"Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their government." Thomas Jefferson 

Contain the Port, a  watchdog group, was formed to oppose the now defunct Global Gateway project. When Al Parish, the South Carolina State Port Authority's economist, admitted to being a swindler, it brought out the need for a special one time edition to educate the public as to the true relationship between Dr. Parish and our State Ports Authority. After you have completed reading this edition, you will have a Ph.D in Parish Economics.

South Carolina State Ports Authority and Parish Economics 

"Patsy"-  Webster definition- A person who is easily swindled, deceived, coerced, persuaded,, etc.  sucker

Why did our State Ports Authority loan Al Parish 76,000 dollars interest free to do an "independent" study for our State?

CURRENT NEWS  FLASH -Post and Courier - October 16,2007 Watchdogs urge port expansion freeze 

"The ports authority is not expanding because some study told us to," SPA spokesman Byron Miller said. 

Really?  What about that 180K statewide ad campaign a while back? What did all those ads tell the public and our legislature ? January 26, 2003, This large ad in the Post and Courier stated:

"....our ports must expand. There is a plan being finalized to do that. And the Center's economic study shows just how vital it is to implement that plan now."  

October 7, 2007 The State-  Projects still rely on ‘con man’s numbers’  Critics question using disgraced economist’s calculations to justify expenditures in S.C. By BEN WERNER - 

 Dr. Al Parish's economic studies are being used in permits and funding requests  to support up to $1.2 billion dollars of South Carolina projects- a 600 million dollar container terminal, a 300 million dollar port access road, and a 300 million dollar expense to widen I-26 to handle the additional  truck every 6 seconds the terminal would generate. 

This terminal will have a maximum annual capacity of 791,000 containers. The SPA averages approx. $37 dollars profit per container. How many containers will this terminal have to handle to break-even? How many years will it take to actually earn a profit? Don't worry about any of that - this is Parish Economics.

.Do you find it troubling that one of our highest paid state executives hired, not hired - gave an interest free loan to-  Al Parish - a man who dresses up in a Superhero costume on his website - to do the only economic analysis for a project that will cost taxpayers over a billion dollars?  

October 3, 2007- Dr. Al Parish agrees to plead guilty for losing $90 million dollars from approx. 500 investors- he had been charged with  10 counts of mail or wire fraud and one count of  providing false information to investigators. Prosecutors make a deal to just drop it down to 3 fraud charges with up to 45 years in prison.

What was the relationship between Dr. Al Parish and the SPA? Click on this  May 15, 2002 fax with Dr. Al confirming the SPA's promissory note to buy the software to do the  independent study being used for $1.2 billion dollars .   This loan  is interest free and it has no due date.

How do you define FRAUD? This is the State of Virginia's definition: The intentional deception perpetrated by an individual or individuals, or an organization or organizations, either internal or external to state government, which could result in a tangible or intangible benefit to themselves, others, or the Commonwealth or could cause detriment to others or the Commonwealth. Fraud includes a false representation of a matter of fact, whether by words or by conduct, by false or misleading statements, or by concealment of that which should have been disclosed, which deceives and is intended to deceive.

PARISH  ECONOMICS AND STATE PORTS AUTHORITY TIMELINE

April 1998- SPA pays $900,000 for the Mercer Report - an 80 page "Business Plan and Project Feasibility Study". This study stated the SPA is responsible for 83,085 jobs in South Carolina . This was basically a power-point slide show- at over $10,000 per slide- with no supporting documentation. To understand more about this study, click here.

September 26, 2000 - Post & Courier article by Tony Bartelme   “Ex-SPA executive now says Gateway project is too big”  "Bill Lawrence, a former high-level executive with the State Ports Authority, doesn't think the Global Gateway is a good idea for the community and believes that some of the SPA's economic impact data in the past was suspect. Lawrence was the agency's chief financial officer for 22 years until he retired in 1996 and was intimately involved in the development of the Global Gateway project."  

