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Board axes its leader

Web posted May 2, 1998

By Jesse J. Holland
Associated Press

COLUMBIA -- Donald Gist, head of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind, was fired Friday by the governing board, which said only that ``he no longer meets the expectations of the board.''

Mr. Gist was immediately escorted off the building's grounds by state guards after the decision, which came after a six-hour, closed-door meeting.

Board Chairman Robert Harrelson provided no explanation.

``At this time all I can tell you is that Commissioner Gist, now Mr. Gist, has been relieved of his duties because he no longer meets the expectations of the board,'' he said.

``God is good,'' was Mr. Gist's only remark during the day. He refused to comment after the meeting.

``What occurred today was the worst kind of travesty, based on false, groundless rumors and innuendo,'' said Keith Babcock, Mr. Gist's lawyer. ``The way the meeting was conducted was nothing more than a star chamber type of procedure at the end of a hallway lined by troopers.''

Mr. Babcock said Mr. Gist would ``keep all of his legal options open.''

The meeting was called after Mr. Gist had a physical confrontation with an unidentified person in the parking lot in front of the commission's building Tuesday, according to WIS-TV.

No one at the commission would talk about the alleged incident.

``The South Carolina Commission for the Blind is not responding to rumors and innuendo,'' an agency statement said.

The three white members of the board -- Mr. Harrelson, Earlene Gardner and Lynn Smith -- voted to oust Mr. Gist, who is black.

The two black members -- the Rev. Oliver Willis and Stella Williams -- voted against the move. But Mr. Harrelson said the incident had nothing to do with race.

``We expect a commissioner to be a public servant, to be upstanding in the community and at the agency itself,'' Mr. Harrelson said.

None of the members would comment on the day's actions.

The governing board later asked the state guards to stay until the end of the meeting, but would not say why.

Mr. Gist, who served at the board's discretion, has been head of the Commission for the Blind since 1990.