Former SC lawmaker accused of maneuvering himself into top job gives up nomination
​​​​​​​Former Rep. Mike Pitts, R-Laurens, withdrew his nomination to be director of the S.C. Conservation Bank on Monday, citing his health.
Former SC lawmaker accused of maneuvering himself into top job gives up nomination ​​​​​​​Former Rep. Mike Pitts, R-Laurens, withdrew his nomination to be director of the S.C. Conservation Bank on Monday, citing his health. Check out this story on greenvilleonline.com: https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2019/03/04/south-carolinas-mike-pitts-gives-up-nomination-director-conservation-bank/3055657002/
Bristow Marchant, The State Published 12:01 p.m. ET March 4, 2019
COLUMBIA — A former S.C. lawmaker is withdrawing his bid to be the head of a state agency he once oversaw from the Legislature.
Former Rep. Mike Pitts, R-Laurens, withdrew his nomination to be director of the S.C. Conservation Bank on Monday, citing his health as he recovers from a heart attack in a letter to the chairman of the bank's board.
Pitts has come under fire for his controversial voting record in the S.C. House of Representatives and his qualifications for the job. But a Senate panel reviewing the nomination last week peppered Pitts with questions about whether he had maneuvered himself into the job from his perch on a committee that set the Conservation Bank's budget.
"The process of Senate Confirmation has had a profound effect on my cardiac rehabilitation and my health," Pitts writes, telling Chairman Doug Harper he was put under a strain by the "aggressive inquisition" of his Feb. 14 confirmation hearing.
"I tired quickly and realized that my cognitive skills have been affected," he says. "Things that should have been very clear I could not remember and things I could remember were sometimes out of sequence. I began to doubt myself for the first time in my life."
The former lawmaker says "the divisive bitterness" of a Senate vote on the confirmation would negatively impact his health and damage the agency that oversees land conservation efforts around the state.
"(I)t is with unfathomable regret that I hereby ask that my name be withdrawn from consideration," Pitts concludes the letter.
A call to Pitts from The State newspaper on Monday was not immediately returned.
Last week, a Senate panel voted to advance Pitts' nomination to the Senate floor, but without a favorable recommendation, setting up a potential fight on the Senate floor.
State Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland, a scathing critic of Pitts at two confirmation hearings in recent weeks, thanked Pitts for "withdrawing his nomination and avoiding a very contentious and divisive debate in the Senate."
"I wish him the best," Harpootlian said.
Sen. Paul Campbell, R-Charleston, chaired the committee that advanced Pitts' nomination last week.
"South Carolina missed an opportunity to have a good man in that organziation," Campbell said. "They had done a thorough search and and he was their unanimous choice, but I understand because of his health he has to do what's best for his family."
In 2017, Pitts sponsored a bill that would have merged the Conservation Bank into the Department of Natural Resources. But when the bank's 2019 budget went through a House subcommittee, chaired by Pitts, its request was increased by more than $200,000 and a full-time position was added to its staff.
The Laurens Republican testified at the time he was considering applying for the bank's executive director position after the bank's director resigned. He abstained from a vote on the Conservation Bank's budget in March 2018, citing a potential conflict of interest. But he voted in May to strip out a Senate provision to the budget that would have stopped legislators from taking a job with the Conservation Bank for a year after leaving office.
Harpootlian said he plans to re-introduce that provision, blocking any lawmaker from taking a job paid for with state funds for up to a year.
Pitts applied for the job in August 2018. However, he has said he only decided to accept the job after he suffered an Oct. 20 heart attack during a hunting trip to Montana. He resigned his S.C. House seat Jan. 3.
Applications for the job show that several applicants to the job boasted years of experience in land conservancy and other environmental fields that Pitts lacked. Conservation Bank board member Mike McShane told senators last week the board approved Pitts, a longtime member of the State House, in hopes of improving its relationship with the Legislature after the bank was criticized for misspending $3 million in 2017.
Harpootlian said he expects the baord will quickly approve another nominee for director and bring that recommendation back to the Senate Agriculture Committee for approval.
Read or Share this story: https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2019/03/04/south-carolinas-mike-pitts-gives-up-nomination-director-conservation-bank/3055657002/