On the one hand, we’re glad Columbia, S.C. mayor Steve Benjamin has a full-time chauffeur … after all, you don’t want this guy driving himself around town.
Seriously … not at all.
But shouldn’t Benjamin – who is about to win reelection by a landslide – pay for his own driver? And why did he pick his chauffeur from the ranks of the city’s police force? Finally, why is a local television station sitting on this story until after Benjamin faces voters at the polls this week?
Those are all good questions …
Benjamin’s driver – Chris Carrizales – was a member of the Columbia Police Department (CPD)’s drug suppression unit until he was assigned to provide “security” to the mayor at some point within the last year. According to our sources, “Benjamin specifically asked that (Carrizales) be taken off the unit and put in charge of being the mayor’s taxi driver.”
City officials tell FITS Carrizales was assigned to guard Benjamin “due to threats made against the mayor,” although they declined to discuss the specific nature of those alleged threats.
City officials also disputed the assertion that Carrizales is assigned to Benjamin “full-time” – arguing that he “also works as a community liaison.”
Hmmmmm …
All of this is very interesting … which is presumably why reporter Jody Barr of WIS TV 10 (NBC – Columbia, S.C.) has submitted multiple requests under the state’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) seeking documents related to this arrangement. In fact last week Barr reportedly confronted Benjamin and interim city police chief Ruben Santiago with what he had been able to uncover – and informed them of his intention to file a story prior to the Columbia mayoral election on November 5.
That didn’t happen, though.
Why? According to sources at WIS, Benjamin threatened to back out of the station’s televised mayoral debate last week if Barr ran the story about his chauffeur prior to the election.
And of course WIS backed down …
“Not only does Benjamin own the CPD, he also owns the local media,” one of our sources lamented.
Sure seems that way, doesn’t it?
Obviously this story isn’t going to make-or-break a mayoral race that was over before it really began. But is instructive on how Benjamin’s “thugocracy” is able to strong arm dissent in South Carolina’s capital.
It also proves (once again) how the mainstream media in this state would rather kowtow and cut deals than actually do its job …
26 comments
If T-Bone has a Columbia Police Lt. as a taxi driver, it would be interesting to find out who is his taxpayer paid asswiper.
Surely if T-Bone can’t open and close his own car door, he must not be saddled with the mundane task of wiping his own ass
Fucking Cockroach
His tax payer funded chin wiper probably has it worse, there’s much more shit coming out of his mouth than his ass.
Isn’t the mayor position a part-time gig? So why does he need a driver? The same reason Jim Clyburn whined until Pelosi made up a job for him that gave him a driver?
I once saw the SUV carrying Benjamin pull on the the pedestrian pavement area in front of The Oak Table restaurant. He was going to give a speech. I saw them coming down the street and they were using the fricking blue lights (in the grill and back window),
People, this is a mid-sized town that is crumbling around us. The Mayor is as crooked as a dog’s hind leg and nobody cares and the town is being looted by a cabal of insiders. And of course the taxpayers have to pay the bills!
Now we have to subsidize him like he is the president of some third world country. We have to treat him special, make him special.
I call bull shit on that.
At least a dog’s hind leg does what it is supposed to do, holds the dog up, and helps push it forward. That’s a helluva lot more than what Columbia’s got.
WELL PUT, SMIRKS!!!!!!!!
You can’t plant radishes and expect potatoes to grow.
Carrizales has the job for two reasons:
#1 He can score the best drugs for the after election party
#2 He will drive stoned Benji back to his hotel to avoid a replay of the last election driving fiasco.
City officials tell FITS Carrizales was assigned to guard Benjamin “due to threats made against the mayor,” although they declined to discuss the specific nature …
Rival gangs??
Probably the gang that spray painted the word N***** on city hall. Oh wait, that WAS Benjamin.
I have no problem with Lil’Stevie “T-Bone” Been Jammin having a driver provided by the CPD if there is a legitimate threat out there – that said, if it’s a legitimate threat why all the secrecy. I think South Carolina schools need to update their dictionaries because somehow, the word transparency doesn’t mean the same thing here as it does other places.
From T-Bone’s original campaign response to a WACH questionaire:
“It’s time for a little spring cleaning at city hall,” Steve Benjamin said as he unveiled his plan Tuesday morning.
In his search for more accountability, he wants to:
– Broaden the public record
– Disqualify organizations with city officials on their governing board from receiving city funding or grants
– Require all discrepancy account funds used or received by city officials to be publicly reported and posted on the city’s website
– Establish an independent city-wide ethics commission
– Abolish Executive Session
I think that makes him 0 for 5 and he’ll cruise to election tomorrow – “Blind lemmings, to the Congaree!”
People in Columbia need to take back their city. Columbia will become a waste land if there isnt a correction in its path their are travelling on. Steve became a problem right off the bat after he was first elected and the crap has never stopped through his reign. There has been one problem after the next occurring and it always seems to have Benji’s name or hands in the pot. for example: Sponsettler-Video Poker Ring involvement-Accident after Election- Cover-up and firing of a police Chief- Appointment of a unqualified Police Chief- block-ops cover up- involvement in arrest of NAACP President-Gang activity with no results- Hanging out on the rooftop bar after hours with the ex-police chief – alleged drug activity with ex-chief- didn’t fire the ex-police chief after leaving post.