March 2002 - South Carolina Legislative Audit Council Report "The SPA attributes a total of 83,085 jobs to port operations. However, only about 5,326 of these jobs are directly created by the port." "According to the SPA, no economic impact analyses, other than the Mercer study, have been performed. Neither Mercer Management Consulting nor the chief consultant for the study (who is no longer with Mercer) was able to provide us the surveys and complete data supporting the numbers and conclusions of the Mercer report. Consequently, we were not able to verify all of the numbers. Since the SPA has based a large part of its terminal development strategy on the Mercer report, it should have retained all of the supporting documentation."  

March 11, 2002 -The unbiased economist- Charles ton Regional Business Journal article by Bill Settlemeyr "Parish says the port won’t remain the same—it will either grow if expansion is allowed or shrink if it is not. Savannah already has gained substantial ground, rising in container port traffic volume from 18th to 8th behind Charles ton  ’s fourth place ranking. I asked Al Parish what the “Plan B” for the region’s economy should be if the legislature fails to allow port expansion. His response was: “There is no Plan B.” When the normally irrepressible Al Parish is at a loss for words or answers, we should take heed.”  

This was during the time period, SSA, a private company, wanted to spend $600 million dollars of their own money for a terminal in Jasper County. Not a bad Plan B from the taxpayer's perspective, actually it should be Plan A. But is anyone looking out for the taxpayers?  

As an aside, have you ever wondered why South Carolina has made no real effort to increase our state's port capacity in Jasper County ?  Read President Groseclose's letter to the Legislative Audit Council .  Groseclose blasts our Legislative Audit Council - how dare they question his economics- he has  Economan!!

March 19, 2002 - SPA press release responds to the South Carolina Legislative Audit Council’s (LAC)  audit report."The LAC minimizes the port's positive benefits and says that it is difficult to quantify, despite the fact that the port's economic impact study was based on a nationally recognized and verified model.”

The SPA needed a new report showing more jobs - Who could do a report for the SPA  showing a lot of jobs? Who liked telling people exactly what they wanted to hear?

 May 15, 2002 fax with "Dr. Al" confirming the SPA's promissory note to buy the software to do the  independent study . 

Copy of the REMI software agreement dated  April 25, 2002 with Dr.  Al Parish. 

This  is the $76,433.34 interest free loan document the  SPA and CSU used to purchase special software regarding  their independent and unbiased economic  report.  Dr. Parish gets the use of the software, and gets to pay back the SPA with half the profits of selling more studies.  The SPA gets a license on the software, gets to learn how to use the software, and specifies what regions of our State the study should cover.    Dr. Parish gets the use of the software, and gets to pay back the SPA with half the profits of selling more studies.  

A copy of the survey  used to question South Carolina companies . Note the surveys are to be faxed back in to the SPA office or done on the SPA's website.  Dr. Parish told us via an email he shredded all the responses- making it impossible for anyone to verify the report. 

November 12, 2002 Charleston Southern University gives their first million bucks to Dr. Parish. Maybe this investment  makes it a bit difficult for CSU to later question Parish economics? 

November 2002 Dr. Parish emails the SPA a draft of their  work  " Feel free to change the write-up wording as you wish to , but do NOT change the numbers obviously."

 Dec 2002 draft by Parish to SPA , "For purposes of measuring impact, it was assumed that SCSPA operations ceased at the end of 2002,: the impact until the year 2035 was then estimated."  Thank goodness Al knows how to predict the future for us. He did an update in 2005 for the SPA-  It looks out into the future 50 years!!!  If only we would have asked him to do a forecast for 200 years.

January 6, 2003-Post & Courier  Report stresses port's importance  Port officials are embracing the flattering findings, which come as the port is working hard to improve a reputation damaged by fallout over its failed Global Gateway port expansion plan. While State Ports Authority officials are quick to note that they didn't commission the study, they did purchase the $70,000 computer model that produced it.  The authority will tout the report at an official release and news conference today, just a week before the General Assembly kicks off a new session in which SPA expansion at the former Navy Base in North Charleston will be among the key issues.

January 6, 2003- Al Parish and Charleston Southern send out letter to 8000 South Carolina business leaders touting the "unbiased and conservative " study, even though they had not paid off the interest free loan.  During this time there was quite a bit of confusion between the SPA and Dr. Parish on who really did pay for the study and software.  They finally got their financial arrangements figured out later in the month. 

