FOIA requests by the Waterside Homeowners led to a letter mailed March 3rd to Santee Cooper President Jimmy Staton.
The FOIA’s show a pattern of back door operations working towards putting the Grand Strand Humane Society in the quiet neighborhood. The residents have made it clear that they are not interested in having the Humane Society located in their neighborhood.
Ongoing controversies swirl around both the Grand Strand Humane Society, as well as, Santee Cooper over a $7 billion botched nuclear power facility failure.
Waterside residents find themselves confronted with the colluded powers of Lindsay Rankin (Grand Strand Humane Society Board Chairwoman), Luke Rankin (S.C. Senate Judiciary Head), and David Singleton (Santee Cooper Board Member). David Singleton is a business partner with Horry County, S.C. Senator Luke Rankin. Senator Rankin is married to the Board Chairwoman of the Grand Strand Humane Society.
THE LETTER SENT TO SANTEE COOPER PRESIDENT JIMMY STATON READS:
March 3rd, 2024
Jimmy Staton
President and CEO
Santee Cooper
Cc. Santee Cooper Board Of Directors
Subject:FOIA Confirms Blatant Conflict of Interest and Potential Unethical Land Donation Concerns
Dear Mr. Staton,
After a meticulous review and receipt of documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, it has become glaringly obvious that the land transaction in question is not just potentially unethical but a blatant display of conflicts of interest, collusion, and favoritism within Santee Cooper’s leadership.
The evidence provided by the FOIA documents leaves no room for doubt: this transaction reeks of impropriety. Specifically, Vice Chairman David Singleton’s actions, as detailed in the FOIA documents, paint a disturbing picture of favoritism and magnify this blatant conflict of interest. (Exhibit 1)
Director Singleton’s willingness to help bend rules and offer preferential treatment to Mrs. Lindsey Rankin’s non-profit organization, the Grand Strand Humane Society (GSHS), is deeply troubling. His admitted friendship with the Rankin’s, in addition to an undisclosed (in FOIA) business partnership with Senator Luke Rankin, create an undeniable, massive conflict of interest that taints the entire transaction.
Moreover, the FOIA documents reveal shocking details about Mr. Singleton’s conduct. He was not merely a passive participant but an active, and avid facilitator of this backdoor deal from beginning to end. (Exhibit 3) Mrs. Rankin literally sent him this exact property (hand picked) in a text message photo, circled in red, and he responded with “Forwarded for review. 
”
(Exhibit: 4 & 5). That “forward” was conveniently left out of the FOIA documents.
In addition, despite significant concerns raised by Marty Watson, Santee Cooper’s Chief Commercial Officer, regarding the suitability of the property for lease due to its close proximity to residential areas (Exhibit 13),
Mr. Singleton pressed on continually, disregarding potential community concerns. This is clear in Mr. Singleton’s communication with Ms. Rankin, where he said “neighbors objections may be moot if zoning is in place”, and instructed her to proceed “below the radar” (Exhibit 6).
This clandestine behavior further underscores the potential unethical nature of this entire transaction.
The FOIA documents also show that Dan Camp informed Marty Watson, and David Singleton that “These however were the Generation station and the Warehouse which are key operational assets actively used, and therefore did not appear to be good options.” This property was not even a “surplus property” of Santee Cooper at that time, but through back channels and “follow up by Director Singleton”, it was somehow later made available for a “gratis” lease. (Exhibits 7 & 2)
Furthermore, Mr. Singleton’s interactions with Santee Cooper’s General Counsel, Pamela Williams, raise serious questions about transparency and disclosure. (Exhibit 10)
The documents show that there was a potential failure to fully disclose his direct business partnership with Senator Luke Rankin (owning an LLC & real estate together) [Exhibits 8 & 9],
and the fact that he had already been personally working on this project for 5+ months prior to checking for the conflict of interest [Exhibit 1].
