Sow Mayor, Town Manager, Jailed For Bribery, Official Misconduct

[Johnny99]

http://www.scnow.com/midatlantic/scp...3-25-0013.html

The Atlantic Beach town council voted to suspend its town manager, Marcia Conner, Tuesday afternoon.
Conner and Atlantic Beach mayor, Irene Armstrong, were indicted by an Horry County grand jury Thursday on allegations of voter bribery and misconduct in office.
All council members showed for the emergency meeting, except Armstrong who Governor Mark Sanford suspended Friday, and Armstrong's brother, councilman Jake Evans.

Evans showed for the executive session, more than 20 minutes late.

In a 3 to 1 vote, Conner's suspension went into effect immediately, ending her nearly three year tenure at the helm of the town, which is currently mired in financial troubles and the subject of a State Law Enforcement Division investigation.

The dissenting vote was councilman Evans, who council members Thompson and Pierce accused of protesting the indictments last week.

Evans declined to comment as to why he felt that Conner should remain on the town's payroll, but address his vote to continue paying Conner at the meeting, "It's four of us up here and I hate to be the one to actually disagree, but I will say I agree suspension, but I don't agree with the without pay," Evans told fellow council members during the meeting.

The Municipal Association of South Carolina will work with the town to oversee the finances of the town and to help train town employees on managing government, according to the MASC director, Howard Duvall.

MASC sent Charles Williams to Atlantic Beach to do that job, and Tuesday, council voted to name Williams the interim town manager.

Williams did the same job back in 2005 when the MASC took the town's management and finances over, before turning that back over to Atlantic Beach officials later that year.

Councilman Donnell Thompson told News13 the suspension is an opportunity to move the town forward and for the town to become a viable government, and a chance for the town to be able to support itself.

Thompson said Atlantic Beach leaders are reaching out for assistance from neighboring governments and the county to get the town of 381 residents on track to building a tax base and building the community, "We've begun to reach out to the people that live beside us and I think maybe this is the first time we've done this in a while."



Both officials turned themselves into authorities Monday at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center and were booked and fingerprinted.

Investigators said Conner illegally transferred money from two different town accounts and placed the money into the town's general fund.

The crimes occurred between April 2006 and May of 2007, according to the indictments.

Agents accused Conner and Armstrong of taking money from the town's municipal court account and the town's pending drug seizure accounts and placing those dollars into the town's general fund.

The indictments do not disclose where that money went, except that the dollars were used to pay other town expenses.

News13 asked both Armstrong and Conner about the charges and where the money went.

Conner declined to comment, but Armstrong told News13 the money went to "help the town."

A circuit court judge set Conner and Armstrong's bonds at $15,000 Monday.

Conner remains free on bail; she's expected back in court sometime in May.

B1240821894 CONNER, MARCIA I
4310 PINE BARK TRAIL
DURHAM, NC 27705 BLACK FEMALE 02/26/1958
50 3/24/2008 9:37:00 AM
3/24/2008 12:09:00 PM
MISCELLANEOUS AND NON-DISCERNIBLE (USE SPECIFIC OFFENSE WHENEVER POSSIBLE)- NO BAIL SET
PUBLIC OFFICIAL, MISCONDUCT IN OFFICE- Disposed - $15,000.00
PUBLIC OFFICIAL, MISCONDUCT IN OFFICE- Disposed - NO BAIL SET (2 Charges)

.............................

B1240821895 ARMSTRONG, IRENE EVANS
505 32 ND AVE SOUTH
ATLANTIC BEACH, SC 29582 BLACK FEMALE 03/31/1953
54 3/24/2008 10:08:00 AM
3/24/2008 12:14:00 PM
BRIBERY AT ELECTIONS - 1ST OFFENSE- $15,000.00
BRIBERY AT ELECTIONS - 1ST OFFENSE- Disposed - NO BAIL SET
BRIBERY AT ELECTIONS - 1ST OFFENSE- Disposed - NO BAIL SET (3 Charges)
PUBLIC OFFICIAL, MISCONDUCT IN OFFICE- Disposed - NO BAIL SET
PUBLIC OFFICIAL, MISCONDUCT IN OFFICE- Disposed - NO BAIL SET (2 Charges)

[LaKooneshia]

[3 Ks]

What a hell hole!!

[LaKooneshia]

Remember The Last Mayor Of Atlantic Beach?


I Just Needed A Bathroom

Retha Pierce Sturdivant, 58, was pulled over Christmas night for swerving on U.S. Highway 17 near Myrtle Beach, causing other cars to do the same to avoid collisions, according to a police report. When stopped, the Atlantic Beach mayor-elect jumped out of her van, locked the doors and told the officer she needed to go to the bathroom.

Population: 351
Niggers: 82%
Whites: 10%
Spics, Mulattoes, Quadroons, Octoroons, & Wahoo Indians 8%

Sturdivant, who was elected mayor by one vote last month, said she has a bladder problem. The November 6th election had Pierce defeating incumbent Irene Armstrong by a vote of 71 to 70. A recount came out with the same results.