citing a potential conflict of interest regarding the state’s lobbying rules.

Carroll A. “Tumpy” Campbell III was appointed to the nine-member SPA board in June 2003, and his term was scheduled to expire in 2010.

But Campbell, son of former Gov. Carroll A. Campbell Jr., ran afoul of Sanford by establishing a lobbying firm in Columbia last year. That decision by Campbell raised concerns over potential violations of state prohibitions on registered lobbyists serving on state boards, said Joel Sawyer, a spokesman for the governor.

The issue reached a flashpoint in April 2007, when Campbell announced that his company, Carroll Campbell & Associates, had established a Columbia office, and hired Russell Munn and Nikki Hutchison, two well-established lobbying specialists.

“The addition of our new partners clearly demonstrates our commitment to politics and public policy in South Carolina. We plan to continue our goal of building a premier lobbying practice in this state,” Campbell said at the time.

That announcement started a series of conversations between the governor, his staff and Campbell that did not resolve the issue, Sawyer said.

“This is something we struggled with, but the decision we ultimately arrived at was not a surprise,” Sawyer said. “We told Tumpy all along that our position was that if it’s not OK for a registered lobbyist to sit on a state board, how can it be OK for the owner and operator of a lobbying firm to sit on a board?”

Campbell did not return phone calls or answer e-mails seeking comment; however, in a Dec. 10 letter to the governor, he argued that his company did not engage in lobbying services but rather was simply a consulting firm.

Tom Davis, the governor’s chief of staff, responded with a letter of his own on Jan. 3. In that letter, Davis acknowledged that Campbell was not a registered lobbyist himself, but added, “We think your involvement in both entities does create the appearance of a conflict of interest.”

According to Davis’ letter, Carroll Campbell & Associates’ Web site was “substantially edited and changed” after concerns about the company’s activities were raised by the governor.

He then went on to quote from the site’s original, non-edited content, a PDF of which was provided to the Charleston Regional Business Journal.

Until mid-December, the company’s Web site stated that it has “strong ties to both major political parties in order to be effective with the South Carolina Legislature.” Further, the site said, the company works with clients to “solve their legislative problems.”

Today the Web site states that the firm partners with clients “to help them create and execute strategies for success, especially related to complex public policy issues.”

The governor concluded, Sawyer said, that Campbell’s ownership of the firm potentially violated the intent, if not the letter, of the law regarding lobbyists in South Carolina.

“Let me emphasize that removing Tumpy was not something the governor wanted to do,” Sawyer said. “He has a great deal of respect for the Campbell family.”

Campbell has been an outspoken opponent of the SPA board’s direction, particularly the possible privatization of some or most of the operations at the planned Charleston Naval Base and Jasper County terminals.

Sawyer admitted there were “other reasons” that influenced the decision but that those were only secondary concerns.

Davis’ letter, however, states that the most important of those other reasons was “the different view you have as to the role that the private sector and, in particular, private capital, ought to play in the operation and financing of our state’s ports.

“You are an outspoken advocate of the ports authority business model that has been in place for decades that discourages the investment of private capital, whereas the governor wants the ports authority to more aggressively pursue that capital.”

Sanford has nominated S. Richard Hagins, a retired U.S. Navy commander and CEO of Universal Supplies and Services Inc. in Simpsonville, to serve as Carroll’s replacement. Sawyer said the governor thinks Hagins’ combined experience in the military and as an entrepreneur make him a valuable addition to the board.

Though Hagins’ nomination ultimately has to be approved by the state Senate, Sanford has named him to an interim appointment, Sawyer said.