This conflict was conveniently checked right as the transaction was at the finish line, and the only step left in the process was for board members to vote on the approval of the gratis lease. There was also no mention that Senator Rankin was one of the members of the Public Utilities Review Committee, who interviewed and approved him for his position on the Santee Cooper board of directors. (Exhibit 12)
In addition, there was no mention of Senator Luke Rankin, who sits on the Public Utilities Review Committee directly overseeing Santee Cooper, and the appointment of all board members. This adds another layer of a blatant conflict of interest. His influence in approving board appointments, and oversight of Santee Cooper raises serious doubts about the independence of Santee Cooper’s leadership.
Senator Luke Rankin has DIRECTLY, AND ACTIVELY involved himself into this transaction. He even asked for and received the letter from Horry County Zoning Department that clarified this property could be used as an animal shelter with LI Zoning (Exhibit 15).
He also requested, and received the resolutions from Horry County Council, that was needed for the “package” for Santee Cooper directly from Horry County Government Attorney David Jordan (Exhibit 16).
Both of these documents were used to submit and justify this “transaction” to Santee Cooper Board Members. THIS IS A BLATANT, AND UNDENIABLE CONFLICT OF INTEREST.
Senator Rankin’s position as the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman has very well documented ties to Santee Cooper (Exhibit 11). The “Associated Press” says Luke Rankin “is one of Santee Cooper’s biggest defenders.”
FitsNews says “Rankin is thick as thieves with Santee Cooper, and bears more responsibility than any other member of the S.C. General Assembly for this command economic disaster – which has set South Carolina ratepayers and taxpayers back more than $10 billion.”
It is unequivocally evident that this clandestine arrangement, whereby millions of dollars’ worth of Santee Cooper property is being funneled to a non-profit organization led by the wife (President) of the Senator tasked with their oversight, is a flagrant conflict of interest. This scheme reeks of collusion, shrouded in secrecy, and smacks of ‘Good Ole boy’ payback and favoritism from every angle.
The value of the land in question is easily worth $5,000,000 to $8,000,000 on the open market. A similarly zoned 1.02 acre lot just sold just a few parcels over in 2022 for $1,175,000. (Exhibit 14)
Ironically the “freeze period” of rates for Santee Cooper customers is set to expire at the end of 2024. In fact, Santee Cooper board members voted in June 2023 (the same month this “transaction” was put in motion) to “conduct a comprehensive rate study to address an anticipated revenue shortfall beginning in 2025”. At the same exact time we have the leadership giving free (“gratis”) land worth millions and millions of dollars to the non-profit run by the wife of the senator who is indeed tasked with their oversight. No open bidding process, no open forum, just back door deals, and favors delivered right to the finish line.
It was also very clear that you were looped in on this project from the very beginning, as Mr. Singleton proudly mentions his conversations with you multiple times in the same day, and asked Mrs. Rankin if “Jimmy has already been in touch with you?” in his very first text (provided in FOIA). He then goes on to say “If we have a site that works for both parties think we can make something happen ” (Exhibit 1, 3 & more). What is also more disturbing is there were numerous emails and conversations sent to you for your review, and not one single FOIA document was provided by you.
The ramifications of this transaction extend beyond mere ethical lapses. It has the potential to harm South Carolina Residents, taxpayers, and customers of Santee Cooper.
We demand immediate action from you, and the Santee Cooper Board of Directors to halt this backdoor deal and conduct a full and transparent investigation into how this was allowed to happen.
This pattern of “Good Ole Boy System” behavior, and back door deals have already cost Santee Cooper, taxpayers, and ratepayers $10 billion dollars in the past, it is time for you and the Board Of Directors to clean up this behavior and do what is right. The taxpayers and customers of Santee Cooper deserve better. We demand accountability and transparency in every aspect of Santee Cooper’s operations.
We expect a swift and comprehensive response to this urgent matter.
Sincerely,
Waterside Drive Homeowners