 Check out the press release about the study that used sophisticated software to answer

the irrelevant  question, "What happens to South Carolina jobs 33 years from now if

 the Port of Charleston suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth?"  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 6, 2003

STUDY REVEALS STUNNING IMPACT OF S.C. PORTS ON STATE

CHARLESTON, SC – If South Carolina’s ports were to disappear, the impact on the state would be enormous and far-reaching, according to a new study by the Center for Economic Forecasting at Charleston Southern University.

South Carolina would lose 281,660 jobs paying $9.4 billion, along with $2.5 billion in state and local taxes. According to the study, the Ports Authority’s total impact on the state was $23 billion in 2002. 

The report was conducted to provide an unbiased and conservative measure of the Ports Authority’s role as a catalyst for development of the state’s economy. “But it also should serve as an important tool in planning for South Carolina’s future,” said Dr. Parish.

January 8, 2003 Read this email exchange between Contain the Port and Dr. Parish to understand  how Dr. Parish responded to people who questioned his methods on his port economic impact study . No one used to question Dr. Parish. When the federal authorities wanted to question him earlier this year, he developed amnesia.

January 14, 2003-  Dr. Parish writes in an email to port watchdog group, Contain the Port, "First of all, the Port did not pay for the model, the Center for Economic Forecasting did and provided the impact study as a service to the citizens of South Carolina…“I will be glad to provide you with copies of the survey questionnaires but once the data is collected, I shred the responses to ensure confidentiality; if that bothers people, too bad."   The survey questionnaires Dr. Parish mentions were collected by SPA personnel at SPA offices before being turned over to him. (As a taxpayer, you hate to see your port authority's economist, a confessed swindler, shredding documents.)

A letter , dated January 23, 2003,  from the SPA  to Dr. Parish stating when the Center for Economic Forecasting at Charleston Southern University  actually paid off the loan with the SPA .  Dr. Parish initially told us he had already paid the money to the SPA before we met with him. A few days after our meeting, Dr. Parish made a $61,000 payment to  the SPA paying off the software loan that produced the self-proclaimed independent and unbiased study.  It makes you wonder from who, what, or where  Parish got the $61,000?

January 26, 2003  SPA ran an ad in the Post and Courier Sunday paper- saying how this was an independent study  "But when the Center for Economic Forecasting looked long and hard at the state's economy, the Center found 281,660 very real jobs that exist in this state because of South Carolina Ports."

 Even though several respected economists did not think this study was independent,  the SPA advertised and advertised and advertised. Today, you can find Parish's numbers- over 280,000 jobs and over 23 billion dollars in state economic impact -   everywhere across our State. 

On January 27, 2003, The Post & Courier published  "SPA comes under fire for role in study" by Ron Menchaca

Miller referred specific questions about the study methods to Parish because he 
is the author. "Dr. Parish is a respected economist on this community and state. 
I think his credibility is beyond reproach," Miller said.

Parish said any group that wants to verify his numbers should buy their own model and do their own study.

One local economist called the financial arrangement that produced the study "troubling." Another economist said the study couldn't be called independent "by any stretch of the imagination."

 Such study details should always be disclosed upfront, said Burt Keller, a professor of ethics at the Medical University of South Carolina, whose courses often touch on the controversial issue of pharmaceutical companies paying for studies that sing the wonders of their drugs.
"Generally speaking, the people who pay for a study get the results they want," Keller said, citing a favorite adage: "He who pays the piper calls the tune."

January 27, 2003  Post & Courier guest editorial by Al Parish “The CEF undertook this study to provide as unbiased and conservative a result as possible so that the public and business community could have a reliable, independent estimate of the impact of port operations on the state's economy from a purely quantitative point of view with no subjective opinions at all. Those in the business community who work with the CEF know full well just how independent we are in what we do. We provide the results of a study from a dispassionate point of view, whether the results are positive or negative."

January 28, 2003 We wrote Charleston Southern University President Dr. Hunter asking his position on his school's "unbiased and independent report" -

August 1, 2004 The Statehouse Report- Parish's numbers become like a cancer spreading  in our Statehouse. 

"The consequences could be disastrous. For example, the Ports Authority's annual

operations are responsible for an estimated 281,660 jobs in the state. 
Water-borne commerce that flows through the Ports Authority equals $23 billion 
annually, or almost 17 percent of the state's total."

