By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Former Beaufort County Administrator Eric Greenway and Deputy County Administrator Whitney Richland are currently being investigated by the S.C. State Ethics Commission after a complaint against each and evidence to support the complaints were submitted to the Ethics Commission in July 2023 by a Beaufort County resident who has asked not to be named in our news article.
The same constituent also filed a complaint against Beaufort County Parks and Recreation Director Shannon Loper, and according to letters received by the complainant, all three complaints “contained facts sufficient to warrant an investigation.”
In an interview with The Island News, the concerned citizen said the complaint filed against Greenway was regarding him allegedly hiring his daughter, Andrea Greenway, to do graphic design work for the county without putting it out for bid or going through the proper process to hire someone to do work for the county.
“I don’t know if it was ever completed or if it was an aborted attempt like the blanket situation with [Whitney] Richland,” the person who filed the complaint said. “But there was definitely talk of him hiring his daughter, possibly in relation to redesigning the Beaufort County logo.”
The complainant continued to say that there was talk that there were contracts of up to $100,000 for that graphic design that were up for grabs.
The complaint about Richland involves the alleged attempted purchase of 587 weighted blankets from a company called R&R Home, a company allegedly owned by Richland’s husband.
Beaufort County received an invoice from R&R Home in April for $35,644 for the almost 600 blankets and “Wellness (Eric Greenway)” is listed in the contact information on the invoice.
Interim Beaufort County Administrator John Robinson confirmed in an article published by The Island Packet on August 9, that the weighted blanket controversy is under investigation.
The complaint filed against Loper alleges that she used Beaufort County Public Works property – a Bobcat type vehicle and possibly an excavator – to make improvements upon her personal property in Bluffton in 2021.
“She appeared to be trying to regrade her property and lay fresh dirt and gravel,” the complainant said. “Her neighbors noticed it and took photos and video and brought it to the attention of [Beaufort] County Council at the time as well as Greenway. It was reportedly swept under the rug.”
Greenway’s contract with Beaufort County was terminated with cause on July 28.
Sources have told The Island News that Richland was seen packing up her office on August 9, 2023, but as of Tuesday afternoon Beaufort County has neither officially confirmed nor denied whether Richland still works for them.
Attempts to reach Greenway, Richland and Loper for comment have been unsuccessful.
Delayna Earley lives in Beaufort with her husband, two children and Jack Russell. She formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She joined The Island News in 2022. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
