Roll call

Chair Paul Livingston, Vice Chair Damon Jeter, Joyce Dickerson, Val Hutchinson, Norman Jackson, Gwendolyn Kennedy, Bill Malinowski, Jim Manning, Greg Pearce, Kit Smith, and Kelvin Washington were present.

Administrator's report

The first item on Milton Pope's administrator's report was the foreclosure map. According to the Richland County staff, $2.2 million dollars will be allocated to the county as part of the $44 million coming to the state.

This money will be earmarked for purchase and renovation of existing repossessed property distributed through housing associations. No money will be given to private citizens. HUD will educate homeowners about how to keep their homes and will offer programs for that at a later date. The Richland County website has more information about foreclosures.

On March 21, from 9am to 2pm at the Richland Northeast High School auditorium, Richland County will sponsor the American Dream Conference. The event is free and designed to cover every aspect of being a homeowner from buying and keeping a home in shape to credit repair to growing vegetables in the backyard to recognizing gang activity. There will be several workshops sponsored and conducted by local businesses and seminars specific to kids.

The keynote speaker will be Michelle Singletary, a nationally syndicated

columnist for the Washington

Post. Her column, "The Color of Money" is carried in 120 newspapers around the country.

Regular agenda

Greg Pearce, reporting as the current president of the Association of Counties, warned of bill #3581, which is an attempt by the state legislature to renege on an existing law that gives the counties 4.5% of the state revenue. Part of the ordinance requires South Carolina to give the counties at least as much as the year before on revenue. Pearce seems concerned our state legislature might take that money and use it for other purposes.

Discussion of the agreement between the county and the Northeast landfill was long, heated, and confusing. Kelvin Washington offered an amendment to funnel the $1 million into a new 5013c organization to dish out the funds to the Old McGraw community as agreed upon. Washington is the council representative for district ten.

Norman Jackson, who represents district 11, seemed particularly upset with the proposal and wanted another LLC to distribute the money. Several members of the public seemed to be in favor of Jackson's line of thinking. Kit Smith offered an arbitrator through the county so "the people of that community could heal their wounds" and get the issue resolved without continued hard feelings.

The council didn't seem interested in such a move. A couple of the other council members agreed with Jackson that the new LLC wasn't the answer. In the end, the Washington amendment was approved. It is his district.

Committees

Committee vacancies to be advertised include the Internal Audit Committee and the Historic Columbia Foundation. Sherry Walters and Jimmy Williams were added to the Accommodations Tax Committee; Bruce Coles, the Airport Commission; Lisa Mc- Cloud, the Board of Assessment Control; Betty Etheredge, the Employee Grievance Committee; Eddie Green and Derrick Williams, the Hospitality Tax Committee; and George King and Charles Offutt are new members of the Richland Memorial Hospital Board.

Two people signed up to speak during citizen's input but left before their time came. It was only two and a half hours.