Former Forest Service agent Jack Gregory
The battle between incumbent First District Congressman Henry Brown and Democratic challenger Linda Ketner has been heated to say the least—literally.
Sparks have flown between the two camps in recent weeks over a Ketner ad criticizing Brown’s handling of a fire on his property that spilled over onto federal forest land.
MB city councilman Randal Wallace, right
The ad says Brown refused to pay charges relating to fines associated with the fire that occurred on March 5, 2004. Ketner accuses Brown of trying to use his Congressional influence to get out of paying the money to the U.S. Forestry Service.
Brown has countered that Ketner has misrepresented the facts over the situation and he has criticized the ad as false and negative. He asked Ketner to pull the ad from the airwaves but she refused.
Brown called the Forest Service agents who pressed to have the fines enforced “disgruntled employees.”
One of the men in the middle of this firestorm held press conferences in Charleston and Myrtle Beach to clear the air over his side of the story.
Former Forest Special Agent Jack Gregory told a small gathering at Nance Plaza in Myrtle Beach that he was not a disgruntled employee but became a disillusioned employee after seeing top Forest Service leaders “give in to Brown’s pressure.”
Gregory said that Brown was warned not to start the underbrush burn because of weather conditions. He said the fire got out of control and Brown did not have the proper equipment and personnel to contain it and it spread to National Forest Service land nearby.
Agents determined that Brown should be fined $250 for allowing the fire to get out of hand and later decided that he should pay for Forest Service personnel having to douse the flames.
Gregory said Brown refused to pay the fine and the fire suppression costs.
“He said he shouldn’t be given the citation because it would be negative to his 2004 campaign,” Gregory said.
Brown, Gregory said, talked to upper level officials who agreed that he should not be fined, even though the staff said he should. Gregory charged that Brown threatened Forest Service funding if it carried through with citation and forced him to pay the costs.
“U.S. Attorney Strom Thurmond, Jr. said a violation should be issued,” Gregory said. “But the Forest Service still wouldn’t issue a violation order.”
After being frustrated with the higher-ups refusal to cite Brown, Gregory and Forest Service captain John Sadler submitted a complaint to the USDA Inspector General under provisions of the Whistleblower Act.
Gregory said after learning of Brown’s recent charges that he was just a disgruntled employee and his assertions that Ketner’s ad was wrong, he contacted the Ketner campaign and said he wanted to clear his name and get his side of the story out.
Brown later paid the $250 fine and just recently agreed to a lower negotiated settlement for the fire suppression costs, Gregory said.
Gregory said that in 2002, Brown had intervened between former state Sen. Arthur Ravenel and the Forest Service over a similar situation and the charges were dropped later against Ravenel. He added that Brown would never have done that for the average voter in District One.
He told the press conference that he had no ties to the Ketner campaign but was grateful for her campaign to allow him to air his version of the story.
The press conference was attended by a number of Brown supporters. At one point, it turned into a shouting match between the two sides.
Myrtle Beach city councilman Randal Wallace spoke for the Brown campaign and said that Gregory obviously had another agenda and was trying to besmirch Brown’s name and reputation in the waning days of the campaign.
“A lot of the facts he used were presented by other groups opposing the Congressman,” Wallace said. “And to say that Congressman Brown would not do anything he could to help any and all of his constituents is blatantly wrong.”
