The following appeared in Charleston City Paper’s Letters to the Editor, August 16 2006:

As a conservative Republican, I rarely agree with what Mr. Moredock writes about Republican elected officials. However, the two pieces he wrote that deal with the escapades of Wallace Scarborough were on the mark. Mr. Scarborough, Mr. Altman, and Ms. Ceips are embarrassments to South Carolina Republicans as well as to all South Carolina citizens. These three individuals exhibit the height of hypocrisy and then expect the voters to look the other way.

The problem is that voters for these three, as well as other politicians in both parties, do look the other way. They fail to hold these elected officials the high standards that they profess to uphold. This is a result of the fact that most voters only listen to what they want to hear.

Mr. Moredock’s characterization of John Graham Altman III sums up the problem very well. Republicans like Altman, Scarborough, Jake Knott, and several other over-the-top legislators tar the image of the vast majority of Republicans that are interested in just living our lives and securing our economic future and our children’s future.

Our form of government, Representative Republic, is great. We have provisions for a built-in revolution every election day. That means that we get the quality of elected leadership we deserve. Therefore, if we want politicians to not behave badly, we need to hold them accountable on election day.

Rolland Fitch
Summerville

[Original link]

Robert Behre and Schuyler Kropf write:

Eugene Platt, the Democratic challenger for James Island’s Statehouse seat, said incumbent Wallace Scarborough should clear up the issue of where he lives after recent news stories and community speculation raised questions.

“I am not calling for his resignation. I’m just asking for him to tell us what the situation is,” Platt said Monday. “I’m just asking him to tell us if and when he plans to move back.”

Scarborough, a Republican seeking his fourth two-year term in House District 115, said he lives on Paddle Creek Avenue in James Island’s Cross Creek subdivision. He also sometimes stays at his family home at 1547 Fairway Drive and has taken care of a house for his parents who live outside the district in West Ashley.

Full story via Charleston.net…

Platt Questions Scarborough on Residency Status

Br Robert Behre and Schuyler Kropf

Eugene Platt, the Democratic challenger for James Island’s Statehouse seat, said incumbent Wallace Scarborough should clear up the issue of where he lives after recent news stories and community speculation raised questions.

“I am not calling for his resignation. I’m just asking for him to tell us what the situation is,” Platt said Monday. “I’m just asking him to tell us if and when he plans to move back.”

Scarborough, a Republican seeking his fourth two-year term in House District 115, said he lives on Paddle Creek Avenue in James Island’s Cross Creek subdivision. He also sometimes stays at his family home at 1547 Fairway Drive and has taken care of a house for his parents who live outside the district in West Ashley.

Scarborough, who is going through a divorce, said he hasn’t changed any of his paperwork, such as his voter registration or driver’s license, to reflect his new Paddle Creek address but plans to do so.

“I’ve been there long enough,” he said, adding that the county’s Board of Election and Voter Registration would uphold his legal residency status, if asked.

Platt said Scarborough might not have lived in District 115 for more than a year and instead has resided at his parents’ home in The Crescent neighborhood in West Ashley, which is in state Rep. John Graham Altman’s district. That was where Scarborough fired a gun during a confrontation with two SCE&G linemen last month. He was jailed on a charge of assault and battery with intent to kill, a charge that was later dropped.

Platt said that incident “raised a red flag” about the lawmaker’s residence. “It’s been generally known that he’s not been living on Fairway Drive,” Platt said.

Platt said he would consult with Charleston County Democratic Party Chairman Waring Howe before deciding whether to ask the county election board to review Scarborough’s residency status.

Howe agreed with Platt Monday that Scarborough owes voters an explanation about where he has been living.

“There’s been a lack of straightforwardness in that regard,” Howe said.

Reprinted from the Post and Courier.

In his column The Good Fight, Will Moredock writes:

Now Scarborough’s bizarre behavior on the night of July 15 has led to an investigation into other aspects of his life, the report of which appears in this issue of City Paper. Affidavits filed by Scarborough’s estranged wife in divorce proceedings at Charleston County Courthouse show the District 115 representative to be having a long-term affair with Rep. Catherine C. Ceips of Beaufort.

This sounds like a bad made-for-television movie, but it gets worse. Scarborough and Ceips both supported the proposed “defense of marriage” amendment to the state constitution. This is the amendment that would ban gay marriage in an effort to preserve the institution of marriage and keep it sacred. Apparently, Scarborough and Ceips did not consider their adultery to be a threat to the sacred institution of marriage. According to affidavits and other sources, Scarborough and Ceips were quite indiscreet in their affair, pushing their “pro-family” agenda while they were cavorting around South Carolina. Statehouse sources confirm that there were rampant rumors about the two legislators.

Full article via CharlestonCityPaper.com…

In a feature for the City Paper, Will Moredock writes:

Most people confronted with strangers bumping around in their backyard at 9:30 p.m. would probably call the police, but Scarborough took matters into his own hands. Now there is a possible explanation for his bizarre behavior. Was he sharing the house that night — not with his parents — but with his clandestine paramour and fellow Republican legislator, Catherine Crawford Ceips, Beaufort County District 124?

There is ample evidence that Scarborough and Ceips have long been engaged in an extramarital affair. This evidence is found in a series of seven sworn affidavits filed last month in Ninth Circuit Family Court by friends, family, and a private investigator on behalf of Mary Ann Middleton Scarborough, the estranged wife of the James Island District 115 representative.

Full article via CharlestonCityPaper.com…