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IN SPORTS: CHS’ Edwards takes Athletic Director reins

Everything old is new again Sumter Civic Dance Company and Freed School celebrate milestones C1

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City to review, adjust budget priorities BY ADRIENNE SARVIS adrienne@theitem.com Sumter City Council decided to hold workshops during the weeks it will not meet in order to review priorities for the city budget for fiscal year 2016 during its meeting on Tuesday. The proposed budget shows a negative balance between proposed revenues and proposed expenditures regarding the general fund. According to the draft budget, the proposed expenditures are more than $35 million while the city’s proposed revenues are almost $34 million. That leaves the city with a $1 million deficit. City Manager Deron McCormick said this is not uncommon with draft budgets. He said the financial department, as well as city council, will work to prioritize the city’s expenditures to make sure the general funds are balanced. He said the city has already cut expenditures for the city and more cuts will be on the way. He said the city will also have to wait to learn how much the state will provide for the city’s local government fund. McCormick said the city will have the final budget by the beginning of June. After discussion of the budget, council reviewed a request to expand the growth of a local industry. Council approved first reading of an ordinance authorizing the sale of 8.54 acres of cityowned land next to Florence Concrete Products Inc. McCormick said the land is surplus city property and selling it would be a great move. McCormick said a representative from Florence Concrete Products reached out to the city about purchasing a lot of land some time ago. He said the city is excited to help a local industry expand. The city manager said the city has agreed to transfer ownership of the property to Florence Concrete Products free of charge but the business would maintain some of the right-of-way associated with the land. He said the city would also be reimbursed for the cost of closing fees for the transfer agreement. Sumter is much closer to becoming the first municipality in the state to have a vacant property registry now that council has approved second reading of amendments to the city’s property maintenance code. John Macloskie, city quality assurance manager, said the proposed maintenance code now clarifies that city residents are not required to have paved driveways as long as a designated parking space is available. He said the amendments would also allow parking in areas other than designated driveways if an event not lasting more than 24 hours is hosted at a residence and adequate parking space is available. The other change to the code states that residential property can be registered with the city for free within the first year that it becomes vacant. City Attorney Eric Shytle said a house is deemed vacant after it has been unoccupied for 60 days. He said owners would have a year grace period to register residential property with the city beginning 30 days after the residence becomes vacant.

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Hijacking the courtrooms Sovereign movement poses problems in legal community BY MATT BRUCE matthew@theitem.com The scene played out inside an appeals courtroom in Sumter County. A petitioner who was representing himself sat at his desk armed with stacks of legal documentation. Each time he stood up to address the court, he took one of the papers from his desk, placed it on the floor in front of him, and very deliberately stepped onto the

legal document before beginning his testimony. Afterward, the man picked the paper up, sat down and placed the document back into his large stack of papers. Kathy Ward, general counsel for the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, watched the spectacle unfold with sheer bewilderment. Following the hearing, the man filed his paperwork and Ward took a look. Each page of the legal filing contained the phrase “standing squarely on my principles,” and it became immediately clear to Ward what the man was doing. He was quite literally standing squarely on his principles. Such peculiar courtroom maneuvers may seem outlandish to the ordinary observer, but they are not uncommon

in the world of the Sovereign Citizen movement. “They put a lot of stock in these things that they think have legal significance and they really don’t,” Ward said. “We’re seeing it more and more. We prosecute thousands and thousands of cases each year, and this is a very small percentage of them. But we’re starting to see them more and more.” Simply put, the scattered subculture known as sovereign citizens is a loosely associated group whose members do not recognize the federal, state or local government’s authority to impose laws or taxes upon them. According to an FBI alert, subscribers to the belief system

SEE COURTS, PAGE A8

Senior Art Exhibition at SCGA

KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM

Amanda Cox, education director at Sumter County Gallery of Art, places labels on the artworks displayed in the Senior Art Show in the upstairs gallery space. The exhibit features works by graduating seniors from Sumter High School, Lakewood High School, Crestwood High School, Wilson Hall and Thomas Sumter Academy, and will be up until April 22. There is an opening reception on Monday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The public is invited.

Hospital partnership waiting on court decision BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com Brenda Peyton Chase, public relations director for Tuomey Health Care System, said Tuesday that negotiations on a partnership with Palmetto Health System are continuing, but nothing can be finalized until the appeal of a lawsuit against Tuomey in the U.S. Court of Appeals Fourth District is decided. “There have been a lot of preliminary discussions and employee forums,” Chase said. Palmetto Health leadership has been working to address concerns from employees in both organizations, Chase said. “There have been a lot of questions from our employees and their employees, and that is why we have had employee forums,” she said. Chase said Palmetto Health has been conducting due diligence investigations as well.

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“There have been a lot of meetings between company executives,” she said. “Basically there is a lot going on underneath the surface.” The Tuomey Healthcare System board of directors voted in early February to take steps to negotiate a partnership agreement with Columbia-based Palmetto Health. Tuomey reportedly had been considering offers from a small number of suitors and voted to select Palmetto. Palmetto Health Chief Executive Officer Charles D. Beaman Jr. said Tuomey would be a good fit with the Palmetto organization, citing a shared focus on patients and a commitment to providing high-quality care. Tuomey’s principal restructuring officer, Louis Robichaux, said in February the arrangement could be affected by outcome of Tuomey’s appeal of a $237 million judgment against the hospital. The court case involves the use

of part-time contracts Tuomey used in 2005-06, apparently intended to encourage to keep physicians from moving outpatient services out of the hospital. The case eventually led to charges the hospital violated the federal Stark Law of the False Claims Act, legislation intended to reduce the cost of Medicare. “If it (the judgment) is more, then that is going to require further negotiations and considerations on their part (Palmetto Health) whether that is acceptable or not,” Robichaux said when the partnership arrangement was announced. “If it is less, then there is extra value that the parties have agreed to negotiate how that would be distributed and used.” “The court resolution is probably the biggest factor,” Chase said. A ruling in the hospital’s appeal of the case has been pending since November 2014.

DEATHS, B7 Mary Jane T. Potts James Lloyd Inez W. Jones Elizabeth J. Mack

Charles F. McKiever Jr. William Dukes Jr. Odell Dowe Henry Kind Jr.

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3 SECTIONS, 26 PAGES VOL. 120, NO. 147

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