Major Hurdle Cleared with $10 Million in Federal Funding

Charleston, SC – Business leaders and elected officials gathered today to hail a $10 million federal earmark that will help fund a new direct access road to the port expansion site on the former Charleston Navy Base.

APRIL 6, 2005,  “STATE PORTS AUTHORITY APPRECIATION DAY”.  Parish numbers dominate port appreciation day in Columbia.

December 2005-  Charleston County application to State Infrastructure Board - Parish's economic study is the centerpiece of the SPA's justification for  the need for the port access road. 'This independent study was completed as a service to the citizens of South Carolina and did not receive funding from the Ports Authority or any other entity."  

February 2006-, Al Parish and the SPA participated together at a national port conference.  Parish was the moderator at the conference-  running the Funding and Forecasting Panel.     Yes  Ladies and Gentlemen, our SPA picked the right guy for this job-Parish was quite the forecaster and was indeed an expert at getting "funding".

December 15, 2006 The Final Economic Impact Statement prominently  features Parish Economics in the report's Statement of Need.  "The most recent economic analysis done for the Authority by the Center for Economic Forecasting at Charleston Southern University measured the impact of the Authority on the State economy. It stated that the South Carolina State Ports Authority creates 281,660 jobs, $9.4 billion in annual personal income, $2,5 billion in annual tax revenues, and $23 billion in annual total economic impact." 

Feb. 19, 2007-  If you can show lots of jobs, you can get your agency  lots of money- Charleston Regional Business Journal -   "Lawmakers on the committee said they voted to release the funds because the Port of Charleston is critical to the state’s economy, supporting 280,000 jobs and 700 companies statewide." "Meanwhile, the state House Ways and Means Committee voted to spend 80% of the state’s contingency reserve fund—an amount of roughly $138 million—to pay for the 1.5-mile road."

May 10, 2007              Post and Courier - “Parish Looking at 205 Years”   Indicates that Parish “. . . stole, spent or squandered at least $50 million entrusted to him by 600 investors” and that he is also charged with, “. . .  allegedly lying to the Securities and Exchange Commission.”  Also - “The former professor wasn't licensed with the state or the SEC to deal in securities and sent statements that allegedly ‘grossly misrepresented’ the amount of money in his funds.  

June 21, 2007  Al Parish 's economic study successful in getting  H 3471 bill passed- setting up  funding to SPA port access road for $167,541,103

July 27, 2007- Email from Charleston Chamber of Commerce to SPA- "I am working right now on the ethics issues of how we can possibly sponsor legislators."  

August 7, 2007 Charleston Business Journal-  "More than four months after the formal collapse of investments that may have cost it as much as $10.6 million, Charleston Southern University officials declined to discuss exactly how the institution wound up investing substantial endowment and operational funds with one-time economics professor Al Parish."

August 22, 2007- SPA bullet points on new University of South Carolina study highlighting the benefits of the port to support more Charleston  port expansion- to be announced in early 2008.  

August 23, 2007  SPA FACT SHEET-  After Al Parish was indicted for fraud, before he confessed to being a swindler, the SPA used Parish Economic  numbers as "FACTS" - without attributing them to Dr. Parish.

August 23, 2007- SPA seeking funds from various groups to raise money for new economic study.   This study will not answer any relevant questions on port expansion. No comparisons of private versus public funding- no comparisons of a port in Jasper versus Charleston. It will have a nice press release right as our Legislature starts its session in January. 

September 1, 2007   Email correspondence.  The following quote is SPA's  response to being asked why Dr. Parish's numbers are still being used on the SPA website, without referencing that Al Parish is the source of those numbers: "The study you reference was previously removed from our site and the fact sheet is being updated without these data."

Question: If the numbers are no longer good enough to be on the SPA’s website, why should the public be allocating $1.2 billion dollars based on Parish’s economic projections? Have the numbers already served their purpose?

October , 2007  SPA is still pushing Parish Economics to the public. A recent Charleston Regional Business Journal titled "MARKET FACTS" shows Dr. Parish's numbers after  an "updated 2005 " study where Dr. Parish amazingly looks out  50 years - except Al Parish isn't  mentioned as the source of these numbers -  in a little teenie weenie footnote CSU is mentioned.  I wonder why they don't say the numbers are from Al Parish?  