The list goes on-and-on. He counts on voters having short term memory to aid him in his reelection campaign. We need to take the city back and attempt to correct the ways in which we have wronged in the past years and hope it isn’t to late. Benji keeps dipping into the applicant pool from the richland county sheriff’s department, truth be told that is a bigger sewage pit as columbia is becoming. The only difference is Lott has always been able to keep the press off of him and the public really doesn’t know the problems that exsist inside his department.
You really have to wander why we have seen an increase in gang activity as they say, really it is not gangs but simply unruly punks that dont respect anyone. The word gang strikes fear in people and police use this term loosely to aid in the fear and gather statistics. Statistics are money and therefore worthless grants for the police and equipment. Grants give them people on the streets these people are then used to do everything else but fight “gangs”. Just think, if there really is a so called “Black-ops” operating inside the city as a hit squad. The police would need to have recruited the unrulely youths to assist them. Where are the so-called drugs they plant coming from. If they took them from evidence room they could be found out because of the missing drugs, but if they got them from youths “gangs” in the area in trade for letting them sell in their areas then they would never be known and known only to the criminals. If they bust the criminals then they talk and tell their stories. Therefore, the main criminal element that supplies them will never be busted and the crimes continue.
There is TOO MUCH that follows Benj in office. Get rid of him and you can take the city back, Leave him in office and the city will continue to crmble.
The only thing you left out were the escorts and his banging a well-known city employee.
Oh and getting his (extremely unqualified) wife a job as a Richland County judge.
Those who jeopardize King Benji will have stolen guns and drugs planted in their cars. People who complain about it? We’re going to find you!
Rank has it’s privileges!
Benji has had a CPD-furnished driver going back at least a few years, now. A very capable, dedicated, Sergeant was his driver/body guard until he retired a couple of years ago. Rumor had it that he retired earlier than he might have because he was not happy with the assignment. Knowing the integrity of that Sergeant, it is not hard to understand how demeaning such an assignment would have been to him.
The picture, is that his driver driving a Mercedes?
” According to sources at WIS, Benjamin threatened to back out of the station’s televised mayoral debate last week if Barr ran the story about his chauffeur prior to the election.
And of course WIS backed down …..”
Donita (Butch) Todd is arguably the worst thing to happen to WIS in the fifty-plus years that I or my family have watched that station. She came in and squeezed out some real talent, causing them to leave for other markets and replaced them, in many cases, with some real low-talent acts. Jody is an exception, but Butch won’t let him live up to his maximum potential, which is considerable. Butch also destroyed commenting on there with her transition to Fecebook, which is like a cancer on the free flow of tips and information via anonymous posting. Butch is well past due to be rotated out and replaced with another manager. Let us hope it occurs sooner, rather than later.
To be fair, WLTX and Fishwrap went down the FB road, too. I suspect corporate profiteering played as much of a role as silencing discourse did.
True. It was just one more damnable aspect of her management style that I brought out while harping on that.
Where is the security detail to protect Columbia from this Ray Nagin wannabe?
Interesting stats
Cola population (2012) – 131,686
Pop. 18 or older (eligible voters) – 83.0% (2010) – 109,299 (2012)
Pop Black – 42.2% (2010) – 46,124 (2012)
If Mr. Benjamin wins the election tomorrow blacks will not be the only reason, he’s going to need an awful lot of white votes too. At least he can’t just do stuff on his own, oops, forgot about the strong mayor thing. Read about Detroit, that’s what’s coming to Columbia. Lexington county, warts and all, has to be looking better to a bunch of those people. You are welcome to move to Lexington county, just leave your stupid politics on that side of the river. We need help fighting these bozos not people coming to help them make this like Cola/Richland.
Stats for above come from this web site;
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/45/4516000.html
Stats were calculated using 2010 percentages on 2012 population numbers because that is how data is presented. I seriously doubt that the population numbers for eligible voters and black eligible voters are significantly different from those presented by me if 2012 percentages were available at this site.
T Bone probably has his eye on a new Escalade which will require a Lt. or above as the wheel man. No doubt he will want it equipped all of the latest toys along with a stash of automatic weapons. Can see it now, pulls up to KFC out jump 4 turds in black suits scanning for flying wings clearing the dining area so no neck can chow down with out his adoring fans wanting a photo or autograph.
Gotta love all the hate on this board. Glad it dies not represent all of Columbia. You all sound like a bunch of people that rant on message boards then don’t even vote. Too funny!
Any CoC employee can tell you that every mayor, manager has had a CPD furnished driver “do boy”. This poor guy has the important job of fueling the vehicle, delivering food, picking up dry cleaning, and a long list of other tasks that any grown ass man should be doing for himself!
Charles Austin “while at the police dept.” selected a civilian employee for his errands. Austin continued to use this employee during his time as manager. He was loaned out to the major as needed.
CoC is corrupted by its elected care takers.
Da Maya in da hood! Can take the ni66er out of the hood. Well you know the rest!