The SPA and Parish showed 281,660 jobs by forecasting their doomsday scenario out 33 years to 2035. They show even more jobs- 322,079- by going out 50 years.  The public and our legislature have been told repeatedly these are very real jobs that exist in our State. (If you have a Ph.D in Parish Economics, you can actually change the amount of very real jobs that exist in our State today by simply changing how far out into the future you look. And please remember-  its not done by smoke and mirrors !)

Speaking of CSU-Here is their response below  way back before they found out they had a con man in their department. CSU had given Parish one million dollars about 3 months prior to this email response. I do not know which fund they had invested their money in- whether it was the futures pool, the stock pool, or the hard asset pool. The futures pool made a very respectable 36% gain  in 2002, the stock pool was up 32%, and the hard asset pool really out performed them all  with a downright  incredible 45% return. 

>From: "Dr. Kennerley Bonnette" <kbonnett@csuniv.edu>
>Reply-To: kbonnett@csuniv.edu
>To: "Contain the Port" < containtheport@hotmail.com>
>CC: jhunter@bucky.csuniv.edu, kbrasher@bucky.csuniv.edu ,       
>kbonnett@bucky.csuniv.edu
>Subject: Re: SPA-CSU study Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2003 17:40:26 -0500
>
>Frank ,
>Thank you for your comments and information .  The University's
>Center for Economic Forecasting strives to provide information to
>the local community and state that will help them in their planning
>for the economic development of the region and state .  We realize
>that in interpreting information on a variety of sensitive issues not
>everyone will always agree with the Center's interpretations .  We
>take your comments seriously on this matter and will continue to
>strive to improve our processes and communications .
>Best wishes to you ,
>Ken Bonnette
>Dr. Kennerley Bonnette
>Provost
>Charleston Southern University
>9200 University Blvd.
>P.O. Box 118087
>Charleston SC 29423-8087
>(803)863-7504Comcast Webmail - Email Message

After we continued to question Dr. Parish  and his methods, he blocked our email so he wouldn't have to hear from us anymore. 

And we end with the President of Charleston Southern University's 2002 statements on ethical leadership from the CSU website .

Question- From an ethical standpoint, should Dr. Hunter retract Al Parish's economic study? What would Enron have done?   

Meet our President

Previous Page

Absolute Truth as a Foundation for Ethical Leadership
By Jairy C. Hunter, Jr., president, Charleston Southern University

As legal developments continue to unfold in criminal proceedings against Enron Corp. executives, public attention has again turned to the company that kicked off last summer's series of Wall Street scandals. Before WorldCom, ImClone, Martha Stewart or Tyco, there was Enron. Michael Kopper, a key part of Enron's financial team, has pled guilty to wire fraud and money laundering; chief financial officer Andrew Fastow just this month pleaded innocent to a litany of criminal charges for which he is being prosecuted.

Justice is being served, but what about the thousands of employees who lost their livelihoods when the nation's seventh largest company got caught in its tangled web of off-balance-sheet partnerships and creative accounting? What about the thousands of other stockholders who believed in the company and invested accordingly?

As serious as the loss of life savings and jobs is, the problem is much bigger than that. The public's trust in corporate leadership – and leadership in government, entertainment and religion, as well – has also disappeared. These corporate chieftains certainly had the know-how to steer their companies on a straight path, and they could do so profitably. Why didn't they? What causes leaders to ignore what they know is right?

It seems obvious to me that some leaders are suffering from an acute case of relativism. There is a prevailing wisdom in many boardrooms and corner offices that all situations are negotiable and can be rationalized. Absolute truth, as it relates to right and wrong, doesn't have a seat at the table.

Far too many corporations seem to be suffering from one of two possibilities: either there is no ethical code, or it's not being followed. In higher education, there are reports of similar practices. An article that recently came to my attention noted that some professors are reluctant to turn in students who cheat because they don't want to take on the hassle of the process that follows.

I suspect there is a lot of that going on in the business world, too. Certainly, the majority of people know the difference between right and wrong, but it may seem too much of a hassle to get involved. There are threats of lawsuits, certainly, and time involved in pressing an issue.

Brian Tracy, a friend and professional speaker, says “Everything counts in life.” Personal responsibility matters, even when being responsible isn't convenient or could jeopardize a person's career. Character is what you do when no one is looking. What would have happened if Enron's Michael Kopper had blown the whistle on some of Enron's questionable financial dealings, instead of taking part in the alleged illegalities?

We are all responsible for the choices we make and the actions we take. Personal responsibility comes from within. But it can be introduced or influenced through knowledge and exposure to value systems, mentors and role models. One of higher education's roles must be to contribute good knowledge, mentors and role models to help students form values that yield a strong sense of personal responsibility. Journalists have noted that many of these scandal-plagued corporate titans attended the best business schools in the country, and some have questioned the approach business schools take toward the instillation of values and ethics in would-be CEOs.

As a graduate professor in Charleston Southern University's School of Business, I am frequently asked to review new business textbooks. Surprisingly, I find that authors aren't using a lot of ink on discussions about business ethics. In fact, the last seven books I've reviewed contained nothing of substance on the matter. A good illustration: a 192-page book on strategic management included just one paragraph on the topic.

Like other faith-based institutions, including our sister colleges here in South Carolina, Charleston Southern University seeks to educate the minds and the hearts of our students. We strive to impart book knowledge and to help them develop a biblically-based values system that will stimulate their sense of personal responsibility. We believe it is essential that students leave college prepared not only to balance a ledger sheet but also to change our world. Integration of faith and learning is instrumental in the development of our students into tomorrow's servant-leaders.

All leaders serve for something. The corporate CEOs in the news today seem to be chasing personal gain. But servant-leaders serve for the greater good. They lead by example. They always strive to do what is best for the larger community – whether it is a corporation, a classroom or a neighborhood.

CSU and our sister SCBC-affiliated schools offer students opportunities to develop these crucial values through a variety of programs that include global study and service outside the classroom.

—————————————————————

For example, our students volunteer on campus, in the Charleston community and in national and international arenas. Dozens of our students spent Spring Break last year on mission trips, doing volunteer work in Charleston, South Carolina, and in Charleston, West Virginia. Summer break saw many of our students in missionary roles as far away as Kenya.

In the academic arena, our Honors Program includes an annual Ethics Seminar. The entire campus is involved in our Values & Ethics lecture series each spring, and last year's series featured business leaders from Charleston who talked about applying faith and ethics in their career lives. CSU's Teaching Fellows traveled to Ghana this summer where they taught in a village school, and our professors taught the African teachers. The CSU team came back richer for the experience, with a real lesson in servant-leadership.

Our sports program develops servant-leaders, too. Our Big Buc/Little Buc program pairs our football players and coaches with area children who need tutoring and positive role models. Other CSU athletes are involved in tutoring/mentoring outreach programs as well, and they volunteer when CSU hosts events like the Bell and Schlau Track Meet and the Special Olympics.

Servant-leadership is a byproduct of personal responsibility, which comes from a properly developed set of values. Faith-based institutions must offer students a set of values that reflects our Christian worldview, rooted in the absolute truth of the Bible – God's textbook for life.

Faith-based institutions can emphasize the ties between ethical business leadership and Christian living. All business schools can and should teach business ethics, but it is the nurturing of values and the development of responsible servant-leadership that will make the difference. In business and in life, servant-leaders must summon the personal convictions to do right, not wrong. Institutions of higher education must help them know the difference.

Hays Financial  Consulting LLC is handling the Al Parish insolvency - the most up to date info .

Read the Post & Courier's blog on Parish to gain additional insight .

From Dr. Parish's website is a picture of "Economan"  - and  his hypothetical returns from his "pools".

The Securities and Exchange Commission April 5, 2007 complaint against Dr. Parish  

During the Global Gateway port expansion controversy, Contain the Port had several interactions with Dr. Al Parish, Charleston Southern University, and the SPA  regarding Dr. Parish's study on port expansion at the Navy Base. According to Dr. Parish's website, in addition to selling "pools' that have  returned over 30% annually, he also sells economic impact studies.

Charleston Southern University

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